Discipleship

Ministry Plans for 2010-2011

Below you will find linked our church's Annual Ministry Plan for the 2010-2011 year. This document will guide our purposes, preaching, ministry efforts and vocabulary for the coming year.

I hope you will take the time to click through, download and review the document as a small group leader and as a member of the church. Please take this document to your small group in the coming weeks and encourage your members to prayerfully work through the scripture, the ideas for ministry, and consider their/your participation this season in the life of the church.

We are excited what this year will bring, we always are at the beginning of a new year. There are many opportunities and possible relationships that await each of us.

Download Ministry Plan 2010-2011

 

New Year Articles

Welcome to the New Year! There will be several posts in the coming weeks to get you and your group ready to finish well this spring semester. Several groups struggle about this time of year due to the fullness of schedules, the myriad holidays in the spring term, and waning interest on the part of individuals and couples who may be marginally connected.

Come back to these web pages, this blog, for more ideas, resources, study helps and more.

If you are not already using an RSS Feed Reader like Google, Yahoo, or a bundled reader like that in Windows Vista, consider finding a reader to get regular updates from this and other NPC (Naperville Presbyterian Church) sites.

Don't forget to look around the site for resources that have been posted recently including studies, books, training materials and more.

Created for Community

A recent article in the PCA's ByFaith Magazine (one of our recommended resources) captures the biblical teaching of being in community as a reflection of being in community with God.  Tripp says in the article, "...as we are welcomed into communion with him (through Christ), we are called into community with one another". 

As Christians we are part of God's family, part of a history of men, women and chidlren who have been, and are being redeemed.  As Christians, Tripp says, "...we are called to confess, teach, restore, forgive, ... rescue, protext, and serve."  Take a look at the article, and if you have comments, please reply to this post below!

Article here.

Recent Additions

We have added a new article and new websites under Ministry Partners and Blogosphere for small group leaders and for the church at large:

Our Ministry Partners:

• Mission to the World
• Mission to North America
• Wayside Cross Ministries
• Northern IL Food Bank

Blogosphere:

• Recover the Gospel
• Challies

Asking Open-Ended Questions

Here is an article from www.BuildingSmallGroups.com which gives some helpful insights into asking good questions in your small group.  Open-ended questions allow the group to move to dialog regarding heart issues.  Oftentimes leaders will ask everyone in the group, "How was your week?", or "Let's go around and check in with each other."  Instead, a good open-ended question will move the listener, the group member and leaders, to the deeper issues of the heart, the desires and dreams, or loss of dreams that motivate.

Take a look at the article to see more ideas from the life of Christ, watching how he asked questions of those around him.

Article is here, and at right under "DP Articles".

Perfect Parenting?

Jerram Barrs - Perfect Parenting

This is a recent article post about parenting at the Resurgence Blog from Mark Driscoll and other pastors associated with Mars Hill Church Seattle. 

This article was captured from the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute Lecture Series at Covenant Theological Seminary.

© 2005 Covenant Theological Seminary by permission used.  This material was presented as a breakout session during the Fall 2005 Francis A. Schaeffer Lecture Series entitled Two Worlds Under One Roof: Bridging the Generation Gap.