Nazarene World Week of Prayer is February 27

Nazarene World Week of Prayer is February 27 - March 4, 2006

Contents

Pastor’s Resource Day

Prime Time Activities

SSM Update

Welcome Nathan!

NMI Update

A Cup of Coffee With a Friend

NYC 2007 - Start Planning Now!

New Book on Church Building Programs

Pastor’s Resource Day

Dr. Brad Kelle, Professor of Old Testament at Point Loma Nazarene University, will be the featured guest speaker at the annual Norcal Pastor's Resource Day Feb 17. He will focus on the subject of Preaching from the Old Testament. Pastor Tim Isbell will also add a session on Preaching from the Lectionary.

This is a day set aside for the ministers on our district to improve their service. We will gather at 9:30 am for fellowship and worship and begin the teaching around 10 am. Vallejo First Church is our host and the cost is $5 for lunch. We will plan to be finished by 3 pm.

Upcoming Activities for Our 55+ Friends

Prime Time Summit

June 3, 2006

Olivet Nazarene University, Illinois

Prime Time Retreat

September 12-15, 2006

St. Charles/St. Louis, Missouri

Call 1-800-221-6317 or send an email to primetime@nazarene.org for more details and to register for one or both events.

SSM Update

by Rev. Tim Kim, Salinas

Thanks to the 25 churches that reported statistics for November! I think that's a record for us! Remember to count everyone who is part of a Bible study or class!

A Sunday School Ministries site is now under construction and linked to the district web page. The desire of your SS Board is to provide a list of "in-district" resources for sharing (video resources, training kits, etc.) and a list of helpful links. If you would like to suggest or contribute a link or a resource, please e-mail Nancy Clayton at nclayton@xroads-naz.org

Mark your calendars for the Bay Area Sunday School Convention, March 2-4, 2006. For more information, see www.bassconvention.org

Welcome Nathan!

Please welcome a new little Nazarene, Nathan Chapman. His grandparents are Pastors Jerry and Ruth Patton from Alameda New Beginnings. Everyone in the family is enjoying this new little bundle who joined the family at Thanksgiving.

NMI Update

by Rev. John Wilcox, Santa Cruz

Compassionate Ministries

There are many ways that we as Christians can show compassion. It is one of the facets of Nazarene Missions that set us apart. Choose one or more of these ministries and be Jesus to someone in a special way.

Dime A Day

Have you been saving and collecting dimes for Africa? One dime will allow one African to live for one more day, by giving him food to eat. One more day may give that African the opportunity to meet Jesus. Save those dimes! Send your check to the General Treasurer using the code: ACS=1011 on the memo line. This is a new code from last year so please take note.

Crisis Care Kits

The General church now has a collection point for Crisis Care Kits on the Western side of the United States. If you are planning to send your Crisis Care Kits, it will cost about 1/2 the postage if you send them to:

Nazarene Relief Shipments

Attention: Liz Murtland

Hands of Hope

1201 South Powerline Road

Nampa, ID. 83686

Make sure to follow up with a check to the General Treasurer for $12.00 per banana box to help get the crisis care kits to the destination of the disaster.

Christmas Project 2005 It is not to late....

Child Development Centers (CDC's) are ministries that are established around the world ministering to needy children providing physical, educational, spiritual, economic, emotional, moral, and social development to enable them to become responsible Christian adults.

• 6 million children die each year from malnutrition and hunger related causes; that is over 16,000 a day.

• It is normal to have a child 18-20 years old still in secondary education in Congo and Rwanda. Why? Because war has interrupted their school years.

• In Papua New Guinea, most kids do not go to school until they are 9 years of age.

The Child Development Center model is the arm of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries that is reaching out to children all over the globe. As Nazarenes faithfully live out compassion as a lifestyle, children's lives are being transformed. When you donate to Child Development Centers, children are given opportunities that might not otherwise be available like food, education, and vocational training. You, your family, and your church can make a difference in a child's life. Since the holidays have past, offer dreams and opportunities for some children and make it a Year of Hope!

For more information, visit the website at ncm.org/cs

Tools for Ministry... Books for Pastors

This was the special project that our District Mission Council chose to support this year. Have you sent your pledge in? The end of the church year is just around the corner. Your pledge is important to get Books and Bibles into the hands of our National Pastors. Do your part, send in the pledge to the General Treasurer, and mark the memo line: Pastor's Libraries.

D.T.M. = Developing Tomorrow's Missionaries

Do you have a child, teenager or young person in your church with a call to missions? If so, make sure that Rick Cole has their name, so that the District and the General Church can keep in contact with this soon to be missionary. The future spreading of the gospel will depend on our young people hearing God's call, preparing for God's call and then carrying out God's call.

A Cup of Coffee With a Friend

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar ... and the coffee... A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a resounding "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things. Your family, your children, your faith, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions. Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.The pebbles are the other things that matter. Your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the yard and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand."One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a cup of coffee with a friend."

NYC 2007 - Start planning now!

Anyone who is graduating high school between 2007-2011 is invited to this “once-in-a-lifetime” event. Nazarene Youth Conference 2007 will be held July 10-15, 2007. St. Louis, Missouri will host 10,000 students from the US and Canada for a “mind blowing, life altering, heart changing, I can’t believe this is happening, I’m a part of a bigger picture, nobody should have this much fun, music makin’, picture takin’, can’t stop dancin’, faith building, life giving, I’m not the same person I was, I wish everybody I know would be here,” kind of time. Registration is only $450 (includes meals) plus travel costs. Visit www.WaterFireWind.com for more information and to start blogging new friends around the Country!

New Book on Church Building Programs

Daryl Hawkins, past president of the American Institute of Architects, Monterey Bay, is a contributing author of a new book, The Church Construction Kit, A Complete Project Guide for Church Building Programs, scheduled for publication January 2006 by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City. Hawkins was also one of four members who conceived, organized, and developed the book.

The Church Construction Kit is intended for pastors, building committees, and church board members who need a straightforward guidebook, including detailed, step-by-step worksheets, to walk them through the process of erecting a new church complex or remodeling an existing one. According to the writer of the book’s forward, James H. Diehl, “The Church Construction Kit is answering that need in an up-to-date, practical, experienced, understandable, and usable way. The only problem is that this resource should have been published 30 years ago!”

Co-written by several other experts in the field, the book covers all stages of a church project, from the vision, design, and planning stages to groundbreaking, construction and beyond, including the business of purchasing land, project planning, designing and erecting buildings, and getting church projects financed.

Hawkins has written three chapters of the book: “Selecting the Church Building Committee”; “Strategies for a Smooth Project”; and “Assessing Your Current Facilities and Their Possible Uses.”

“As God moves in a church, it will grow,” says Hawkins. “Congregations cannot allow this growth to be constrained by inadequate facilities. But they must remember that planning, designing, remodeling, and building new facilities takes knowledge, time, work, and money. A number of steps should be taken to make sure this process is smooth and does not produce surprises or dissension.”

Hawkins is president of Jacoubowsky Hawkins Walker Architects, Inc. For over 36 years, the firm has done numerous projects throughout Central and Northern California. He is currently working on five church projects: Cupertino Church of the Nazarene, West Hills Community Church in Morgan Hill, St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Carmel Valley, Living Hope Church in Monterey, and Pixley Church of the Nazarene.

The firm’s website is jhwarch.com.