Nursing Home Ministry

Standing on the Promises

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Yesterday was the National Day of Prayer but we almost missed it! How Glad I was to notice it on the television and spend the last 35 minutes of our evening praying for our nation. Just as in any family we often have our differences. God offers us the opportunity to pray together and sing together as one church, to remind us that for those of us who follow Him, through Christ we are all one. Unity in Jesus is one of the great promises of the Bible, but one that we have to stand on during the storms and we certainly are in the midst of a storm today! We are in a storm overseas with the war in Ukraine. We are in the storm at home fighting with each other over the best way to combat a pandemic that never seems to end. We are in a political and media storm as the battle for the innocent lives of the unborn hangs in the balance. We must pray…but more than that…we must stand together or as Benjamin Franklin noted in 1776, “We must indeed all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.” But what we stand together on is not political cleverness, social acceptance or military power. What holds us together as the family of God is Standing on His promises and loving one another as He commanded.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 NLT

New Volunteer at Nursing Home!

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We are always praying for new volunteers to help out at the nursing home ministry. Honey came walking through right in the middle of our service this morning but nobody minded. In fact I ran down from the stage just to get a chance to visit with her and her friend Autumn.

Amazing Grace – Don’t Wait for God to Harpoon You!

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There are various stories about the early life of John Newton. While some of the details remain sketchy, the truth behind the details led him to write words that still resonate in hearts today. It is said that when John was a young man, he fell overboard and was brought back onto the ship only after being harpooned and dragged up on deck. I am not sure whether the harpoon was all they had to throw or how he was wounded, but the scar left behind was something he carried all his life. But we don’t have to wait for God to harpoon us to come back to Him. In fact, Jesus simply invites us to come. Our problem is sometimes we are so busy thrashing about in the waves that we can’t hear His voice. For some of us that may mean God has to allow us to be wounded to get our attention and to bring us safely into the ship. Here is His invitation – 

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 NIV

If you would like to learn more about using nursing home ministry in nursing home ministry, I wrote a small book several years ago titled, “Music Matters in Nursing Home Ministry” which focuses on that subject. It is available both in regular print as well as e-book. There are also a few videos from a series of talks that I gave to our ministry team on my YouTube channel that are devoted to music ministry for those wanting an in-depth examination of the subject. Thanks for listening and reading. Have a blessed weekend!