Resources and Ideas for Summer of Rest 2017
Use this resource list to brainstorm your own ideas about possible activities, family devotionals, reading materials, and other ideas to help you and your family continue to be spiritually nourished, relationally connected, and mission minded during the 9am hour on Sundays or any time on any day this Summer.
Come up with your own ideas. Talk with other MPC families and friends to see what they’re doing. Enjoy!
SPIRITUALLY NOURISHED
What can I do to invest in my relationship with Jesus?
- READ/STUDY (by yourself or with your spouse or family) one book of the Bible for the entire Summer. Just one book! (Ok, maybe 2 or 3 short ones!)
- ASK God to help you hear the good news of His love for you in Christ, then respond to His love with repentance, faith, and obedience. Perhaps use a journal or notebook to RECORD these responses.
- READ or LISTEN TO A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul E. Miller.
- LEAD your family in family devotions using one of these resources:
- Tabletalk (we have free copies available in the lobby)
- Long Story Short (Old Testament family devotionals)
- Old Story New (New Testament family devotionals)
- The Radical Book for Kids: Exploring the Roots and Shoots of Faith (an excellent, creative family devotional book)
- WALK and PRAY. Take a walk alone, with your spouse, with your family, or with a friend. As you walk, talk to God; praise Him, plead with Him, pour out your heart to Him.
- PRACTICE using the Psalms as a guide to your personal prayer time. Use one of these excellent resources for praying with the Psalms:
- God’s Prayer Program by T. M. Moore
- The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms by Tim & Kathy Keller
RELATIONALLY CONNECTED
What can I do to invest in my relationships with Metrocrest friends?
- JOIN with another friend or family for Sunday morning breakfast, then go to worship together at 10:15am at MPC.
- JOIN with another friend or family for Sunday brunch or lunch after you worship together at 10:15am at MPC.
- JOIN with other MPC moms and/or families to play at the BRAND NEW Splash Pad at the park across the street from our church building. (Karen Raquet is sending out announcements about planned Splash Pad gatherings. Ask her about it!)
- PURSUE time with MPC folks that you don’t know very well. Do something together and get to know them.
- PRAY more intentionally for the people of MPC.
- Use The City as a guide to praying for others in our congregation.
- Each Sunday at Worship ask a different person how you can pray for them in the coming week . . . then do it!
- Help your children pray specifically for their MPC friends/peers.
- Pray for the Elders, Deacons, and Staff by name.
- READ or LISTEN TO a book about building relationships with your brothers and sisters in Christ, or read it with someone, then start to practice what you’re learning:
- Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt.
- Relationships: A Mess Worth Making by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp
- Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Side By Side: Walking With Others in Wisdom and Love by Edward T. Welch
- Befriend: Create Belonging in an Age of Judgment, Isolation, and Fear by Scott Sauls
- Encouragement: The Key to Caring by Larry Crabb and Dan Allender
- Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens by Paul David Tripp
- Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp
- What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage by Paul David Tripp
- The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Tim and Kathy Keller
MISSION MINDED
What can I do to invest in relationships with my neighbors, the nations, and the next generation?
- PRAY for our MPC Missionaries each Sunday morning (by yourself or with your family):
- Sharon Abebe (Medical Ambassadors - Ethiopia)
- C. B. (undisclosed location)
- Paul and Dawn Fisher (Mission To the World/NACL – Guadalajara, Mexico)
- Tom and Vickie Gilliam (Serge - Ireland)
- Paul Hartgrove (Faculty Commons - Texas)
- Josue Mayo (Church Planting – Mexico)
- PRAYER WALK your neighborhood on Sunday mornings. Before you come to worship, take 30 minutes to walk (alone or with your family) around your neighborhood. As you do, pray for God to reach your neighbors with the love and gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you’ll get to talk to a neighbor you’ve never met or haven’t seen in a while! For more info on Prayer Walking click here.
- PRAY more intentionally for friends and family who do not know Christ.
- READ or LISTEN TO a book about serving others with gospel words and works, then start to practice what you’re learning:
- The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon
- Saturate: Being Disciples of Jesus in the Everyday Stuff of Life by Jeff Vanderstelt
- Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World: Evangelism as a Way of Life by Rebecca Manley Pippert
- The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman
- Honest Evangelism by Rico Tice
- Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J. I. Packer
- ASK for the name of every server, cashier, etc. you or your family meet as you are out in the community. Make sure to use their name when you thank them for their work. As you pray for your meal, pray for them by name. Tip generously, and with joy!
- LEARN a new way to share the gospel with others: