Overcoming Spiritual Roadblocks – Devotion #8; The Dynamic Duo in Ministry

There is a vital relationship between prayer and action, which is essential for any kind of ministry that advances the Kingdom of God. Prayer needs to be a foundational component of the work that is done, and it needs to be ongoing to sustain the ministry work.

The story of the battle at Rephidim (Exodus 17) is a beautiful illustration of how prayer and action work together to advance God’s kingdom…

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Overcoming Spiritual Roadblocks; Devotion #6 – Resistance

Read: Acts 17:1-9 Often when we start a new ministry project, we find that we run into resistance. Sometimes, resistance happens as minor irritations, like communication challenges with people missing emails or text messages. Misunderstandings can occur within the organizing team. Sometimes it seems that there is challenge after challenge which has to be overcome,…

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Overcoming Roadblocks in Ministry – Devotion #1

STEPHEN – FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Acts 6 describes the establishment of the role of deacon within the community of believers. A dispute over meeting the needs of the Greek and Hebrew widows led to the leadership making the decision to find people who could meet the needs within the community.

The leaders looked for people who were described as being full of the Holy Spirit. They found Stephen who is described as being “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5)…
The fact that the apostles specifically looked for people who were full of the Holy Spirit suggests that some of the congregation were not! So were some only half full? Were others empty? Just exactly what did the apostles mean when they looked for people full of the Holy Spirit?

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Signs of Hope in the Midst of Chaos

Diaconal Ministries Canada and World Renew partner to offer financial grants to churches and ministries during the Covid-19 crisis For Christians, the rainbow has long been a sign of hope – of promise. When Noah and his family disembarked the ark he built, after the waters receded, God made a promise – a covenant –…

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Connecting with Our Muslim Neighbours

Disability Concerns, the refugee office of World Renew, the Office of Social Justice and Race Relations are a number of CRC agencies which partner with Diaconal Ministries Canada in the work of justice. Partnerships with other networks, programs and agencies continue to strengthen the possibilities and the ways that the church engages in a spirit…

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NEW! Devotions for Deacons #6

Here is the sixth devotion for deacons in the latest set of devotionals from Diaconal Ministries Canada (DMC). In our conversations with deacons across the country, DMC often summarizes the ministry of the deacon into 4 areas: community ministry, compassion, justice, and stewardship. This devotion is the third of 3 to focus on deacons and compassion. Each devotion…

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Beyond a Bed: tools for deacons who want to walk alongside

A deacon is in the waiting room of a community walk-in clinic. There is a woman beside her, slumped in her seat. She is dozing lightly; she looks exhausted. After a number of minutes, the woman seems to abandon hope of a nap. She stretches, sighs and sits up. The deacon beside her begins a…

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Operation Manna Partner: Mosaic Centre in Edmonton, Alberta

Mosaic Centre has been a recipient of Operation Manna (OM) funding for the past 4 years. In addition to the financial seed money that OM has gifted us, we have also been blessed by excellent mentoring from Diaconal Ministries Canada. During this time, we have grown from a “green” start-up ministry into a valuable and…

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