https://network.crcna.org/ The Network en Fri, 26 Apr 2024 08:27:15 +0000 Mon, 25 Feb 2019 00:20:36 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/coaching-corner-when-was-your-teams-last-sabbath-prayer In the past four weeks I’ve led four Sabbath prayer retreats: two for church councils on different ends of the continent, one for a CRC Classis, and one for the staff of a Christian High School. And I had to wonder, WHY?  Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/coaching-corner-when-was-your-teams-last-sabbath-prayer Mon, 25 Feb 2019 00:20:36 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/and-then-he-said-when-will-you-see-spiritual-director An older ministry friend and I meet monthly for personal updates and prayer. This special companion is gentle, soft-spoken, insightful, encouraging. Time with him is a rich gift of grace. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/and-then-he-said-when-will-you-see-spiritual-director Thu, 14 Jun 2018 13:12:06 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/shrinking-denomination One of the benefits of being a member of the CRC for six and a half decades is that I’ve experienced almost every corner of the denomination and preached in almost 100 different congregations in both the U.S. and Canada. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/shrinking-denomination Tue, 17 Apr 2018 15:13:09 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/im-embarrassed-be-christian At our church, we often end our youth group year by inviting the teens to write down questions they’re struggling with. We as leaders compile them, note the overlaps, and spend time processing these questions with them. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/im-embarrassed-be-christian Mon, 16 Oct 2017 00:00:24 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/offering-gifts-sturdy-gentle-graces-reflections-after “Let your gentleness be evident to all; the Lord is near.”  (Phil. 4.5) After a week which included a public display of racial hatred, the murder of a young woman, and the shameful failure of a president to name evil for what it is, how do we respond? Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/offering-gifts-sturdy-gentle-graces-reflections-after Tue, 22 Aug 2017 12:43:33 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/blessed-blessings-others A True Story Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/blessed-blessings-others Wed, 24 May 2017 14:21:29 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/being-committed-community From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, the Scriptures describe our God as one who makes and keeps commitments. God declares promises and then fulfills them. God is committed to the goodness of his creation and the flourishing of man and woman created in his image. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/being-committed-community Wed, 08 Mar 2017 16:12:17 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-does-jesus-live-your-church-part-4 This is the fourth in an eight part series on congregational culture and its importance for faith formation. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-does-jesus-live-your-church-part-4 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 16:51:45 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/trouble-authenticity-faith-formation-goal During the eighteen years that I served as a university chaplain and ministry professor, I heard over and over again that millennials prized authenticity as a chief value in their faith journeys. At first I jumped on the train with them, but gradually doubts began to gnaw within me. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/trouble-authenticity-faith-formation-goal Wed, 16 Nov 2016 14:37:32 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-does-jesus-live-your-church-part-3 The third in an 8 part series on congregational culture, i.e. the ways that Jesus lives in our churches. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-does-jesus-live-your-church-part-3 Tue, 08 Nov 2016 15:01:57 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-do-you-see-jesus-your-church-part-2 The second in an 8 part series on congregational culture, i.e. the ways that Jesus lives in our churches. The Joy and Power of Repentance as a Corporate Spiritual Discipline Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-do-you-see-jesus-your-church-part-2 Fri, 28 Oct 2016 17:01:13 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-do-you-see-jesus-your-church-part-1 An acquaintance told me that on his very first day of school as a young child, his mother dropped him off and said, “I wonder where you will see Jesus today.” She continued to say this every single school day until she helped him to move into his college dorm. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/where-do-you-see-jesus-your-church-part-1 Tue, 25 Oct 2016 12:35:11 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/preaching-tag-team-challenge Do you long to see teens and young adults more solidly connected to your church? Are you a preacher or do you belong to a church that has a preacher? If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, I invite you to take on the “Preaching Tag-team Challenge.” Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/preaching-tag-team-challenge Wed, 17 Aug 2016 16:46:30 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/homosexuality-and-holy-uncertainty Like many preachers I know, I often have stomach cramps on Sunday morning while going through a final sermon review before taking the pulpit. The calling to declare the Word of the Lord to a community is overwhelming, and it puts me trembling on my knees. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/homosexuality-and-holy-uncertainty Tue, 28 Jun 2016 14:29:18 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/kathys-question-why-do-you-hate-me The middle-aged mother took a seat across from my desk in the English Literature room and said, “Kathy told me to ask you just one question.” I waited.   “She wants to know why you hate her.” Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/kathys-question-why-do-you-hate-me Tue, 14 Jun 2016 12:28:30 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/three-minutes-grace The 60(ish) year-old professor settled himself in front of the mic, opened his Bible, and announced, “Psalm 13, a psalm of David:” How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?   Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/three-minutes-grace Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:52:59 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/preaching-bless-children-and-teens Every time parents (or grandparents) tell me how much their (grand) children love to listen to their preacher, I can visualize prayers of thanksgiving flowing from that home. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/preaching-bless-children-and-teens Fri, 20 May 2016 18:22:35 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/murder-trial-and-faith-formation April 21, 2016: The trial was entering its fourth month and the crown prosecutor had established a method that was meticulous, thorough, and calm in a pincer-like way. Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/murder-trial-and-faith-formation Thu, 19 May 2016 18:21:23 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/haunted-grace I am haunted by grace.   I am haunted by its paradoxes: on the one hand it is a free gift, and yet it is the most demanding power in the universe: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” How can a free gift demand so much? Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/haunted-grace Wed, 04 May 2016 18:47:41 +0000 https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/cure-busy Everybody I know is too busy and so am I. You probably are too. “I’m too busy doing God’s work for God to do his work in me.” Syd Hielema https://network.crcna.org/topic/spiritual-formation/faith-nurture/cure-busy Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:29:52 +0000