Dwell in Unity-God wants us to not only love Him, but to love those He created as well As others see the love we have for each other, they will want that love and want to know the God who is the source of that love. Many churches today have a hard time attracting members because unbelievers do not see that love in the church. Many churches are more a collection of strangers than a family of brothers and sisters in Christ. Members can not care for each other if they don’t know each other’s needs. God also calls us to love others in the body of believers, regardless of the church they belong to, so that others might see how good it is to live as God wants us to. The multitude of denominations presents a picture of widespread division and the refusal of churches of different traditions to work together indicates there is little of the love the church claims to possess. The Church claims that Jesus is the way but does not appear to agree on what that way is. How can unbelievers take the church’s message seriously?
Archive for the ‘Church ministry’ Category
Tenth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Nov, 5
Establish mentors-While Jesus taught the masses, there are things you can’t explain like how to love someone. That is only learned as you see someone else loving others. As a result, Jesus selected twelve disciples and had them walk with Him and watch how He dealt with problems. He taught them through the example He set before them. As the disciples watched Him, they learned how to deal with those problems in a way that pleased God. New Christians need to be paired with a more mature Christian that can guide them and counsel with them as needed in order to learn how to serve Christ and the Church. That takes a close relationship which is rare today. The Bible says that the older shall teach the younger for good reason. Industry seeks younger workers just out of school who have the latest knowledge and training because technology changes so quickly that what we know is quickly out of date and that is important in keeping companies competitive, however the church has been caught up in the trend and it is creating problems in the church. Many churches are beginning to seek young pastors and board members and ignore older ones, yet man, unlike technology, doesn’t change. Our social climate and how we react to it changes but man does not. Many young pastors are being educated by liberal colleges and seminaries who cater to liberal ideas. As a result, many are leading their churches astray. In addition, the young pastors lack experience and the wisdom gained only through experience. It is like having children teaching classes to teach adults how to live. The church needs to heed the Bible and return to seeking experienced leadership.
Ninth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 29-B
Ministry to members-B The minister must be free to concentrate extensive time to members going through trials. However, the pastor is often so tied up in administrative duties that he has little contact with members and is not aware of members who are going through trials. The church should seek to limit the time required for the pastor in administrative duties to free him to minister to members and train help. Most pastors don’t get to spend much time actually visiting and ministering to their members and even working full time, the pastor cannot adequately supervise and minister to a church of more than 150-200 members. However, most pastors aren’t trained to do such work, even if they have time. There is too much need for the pastor to be able to do it all himself. Some churches are hiring nurses and Social Workers as part of their pastoral staff to provide medical care and Social Services to their members. At the very least, the pastor should know the nurses and Social Workers in his congregation and consult them as needed. Pastors need to train lay leaders to help them carry on their ministry when the church becomes too large for them to do it adequately themselves. The best method is to have each lay leader oversee a small group that is like a family, who he nurtures and ministers to the members under the pastor’s supervision similar to how it was done in the early church. Such small group ministry is proving just as effective today as it was in the early church, however few churches utilize it.-(See “The Living Presence” in “Rebuilding the Kingdom” copyright 2012)
Ninth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 29-A
Minister to members-A Ministry to members going through trials-The minister must be free to concentrate extensive time to members going through trials (seriously ill or dying family member, job loss, financial crisis, etc). Unfortunately, most pastors aren’t trained to do such work, even if they have time. Most schools training pastor provide extensive training in theology but little training in actually ministering to their people. Pastors need to get such training and begin training mature Christians in the congregation to assist them, because there is too much need for the pastor to be able to do it all himself. Jesus recognized that He would need to concentrate His efforts on training the twelve to take over when He left and pastors need to train lay leaders to help them carry on their ministry when the church becomes too large for them to do it adequately themselves. In the past, members knew each and when a member was in need. In addition, they helped the pastor in meeting the need. Church members today are often so caught up in their own lives that they have little interaction with other members outside church and interaction in church is often superficial. Most members do not know other members well enough to know when they are going through trials. In addition, members do not know each other well enough to confide in other members when they are going through trials. The result is that most members feel isolated and alone in handling trials. They often feel defeated and do not experience victory over trials. As a result, their worship is merely show and no substance. The church needs to provide regular supervision of its members to enable it to recognize and minister to members in need.
Eighth Sunday of Kingdomtide Oct 22
Small Group ministry-part-B witness to those around them
As they learn to identify needs and how to minister to those in need in the small groups, they begin to develop a concern for those around them. As they begin reaching out to those around them to get to know them, they begin to see the needs of those outside the church and can begin to minister to them also, demonstrating the love of Christ to unbelievers. As unbelievers see the love of Christ they begin to desire that love and are attracted to the small group. People are more willing to join a small group where they know the person that brought them than to walk into a large church where they don’t know anyone. As they get to know the members of the group, they are more willing to attend church since they know the people from their group. Many churches are often built away from residential areas. In addition, churches no longer have neighborhood activities where unbelievers get to know those in the church. The small group can be the church present in the neighborhood and reach out to the neighbors through neighborhood Bible studies and children’s activities.
Seventh Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 15
Small group ministry-A-Ministering to Each Other The Bible says that in the days after Pentecost, believers ministered to each other like a family and shared their possessions with those in need. If members don’t know each other well, they are reluctant to reveal that they have needs. The church is hampered today by the fact that members no longer live close to the church and to each other. They live so far apart that they no longer shop in the same stores, work at the same jobs, and have children attending the same schools. As a result, many do not have any contact with each other outside of church, so it is hard for members to get to know each other. As a result, the church has very little influence on members outside an hour a week when the church gathers for worship. Because of the distance, it is also hard for members to support each other in time of need. A mother who has a child who is hurt is reluctant to call a stranger who lives across town to look after her other kids while she takes the injured child to the doctor or hospital, but is more able to call a close friend who lives nearby. A mother whose husband is in the army or in jail, or has deserted her may reach the breaking point but be reluctant to ask other church members, who she doesn’t know, to come watch the kids while she steps away and cools down, but may be more willing to get together with another mother she knows and take turns watching the kids so neither gets pushed over the edge. Therefore, small groups need to live close together as much as possible, to provide frequent contact and mutual assistance as needed.
Sixth Sunday of Kingdomtide-Oct 8
Nurture Members-The church needs to provide regular visitation and supervision of its members to ensure they are growing in faith and love. It also helps the church to recognize when they have needs so it can minister to their needs. Most pastors are occupied with administrative duties and don’t get to spend much time actually visiting and ministering to their members and even working full time, the pastor cannot adequately supervise and minister to a church of more than 100-150 members. He must train and supervise workers to assist him just as Jesus did. They in turn will have their own small group who they are responsible for under the supervision of the pastor. The workers can get to know members and work closely with them to guide them in growing in faith. The small groups should meet regularly and become almost like a family, who can nurture and minister to their members. Members learn by watching and interacting with older more experienced Christians and that requires regular meeting in a small group setting. Most churches have very little time together to help nurture younger Christians so many members grow very little even after years of membership. -(See “The Living Presence” in “Rebuilding the Kingdom” by Lulu Press)
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Third Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 17
Love Others -God wants us to not only love those in the body of believers but unbelievers as well. God may not like what they do, but He loves them as much as He loves us. He reached out to us when we were sinners and we should do the same to those who are still sinners and do not know Him yet. Hopefully they will come to know God’s love as we extend God’s love to them and they will leave their sinful ways and accept Christ as their Savior. God did not love us based on whether we accepted Him and our love for others should not be based on their acceptance of Christ. God loves us Concern for others involves more than just seeing them as people of value. It involves active concern for the welfare of others where we look out for each other. The world has no concern except to survive and is always looking out for number one. Their first concern in any decision is what will it benefit them. The church needs to show active concern for others as it develops programs and makes decisions by considering the impact it will have on those involved, not just on its benefit to us. The church needs to actively develop programs to minister to church members and train them to minister to those around the church who don’t belong to a church. The church has turned most of its social services over to the government so most people no longer see the church as caring about them. They see the government supplying their needs and now look to the government when they need help. While the government provides for their immediate needs like food and housing, it does little to provide long term help to enable them to get back on their feet and able to help themselves. In fact, many government rules prevent or at least discourage people from helping themselves. If the government provides for their needs, there is little incentive to provide for themselves. In addition, while the government can supply their physical needs, it can not supply their spiritual needs. Concern for others also involves forgiveness– Many people are afraid to show any sign of weakness because they are afraid that others will take advantage of it. As a result, they are afraid to admit that they made a mistake and ask for forgiveness. By the same token, they are afraid to extend forgiveness to others because they are afraid others will see it as a sign of weakness in them and try to take advantage of them. As a result, our bitterness and resentment drives a wedge between us cutting us off from fellowship with each other. God calls us to forgive others, just as He has forgiven us. In fact, it is because He has forgiven us that He expects us to forgive others (see the parable of the King and His servants in Matt 18:22-35). As we forgive others, we break down the barriers of bitterness and resentment which divide us and which prevent us from experiencing the joy that comes from fellowship with each other.
Fourteenth Sunday of Pentecost-Aug 27
Dealing with issues teens & Adults One of the greatest needs today is the teaching of Biblical values. Our country was founded on the principle that the government should be by the people, of the people, and for the people. That means that it will be run by the people, will consist of everyday citizens, not career politicians, and shall be geared toward benefiting the people. That requires that the people be informed about what is going on and able to decide what is best for them. The result was a push for universal education so everyone would be educated and for affordable newspapers to inform the people so they could vote intelligently. Up until the 1970’s, the churches, the schools and media were active in teaching Christian values so even those who did not attend church generally supported Christian values and open discussion of issues was allowed and even encouraged. Since then, the schools and the media have become increasingly liberal and have increasingly pushed their views openly and actively suppressed any opposing views. In addition, the church has been very lax in teaching Christian values to its members. Eighty percent of active churchgoers say they want their church to teach moral values, especially those regarding the family. Since they don’t understand Biblical values, many who attend church today hold liberal views while continuing to give lip service to the Bible. Young people who once received Christian values in school are increasingly being indoctrinated with liberal values and persecuted when they question them. The church must actively teach members Christian values and to question what they hear from the media. In addition, the church needs to help members understand why those values are important so they can defend them against liberal teaching. As a result, I have created a series of courses on Udemy on Christian values and how they differ from man-centered values to help church leaders understand and teach Biblical values. They are in a series of short videos so they can be shown one at a time and allow a discussion time in between.