Church Life | Christian Ministry Training Blog

Cultivating a Passion for Prayer

Posted on October 3, 2018 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 4 Comments ↓

Part of having an effective prayer ministry includes helping others develop a passion for prayer. That must begin with an understanding of what passionate prayer is. We must then take steps to cultivate that passion in others.

3 Tips for Cultivating a Passion for Prayer in Others

Teach and preach in a way that people are presented with God as the great God He is, that helps people to understand His ways, and that gives them a good foundation of His Word. In so doing, you will help develop faith, perspective, and discernment that will grow their passion to meet with Him in prayer. A passion for prayer stems out of a passion for God.

Keep the purpose of prayer ever before the people. Take great care that prayer doesn’t become routine or ritualistic.

Vary the approach. Even Jesus warned against vain repetition (Matt. 6:7). Ephesians 6:18 says we should pray with “all kinds of prayers and requests.” Be careful not to get into a rut. Keep your approach fresh so you don’t become dull or desensitized in praying.

For More on what will help you develop and maintain an effective Prayer Ministry, read the following:

For More About Praying: Resources for Prayer Ministry

Focus in Group Events

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

In the Church we often encourage people to come out to group events for a time of fun, food, and fellowship. We certainly can provide the fun and food without too much trouble. But, far more than we might care to admit, the fellowship part either doesn’t happen, remains on a superficial level, or only happens with a few in attendance. We might engage in a lot of talking and laughing while eating or participating in activities, but how much of that communication can be identified as true fellowship?

True Fellowship in Group Events Missing Because we Lack Focus

Focus of Fellowship on Oneness in Lord In addition to fun, food, and fellowship, we also need focus — focus on the Lord. He is what we share in common, making true fellowship (koinonia) possible.

There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Eph. 4:4-6)

Coming together needs to be rooted in the One God who called us into one body if we want our group events to be different from what we might experience elsewhere.

Bring Focus to Group Events Through the Word

When I started leading a church youth group, there were cliques that prevented them from acting like “one body” so that was a priority I needed to work on. I implemented lots of community building activities to help break down walls. Since fun and food tend to fit well with youth (even with adults), I used one of our meetings every month for a time of extra fun and food centered around a holiday theme, both common and unusual ones, for that month. Since I wanted to not only rid the group of cliques but also replace them with true fellowship rooted in the Lord, these events included a brief devotional from God’s Word to focus on the Lord as the reason for it all. (Celebrate the Month Youth Activity Curriculum includes a year’s worth of these events.)

Group events filled with lots of fun and food provide a place for people to engage in fellowship but without providing the focus on God, true fellowship may not happen. A devotional, based on the Word, however brief it might be, can help people focus on the Lord, providing a jump start for true fellowship with one another. In addition, it adds verbal testimony to those in attendance who don’t know the Lord, helping them identify what it is that makes this group different from what they experience in the world.

Fellowship in Ministry Teams

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — 4 Comments ↓

Fellowship in Ministry Teams Because We're One in Christ

Philippians 2:1-2 provides a worthy goal for any ministry team:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

These verses remind us that it isn’t just about the task we have to complete as a team but the relationships we have with one another.

How do we treat one another?
How do we handle disagreements?

Fellowship in Ministry Teams Comes from our Common Ground

Working on the same goal, or purpose, doesn’t make us one. As the above verses suggest, we’re to be one in spirit as well as purpose. So, even when we disagree, we can still be encouraged. Even when our idea is set aside, we can be comforted. How is that possible? We find our common ground in the Lord, united with Christ. We protect our commonality by exercising His love. We have fellowship with one another because we’re in fellowship with the Spirit. With all of that in place, we can experience unity out of diversity — being one in spirit and purpose.

If we try to find common ground in our own opinions or ideas, our diversity could get in the way. Rather, together, as a team, we seek God’s wisdom, His solution. We make getting on page with God more important than pushing our personal agendas.

Fellowship in Ministry Teams Requires Functioning out of our Common Grace

So much can go wrong when a group of people with different personalities, learning styles, backgrounds, and opinions try to work together. If we’re going to be like-minded and of one spirit and purpose, we must find fellowship with one another in the Lord and the grace He extends.

If we rely on the goodness of people in order to work well together, our diversity will get us in trouble. To overlook each other’s idiosyncrasies and work through conflict, we need to fall back on God’s love and forgiveness, His grace. When we do, we’ll find the tenderness and compassion to work with people we might not normally be drawn toward as friends.

Encourage Fellowship When Ministry Teams Meet

If fellowship must be rooted in the common ground and common grace that can only be found in what we all share in our Lord, then our meetings need to include time to focus on Him, not just the task at hand.

Do we take time to pray together?
Do we use God’s Word as our filter for making decisions?
Do we point each other to His character and ways as the grid through we function?

One way we can do that is to have a short devotional time together. You could keep it casual by having team members share something God taught them from His Word since you last met. Or, members could take turns coming prepared to lead this time with Scripture they believe would be encouraging or relevant to the task at hand. You might work through a study together but must remember not to get so caught up in it that you become a Bible study group rather than a ministry team with a mission to accomplish.

The Ministry Worker’s Devotional: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God could be a tool to use with a ministry team that centers on the very character and nature of God as the resources we need for effective ministry.

Whether we use devotionals or not in our meetings, the basis for our fellowship must consistently and regularly be remembered and reinforced. That could be done through spontaneous moments of prayer, especially when we find ourselves at an impasse. It could happen by purposefully asking the right kinds of questions as we flow through our agenda, ones that challenge us to consider if what we’re planning and doing lines up with God and His Word.

Culture Shift Following the Right Course of Action

Posted on January 24, 2018 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

Culture Shift to Follow God's Design Needs a Course of Action

To make serving, with everybody doing their part, engrained in who we are as a Church, takes a culture shift. We get there by building an awareness of God’s design for the growth and health of the Body as seen in His commands about serving. We accept the challenge of equipping people to do their parts, understanding that it takes time and patience to get there. With the groundwork laid, we then need to put a course of action in place that will facilitate everybody doing their parts.

The Right Course of Action Could Depend on Your Setting

How easy it is to look at what other churches are doing and follow suit. A cookie cutter approach fails to take important factors into consideration.

1) Where you are

The readiness of people makes such a difference in any kind of change. You need to know where people are in order to take them to the next step. If you try to go from A to Z all at once, your efforts are bound to fail. As seen in Proverbs 27:23, you need to “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds.”

2) What you already have in place

Sometimes you can build on what you’re already doing. Sometimes you must initiate a new strategy. The specific action steps may vary depending on where you’re beginning and what’s already in place.

Key Factors That Need to Be a Part of Any Course of Action to Promote a Culture Shift

We need to make it an ongoing emphasis and effort, more than a shot in the arm. — People need constant reminders, through various means, that God designed the Church to function in a certain way that brings health and growth to the Body. We can so easily get distracted. We can so quickly forget.

We need to provide tools or a pathway for getting there to sustain this directive in order to make it part of the church’s culture. This could include, but not be limited to:

ongoing teaching on God’s design for everybody doing their part — It can be part of Sunday School teaching, small groups, new members classes, sermons, provision of reading materials, talking about it verbally and in writing on any variety of platforms.

Resource: Everybody Has a Part Curriculum

help identifying spiritual gifts so people discover their best fit in ministry — Seeing how God has divinely empowered us for serving produces confidence.

Resource: Everybody Has a Part Spiritual Gifts Tests Resource

recruiting based on spiritual gifting — How we recruit is important in demonstrating the value we place on serving.

Resource: Ministry Handbook: Spiritual Gifts in Use

highlighting how people can serve through ministry fairs, pamphlets, or some other means — Knowing what ministries are available, connecting people responsible for overseeing the ministries, and learning how they can plug in to the different ministries, brings it to them rather than waiting on people to come to you.

Articles:

Culture Shift is a Challenge

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

We lay a good foundation for changing people’s attitudes, thinking, and actions toward serving by helping them understand why it’s so important. We help them understand that ultimately they’re accountable to the Lord in following His design, not us. We would hope that would be sufficient to motivate people to do their part. Yet, in many cases making it part of your church’s culture still alludes you.

Why it’s such a Challenge to Shift the Way People Feel About Serving

We’re dealing with people’s previous perceptions. We must model a new way of being the church for them.

We’re dealing with people’s priorities. We must bear with them as they rearrange what they’ve viewed as more important to align with God’s.

We’re dealing with people’s hearts. We must be patient as God does a work in them to move them from self-centeredness to selflessness.

Accept the Challenge that Comes with making a Culture Shift

We need to accept the challenge to equip or disciple people, to function purposefully, even when it seems inconvenience or uncomfortable. — So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up … (Eph. 4:11-14) To “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24) requires knowing and following the right course of action to get people there … the topic of the next post.

We need to accept the challenge to keep the focus on Christ, who is the Head, not on ourselves. It’s about submitting to Him and His ways, not our own agendas. It’s about depending on Him to sustain us, not our own strength. — Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph. 4:15-16)

We need to accept the challenge to persevere, however long it takes. We live in a world of instant gratification. Culture shifts, however, take time. — Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Gal. 6:9)

Culture Shift Based on God’s Commands

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Ministry Tools Resource Center — No Comments ↓

For our churches to get to the point where everybody does their parts will take a culture shift — an ongoing change in the way we think and feel about serving along with actions toward it. Part of the shift involves understanding why it is so important.

Important Because Serving One Another is Based on God

based on God’s knowledge of how we can best function as a church, to be healthy and to grow (Eph. 4:11-16; 1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12)
based on God’s heart for us to demonstrate love for Him and others through serving them (Matt. 22:37-40; Gal. 5:13)
based on God’s will for us to administer His love and grace to one another (1 Pet. 4:8-11)

Culture Shift Based on God’s Commands About Serving

According to God, doing our part isn’t optional. Here are just a couple commands God gives in His Word about serving:

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. (Gal. 5:13)

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10)

We must take people beyond a request from ministry leaders to do their part. While the vision for this culture shift from church leaders may initially seem to get people moving, it’s insufficient to keep them going. They need to realize that this expectation comes from a higher authority to whom we’re all accountable — the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Almighty Sovereign God.

Perhaps the starting point may be to help people gain a better grasp of who God is so they understand not only His sovereignty to command us to function a certain way but also His grace and love upon which He exercises His rights. Because God knows best and has our good in His heart, it only makes sense that we follow His commands.