Telling Our Stories

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Telling Our Stories - Our Days are OrdainedWhat do you know about Abraham, Moses, King David, the Apostle Paul, and so many other Bible characters? Even more importantly, what do their stories teach you about the God who worked in and through their lives? In telling our stories, it’s important we not only communicate the details of our experiences but even more importantly that we point people to the God who knew us before we were even born and who has ordained all our days (Ps. 139:13-16).

What’s Important in Telling Our Stories

Whether we’re telling the story of our lives leading to our salvation or testifying about what God has done since then, we need to remember some important elements.

1) Accuracy

Let’s be careful not add to or to sensationalize our story so as to make it more exciting. God is fully capable of using the truth of our stories to move in people’s hearts. God uses what might seem foolish, weak, or lowly to us to confound the wise (1 Cor. 1:25-31) so let’s tell our stories the way they happened and let God use it as He will.

2) Enthusiasm

Why should others care about your story if it doesn’t even appear to move you? — “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” (Rom. 12:11)

3) God-centered Focus

Include personal details but keep pointing back to “God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). Perhaps you have a story of God’s grace or of His faithfulness. Maybe the way your story unfolds points to God’s wisdom or power at work. When you keep the focus of your story on God, people begin to encounter a great God worthy to be praised, worthy of their trust.

We have stories to tell of a God who not only worked in the past as recounted in Scripture but still changes lives today. These are stories worth telling.

Have you shared one of His stories lately?

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Caught Up in the Mundane Things of Life?

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Oh, the mundane things of life! At home we must do cleaning, lawn care, pay bills, etc. In the church we must concern ourselves with record keeping, finances, safety issues, scheduling, etc. We might wish we could spend that time doing activities of more eternal value. But wait … is it God’s intent for us to compartmentalize life? Doesn’t all of our time belong to Him? Shouldn’t who we are in Christ affect all that we do?

If Caught Up in the Mundane Things of Life, Stop Compartmentalizing

Think about the purpose we’d have if we made more of a conscientious effort to run all of what we do, even that which seems mundane, through the grid of who we are in Christ and His purposes, design, and mission for the Church.
Do Even Mundane Things in Jesus' Name

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col. 3:17)

Think about the perspective we’d have if we looked at all of life from our position with Christ in the heavenlies.

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6)

Think about the power we’d have for all of life if we applied Jesus’ words about abiding, or remaining, in Him to all areas of life.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn. 15:5)

What Happens When We Don’t Compartmentalize Life

Perhaps if we approached what we view as the mundane things of life through our spiritual eyes we wouldn’t find ourselves fighting over these issues. So many homes and churches are broken apart because we push our own agendas in the mundane things of life rather than seeking first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33).

Maybe we’d bear more spiritual fruit if we looked to Christ for strength and sustenance in all we do rather than just for what seems like obvious ministry opportunities (Jn. 15:4-5). Some of the best divine appointments can come when we least expect them.

When we stop compartmentalizing, it takes our lives, and churches, to a new level. We begin to understand that we can reflect Christ at all times in everything we do, even the mundane. Our light shine at all times and God is glorified (Matt. 5:14-16).

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Where Should We Be As a Church?

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We need to constantly ask ourselves strategic questions to make sure we get or stay on track as a Church — ministry assessment questions. Start with the question “Where should we be as a Church?” because that provides God’s standard against which to measure all other questions we might ask.

God’s Standard for Answering the Question, “Where Should We Be As a Church?”

God's Standard Answers Where We Should Be as a ChurchWhile the Church has undergone changes in recent days, we still have an unchanging standard for where we should be:

  1. God’s Purposes for us to love Him with all of who we are and to love people (Matt. 22:37-40)
  2. God’s Design for the Church to function as a Body (1 Cor. 12)

How we get there may change but the above realities should remain our priorities for when we are who we should be, we will tend to do what we should do — God’s mission (Matt. 28:18-20).

Reflect on the potential, not the current reality. Then in light of God’s purpose and design for His Church, zero in on what ministry you should be doing to accomplish His priorities.

The question “Where should we be as a Church?” is the first of five helpful questions we might ask. Input for doing ministry assessments using those five questions is included in the Staffing Ministry Manual because to effectively staff, we need to see where it fits into the big picture so we recruit the right people for the right ministries and provide them with the training and resources they need to do the work.

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What About Goals for Adult Ministries?

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The words of Psalm 90:12 becomes more and more relevant as we get older. While it certainly relates to us as individuals, perhaps we can also pull out some goals for adult ministries.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Back up a couple of verses and we find the relevance of this verse for us as adults. — Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Ps. 90:10)

In light of how difficult life can be and how fleeting it may seem, we need to make the best of the time we have. That will happen, as seen through a reading of the entire Psalm, by acknowledging God as the all-powerful, always existing God in whose unfailing love we find satisfaction and joy no matter what we experience in life.

Goals for Adult Ministries Derived from Psalm 90:12

Goals of Adult MinistriesWe can find at least three goals in Psalm 90:12 adults need to apply to their lives. It only makes sense, that we can turn these points into goals for adult ministries in our churches. (Click on the links below to read more about each goal.)

1) Adult ministry needs to be instructional. — “Teach us …”

2) Be intentional. — “Teach us to number our days … “

3) Look for an internal impact. — “… that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Also Check Out: Adult Ministry Resources

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What About Training for Adult Ministries?

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Adult MinistriesHave you ever noticed the low volume of training resources for adult ministries compared to what’s available for children and youth ministries? While the number of resources does increase when searching by age grouping, gender, and marital status, you’ll find relatively few resources for adult ministry in general.

Why isn’t more emphasis placed on training for adult ministry?

Adult ministries are important and, therefore, so should training be for it.

God Himself lays the foundation for why adult ministry is important:

Jesus, in His earthly ministry, welcomed children to Himself but primarily ministered to adults.

The Bible, though relevant to children, is written in language geared to adults with concepts difficult to understand.

God has given parents the main responsibility of nurturing children (Deut. 6:4-9; Eph. 6:4) so helping them grow in their walk with God will flow into the training of children. Even adults without children serve as role models for younger generations (Matt. 18:5-6).

If adults walk away from the Church, and more specifically from a growing relationship with the Lord, what will become of the next generation (Ps. 78:4)?

Adequately train adult ministry leaders and teachers so they more effectively disciple and meet the needs of those they serve.

Think about the difference it makes in adult ministries when the following questions can be answered affirmatively:

  1. Do we build the kind of atmosphere most conducive to adult ministry?
  1. Do we know how to break through the walls many adults have built?
  1. Do we adequately address the responsibilities and issues adults deal with as they journey from young adulthood to senior adulthood?
  1. Do we present a God big enough to meet the demands and crises of life?
  1. Do we adapt to the changing landscape of life adults face today, knowing what needs to change and what stays the same?
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How Can We Teach Children to Serve?

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Teach Children to Serve - They're Part of the Body

Since the only qualification the Bible puts on who gets spiritual gifts is that they are a follower of Jesus, it’s important to teach children to serve. They are part of today’s church, not merely the church of tomorrow.

Also Read: What about Children and Spiritual Gifts?

Ways to Teach Children to Serve God Using Their Spiritual Gifts

You may want to implement the following ideas before considering the use of a spiritual gifts test with children since their experience-base is so limited.

  1. Provide teaching about spiritual gifts and God’s design for the church.

Help young people to understand God’s purposes for the Church and for their lives which include serving. Help them realize that they have a part to do right now, not just when they’re older.

  1. Provide opportunities for children to serve.

Children need to develop a base of experience in ministry so they can begin to identify how they may be gifted. Encourage them to get involved in a variety of ways. Offer a consistent diet of ministry opportunities. Involve them, as you can, in the various aspects of total church life where they can work side by side with adults. Suggest that families serve together as teams. God will use these opportunities to grow passions within their hearts and to surface and develop their spiritual gifts.

  1. Provide children with affirmation and feedback.

When Jesus sent out his disciples to minister, He took the time to discuss how it went with them. Why would we do any less with the children and youth whom we deploy into ministry of any kind? First, they should be included in training opportunities. Second, they should be affirmed in what they are doing. If there seems to be an area in which they do particularly well, tell them. Third, provide feedback afterward. Evaluate with them what happened, both the positive and the negative. Offer suggestions on how they might improve. Or, if they just don’t seem to be suited for a particular type of ministry, help them find something that may be a better fit.

  1. Provide these young believers with role models.

Adults must set a good example for the kids. So many adults, however, do not do their part. This can send a strong message to them contradicting all your verbal teaching about why they should get involved. If you expect young people to get it, you better work at making sure the adults get it.

  1. Provide prayer support.

Develop a prayer base for the children and youth of your church that goes beyond praying for only the troubled ones. Pray also for those who seem to be doing well and who want to be a part. They need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit in whatever they do just as much as an adult. Let’s not grow kids who are self-sufficient and self-reliant in their Christian walks, starting their life of service learning to do it in the flesh. Both their motivations and means of serving need to be an outgrowth of abiding in Christ who said “apart from Me you can do nothing.”

  1. Provide a starting point for identifying their spiritual gifts.

While using spiritual gifts tests with children may prove inconclusive due to their lack of experience, a test geared to their age can be a starting point. Using a test would be most beneficial after having provided all of the above first.

Check out Your Gifts for Children: Kid-Friendly Spiritual Gifts Adventure by Church Growth’s Team Ministry as a tool to introduce children to spiritual gifts.

Or, if you’re in youth ministry, you’d be interested in Your Gifts For Teens: The Easy to Use, Self-Guided Spiritual Gifts Survey.

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