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Fantastic Four – Find Your Forte

August 11, 2015 by Leave a Comment

GodOnFilm

 

God on Film:  Fantastic Four – Find Your Forte
Sycamore Creek Church
August 9/10, 2015
Tom Arthur

 

 

Peace friends!

Today we’re continuing in this series, God on Film.  Each week we’re looking at a summer blockbuster and exploring something that movie evokes and what the Bible has to say about it.  Today we’re looking at the movie, Fantastic Four.

So how many are there in the Fantastic Four?  Yep.  Four.  Each one of the four have “unique physical capabilities.”  The Thing has indestructible strength.  Mister Fantastic has the unique physical capability of rubber stretch.  The Human Torch has fire, and the Invisible Woman can turn, well, invisible as well as having the ability to project force fields.

If you got to choose one of those super powers, which one would you pick?  How would you decide?  How did each of the Fantastic Four decide?  They didn’t.  In the original storyline they are hit by cosmic rays in outer space.  In this remake something happens during inter-dimensional travel.  They don’t get to choose what special ability they have.  It just happens to them.

You don’t decide either what special unique capabilities you have.  You just have them.  What are your unique capabilities?  What about your unique spiritual capabilities?  Today I’d like to take a look at the unique spiritual capabilities that each of us are given called spiritual gifts.  Let’s begin with a definition:

Spiritual gifts are God-given natural or supernatural talents every Christian has that God uses to accomplish God’s purposes in and through the church.

That’s a thick definition so let’s unpack it.

God-given = These gifts are by God’s grace freely given.  The Greek word behind the word “gift” is charism which you make recognize in the word “charismatic.” “Charism” means “gift.”  Spiritual gifts are natural or supernatural talents.  Sometimes they are very natural in appearance like knowledge or teaching.  Other times they have a supernatural twist like healing.  Either way they’re what we’re able to do, and what we’re good at doing.  Every Christian has one or more spiritual gifts.  Every person plays a part.  But a part in what?  A part in God’s purposes.  Spiritual gifts are for accomplishing God’s rescue mission to the world.  And God’s rescue mission happens primarily in and through the Church.  Spiritual gifts are for equipping one another and reaching out into the world.  So let’s hear that definition again:

Spiritual gifts are God-given natural or supernatural talents every Christian has that God uses to accomplish God’s purposes in and through the church.

Paul, the first missionary of the church and the author of many of the books of the Bible, says:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.
~1 Corinthians 12:1 NRSV

Paul wants us to know about spiritual gifts so we’re not uninformed or ignorant of our own and God’s purposes for spiritual gifts.  One book that has been helpful to me over the last couple of months is a book by Peter Wagner called Discover Your Spiritual Gifts.  Wagner writes:

“You need to know about your spiritual gifts if

  1. You are a Christian believer
  2. You believe that Jesus is your Lord and you want to love Him, please Him and follow Him in the best way possible; and
  3. You want your church to be a healthy, attractive growing group of people showing forth God’s love in your community.”

I think I want all three of those things.  I suspect that you do too.  So let’s go back to Paul and see what he teaches about Spiritual gifts.  Paul writes about spiritual gifts in several different places but today we’re going to focus on his letter to the Christians who are in Rome.  Here’s what he says:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him…
~Paul (Romans 12:1 NLT)

Have you ever considered that what you do with your bodies is worship.  Worship isn’t just coming together on Sunday to sing and pray and hear teaching about the Bible.  It’s also about how you use your body every day of the week.  How your body interacts with other bodies around you is an act of worship.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
~Paul (Romans 12:3 NLT)

Paul encourages us to have an honest humble appraisal of ourselves.  You’re good at some things and other things you’re not so good at.  Do you know what they are?  Humility is having an accurate and true self-understanding.  Paul is about to help us have that honest and true and humble self-understanding.

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
~Paul (Romans 12:4-5 NLT)

Each of your body parts has a special function.  In the same way, each of you has a special function in the church and the world.  Each of you has a special function in God’s rescue mission to the world.  And just like a human body, the individual body parts belong to each other.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
~Paul (Romans 12:6 NLT)

These gifts and playing this role in the body is a God-given gift.  It’s not something you earn.  You just have it.  Some things you do well, but not all things.  That’s where the honesty and humility come in.  What do you do well, and what do you not do so well?

So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.  If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
~Paul (Romans 12:6-8 NLT)

Some of us have the gift of prophesy.  Prophesy isn’t so much about telling the future, although it may be about that.  The prophet in the Bible speaks from God’s perspective about when God’s people are in or out of the will of God.  The rest of the gifts Paul mentions are more natural and obvious gifts: serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing kindness.  These all are spiritual gifts that God gives each one of us to accomplish God’s purposes in and through the church.

God’s General & Specific Call
Many people often come to me and want to know what God has called them to do in this world.  Here’s the answer.  God has a general call on each person’s life.  That general call is basically the same for everyone: use your spiritual gifts.  God gave you special talents, and God calls you to use those gifts.  That’s God’s general call.

Then there’s God specific call.  God’s specific call has to do with the specific ministry or area or location that you use those gifts.  Some of you are called to use your gifts working with children.  Others are called to the specific area of youth.  Others are called to use their gifts in worship ministry.  Others are called to use their gifts specifically with preaching or outreach or missions.  In any case, God does not call someone to a ministry that God does not equip that person for doing.  While the specific call may change (where you use your gifts in ministry), the general call does not (that you use your gifts).

Martin Luther, the 16th century Protestant reformer, taught “the priesthood of all believers.”  It’s not that there’s a special profession called “pastor” or “priest” that does all the ministry.  Rather, all who follow Jesus, all who are part of the body of Christ are pastors and priests.  Each one of you has a role to play, not just some “professional Christian” we call the pastor.

How Many Spiritual Gifts are There?
Paul gives us three different lists of spiritual gifts in three different books of the Bible.  Those lists are all different.  I don’t think Paul was trying to be exhaustive when he wrote those lists.  Then there are other places in the Bible where special gifts are listed.  So I don’t think there is any one set list or number of gifts.  One online tool we use at Sycamore Creek Church lists twenty-four gifts.  Peter Wagner’s book lists twenty-eight.  I don’t know what the exact number is, and I’m somewhat skeptical of any attempt to nail down an exact number.  But this morning I want to talk about three of those gifts.

Singleness
The gift of singleness is the gift “to remain single and enjoy it and not suffer undue sexual temptation” (Wagner).  Paul teaches it this way:

But I wish everyone were single, just as I am. Yet each person has a special gift from God, of one kind or another.
~1 Corinthians 7:7 NLT

It may seem odd to start our conversation with the gift of singleness.  But I am beginning here because the largest group of people in the neighborhood right around our church is a group called “singles and starters.”  Now let’s get very clear about the gift of singleness because sometimes we tell single people something like: “You must have the gift of singleness because you’re single.”  That’s not true.  Being single doesn’t mean you have the gift of singleness.  It may just mean you haven’t yet met your spouse and life-partner.  If you want to get married, you probably don’t have this gift.  If you want to have sex, you probably don’t have this gift.  If you are quite alright being single, then you may have this gift.

The gift of singleness does not stand alone.  Yes, I said that.  Singleness does not stand alone.  We’re not talking about spinsters.  Singleness is a gift that allows a deeper and fuller use of your other gifts that God uses to accomplish God’s purposes in and through the church.  If you are single you have more time and more energy to focus less on your own family and more on the community around you.  Let’s look at one person who had the gift of singleness: Georges Lemaître.

Who was Georges Lemaître?  Georges Lemaître was a brilliant catholic priest in the 20th century.  In 1920 he got his first PhD.  Yes, I said “first.”  It was titled “Approximation of functions of several real variables.”  I have no idea what that means other than that Georges Lemaître was very smart.  He got his PhD in 1920 and then was ordained a priest in 1923.  In 1927 he went head to head with Einstein when he proposed the Expansion Theory of the Universe.  Einstein said, “Your calculations are correct, but your physics is atrocious.”  Georges Lemaître became the founder of the Big Bang Theory.  Yes, a Christian priest came up with the Big Bang Theory.  Turns out that while Einstein is more famous, Lemaître was right.  Then in 1931 Lemaître got his second PhD which was titled, “The gravitational field in a fluid sphere of uniform invariant density according to the theory of relativity.”  I don’t understand that any more than I understood the first!

OK, let’s unpack all this just for a moment.  A married man with kids barely has time to finish one PhD let alone two.  A married man with kids doesn’t go head to head with Einstein and win.  A married man with kids doesn’t become a Catholic priest.  Lemaître’s singleness allowed him to focus his time and energy (no pun intended) on advancing humanity’s understanding of the universe’s origins.  His singleness was a gift that allowed him to use his other gifts on a deeper and fuller level.  He enriched others with his gift of singleness.  That’s the gift of singleness.  Singleness allows you to use your other gifts in deeper and fuller ways for the benefit of God’s purposes in and through the church.

Hospitality
Wagner defines hospitality as the ability “to provide an open house and warm welcome for those in need of lodging.”  Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends taught:

Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
~1 Peter 4:9 NLT

The person with the gift of hospitality is able to make people feel truly at home whether in their own home or elsewhere.  They also are able to share their home for extended periods of time.  This means be able to share the “mess” without apologizing.  You don’t have to be a Martha Stewart.

Sarah and I have the gift of hospitality.  For most of our married life we have had people living with us.  We’re not alone.  A couple of months ago we invited over for dinner everyone in our church that we know who is sharing their house with someone.  It was good to sit around the table and share stories together.  There are many in our church who have the gift of hospitality.

Of course, one of the ways we are using the gift of hospitality in our church together is through the remodeling of our Connection Café.  Here we hope to make people feel at home and to have a place to build friendships.  Many in our church share their gift of hospitality through our Connection Café.  There will be many more opportunities in the future if we are to open up our Connection Café to the community throughout the week.

One last area of hospitality that takes place together is our shared task of cleaning the building.  While the gift of hospitality as it is played out in our homes may be about sharing the “mess” of our homes with folks, the gift of hospitality as it is played out together in this building is through keeping the building clean.  A clean building removes obstacles from a guest encountering God when they join us for an event in our building.

Pastor
The last gift I want to explore today in details is the gift of pastor.  The gift of pastor “assumes a long-term personal responsibility for the spiritual welfare of a group of believers.”  Again, Peter describes it this way:

Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly
~1 Peter 5:2 NLT

God’s sense of humor is such that I, your pastor, do not have the gift of pastor.  What?  Yes, I don’t have the gift of pastor.  My top gifts tend to be leadership, administration, teaching, and giving.  Peter Wagner says, “Very few senior ministers of large, growing churches do have the biblical gift of pastor.”  This may seem confusing to you until you understand that there is a difference between the role of pastor that we tend to hire for a leader in our church and the spiritual gift of pastor.  I am hired as your pastor to lead this church, and many of you have the gift of pastor to help care for one another.  “As soon as we understand that the gift of pastor is not necessarily what your senior minister has or needs, a vast and exciting possibility is opened for laypeople to begin to exercise the gift of pastor” (Peter Wagner).  Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church, says, “For the church to grow, the pastor must give up the ministry and the people must give up the leadership.”  As our church grows more and more of you will begin to exercise your gift of pastor.  I will begin to live more and more into my gift of leadership.

Two examples of where this is already taking place is with Tom Fox and Mary Ziegler.  Tom is a retired United Methodist pastor who is a partner in our church.  He is also a part-time chaplain at Sparrow.  He has been working to develop a hospital visitation team.  This means that when you’re in the hospital, I may not be the person visiting you.  Tom and one of his team members may be that person.  Mary Ziegler is a recently retired partner in our church who has been developing a caring and listening ministry with many of you.  Mary and her team will soon begin offering prayer partners after worship each week.  These are people who will be available to pray with you each week.  Mary, Tom, and their teams are exercising their gift of pastor, and this pastor who does not have the gift of pastor is grateful for them.

Discover Your Spiritual Gifts
There’s only one last question to ask: How do you discover your spiritual gifts?  I want to give you four tips for discovering your spiritual gifts.  First, use TOOLS.  We offer an online inventory that you can take.  Visit www.assessme.org/2364.aspx and you’ll find four inventories: a spiritual gifts inventory, a personality inventory, a leadership inventory, and a skills inventory.  If you paid for this yourself, it would cost you $15, but if you do it through us, it’s FREE!  Once you’ve taken all four you’ll be given a customized report with suggestions for how to use your gifts.  You’ll also be added to a searchable database that the leadership of our church can use to help you find the right place to use your spiritual gifts.  This is a helpful tool, but let’s remember, it’s just a tool.  It isn’t perfect.  That’s why you need these other three tips.

Second, TRY different ministries.  Don’t feel like you have to get stuck in one area of volunteering.  Try one out for a couple of months and then try another.  You don’t have to stick with just one.  We offer a Serve Interest Inventory and many “first-serve opportunities” when big events happen at SCC.  These are ways you can try different ministries on for size.

Third, TALK to people who know you.  Take your assessme.org results and talk to a trusted Christian friend.  What seems right?  What seems off?  What is missing or confusing?  Talk to more than one person.  Test what you know about yourself with what others know about you.

Lastly, TAKE it to God.  Spend time in prayer asking God to show you what your gifts are and to help you find the right place to use those gifts.  God is the giver of the gifts.  God has a vested interest in you knowing what those gifts are and using them.

When You Know and Use Your Spiritual Gifts
Three things happens when you know your spiritual gifts.  First, you grow.  You have a healthy self-esteem.  Your picture of yourself is accurate and humble.  You begin to take initiative rather than waiting to be asked.  Your thankfulness for God’s work in and through you grows.  And your confidence grows as God’s ever growing specific calling grows in responsibility and scope.

Second, when you know and use your spiritual gifts, the church grows.  Other Christians’ gifts are supported by your gift.  There is health in the full body.  All the systems are working together to accomplish God’s purposes.  Non-Christians are attracted by the health they see and experience in our church.

Third, God is glorified.  When you know and use your spiritual gifts, you offer your bodies as an act of worship.  And now we’re back to where we began.

“This is truly the way to worship God.”
~Paul (Romans 12:1 NLT)

God help us to know and use our gifts so that we each grow, our church grows, and you are glorified.  Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Who’s the Coach?

November 24, 2014 by Leave a Comment

coach

 

 

 

 

Put Me In Coach – Who’s the Coach?
Sycamore Creek Church
November 23/24, 2014
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

What did the coach say to the vending machine?  Give me my quarterback.  Ugh!  Today we’re talking about coaches.  I promise it will get better.  What is a coach?  We’re in this series called Put Me in Coach.  Throughout the series our key thought has been this:

There are too many fans of the game and not enough players in the game.

Take football for example.  Football consists of 22 people on the field in desperate need of rest and 22,000 fans in the stands in desperate need of exercise.  I don’t want to be a church that has 22,000 fans in the stands. I want to be a church with everyone on the playing field.

So far in this series we’ve explored some fundamentals of the game: What’s the game?

What’s a team?  What’s my position?  Today we look at who’s my coach?  Now if I ask you who your coach is, I’m guessing you’ll have an answer pretty quickly.  Jesus.  Right?  Nope.  In this series Jesus is not your coach.  Jesus is the team owner.  So who is the coach?  Maybe it would be good to begin with a definition. What is a coach?  According to Merriam-Webster, a coach is a horse drawn carriage.  Opps.  Wrong kind of coach.  A coach is “one who teaches, trains, and directs.”  So who does that in the team we call the church?  To answer that question, let’s turn to Paul, the first missionary of the church.  Paul planted several churches all around the Mediterranean and then wrote letters to them coaching them about how to be a church.  One letter he wrote to the church at Ephesus.  Last week we looked at playing a position through the lens of Ephesians chapter four verse eleven.  Paul says:

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers…
~Ephesians 4:11 NRSV

But that’s where we stopped.  What comes next?  What does the next verse say about each of these specialized positions in the church?  God gives people these gifts and talents…

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
~Ephesians 4:12 & 16 NRSV

“To equip.”  In other words “teach, train, and direct.”  Guess who the coach is?  Anyone who has unique talents on the team to teach, train, and direct the rest of the team.  One key coach on the team is the pastor.  But I’m not the only coach on the team.  I’ve also got some special teams coaches: the staff and the team leaders.  Anyone who leads a team of people in the church is a coach.

Here’s the catch.  The coach doesn’t actually play the game.  The coach coaches the players to play the game.  When was the last time you saw Tom Izzo bench his team and go out on the court and play the competition?  When was the last time you saw Coach K bench his center and go play center himself?  Never.  Because he’s not a player.  He’s the coach.  (OK, the metaphor breaks down a little bit here because as a pastor I’m also a Christian which means that as an individual, I’m still playing the game, but when it comes to the team, I’m coaching others to play the game).  Thus, the staff are equippers.  The Team Leaders are equippers.  Their job is not to do the work they oversee.  Their job is to teach, train, and direct others to do that work.  The more we grow the more essential the role of coaching will be.

So today I want to explore three fundamentals of coaching.  This means I’m going to be doing some teaching, training, and directing with my special teams coaches while the rest of the team gets to listen in on it.  I’m going to be equipping them to coach.  I’m going to be coaching my coaches.  I think the rest of you will still get a lot of out of this, so don’t tune out.  When was the last time you got to sit in on Mark Dantonio’s pep talk to his special teams coaches?  So let’s get to it.  Three fundamentals of coaching…

1.     Coaches Recruit Players

One of the key roles a coach does is fill the roster with the best players that the coach can find.  Again, the coach isn’t the one playing.  The coach finds the players.  But sometimes there’s a kind of art in finding the right players.  It isn’t always obvious who those best players are.  In the movie Moneyball, which is about the applications of statistics to the game of baseball, we see the Oakland A’s hiring a statistician to build a unique and unexpected team.  Here’s how it happens:

 

 

The A’s recruited a team of “undervalued and overlooked players.”  They found “value in players that no one else can see.”  They built a team that was “an island of misfit toys.”  The world undervalues and overlooks people all the time.  The church is different.  This team finds people that the world discards and overlooks and puts them in unique positions that fit their gifts and talents and calling.

Where are the undervalued and overlooked players in our church?  Just look around.  They’re everywhere.  Someone who is a “fan” sitting in the stands but hasn’t yet gotten in the game.  Or maybe sometimes it’s someone who is in the game but isn’t yet in the right position.  Or maybe it’s someone who is in the game but just needs to switch positions for whatever reason.  Sometimes it’s fans who are just sitting at home not doing much.  They’re rooting for SCC, but they don’t show up very often.  Consider the launch team that I put together for our Church in a Diner.  Half of that team was not attending SCC Regularly.  One member of that team was a neighbor of mine who wasn’t even yet a Christian!  Coaches, who are the overlooked and undervalued players all around you?

So how do you find them?  Let me give you some tools.  We use a little website you may have heard about recently.  It’s called assessme.org.  Over one hundred and thirty people in our church have used this to have their spiritual gifts assessed.  That’s one hundred and thirty scouting reports of people who could be on your team.  That’s one key tool for finding players.

Another key tool I use for finding players is the church directory.  Susan is continually updating it and you can email her and ask her for the most recent copy any time.  If you’re looking for someone to do something, just begin flipping through the pages and let those names jog your memory.  I hear you saying to me, “I did that a month ago and nothing came of it.  Why do it again?”  Because someone’s life situation may have changed.  You may know someone better than you knew them before.  You may just see their name when you didn’t notice it before.  Use the directory.  And here’s a bonus tip: we print a list of skills and stuff in the back of the directory.  You need a plumber?  Look it up.  You need a crafty person?  Check out the skills and stuff.  You’ve also got some personal directories to help you.  Consider Facebook. Just look through your friend lists.  Or look through your email or phone contact lists.  These are all just tools to help jog your memory.

Another great tool is our interest inventory sheets.  We have been doing this for three years now.  We’ve got three years of data about people expressing interest in serving in particular areas.  I don’t just look through this year’s data.  I look over all the data from the previous years.  You never know.

Don’t forget to always be listening…listening…listening…  Listen to what people say they like to do.  Listen.  And when you hear them say they like doing something that is in your area of coaching, make a note of it and bring it up right there or bring it up at another more appropriate time.

Of course, at some point you have to make the BIG ASK!  You’ve got to ask this person to be a player on your team.  Here’s how not to do it: On Sunday morning as they’re walking out the door to go get their hungry toddlers home for lunch say, “Umm…you wouldn’t happen to want to volunteer for a little job that won’t take you all that much time and really is no big deal, would you?”  FAIL!

Here’s how to make the BIG ASK:

  1. Write it down.  Don’t bring it up first in person.  Send them an email or a Facebook message, or if you really want to impress them, send them a handwritten note in the mail.
  2. Include a job description of what you’re asking them to do and an explanation of why you think they’d be good (i.e. You saw that they had this particular spiritual gift on Assessme.org).  This job description should also have an ending period.  When are they done with it?  People don’t like to commit to things that don’t ever end.
  3. Include in the written note that you will follow-up with them on the phone or in person in the next week and ask them to pray about meeting with you to go over the job description.
  4. Meet in person if at all possible.  Go over the job description.  Answer any questions.  Invite them to pray about it some more and let them know you’ll be in touch next week.
  5. Call back next week and get your answer.  It will likely be a YES because of how thoughtful you’ve been in asking them and how you’ve given time and space for the Holy Spirit to turn their initial NO into a YES.

So the first fundamental of coaching is this: recruit your players.  Coaches, don’t play the game yourself!  Equip!  Equip!  Equip PLAYERS!

Coaches Run Practice
The second fundamental of coaching is that coaches run practices and practices are not about what’s easy, they’re about what’s effective.  The movie Miracle is about the 1980 Olympics USA hockey team that beat the Russians and went on to win the gold medal.  There’s a scene in the movie a moment after a defeat when the coach makes the team do something that isn’t easy but is essential:

 

Friends, this is hard for me and for almost every special teams coach I have.  Most of us want to be liked.  Most of us are people pleasers.  Add to that the fact that we’re recruiting volunteers for a team called the church that is supposed to be “nice” and all of us fear losing volunteers.  We fear losing players if we ask you to do what is effective rather than what is easy.  But that’s what a good coach does.  A good coach makes the team practice hard when that’s what it requires to win.

So what does it mean to practice?  To practice means praying together.  It means learning together.  We learn together when we read together.  Leaders are readers.  If you don’t know what books to have your team reading, ask the head coach.  Not a big reader yourself, farm out a book to a team member who is a big reader and let them give a book report on it.  Or learn together by listening together.  My coach, Nelson Searcy, provides me with hundreds of audio resources for equipping our church.  Listen to these audio resources or audio books in your car.  Listen while you’re exercising or cooking or in the shower.  I’ve heard people say, “But I don’t get it all when I’m just listening to it.”  So what.  If you only get half of it, that’s half more training than you would have gotten had you been listening to the radio.  We learn together by conferencing together.  When was the last time you went to a conference with your team?  Did you go to the Reach Summit back in October?  Are you planning on going to our weekend with Tom Bandy December 5th and 6th?  You can also learn by visiting other churches together.  See how they run their special teams.  Meet with the special teams coach who is your equivalent.

So practice means praying together and learning together.  It also means…captain obvious…meeting together.  I know, meetings SUCK!  Don’t they?  Who wants to go to another meeting?  So how do you make meetings more meaningful?  Make them informal.  Don’t meet at the church building just because we have one.  Find somewhere else with more of a party atmosphere to meet.  Meet in your home or the home of one of your team members.  Include food.  Food always makes meeting together better.  Don’t do all the food yourself.  Equip your team to bring the food.  Meet when you’re already gathered before or after church so that you don’t have to add another time into your schedule.  Do something spiritual with your team.  I take the staff on a one-day spiritual retreat every year.  No business.  Just time together with God.  Do something fun at each meeting.  Don’t just start with the “business.”  Or maybe just meet to have a party.  I also take the staff away for a one-night fun retreat each year.  I’ve used several of your cabins to make that happen.  We don’t do anything spiritual other than just be spiritual friends together.

Coaches recruit players, and they run practices.  Those are the first two fundamentals of coaching.  Here’s the third fundamental.

Coaches Praise the Players
My coach, Nelson Searcy, says that I have two responsibilities on Sunday morning: to preach and to praise.  I should have equipped coaches and players all around me so that all I have to do is teach the message and praise the rest of the team and thank them for being here.  My job is to be Rocky Balboa’s coach:

 

That gets your blood pumping!  Doesn’t it?  Anytime we gather I should be saying “Thank you…thank you…thank you!  Way to go…way to go…way to go!”  Now let me be honest, this is hard for me.  It’s hard because I’m an introvert.  It’s hard because my love language is not words of affirmation.  It’s hard because I’m not naturally demonstrative, effusive, and overenthusiastic.  If you really want all that, you turn to Jeremy, our worship leader.  He’s a natural praise giving and cheer leading coach.  I find myself watching him and learning from him all the time.  So I’m working on praising the players and special teams coaches more and more.

How do you praise your players?  I personally like face-to-face one-on-one meetings.  Coaches, when was the last time you met one-on-one with each of your team members?  Of course you can say a quick thanks on Sunday morning or Monday night.  I’ve also been utilizing Facebook a lot lately to praise my team members publicly and invite you to join with me.  Of course, a handwritten note is especially meaningful in our day and age when we rarely get anything handwritten in the mail.  Coaches, consider writing a handwritten note once a day.  Bring notes for your team to write before or after your meeting.  Then write a really good thank you note.  Here’s how to do it:

  1. Be very specific.  Mention a very specific moment and behavior.
  2. Mention the cost you know it was to them to do what you saw them do.  Maybe they had to give up some family time or an evening relaxing at home or some sleep to volunteer.
  3. Describe the benefit to the mission of our church.  How did what they do help us accomplish our mission?  How did it help us play the game well?
  4. Explain what the value was to you personally.  How did they help you play your part?
  5. Then thank them.

“I don’t like getting personal handwritten thank you notes for the time and effort I put into volunteering at church.”
~Nobody

So coaches, how are you doing?  Are you playing the game yourself or are your recruiting players?  Are you practicing or are you just doing what’s easy?  Are you praising your players or are you just hoping they’ll know how much you appreciate them?  Here’s the truth, we coaches all have room to grow.  You don’t have to be perfect here at SCC to be a coach.  But you do have to be committed to growing and getting better.

So players, how are the coaches doing?  Will you take a moment sometime this week and praise a coach in your life?  Send them a thank you note.  Praise them on Facebook.  Take them out for coffee.  But best of all, get in the game!

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , , , , ,

Committed to Christ: A service grounded in humility

April 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color B“So which one is greater, the one who is seated at the table or the one who serves at the table? Isn’t it the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:27)

When Jesus gathered with his disciples for the Passover meal, an argument arose concerning which one was the greatest. Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem, and the twelve could sense that in him a new day had dawned. They would lead a revolution, overtaking the old powers of Rome and the corrupt priesthood. They would set things right by show of force.

But, as is often the case in the gospels, the disciples’ vision was askew. Jesus had in mind a different kind of power, and a different mode of leadership. Jesus came as one who serves.

Service should be oriented to the other. It is not done so that we can be seen or celebrated. It is done in humility, conducted as an act of obedience to God. Service, when done rightly, follows the model of Jesus, who came to serve and not to be served.

Follow his model; follow his way. Love your neighbor, for by doing so you evidence your love for God.

Jesus, you said the greatest commandment is to love God and love one’s neighbor. Help me to follow that commandment today. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Filed Under: Ponderings Tagged With: ,

Committed to Christ: ‘Get out of your seats and into the streets!’

April 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color B“‘I assure you that when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.’” (Matthew 25:40b)

For followers of Jesus, feeding the hungry, providing drink to the thirsty, comforting the sick, visiting the prisoner, and welcoming the stranger are not optional. They are the natural outflow of a life of discipleship to Christ.

Get your hands dirty. Make service in a soup kitchen, a clothing closet, or a justice ministry your way of life. Find a small group of people or a church that you can serve alongside. As a preacher once said, “Get out of your seats and into the streets!” Make the love of God manifest for others through service.

Do these things as an act of discipleship to Jesus. Invite him along to teach you, and expect him to be there before you ever arrive, preparing the way. God will use your acts of obedience to change your heart, to transform you through abounding grace.

Jesus, call me forth to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and raise the dead in the church and in the world. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Filed Under: Ponderings Tagged With: ,

Committed to Christ: Service, an upside-down commitment

April 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color B“Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant.” (Mark 10:43)

This saying of Jesus might be the most counterintuitive statement ever uttered, and it continues to turn the world upside down. Jesus says that true greatness is found among those who are willing to humble themselves and serve.

This statement goes against every natural impulse. To most people, those who are great are those who wield power and demonstrate with force that they should be in charge! But among followers of Jesus, it is not so.

Jesus sends us forth as his ambassadors, calling us to live as he lived among us. Through his loving gift—his ultimate sacrifice on the cross—we are given a radical picture of other-oriented love. Jesus laid down his life for us in order to serve us, in order to open the gateway of heaven and to usher us in by his love, making possible our transformation in holiness and our living each day in hope.

Go forth and serve, not to obtain your own glory but to make the glory of God manifest, inviting others to the eternal dance of his boundless love.

Holy Spirit, equip me today to share Christ with one person in both word and deed. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: Serve Christ, even amid disagreements

April 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BWhoever serves Christ in this way pleases God and gets human approval. So let’s strive for the things that bring peace and the things that build each other up. (Romans 14:18-19)

Romans 14 addresses a conflict. At Rome, some in the fellowship consumed meat sacrificed to idols. While some found no problem with this (“Idols do not exist! Why let the meat go to spoil?”), others took issue, thinking this was not proper for those in Christ. Disagreement ensued, and division followed. But Paul tells Christ’s people at Rome to walk in love, to refrain from judging one another, and to live in “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

According to Paul, all those in the Roman fellowship should act in accordance with their convictions concerning this matter.

As too many Christians can testify, fractures occur in our churches. Disagreements arise, and division comes shortly after. Some disagreements are healthy and are of critical importance. But others only concern trivial matters, questions of conscience without clear mandate from Scripture. In such matters, we should refrain from judgment, work for peace, and build one another up. In this way, we serve Christ by serving one another. Working through conflict in a loving and Christ-like way is a powerful testimony to the truth of the gospel.

Peacemaking “pleases God” and gains “human approval.” Let us therefore serve God and neighbor by conducting our disagreements in love.

Lord Jesus, give me the grace to serve others as a peacemaker. Amen.

 

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Filed Under: Ponderings Tagged With: ,

Committed to Christ: Justice is found at the heart of God

April 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BSpeak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. Speak out in order to judge with righteousness and to defend the needy and the poor. (Proverbs 31:8-9)

Service to God includes advocacy on behalf of those on the margins: the voiceless, the poor, the widow, and the orphan. I do not doubt that you can bring others to mind who find themselves oppressed or marginalized. The Bible is clear: justice is found at the heart of God. Those who love God will do justice. And as we do justice among the voiceless and needy and vulnerable, we are changed.

Yet where to begin? Thomas A’Kempis, a medieval monk and devotional writer, advises us, “Do whatever lies in your power and God will assist your good intentions.” Do what you are able, with an attentive eye watching closely for the works and movement of God. Jesus commanded us to provide food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, clothing for those who have none, and comfort for those in prison. Doing justice encompasses all these tasks, and also takes many other forms. Talk to a pastor or other church leader. Find ministries in your city that are conducting work you are passionate about. Take to the streets, and love.

May others see Christ in me as I work for what is right, speak up for those that are ignored, and advocate for the oppressed. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

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Committed to Christ: Let’s not get tired of doing good

April 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BLet’s not get tired of doing good, because in time we’ll have a harvest if we don’t give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Jesus called us to the difficult yet immensely rewarding work of following him and acting on his behalf in our world today. He warned us that the tasks we would be given would not always lead to a comfortable life, nor that disciples would be free from suffering. The work can be exhausting, as evidenced by Paul’s encouragement to the churches of Galatia to “not get tired of doing good.”

There are many saints who are tired of doing the work of ministry. They are worn down. There are others who have yet to participate as fully as they could or to help share the burden.

You may fall into either category. If you are worn down, be encouraged, and invite others to participate. If you sense you have not yet engaged as fully as you should, go to your pastor and ask, “How can I serve?” Press on. Do the work. Celebrate the good. Be encouraged.

Finally, don’t quit. A harvest is on the horizon.

God of Grace, give me energy and strength to continue doing good, even if I am tired from laboring and working and serving. Amen.

***

In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Filed Under: Ponderings Tagged With: ,

Committed to Christ – Serve

April 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Committed to Christ – Serve
Sycamore Creek Church
April 13/14, 2014
Tom Arthur
John 13:3-15

Peace friends!

How’s your serve?  I don’t mean your tennis serve.  I mean your commitment to serve God in the church, community, and world?

Today we wrap up a series called Committed to Christ.  For the last six weeks we’ve been preparing for Easter by looking at our commitments to follow Jesus.  Today we look at our commitment to serve.

Back in February we took an anonymous survey asking you about your various commitments.  We asked you about your commitment to serve and here’s what we found:

Do you serve the Lord with your time and talents?

2 – No, I’ve never given any time to serve God.
14 – Yes, I do give my time, but only when directly asked to.
22 – Yes, I take the initiative, searching for opportunities
14 – Yes, about one hour a week
9 – Yes, about three to five hours a week.
12 – Yes, I give time to serve God every single day.
2 – Yes, I give a tithe (10%) of my time to serve the Lord.

Today it’s my hope that each one of us would take a further step in faithfully serving God and others in our church, community, and world.  One very practical opportunity you’re going to have to serve is this Thursday.  This Thursday is traditionally called “Maundy Thursday.”  Maundy Thursday is the day before Easter when the church remembers the mandate, thus “Maundy”, that Jesus gave his disciples to love those around them in service.  He not only told them this but he showed them what this looked like by washing their feet, a dirty nasty job in a day and age when there were no socks or pavement and everyone walked around in sandals, here’s the story as Jesus’ follower, John told it:

John 13:3-6 & 12-15 NRSV
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him…

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 

Today it doesn’t make a lot of sense to wash people’s feet.  So to celebrate Jesus’ washing his disciples feet we’re going to gather at the local Quality Dairy Laundromat to hand out free quarters and laundry detergent to wash people’s clothes.  It’s a simple but powerful witness to Jesus’ command to love one another through service.

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve looked at serving with our treasure, testimony and temple.  Because next week is Easter, it’s worth just taking a moment and asking this question: how is investing and inviting three people to Easter going?  That’s part of what it means to serve  through your testimony.  You share with others how you have encountered God in the resurrection and worship at SCC and how that encounter has changed you and sent you in mission to the world.

Serving with your Time
What about serving with your time?  We talk about tithing our treasure or money to God or giving 10% back to God.  What would it mean to tithe your time?  Have you ever considered that?  That would be a big commitment, right?  2.4 hours/day in service to God in our church, community, and world!  Or maybe you just want to count waking hours.  If you get seven to eight hours of a sleep a tithe on your waking hours would be about 1.5 hours/day.

Below is a list of all the ways you can serve the church, community and world at SCC.  When it comes to giving of your time, I’d like to suggest you take an experimental approach.  Try something out for three months.  You don’t have to commit your entire life to it.  Just give it a try and see how it goes.  Reevaluate and then readjust your time commitments.

Serving with your Talents
What are you good at?  What talents has God given you?  One way to explore that is through an online assessment tool we use called Assessme.org.  Assessme.org gives you four inventories to help you find how God has uniquely gifted you in your personality, leadership style, spiritual gifts, and skills.  Take about twenty minutes and learn something about yourself here:
www.assessme.org/2364.aspx.

Here are my results.  When it comes to my leadership style I’m highest in administration, strategic, and pioneering leadership.  I’m weakest in team, encouraging, and pastoral leadership.  In other words, I tend to be pretty task oriented rather than relational oriented.

 

TArthurLeadership

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the results of my epersonality test.  I’m a planner.  My personality leans toward being independent rather than social, I am an abstract thinker rather than concrete, I lean toward my head or intellect more than my heart, and I’m a systematic thinker rather than an adaptive thinker.  This makes me a good “planner.”

TArthurPersonality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it comes to my grace gifts, I’m gifted in stewardship which is not just about money but also about people.  I like teaching.  I also am a giver and a leader.  I’m gifted with the talents of administration and making disciples or followers of Jesus.

 

TArthurGifts

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your talents when it comes to your personality, leadership style, and grace gifts?

A Service Autobiography
I’d like to put some flesh on these graphs by sharing with you my own service autobiography.  How did I end up right here right now?  How did I end up serving Jesus by serving the church as a pastor?  How did I end up with the unique set of talents and passions that I have as a pastor?  Here’s my story, or at least part of it.

Growing up in what is sometimes called the “holiness tradition.”  In the holiness tradition there’s a particular emphasis on avoiding sin.  “Sin” in the holiness tradition means personal purity.  So we were encouraged not to curse, smoke, drink, use drugs, have sex outside of marriage, listen to secular music, date non-Christian girls, or do anything “unedifying.”  Christian maturity in the tradition I grew up in was primarily about avoiding personal sins of impurity.

One thing that was highly emphasized in the holiness tradition was reading your Bible.  Reading your Bible can be a dangerous activity.  As I began reading my Bible more and more I began to see that God wasn’t only interested in personal sins of purity.  God was also interested in social sins.  Or you could say that God was not just interested in personal holiness but also in social holiness.  Let me give you and example of this kind of thinking in the Bible. It comes from the prophet Isaiah:

Isaiah 58:1-9 NLT
1 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
    Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel of their sins!
2     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?
6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
7 Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
    and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
    and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

This isn’t one isolated place in scripture where God is interested in questions of justice and how we treat the poor.  It’s all over the Bible!  God is interested in our service to him in personal holiness but personal holiness doesn’t mean much to God if we’re not also interested in serving our neighbor in social holiness.  So what is social holiness?  Social holiness is serving God by serving both the spiritual and physical needs of others with our time, talent, treasure, testimony, and “temple” in the church, community and world.

Who do we serve?  We serve God, but we do so by serving our church, community, and world.  What do we serve?  We serve spiritual and physical needs.  How do we serve?  We serve with our time, talent, treasure, testimony and “temple” (our bodies).  Let me give you some examples from my own life.  Watch for some common themes.

In early elementary school I began a hamster breeding business.  It turns out that I was pretty good at breeding hamsters but not necessarily selling them.  Later on I found a better way to make money. I started a lawn mowing business.  I created little business cards and went around to my neighbors and passed them out.  I got three good clients and mowed their yards throughout middle and high school.

While in high school my creativity began to bloom.  I started a Christian radio show on my high school’s radio station, WBDG.  I also won the state competition in radio documentary-making with a documentary I led my team in making on the topic of gangs in Indianapolis.  So began my interest in creative use of media production and communication.  While in high school I also took several classes in photography.  I began to learn how to create images that would communicate to our culture.

Meanwhile my leadership skills began to bloom as I led a before-school prayer meeting.  I would pick up three to five fellow students who would gather at our church to pray for revival in our school.

I graduated 29th out of almost 1000 students in my class.  I enjoyed learning and that expressed itself in the college I chose.  I went to Wheaton College, a small Christian liberal arts school outside of Chicago because it had a strong emphasis on faith and academics.  I began as a Christian education major but switched to psychology.  During a summer internship, I realized that I wasn’t interested in being a counselor and was more interested in the research field of Community Psychology, the arm of psychology that focused on intervention and prevention.  While at Wheaton I also took all the photography classes that Wheaton offered and picked up a photography minor.

During my sophomore year I began to volunteer in the Dearborn Boys club in the projects on the south side of Chicago.  By my junior year I was leading the group of students from Wheaton who went down weekly to build relationships through sports and games with boys in the projects.  The projects on the south side of Chicago are massive.  I learned that if the projects were made their own city, they would be the second largest city in Illinois next to Chicago.  This exposure to poverty was ultimately where I experienced a call to racial and economic reconciliation.  This meant for me helping build friendships across racial and economic barriers.  Rich and poor and black and white becoming friends.

When I graduated from Wheaton I moved to Petoskey, MI and began working at Petoskey United Methodist Church.  While in Petoskey I somehow ended up leading the local ministerial association even though I wasn’t an official minister.  I also ended up founding the Northern Michigan C.S. Lewis Festival.  In its first year, the C.S. Lewis Festival consisted of 19 events put on by 14 groups over the month of November and was attended by 2500 people.  All of this was in a town of 7000.  Even though I am no longer involved, the C.S. Lewis Festival is now in its 11th year and still going strong.

While in Petoskey I volunteered at the local homeless shelter called The Nehemiah House.  While there I met a man named Alex.  Sarah and I had just bought a three bedroom house, and we were only living in one room of it.  We felt like God was calling us to share our house with Alex, so we did.  He still rents from us and lives in our house in Petoskey.

My work at Petoskey United Methodist Church eventually led to a call to become a pastor.  This was a fear-filled calling.  I was afraid that I would be appointed by our bishop to a traditional boring church.  That obviously hasn’t played out yet!  I chose to go to Duke Divinity School because Duke placed a strong emphasis on both personal faith and academics.  At Duke I started the Duke Socratic Club, a debating society that met weekly to debate what we were learning in classes.  We also held public debates between professors at Duke and other professors in the area.  Our first event, a debate between Richard Hayes and Bart Ehrman, got picked up by the state news and over 500 people attended!

When Sarah and I moved to Durham we had to choose a church to attend.  We decided to attend a church that I would likely never be appointed to, so we chose to attend the historically black United Methodist Church in East Durham, Asbury Temple.  At Asbury Temple we met David and Rebecca Arthur, who have the same last name as our family but are of no relation.  David and Rebecca had begun the Isaiah House, a “New Monastic” house in the ghetto of East Durham.  We decided to move into the Isaiah house and join their mission.  Living at the Isaiah house was like living in the local homeless shelter with your small group.  Besides becoming a parent after thirteen years of child-free marriage, there has been nothing more disruptive, challenging, and ultimately powerfully meaningful than living at the Isaiah House.

Before we left Durham, we began a new group called The Order of St. James (OSJ).  OSJ is made up of fellow pastors and their families who want to take the principles of New Monasticism and put them into practice as pastors.  We have three practices that we hold one another accountable to: Simplicity, Hospitality, and Evangelism.

During my last year at Duke Divinity School, I somehow ended up the co-president of the Student Council.  My co-president was a black woman named Nancy who taught me how the world looked from a black woman’s perspective.

Toward the end of my time at Duke, I received a call out of the blue one day from a woman named Barb Flory.  She told me that she had planted a church in Lansing, MI and was retiring.  She had heard about me and wanted to know if I was interested in being appointed by the bishop as the second pastor of Sycamore Creek Church.  I was intrigued by the idea and met with her and the leadership team and the bishop appointed me to be the pastor of SCC.  About a year later, she called me again and wanted to know if I was interested in joining the team of people in West Michigan who plant churches for the United Methodist Church.  I was intrigued and eventually joined the team.  Now I’m the leader of that team and involved in church planting all around the state.

I’m not sharing this story with you to make myself look good.  I’d share your story if I knew it as well as I know my own.  I’m sharing it to show you the common threads of gifts, talents, personality, leadership style and passions that runs through it all.  What common threads did you hear?

Do you see some common threads running through my story?  I see a mixture of these common threads:

  1. Entrepreneurial spirit and impulse
  2. Creativity
  3. Leadership
  4. Passion for justice and the down and out (racial and economic reconciliation)
  5. Double interest in academia (learning and teaching) and practical living (doing)
  6. Calling by God to live out all those things as a pastor of a local church

What are the talents and gifts that run through your life?  How can you use those unique mixture of gifts and talents to serve God by serving your church, community, and world?  Where is God calling you to serve?

Are you ready to grow in your hands-on service to the Lord? Check all that apply.

ð      No, I am not ready at this time.
ð      No, I am not ready yet, but I will be searching for ways that I can serve the Lord.
ð      Yes, I am ready to begin giving one hour each week.
ð      Yes, I am ready to begin giving two hours each week.
ð      Yes, I am ready to begin giving ______ hours each week.
ð      Yes, I am interested in exploring serving in the areas circled on the Serve Sheet.
ð      Yes, I will take the online inventory at www.assessme.org/2364.aspx.
ð      Yes, I am ready to serve weekly/monthly/quarterly in a missions opportunity in the community.
ð      Yes, I am ready to go on a Nicaragua medical mission trip this year.
ð      Yes, I am sensing a call to ordained service.
ð      Service will be a priority in my life, growing to include the following:
I will look for ways to give my time and strength to serve the Lord. I will serve with joy and gladness. When I feel the Lord inviting me to greater levels of sacrifice and service, I will answer, “Yes, Lord, send me.”

 

Serve the Church, Community & World Interest

 

Name:________________________________________________ Contact:____________________________

I am particularly passionate about: _____________________________________________________________

I have these talents/Spiritual Gifts: _____________________________________________________________

Circle the ministries in which you might have an interest in serving or are committed to serving again this year.  Someone from new areas of interest will contact you for further discussion.

Serve the Church: Worship

Band
Worship Leading
Media Team
(lights, sound, presentation)
Communion Servers
Set-up Team
Tear-down Team
Crew Chiefs
Worship Dream Team
Artists
(paint, sculpt, atmosphere, etc.)
Video Production
Preaching
Pastoral Leadership/Ordination
Church in a Diner Team
Next New Venue Launch Team

Serve the Church: Kids Creek*
Set-up Team
Tear-down Team
Registration
Assistant Teachers
Teachers
Worship Leader
Media
Nursery Staff
Nursery Assistant
Special Event Nursery Care
Kids Creek Team
Special Events Help
Summer Kids Creek Teacher 

Serve the Church: StuREV*
Teachers
Event Planners
(retreats, missions, etc.)
Event Chaperones
StuREV Team
Summer Team

Serve the Church: Administration
Finance & Facilities Team
Personnel
(SPR–Staff/Pastor Relations)
Advertising
Bulletin Prep
Office Cleaning
Offering Counters
Office General Help
(mailings, etc.)
Landscape/Gardening
Space Team
(looking for new space)
Capital Campaign
Website Team

Serve the Church: Small Groups
Small Group Leader
Teachers for short-term classes
Small Group Host
Small Group Mission Cor
Prayer Team
Care/Support/Listening Team
Hospital Visits

Serve the Church: Hospitality
Sunday morning leader(s)
Set-up
Tear-down
Special Meals
(Baptism, Vision Mtg, etc.)
Food Prep
Greeters
Ushers
Info Table

Serve the Church in a Diner
Parking Lot Host
Host at the Door
Set-up
Tear-down
Presentation/Media
Offering Usher
Planning Team
Mission Team

Serve the Community:
Small Group Missions
Open Door Ministry
(Day Room for Poor/Homeless)
Holt Senior Care
Maplewood
(Women & Children’s Center)
Compassion Closet
(Personal Needs Bank)
Habitat for Humanity
Driving People to Church
Transition Food Ministry
(Provide meals for families)
Transition Food Ministry Leader 

Serve the World: Nicaragua
($500+ scholarship available!)
Spring Medical Mission Trip
Fall Medical Mission Trip
Weekly/Monthly $ Pledge

Other Serve Ideas
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Skills and Stuff
(Listed in Next Directory)
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*Serving with children or youth requires a screening process which includes being active at SCC at least for six-months, a background check, and possibly references.

Filed Under: Sermons Tagged With: , ,

Committed to Christ: ‘Be happy in hope …’

April 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Logo 4-color BDon’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord! Be happy in your hope, stand your ground when you’re in trouble, and devote yourselves to prayer. (Romans 12:11-12)

The New Testament gospel accounts portray Jesus as someone full of enthusiasm, filled with the Spirit of God and driven by his Father’s will. Those committed to Christ will conduct themselves in this same way. Jesus had the Kingdom to announce, people to teach, sick to be healed, dead to raise, outcasts to restore, captives to free, and poor to dignify. There was no shortage of work.

It is the same today. Jesus calls us to follow his example and his teachings. Think of your community. If that is too broad, think of your church. What are the needs? Still too vague? Think of your home. As Mother Teresa wrote, “Bring love into your own home for this is where our love for others must start.”

Start small, in the immediacy of your life as it is today. Be filled with the Spirit. Be enthusiastic. And evidence great love.

Holy God, help me to be happy in hope, steadfast in trouble, and devoted to prayer. Amen.

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In preparation for Easter, our entire church family is in a season of decision and commitment toward the goal of becoming fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us for Committed to Christ: Six Steps to a Generous Life.

Filed Under: Ponderings Tagged With: ,
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