Training — Ministry Leaders

“If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the other ninety-nine on the hillside and go off in search of the one who went astray?” - Matthew 18:12 (NCB) Every year about this time I am reminded of my own spiritual journey. This is about the time when a group of high school friends reached out to this lost sheep and introduced him to the Savior. I am convinced that there are still lost sheep that need to be found and introduced to the Savior. “The shepherd leaves the 99 well-behaved...

We all desire for our children to be disciples of Jesus. His last words in Matthew 28:18-20 command us to make disciples of all nations. Have you ever considered yourself as a parent a disciple-maker? How about a disciple-maker of all nations? And have you considered that Jesus also calls your children to be disciple-makers of all nations? This probably seems like a daunting task! You may think, “I can hardly get my children out the door for school on time. How can I disciple my children to be disciple-makers? And to all nations? You are crazy!” The beautiful truth...

I have a confession. I have a struggle, a struggle not so uncommon to many, but this struggle is mine, nonetheless. If there is a conflict of sorts between me and another person, I have trouble letting it go. I have trouble dropping the matter. You may identify and share in this common struggle. As a leader in ministry, I KNOW the danger that this struggle can be in my role of shepherding others. I also know that whether this is an area of great personal struggle or not, it IS a challenge that all ministry leaders will face. Children’s...

As the journey to launch a 1-and-2-year old class within our church continues, we have fine-tuned the classroom schedule. We ask the teachers and helpers to arrive 30 minutes before the service starts. This not only allows time to review that day’s teaching, but also to pray over the room and the children before the first child arrives. Since our church services last between 75 and 90 minutes, our classroom schedule looks like this: 20 minutes Free play 5 minutes Prayer / snacks 20 minutes Bible / lesson / singing / mirror 30 minutes Guided play 15 minutes Clean up...

For modern families, the concept of Sabbath can feel like just another thing we are supposed to do — or perhaps, a list of things we are not supposed to do. For some, it may feel like a mandatory call to be at church on Sundays, no matter what. For others, it may feel like a restriction on everything we do on the Sabbath, limiting our ability to have fun and enjoy ourselves. But neither of these reflects God’s intentions for the Sabbath. His purpose has always been to give us a gift — a gift of remembering Him through...