Monday, March 9, 2009

Serving the church


Oh gosh this is going to be a hard post to write. Why? My Monday posts are specifically written for my church families that I serve every week. I'm the Director of Children's Ministries at my church. I absolutely love these families so very much. They bring such life and joy to me. I've been in this role for about 5 years. Wow! That's even hard for me to believe. I've been around just long enough to have a good handle on the church, people that make up the church, and the ins and outs of a church.

The church is a completely beautiful place when I sit and look at what all happens on a daily basis. Church is not just on Sunday or Wednesday. The church can also be a very difficult place to work. It's hard work being all "Jesus-y" all the time. We are people who are sinners and fall short all the time. Our hearts are pure, our intentions are good, our energy could be better, and our focus sometimes gets lost. We are real live people who love Jesus who are not perfect.

Ok, got that out....let's go to the hard stuff. I need you to know that I am a big, ole church geek.I listen to sermons all the time. ALL THE TIME. I follow pastors on blogs and twitter. I think I do that so I can learn as much as I can from as many people as I can. I want to be a great leader.
I want to learn all I can about Christ. I'm all about the church y'all. It's almost an obsession. Is that bad?

Anyhoo...I'm listening to a sermon series called No Perfect People Allowed. And, can I just say that this is one of my favorite pastors EVER. His name is Perry Noble. He has a fascinating story behind the church and I love the way he teaches. In this series, he was talking about serving within the church. This is where I might upset someone, but I feel God pressing it on my heart so heavily that I gotta stick it out.

1 Corinthians teaches about the gifts that we are given and serving within the church. The body is made up of many parts. MANY parts. We can't expect all the eyes and ears to do all the work. We need all the other parts to step in and do their job.

The following statements are not mine. These are Perry Noble statements. And, he stepped on my toes. He may step on yours too.

**How are you actively serving in the church? The key word is actively. Not sporadically or when asked to do a one time deal. Actively.

**There are gifts within you that may not be unlocked because you have the attitude of "I don't do that or I can't do that." Once you start serving, God will unleash these gifts because you are serving. We can't begin to imagine how He will unleash something within us once we start serving.

**We need to take away the focus of being spoon fed and making church all about us. At some point we must take responsibility for our walk with Jesus. Do you really want to be spoon fed forever?? Matthew 5 tells us that we will be blessed when we hunger and thirst for righteousness because we will be filled. You MUST SEEK Him and He will fill you. Don't expect the church to do it all for you.

That's enough for today....so, lets go back to the question? How are you actively serving your church?? When we are in service, the focus becomes less me directed and more Christ directed and at that point, He will unleash some amazing things. Don't we want to be an amazing body working together as we should be??? I want us to be unstoppable because of the lives we are transforming.

I'm praying for all of us, my home church people and every single one of you. I'm praying that we begin to ask God "How can I actively serve you and your church?" I want us to explode with gifts that we can't contain ourselves!!!

Now, that wasn't so bad was it? ;)

Hugs and blessings~

10 comments:

Patty said...

I feel that all there is left to say is Ouch and Amen!

You can never get enough of the Word and you are putting so much Word in that it leaves NO room for Satan's lies!!

Love you!
Patty

Melinda said...

I had to miss my last monthly leadership meeting and my small group coach gave me the notes just yesterday. After I read this post, I thought, "where have I seen that name before?". I just pulled out the notes and they were a copy of "7 Non-negotiables for effective spiritual leaders"...by Perry Noble!!

I'm going to have to give this guy a listen!

Love you,
Melinda

ocean mommy said...

I'm with Patty..."ouch" and "amen". :)

Girl, your church is blessed to have you serving them. I sure hope they "get" that. :)

Love you
steph.

HIS Child said...

Soaking up HIS Word is a wonderful way to take those thoughts captive and meditate upon the Father of Truth, and how much HE loves us.
He will never stop that love for us, regardless of what we do. I love that kind of Passion and it is hard to wrap my simple mind around that. It however is HIS promise I will never forsake you
I will never leave you.

I love your heart to share, even if it is a tough one. God bless your day sweet sister.

Unknown said...

Sweet Sister in Christ,

You hit the nail on the head...my head. I'm going to mull this over and talk with my Savior about it.

Blessings!

Sheryl

Anonymous said...

To Fran-thank you for stepping on our toes. We need it.
To Steph-her church IS blessed to have her and we DO know it! We love and appreciate her....even when she steps on our toes! ;)
xoxoxo,
sue

A Stone Gatherer said...

Bravo! Great Post! I second everythng you said! I myself have been stretched beyond measure! God has shown me that obedience breeds gifts. Things I never thought I would do I am doing, with his power! YEAH GOD! I just so want others to come to that knowledge. I think I can be a bit judgey because of that! Bad me!!!

Joanne@ Blessed... said...

Fran,

Great post. We are currently seeking a church home, and what a hard place that is. When you desire to serve, being without a home is awful.

If I were there, you would have my help sister!

For now, I am having a Believing God Bible study in our home and writing devotions. When Jesus is inside us, He needs to be poured out of us.

Anonymous said...

Fran -- GREAT Post and one that needs to be passed along to all. I LOVE church, too. I LOVE serving with God's people and I LOVE serving God's people. It hurts my heart when I think about the blessings that so many are missing by sitting on the sidelines of church.

God is calling us into a deeper relationship with Him. A part of that relationship is serving His people. I could go on and on and on. I'll stop here. Thank you for being bold!

Anonymous said...

Just a quick FYI - Joe brought me home a "no perfect people allowed" T-shirt from the Unleash conference. Woot!!! ~Pam


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