All tagged service
How often in ministry do we try to give people what we think they need? Whether that is in a pastoral counseling session or in upcoming class offerings or even from the pulpit, many times we think we know the answer to people’s situations without hearing where they are coming from.
The church of our time, as the spiritual Israel of God, is called to embrace the figure of the suffering servant and renounce claims to political or economic power in a society that collectively can be seen as Babylon. As an alternative culture, we are to proclaim God’s justice to the world instead of conforming to it.
In moments as seemingly mundane as the passing of Communion trays, we get to help shepherd our people by serving them. In doing so, we follow in the footsteps of the Chief Shepherd.
It is not uncommon for a church to have a lot of volunteers but only a few VOLUNTEERS, requiring ministers to constantly be in recruitment mode. And of course, constant recruiting takes an enormous amount of time.
As followers of Christ, we ultimately want what God wants. So how do we figure out exactly what that is? While neither I nor anyone else knows exactly what that is every time, there is time and space to discern and arrive at what that could be.
The gospels are a testament to the transformative power of personal connection, empathy, and tangible assistance—core components of ministry that extend far beyond the physical church.
Seeing what compassion looks like on Jesus shows us what compassion looks like on God. But what does compassion look like on you and me?
In Unreasonable Hospitality, Guidara describes both his personal journey in the dining industry and how he developed his obsessive pursuit of being hospitable.
What kept Paul’s fire for Christ burning even in his old age? I believe it was the conviction of his calling. He knew exactly who he was and what he existed for.
Our need to control everything contradicts the posture we need to have before God, destroying the very thing we seek: REST!
Tabitha obviously served with love, and that love was sensed by those who were beneficiaries. She lived out her faith in a tangible way that blessed others.
Embody the unchanging story, the gospel that is truer than true, where you are “you-er than you,” rather than living in response to an old memory tape.
Christ confesses in his Phil. 2 hymn that every knee that bows brings glory to God the Father.
Church leadership is so weird. As I observe church leadership teams, including my own, I think everyone feels it. Who is the boss? Um, maybe no one.
We, the people of this common space of earth, were created by a communal God. Who do we think we are, so often going it alone?
Let me suggest some ways that all of us—including preachers and church leaders—should be making disciples.
Jesus emptied his entitlement so that he could serve others. I don’t believe that in a million years he ever would expect someone else to iron his clothes.
It’s easy to fall into a judgmental approach toward groups like the scribes and the Pharisees. Could some of the criticism Jesus levels at them could be just as easily leveled at me?
Pray fervently. Prayer is not something to do when you can do nothing else. It is the thing to do before and during everything else.
Our freedom is found not in being without a master, but in the identity of our master. Because there will always be a boss, it very much matters who that boss will be.
