noun. – the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
This post is inspired by the PROMPT: VALUE from Kate Motaung and the Five Minute Friday crew. in 2018. The challenge is to write for five minutes. No editing. I encourage you to go to the link-up and read what others were inspired to write.
But God values us as His children. Actually, He gives us our value. We are His children. And because of this, we have great value. We are nothing without him. We can do nothing without Him.
Our church recently began the adventure of searching for a new pastor. It’s a daunting job when you look for the perfect pastor. Basically, because there are no perfect pastors because pastors are people, too.
We all wonder how we can help our PKs (Pastor Kids) survive growing up in the parsonage.
In our ministry, we had one very special D.S. that had a heart for PKs and did so many things to help them survive their parents’ ministry. I asked him to give us a few pointers today.
How Can You Survive Having A(Those) PK(s) Living In Your Home?
What Can You Do to Help Them Survive You and Your Ministry?
One pet peeve of mine is seeing a bulletin board with old information on it.
It’s so simple to at least just take down the old information. I’ve entered church foyers and laid my eyes on bulletin boards that had not been changed in years. Ripped borders and faded paper caught my attention the most. If you looked closely, you would find outdated information.
Wouldn’t it be great to have something beautiful AND informational to greet your people?
Wouldn’t it make a better first impression on the visitor that enters in on Sunday morning?
Check your membership list, you might have a creative soul sitting right in your pews that would love to take on this ministry.
This is my sister, Kandy Chimento. Years ago, she developed a wonderful discipleship program for teen girls. It was an amazing program and I have asked her to share a little about it.{Originally posted October 7, 2016, on ggmandy dot com}
One of my favorite endeavors is discipleship. In my own experience, I became convinced that effective discipleship can be more of a life-changer than a hundred sermons. One of my prime times of spiritual growth came through a small discipleship group I belonged to in my 20’s, and by the on-going mentoring of an older godly woman. When we were youth pastors in Kansas City, I felt led to create a discipleship course for high school girls.
My vision for this course came from Titus 2:3-5,
“The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”
I wanted to especially invest in older teen girls who would soon leave the family home and be out on their own, so the group was composed of junior and senior girls in high school.
The only qualifications were that they were
1) believers in Christ who had made a commitment to follow Him, and
2) willing to be mentored by women in the church.
The group met bi-monthly and I designed each meeting to have the spirit of a type of sorority – a sense of belonging and comradery.
Subject Matter
The teachings centered around 3 different areas of life:
personal discipleship,
practical homemaking, and
social outreach.
Though the topics in each area differed throughout the years, they all fell into one of these 3 areas. Different women in our church taught the lessons. We elected officers and also included scripture memory in our curriculum.
Some topics included
maintaining a daily devotional time,
meal planning,
finding your spiritual gifts,
raising children,
scrapbooking and
marriage, to name a few.
Various outreaches included
collecting and delivering needed items for a women’s shelter,
helping out at Ronald McDonald house,
and participating in a political event.
We also attended a formal social event together, such as the ballet, and hosted a spring tea for the girls’ mothers. One woman in our church hosted an annual formal Christmas dinner for the girls. We ended each school year with a presentation service, highlighting each girl and her gifts.
Commitment and Accountability
The years of this mentoring program are some of my favorite memories. There was a strong level of commitment in each group of girls that developed throughout our year together. We experienced some wonderful times of bonding, as well as challenging life events which proved to draw us closer together. But one of the most unexpected discoveries was realizing the gifts and knowledge that dwells in our “more mature” women. There are naturally some people that we gravitate toward for spiritual wisdom and knowledge, but the Lord also led me to people who had an abundance of other skills and experience that translated well into mentoring young women. I believe that many of my mature “mentors” also discovered that they had important gifts to share.
Favorite Memories
Consequently, the years of this mentoring program are some of my favorite memories. I believe that these experiences had a lasting effect on the lives of these precious young women as well.
This weekend, we watched some preaching from Greg Laurie. Wow! This guy is fast becoming one of my favorites. He’s such a wonderful Bible Teacher. And always leads people straight to the cross.
Not So Good News
Pastor Greg gave some very disturbing statistics about who is sharing the Gospel. He reported that only 95% of Christians have NEVER led someone to Christ and only 2% have ever shared the Gospel with a non-believer. This is very sad news since we have that only Good News that will fill the emptiness in a non-believers life.
We can give a lot of excuses for not sharing the Gospel. But will God accept your excuse when you stand before Him one day? Allow me to offer three ways to get around your excuses.
So why can’t we recommend the best option for abundant life?
We have the answer folks. We need to be sharing it. 2 Kings 7:3-10 tells of four lepers that were starving and decided to go out to the enemy camp and see if they could find some food. To their amazement, the camp was deserted and food and clothing all left behind. They began to feast on the abundant foods but then realized they needed to share the wealth. They ran back to the city gates and told the people that the enemy camp was empty and the spoils were there for the taking.
Why are we keeping it all to ourselves when we have the best thing since sliced bread. Even better. 🙂
Simple solution. Learn more. There are many tracts and sources available to teach us how to evangelize. There’s the Roman Road and the A, B, C’s which I have right here on this blog. I have used the Wordless Book in my children’s ministry for a long time. This one uses colors to share the gospel. There is now a colorful soccer ball you can use to share the plan of salvation. One summer I taught our church children to tell the Gospel using the colors. They were all given their own soccer ball at the end of the summer. For all these avenues there are cards with all the pertinent information so that it can easily be shared, such as this one
If you would like more ideas, I recommend heading on over to The Navigators website. They have several ways to lead people to Christ, even one where you only need ONE BIBLE VERSE. You can learn one verse, can’t you? You probably already know it. (Romans 6:23)
Bridges International is another helpful resource for learning how to share the Gospel using the Four Spiritual Laws. This is the process that beings with “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.”
I Don’t Know What to Say
Again I say, learn. Start taking your quiet time seriously. Don’t just stop for 5 minutes and read a bible verse. Dig deep into God’s word and see what you learn. He will show you great and mighty things.
None of us know everything. If you get stuck when you are sharing the gospel, take them to someone smarter than you. Our son is like a complete Bible commentary. When I have a question, I got to him and he hasn’t failed me yet to give a good answer. Do you have someone in your life that has Bible knowledge? (your pastor, for one) Tap into them, give them a call or take your friend to meet him.
Photo credit: free image at Canva.com Modified by Mandy
God promises in His word that He will give you the words to say. Just trust Him to do it. If you don’t have the words, He will bring someone along to help you out. He did it for Moses, he’ll do it for you.
I’ll tell you this. Leading someone to Christ is the most amazing thing that will ever happen to you. You will be blessed beyond blessed.
I would love to hear about a time you led someone to Christ. Share your story in the comments to encourage others.
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:16-20
As I read The Great Commission passage again, two things that had never caught my attention popped out at me.
First, “they went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.”
Second, “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.”
First, they obeyed. But second, some doubted.
When we consider The Great Commission, we are sometimes intimidated by the “meat” of the passage. By the “meat,” I mean the command to “go and make disciples of ALL nations…” When reading that and truly considering what Jesus asks of us, our initial thought may be,
“What?! Go EVERYWHERE and make disciples?! I am NOT a preacher!”
Well, that is true. And, that is also false. Most of us are not preachers by profession, but our lives either preach the word, or they don’t. You see, Satan will plant doubt (as he did for a few of those disciples) in us to keep us from living for Christ, and to keep us frommaking disciples for Christ. Even in our obedience, the devil will try his best to create doubt and reluctance. We must not let that happen!
At the end of this passage, we find all the strength we need to fulfill that Great Commission. “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Jesus is right there with us, wherever we go, whoever we meet, whatever He gives us to say or do. We must claim that, and cling to Him if we are to fulfill this Great Commission that He gave to those disciples long ago, and to us today.
Do not delay.
Go. Make disciples.
Remember, Jesus is with us every step of the way!
Glenae
P.S. Discipling Teenage Girls
Mandy’s sister, Kandy Chimento created a discipleship program for her youth when her husband was a youth pastor. She wrote about it here.
Titus 2 Women
The Bible admonishes us to come alongside the women younger than us. Most of them are looking for someone to lead them. Why not you? Also, check out Mandy’s review of Nancy DeMoss Wolgmuth’s book, Adorned, Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together
or Sue McDonald’s book Table Mentoring, a Simple Guide for Coming Alongside. Mandy’s review is here.
I thank Him daily for loving us (me) so much that He sent His Son to earth to live a perfect life, to suffer the cruel death on a crimnal’s cross, but then rise again just to save us all from our sins. Praise His beautiful name! [Read my testimony of faith on my memoirs blog.] But I want to know Him more. I want to grow closer and closer to Him.
Salvation Goes Beyond the Altar
But it doesn’t stop there. Our salvation goes beyond the day that you kneel at an altar and confess your sins to God.
Yes, I believe that we are saved by grace, it is not of works lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8). Yes, I believe that we are made into a new creation. The old is gone and the new is here! 2 Corinthians Praise the Lord!
But we are also called to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior (2 Peter 3:18). If we gave birth to a baby and that child remained a baby forever, we would be saddened. It would break our hearts if the child never learned to walk and talk and live a productive life. Yes, we would still love him but we would desire so much more for him.
The very next verse in Ephesians 2 says, For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Salvation Leads Us into Service
So our salvation should lead us into service for God .. living a life that glorifies Him and leads others to Him. ie. growing in grace
2 Peter 3 says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “
And the Apostle Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 4:1-6 (AMP), So I, the prisoner for the Lord, appeal to you to live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called [that is, to live a life that exhibits godly character, moral courage, personal integrity, and mature behavior—a life that expresses gratitude to God for your salvation], 2 with all humility [forsaking self-righteousness], and gentleness [maintaining self-control], with patience, bearing with one another in [unselfish] love. 3 Make every effort to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace [each individual working together to make the whole successful]. 4 There is one body [of believers] and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when called [to salvation]— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of us all who is [sovereign] over all and [working] through all and [living] in all.
Live a Life Worthy of the Call
So, I too, encourage you to live the life worthy of His calling. We need to work to live holy lives to the glory and honor of God and also, to be a light in the darkness so that others can find the way to Christ.
Photo credit: free at Canva.com; Modified by Mandy
In order to “leave a legacy” for our children and those around us we must first grow ourselves. And how to do we grow? First, we study the Bible. We fill our minds and saturate our lives with His Word.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Growth through Bible Reading
Bible reading and study teach us how to live for Him. It corrects us when we are wrong, encourages our faith and keeps us on the narrow way. And because we need this encouragement in a moments notice, we should memorize the scriptures. King David said, “I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”-Psalm 119:15. If David needed it, so do we.
Secondly, we must communicate with God. Yes, pray to God and practice His presence every day. Communicating with God includes worship and adoration, repenting of sin, interceding for others, and yes even petition for our needs.
Growth Through Fellowship
Thirdly, we need fellowship with other believers. We are not an island. Without faith and encouragement of others, we would fall too easily. Solomon declared that “two are better than one because if one falls the other can help him up. Three are even better! (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12) God promises that whenever we gather together even in a group of 2 or 3, that He will be in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20) Realistically, we need each other so don’t neglect the meeting together of believers.
Growth Through Sharing
And finally, we need to share the Gospel. We are not blessed with salvation so that we can keep it to ourselves. We are commanded to “go and make disciples of all nations”. Even without this command from Jesus, sharing our faith helps us (Matthew 28:19) stronger in it. It confirms in us our belief in Christ.
Let’s do this, friends!
In the coming weeks, we will be sharing more thoughts on these four growth factors. I have searched out some fellow bloggers who can so eloquently speak on these things and I have asked them to write encouragement to us to help us grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Join me here on the blog every Monday to be instructed and encouraged. Have you subscribed to receive our updates? You can do so just below in the blue bar. Just add your email address and click submit!
Growing in Grace;
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Everyone knows that you must be prepared for a hurricane. More than one storm will inevitably come sometime every fall, it’s just how it is.
Most assuredly, no matter where you live, there are natural storms or disasters that you need to be prepared for. There are certain things that you always have ready for when the storm hits. When I lived up north, we carried certain things in the trunk of our car in case of emergency in the deep cold winters.
It’s true for your ministry too.
You need to have a preparedness kit at hand for whenever the storms come. And they will come. I guarantee it.
John 16:33 says,
“In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world.”
However, just because Christ has overcome does not mean we can lay back and not be prepared. Christ HAS overcome the world, but we must take Him along with us.
That daily relationship with Him is the best Preparedness kit you can have.
If we aren’t reading His word daily, how will we know His thoughts?
How will we recognize His voice, if we aren’t conversing with him on a daily basis?
It is hard enough to recognize His voice in calm times.
How will we recognize His Voice in the storm, if we aren’t familiar with His voice?
Recently, a pastor’s wife, Rhonda Cagle Thorson shared this story that impressed my heart of the importance of staying close enough to God to hear and recognize His voice.
God can speak in some most unusual places. Our family went white water rafting in OKC this weekend. We were given detailed instructions for every possible scenario. The guide sat at the back of the raft. We were to listen to his voice (which was hard in the noise of the water).
Although he was steering the raft, our failure to do what he asked us to do would take us off course and risk an overturned raft. With other rafting guides nearby, it was hard to know if it was our guide giving out commands. We had to listen carefully and become familiar with his voice.
God is guiding us through the rapids of our lives. While he is steering, we have to obey in order for His steering to be of benefit to us. We have to practice listening for his voice above the noise and other voices vying for our attention..
in 2011, my family started down a long road of tribulation which included chronic illness and ultimately job loss.
If it weren’t for our close walk with the Lord, I’m not sure we would have made it. God has walked with us every step of this long journey which we are still on. Just as this scripture indicates, it was only that we were walking daily with Him in the first place that He was then able to walk with us through the storm.
Psalm 119:92-95 Amplified Bible (AMP)
If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my time of trouble. I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have revived me and given me life. I am Yours, save me [as Your own]; For I have [diligently] sought Your precepts and required them [as my greatest need].
I recently read again the Hebrew Shamat from Deuteronomy 6
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Do you treasure God this much? This is the first scripture passage that a Jewish child learns from memory. It is quoted every day, if not several times a day. Maybe we should take note and do the same?
My Greatest Advice to you is
Set a time and place for study and meditation and then keep it.
Don’t let anything deter you from your quiet time.
Spend more than a few minutes in prayer each day.
Study His Word diligently.
Practice His presence all day long so that when the storm comes, He is there ready to step in and carry you if needed.
You will find that there is really nothing more important.
The world will wait.
And if it doesn’t it won’t make that much difference in the long run.
After all, you can’t bring people to a relationship with Christ if you don’t have one yourself.
Finding Treasure in Him!
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