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Written by Michael Fong
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Sunday, 01 April 2012 00:23 |
So you want to be involved in ministry in the church? Don’t know how to go about it? Read on!
So you’re in ministry? Want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes? Read on!
Never thought about being involved? Feel like you don’t have the skills or that you’re not needed? Read on!
Ministry is a great way for us to give back to God and offer our time and efforts to his kingdom. It helps us to discover and develop the heart of serving that Christ first showed us. It helps those around us (including the Youth/church) by being the hands and feet that help to make up the body of the church. Ultimately it’s to serve God.
“I want to be involved in ministry”
Ministry is not about being a leader, a manager, a superstar or to be the very best (like no one ever was… DUN DUN DUN). Ministry = serving. It’s as simple as that. The more you serve God in ministry, the more you serve others.
So… You want to be in ministry, but how do you go about it?
- Tell someone! People aren’t mind-readers, you need to be proactive for those around you to recognise your willingness. Your best choice is to talk to one of the leaders.
- Where? So you might want to be in ministry but aren’t sure what you want to do (or just want to help out wherever is needed). If you’re the latter, then you’d better be prepared to do literally anything – wash dishes, setup chairs, take out the garbage, insert bulletins. It’s the small things that help the church to run smoothly. If you’re the former, then (a) you can always start with the small things – there are always dishes to wash; and (b) find where your passions lie and talk to your leaders to see if they have seen any particular gifts in you.
- Commit! Working in ministry doesn’t always happen overnight. It takes time, effort and commitment to work in a ministry. It might be good to help out at a special event every now and then, but the willing, serving heart needs to flow out consistently.
- Do it! Many times in life we are standing in the doorway of something. All it takes is that one step forward and we are inside. This is where your willingness to serve should power you through that one giant leap for … well, you know.
- Don’t give up! If you are passionate to serve but don’t get the opportunity to do so, talk to your leaders who can assist with that. If you feel like you have failed or not done well, just relax. All of the Youth leaders (and I mean ALL) that ever came through MYF have failed on multiple occasions; but through failure comes the opportunity to grow ourselves as a person and to grow ourselves in Christ-like holiness.
“I’m already in ministry”
How often do we get asked to help out with things and our natural, almost automatic response is ‘Yes’? I recently said ‘No’ to a few requests for ministry work because I knew that it would overlap with my existing ministries and would be detrimental to both. Doing more isn’t necessarily good ministry. People who are spread too thin might be busy ministry workers, but being busy is not synonymous with effective ministry work. The most effective ministry workers are those who know how to focus their priorities.
Somewhere along the way in ministry work, it’ll eventually become about doing the next required task and getting the job done, and less about our heart. Remember that all of our actions come back to our heart and while our actions may appear to be as usual, it is often the heart of ministry that suffers. We serve because we love. Take time out to refocus your ministry work to be about and purposely for God. We want our ministry to be effective - but before we do anything comes our heart, for our words and our actions are the overflow of the heart.
“I don’t have the skills to be in ministry” or “There’s already a lot of people in that ministry”
Firstly, the number of people serving in ministry should never stop you from serving. There is always opportunity to serve in some form, even if it’s not in the ministries that are big or up the front (e.g. worship leaders, music, etc.)
- Are you capable of talking to people? Then why not step away from your friends for 5 minutes and talk to the new guy?
- Shy? Why not offer to wash some dishes where no interaction is required… with the exception of interacting detergent and water with dirty plates and cups.
- Don’t think you have any musical talent? Why not help out with audio/visual? I’m 100% certain you know how to use a mouse and keyboard.
- Don’t think there is any space on the roster to help out? The roster is not the extent of the areas of serving. You could serve in ministry by talking to the new guy. You could serve in ministry by encouraging others or sharing the gospel. You could help by stacking and moving chairs, or even inserting bulletins. There are always opportunities to serve that do not appear in the structured roster and while these may not seem grand, it is part of our loving heart to others, to the church and to God.
This has been a pretty long post, so if you’ve made it to the bottom, then you win. You finally defeated Gary Oak and Pikachu finally evolved into Raichu, and you finally caught all 151 Pokemon… Oh wait.
Serving in ministry is not about being in the spotlight and getting praises from others. It’s about showing our love for God in the church and responding to God’s own command to serve one another just as Christ had become the servant of all.
Peace,
Michael
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Written by Frances Dong
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Thursday, 02 February 2012 09:42 |
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I don't know about everyone else but I am psyched to see this new year at EMP Youth! God is waiting to fill our lives with His awesomeness! Get ready for a night packed with fellowship, fun and praise. Bring your friends :D
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Written by Sharon Shea
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Tuesday, 03 January 2012 23:00 |
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As those of you shown in the above photo know, this photo was taken at our final Youth night of 2011, being the MYF/JMYF Christmas party.
The picture really does show that our Youth is so abundantly blessed with great young (and maybe some slightly older) brothers and sisters in Christ and support from our EMP pastors. The growth of our Youth is extremely encouraging and wonderful to see. A lot of smiles, funny faces, laughter and LOVE shine through when we're all gathered together, like in this photo. A real love that we've been able to experience through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Saviour. A real love that no one can take away.
So why not each of us, whether in the picture or not in the picture, disperse into our worlds of school, uni, work and into general society and really let God's love shine through to those around us? "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:16
And I don't know about you guys, but I've got a feeling in my bones that there's another awesome year ahead for the EMP youth :)
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Another year over… what have you done? |
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Written by Tim Fong
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Wednesday, 21 December 2011 23:36 |
Recently I watched a movie called “In Time”, which for those of you who recognise it, has Justin Timberlake in it. Of course, he wasn’t the reason why I watched it…
Now just to fill you in on the background of the movie, it revolves around that old saying regarding time – “Time is Money”. The movie is set in a future where time literally is money. People stop aging and getting sick at the age of 25. Instead, people have a clock on their arm which tells them how much time they have left before they spontaneously die. When they work, they get paid in time, e.g. three hours, and when they buy something, they pay in time – I think a cup of coffee was ten minutes. ‘Rich’ people have many hundreds or thousands of years to live, while the ‘poor’ can only live a day or two at a time. As a result, rich people live life very slowly, they walk to places and they drive slowly. Poor people constantly live a hurried life of survival, where they are constantly searching for their next ‘pay’.
Although the movie itself wasn’t that great, it does raise a number of interesting thoughts. What if you could fill a room with everything that you’ve ‘purchased’ with one year of time? What would it be filled with? Did you get your monies worth with what you spent? Just like money, there are many things that we can spend our time on, some are bargains, some are rip-offs and some feel like they're really worth it. But rather than spending big on earthly treasures, Jesus makes it very clear in Matthew 6:19-24 that we should be storing up treaures for the life where our clock reads “∞“!
As some of us head into holidays and others continue to work, we should always remember that while we don’t have an actual clock, our earthly lives are always ticking away. I can be really lazy sometimes, and it’s often very frustrating, other times however, we need to remember that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). With another year come and gone, we can reflect on what we have done, what we didn’t do and what we can do in the future.
So as we reflect on the past year, I wish everyone a blessed CHRISTmas and a happy New Year! Take care, stay safe and enjoy!
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Recently I watched a movie called “In Time”, which for those of you who recognise it, has Justin Timberlake in it. Of course, he wasn’t the reason why I watched it…
Now just to fill you in on the background of the movie, it revolves around that old saying regarding time – “Time is Money”. The movie is set in a future where time literally is money. People stop aging and getting sick at the age of 25. Instead, people have a clock on their arm which tells them how much time they have left before they spontaneously die. When they work, they get paid in time, e.g. three hours, and when they buy something, they pay in time – I think a cup of coffee was ten minutes. ‘Rich’ people have many hundreds or thousands of years to live, while the ‘poor’ can only live a day or two at a time. As a result, rich people live life very slowly, they walk to places and they drive slowly. Poor people constantly live a hurried life of survival, where they are constantly searching for their next ‘pay’.
Although the movie itself wasn’t that great, it does raise a number of interesting thoughts. What if you could fill a room with everything that you’ve ‘purchased’ with one year of time? What would it be filled with? Did you get your monies worth with what you spent? Just like money, there are many things that we can spend our time on, some are bargains, some are rip-offs and some feel really worth it. Then you can ask yourself, would you spend more time building up earthly treasures? Or would you spend that time preparing yourself and/or others for a life where your clock reads “∞“?
As some of us head into holidays and others continue to work, we should always remember that while we don’t have an actual clock, our earthly lives are ticking away. I can be really lazy sometimes, and it’s often very frustrating, but also sometimes, we need to remember that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). With another year come and gone, we can reflect on what we have done, what we didn’t do and what we can do in the future.
On a brighter note, I wish everyone a blessed CHRISTmas and a happy New Year! Take care, stay safe and enjoy!
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The Danger of Being in Neutral |
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Written by Nathan Chandra
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Wednesday, 23 November 2011 11:11 |
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Exams are over for me, and for tens of thousands of people across Queensland as well. Many have finished secondary education, wondering what to do; some filled with aspiration, many content with being in no rush to set a new goal. Many have completed one extra year of tertiary education, with a few amongst those completing their entire degree, wondering what to do; some filled with aspiration, many content with being in no rush to set a new goal.
Reflecting on the past year, for many people including myself, the definition of "taking a break" means "anything that isn't work". While this seems like a decent definition, the danger lies in the broadness of the definition. Have you noticed that no matter what is on your to-do list, regardless of how simple or difficult it is, you feel some sort of desire to avoid it? Why? Well I dare say that the simple fact it's on a to-do list and yet to be done, makes it "work".
How then do we work more effectively? Especially in the holiday period, how do we use our time effectively and not go to bed feeling like a day has been wasted? How do we set goals, big or small, and get closer to achieving them every day? An excellent portrayal of the concept can be found in a saying recorded in Proverbs 24:30-34:
30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.
Being the sluggard who owns a vineyard means that things quickly get out of hand without proper maintenance. So it is for us. Our vineyard is our family, our study, our work, our health, our friends and most importantly, our relationship with God (not an exhaustive list). If we do not keep a watchful eye on how we spend our time, the things we treasure most can turn out to become burdens for us. Look at the list of the things I included in "our vineyard" above. For each thing, think about how it has been impacted upon by your neglect or procrastination in the past.
Unfortunately for us, it's not easy to fix a situation arising out of long-term neglect; let alone a lifelong habit of inefficiently using time. To get the opposite result we need to do the opposite thing. If our relationships with our family are on thin ice, we'll need to pay more attention and sacrifice more for them, as opposed to less. If we are unhealthy physically or spiritually, we'll need to pay more attention to daily devotion to both exercise and nurturing our treasured relationship with Christ.
What I've said is all good and well for things that need urgent attention, like exams or a turbulent relationship. But what about the things that don't seem to benefit anyone, least of all, us?
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23)
In the past year, the above instruction to the Colossians has found a place in my endeavour to be more productive. For many things in life, we need to realise that working for peoples' sake doesn't always work out nicely. We'll be quickly lulled into the trap of doing things for show, or to make ourselves look good. Moreover, we'll be looking to input the minimal effort required for maximum self-glorification.
If we work for God however, our incentive becomes working for Him. It becomes gratitude for all the things and people we have in our life. We're no longer the focus of our actions, but only a side beneficiary of the fruits of working gratefully, humbly and consistently for our Lord. We no longer see it as our vineyard, but rather the vineyard that God has placed us in charge of. Thorns, nettles and broken walls, they have no place in God's vineyard. But who wouldn't be grateful for the opportunity to prune and nurture a vineyard which is a free gift to them from God!
Have a blessed, safe, relaxing and productive break (for those of you who get one). =)
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Written by Emily Lim
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Friday, 11 November 2011 19:23 |
I thought I would take this opportunity to share something which has helped me over the years. You might have heard me mention it before at Bible study, Youth Fellowship, etc. but I find it so valuable that I think it’s worth posting here for everyone. Hopefully I’m not infringing on anyone’s copyright.
It’s pretty self-explanatory below, but basically, it’s a great test which can be applied to anything and everything we do in our lives, and a way to reflect on what we have done in the past or plan to do in the future. Based on 1 Corinthians, it approaches any issue from 4 different aspects which ought to help us, as Christians, decide how we should then act.
(I highly recommend that you read the book itself, as it is so applicable to our lives today and this is just a small part of it.)
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“Formula: How to Know Right from Wrong”
Taken from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
"'Everything is permissible for me' - but not everything is beneficial" (1 Corinthians 6:12)
Question 1: Is it helpful - physically, spiritually, and mentally?
"'Everything is permissible for me' - but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Corinthians 6:12)
Question 2: Does it bring me under its power?
"Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall" (1 Corinthians 8:13)
Question 3: Does it hurt others?
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Question 4: Does it glorify God?
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So there you have it, folks. I hope this will help you in decision-making in the future :) There's so much to learn from the Bible, so open it up and start reading!
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