Ministry

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: The connection to the cross, and baptism!

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Created with Microsoft Fresh PaintTomorrow I get to lead chapel at my Church School. Tomorrow is ash Wednesday and that has me thinking deeply today.  Many of the children who will be here will experience imposition of ashes.  My prayer tomorrow is that many of our students will take the time in worship to remember their sin and more importantly be reminded of the eternal life won for us on the cross, and given to us in our baptism as we are connected to the cross.

I know many people don’t like the imposition of ashes because of Jesus’ words in Matthew  6 about keeping our prayers and fasting to ourselves and not to show it off.  Jesus is obviously right, and if the goal of ashes is to show the world we are repentant or how good of a Christian we are we have failed.

The purpose of the ashes placed on us is to remind us of our sin, remind us that without Jesus we are dust and without him we will continue to be dust forever.  I love that in that moment. When we are brought to the realization of our brokenness.  The part I think is more important and often overlooked is we are given the sign of the cross.  The same sign we were given at our baptism.  That this is not our end. We are not just dust but we are God’s child.  We are the ones who are connected by baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection. You have eternal life today in Jesus and forever more.  As we spend the next 40 days in a time of reflection on our sin we must not forget these two truths.

Tomorrow as you are reminded of your sin, and the death it brings, remember the life that comes in life with Jesus.

  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.  2 Corinthians 5:21-6:2

Why I love car rides with students!

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van ride

Recently I took a group of students on a weekend retreat to Concordia University in Ann Arbor. I love taking students on events. The daily grind with students is important but retreats give us a chance to have more time.  My favorite part however is not always the retreat itself but the car rides. Ok some times the car rides aren’t fun. Sometimes you have a student get sick, or just restless.  Maybe you have that student who just can’t sit still or ride well with others. I however love the car ride for one reason.  I love the conversations it induces.

I am an extrovert to the extreme.  I love interaction, I love conversation, I hate silence.  I very rarely turn on the radio. In fact most of my students know that the only time I have the radio on is if we are playing MMMbop by Hanson in the car at full volume. (I know it is weird but it brings me joy.) Van rides are some of the best part of my ministry because I get to share in the lives of my students.

Our last trip was quite and adventure of conversation. We talked about all manner of things most of which I wont mention here but I always love what my students say about our car rides.  “Steve we always have the craziest of conversations about life, relationships and Jesus when you are driving.”

I love the car ride and I love those conversations I get to have with students. I learn from them. I hear things from them they wouldn’t say otherwise mainly because they are trapped in a car with me.  My point is sometimes we miss the joys of siting in a car and talking about life and Jesus. So turn down the radio and listen and talk to your students. Enjoy the journey and hear what they have to say.

Are we challegeing them to be disciples, or just members?

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1795956_840619722635628_1996074617490833731_oThis past Sunday, at the congregation I am privileged to serve, I was asked during the message to contemplate something I have been talking with my pastor about for some time. We were asked “Are we just members of a congregation or are we disciples of Jesus?” Now before you get angry and say this is just part of the wishy washy Christianity that says I don’t want to go to Church or organized religion I just want to follow Jesus crowd. That was not the question I am asking, nor was it the question asked of us on Sunday.

The question we were asked is do you just want to be a member or do you want to be something more? Do you want to be a disciple? You may be asking “what is the difference?” Those terms have meaning and this is what I think they mean. Members are people who belong to a group for a benefit. Disciples are people dedicated to the teachings of a master and to spreading that teaching to others.

Did you become a member of the Church just for the benefits? Are you coming to our Church to have someone to bury you when you die, or someone to marry you when you fall in love? Are you coming to youth group just so you can go on trips, and have fun events?  Or, are you coming to this community, this congregation, because this community is dedicated to learning from the master Jesus Christ. You see a disciple is something more that just coming to make sure our name is on a membership role.  You are coming to meet with these people so we can learn from the Master. We come so we can learn who God is through his Son Jesus Christ, the Master.  As disciples we don’t just learn about Jesus but we go and share that Jesus with others. A disciple is a learner and a sharer.  He or she not only gets something but shares something with those who God has put in her path.

So are we challenging our students, our children, and our families to be disciples? Are we challenging ourselves? Are we reinforcing a mentality that says “I come to this place called Church so I can be a member, and receive my rewards for doing this. Or are we challenging ourselves, our people, our families to be disciples. Are we asking them to be in the Word to receive the greatest gift we have in Jesus.  Are we asking our students, parents, families, adults, and children to be disciples who come to the master to learn and to share? I pray our answer is yes.

How are we helping families pass on faith?

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WP_20140924_19_17_29_ProRecently I have had a few parents come to me after our confirmation classes at St. peters and thank me for making them talk with their children about faith.  Parents have the most influence in shaping kids spiritual life. They have 7 times the amount of time with them each week.  I know I have missed opportunities to help families do the thing God has called them to do which is pass on faith.  We are part of the family team.  We should be a part of helping students grow in faith. The more important thing to do is spend far more time with people who can have the most influence on the young people who we are serving.

This week I received one of the best and slightly shocking compliments I have gotten in ministry.  A mom came to me this week and said thanks for making her talk with her son about faith. I was a little shocked but almost did the imaginary fist bump in the air.  She said they are using the model I taught them in confirmation at home during the week. Not every night but that pattern has been great for them.  She said I never really talked with my kids about God in a direct way and she really appreciated the helpful nudge through confirmation.

I was blown away. This year we made a tweak to confirmation, I thought it would be better for all involved I just didn’t know it would have such a profound impact on families.  For our confirmation classes we have added and extra 30 minutes for parents to sit with their child and share three things; Highs and lows for  the week, questions based on the topic for the week, and most importantly how can we use this information during our daily lives. It is a requirement I thought would be good for families. I just didn’t know how much of an impact.

Parents and kids have been blown away by this simple questions.  It has helped parents share about how they see Jesus. It has helped students share with parents all the things they have questions about, and how they are living out their faith.  It has truly been profound.

So my question for all of us is how are you helping families pass on faith.  How can we share simple things for parents to disciple their children in Christ.  This simple thing is having profound effect in my ministry. How about you?

Youth ministry: Are you making them think…One of my goals in minisrty and life.

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question-mark

Have you ever thought about why you believe and trust in Jesus?  This weekend I asked my high school students this important question.  They struggled to put into words the reasons why they trust in Jesus.  I enjoyed that. I think of all the things I want my students to do with their faith is think.  I think being a disciple of Jesus means we think.  I want them to struggle with this Jesus of Nazareth, and what he said and did.  I think all too often we send students out of our ministry without having them really grapple with this question of who is Jesus, and why we believe and trust in him. I wouldn’t say the students struggled with believing and trusting in Jesus.  We all have doubts and struggles with Jesus, but that isn’t why they struggled to answer the question.  They struggled because they never thought about it.  They never had to put into words the reason for the hope they have in Him.

I think one of the most important things I do as a church worker is challenge my students to think.  Too often in Christian churches and youth ministries we forget to make our students think.  I think we think it is enough to just tell them the answers and then they can say them back to others, but being a follower of Jesus is questioning our leaders and other who claim to know this Jesus.  Being a disciple of Jesus is that struggle with the scripture and struggle with faith in this God who cares for us. To struggle with why I believe in this Jesus.  Why I trust those that saw him and heard what he said.  It is part of growing up and growing in Jesus.  We never fully understand. It is a lifetime of struggle and thinking but it is so important for all of us to think to wrestle with Jesus.

I didn’t want to answer yet why I trust and believe in this Jesus. They asked me but we aren’t at that point yet.  This journey may take a little while because they need to struggle with it.  We all need to struggle with this faith and trust in Jesus thing. So my question for you is are you struggling with your faith, and trust in Jesus? If you aren’t I would challenge you to struggle with it.  I would challenge you to dive into your scripture to struggle with what Jesus said.  In the struggle and thinking we grow.  I want to grow and struggle and think so I may know Jesus more.  I also pray the Holy Spirit guides this process as we struggle.  The Holy Spirit guided those early disciples who struggled and thought and believed in Jesus and know he will be with those of us who are Jesus’ disciples today.