Ministry

Family friendly worship..it is more than Children’s messages!

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DSC_0530So I did a children’s message this past Sunday.  I normally don’t do them in worship.  In fact I try to avoid them.  This past Sunday for a worship service in the park it made a lot of sense to do it.  I think children’s messages have a place in worship services.  I think we shouldn’t do them often. I think for many of us we do them because we think if we want to be family friendly we should do them.  I think this is a mistake. Doing a children’s message doesn’t make one family friendly.  It just can be a neat way to interact with kids in worship. And in a park setting it made a whole lot of sense to share Jesus with them in this way.

I think getting Kids involved in worship is important.  I think we have a whole lot of others ways to do that in a regular worship service that are far better. I think we might be missing the point when we think we are family friendly by doing children’s messages.  You see I think we need to think about children and families as often as possible throughout the whole service not just a three minute moment of cuteness. So here are some things I think we all should think about in worship to help make it more kid and family friendly. I think their are three things we should do to help kids participate more.

First, repetition in important. It allows kids who can’t read to participate. It could be through liturgy, lords prayer, contemporary worship songs that are simple, etc. repetition allows kids to know the words and participate.

Second we should allow kids who are squirmy to participate. Maybe do a confession that allows them to move around the room. Once I had kids bring a rock to the front of the room and drop it in a sand pit.  We were confessing using John chapter 8 as our reference to scripture. Having them move and be involved is important for worship with children.

Third and probably the easiest  way to share Jesus with kids in worship is to use pictures and visuals in worship.  Stained glass was used to tell the story of Jesus. It still is today.  You could use pictures and other visuals on screen or in the bulletin. Visuals give students something to see and focus on with the words. It helps the little ones see Jesus.

Let us all strive to share Jesus with the whole family of faith.  Children’s messages can be good, but we have lots of other ways to be family friendly and share Jesus.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  Matthew 19:14

Youth and family ministry to 80 year olds…Listening to the stories, being the family of God

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This week I had the joy of sitting with an old friend.  Someone I have known for a little over 5 years who I think of as an amazing grandma in the faith.  I have seen here many times at Church and today I had the privilege and joy of spending just a few moments talking with her at her house as I move away.  I wasn’t planning to see her but I had to make a visit because she had something in needed.  Jesus was at work in all this.  We laughed, we cried, we shared a moment together and she got to unload some of her story I have never heard before.  It was a moving moment and I have to say thank you to Jesus for letting me have a reason to see her one last time. I don’t know if I helped her but I do know I got to be Jesus for her today. It was one of my greatest moments in youth and family ministry.

You heard me right.  Youth ministry isn’t just about talking with teens, or children.  Youth and family ministry is about being in the lives of people.  Being in the lives of the family of faith.  Family and Youth ministry isn’t just about young people, young families, and little children it is about the whole family.  You see our more seasoned members need people to listen to them.  To care for them.  To pray for them.  Our family is bigger than just the young.  Our family is whole of the body of Christ.

For those of you who work in Youth ministry I want to remind you of something so important.  Seek out the seasoned members of your congregation.  Pray with them. Ask them to pray with you. Listen to them, and be there for them. They are a part of the Church as well. They are important to your ministry.  Jesus has allowed me to have some pretty amazing people walk with in my life.  People who wouldn’t be considered kids, but people who have allowed me to share Jesus with them.  I love that they let me and I love that Jesus puts us in those places.  May God put you in a place to day to be Jesus to someone.  To listen and to offer hope in their lives.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for letting me walk with youth both young and old.

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters,[a] and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing 2 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV

Every Sunday morning is a teaching moment…Taking time to teach our young ones.

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1511331_706123226152813_4875238377950661103_nEvery sunday is a teaching moment for my kids.  As a family and youth minister it can be something I take for granted.  I was reminded this weekend, as I sat in my new Church, the importance of teaching my kids what is happening in the worship service. A new place means new practices and old ones done in different ways.  Often I forget that my own kids may not fully understand or know what is going on. So this Sunday I had a great moment with my youngest.

Durring confession we were asked to kneel or sit and ask God for forgiveness. I think my youngest may not have understood or might have just not paid attention but either way she was kneeling and praying but she looked very confused.  So I leaned over and asked her “Do you know what you are supposed to be doing?”  She looked at me and said “No dad!” She had that look of embarrassment in her eyes.  She was praying. She tried to look like she knew what she was doing. She was kneeling and had her hands folded and eyes shut. I leaned over and said “Ella we are confessing our sin. We are telling God what we did wrong this week.” She turned and with a small smile of enlightenment she got back to it. I was so excited for her because she got to finish her confession and hear God’s words of absolution.

This episode made me think however that more of us need to remember to share with our young and new members what is going on.  We in pews need to share with them about what is happening so that they can participate. Just because they are preforming the actions doesn’t mean they know what is happening. Next week as a parent I would encourage you to watch your children and ask if they understand what is going on. Ask if they need help to participate.  When we see a new person who looks lost come beside them and ask if they need help.  It may just help them hear about Jesus and his awesome forgiveness.

 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
    and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
    Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”[e] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
Acts 8:29-39

Tell your daughter she is beautiful, show your son it is manly to love Jesus! Lessons from the Mission trip.

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22086_514760352023887_970493562160296772_nLast week I spent time with 20 high school youth on our annual mission trip.  It was my last week really working with them because God has called me to a new place in ministry.  It was a week of much joy, crying, and laughter. It was truly a great week of ministry.  As the week progressed I spent a lot of time with guys and girls in one on one in conversations. I  got many opportunities to talk with my youth group and with other students on my crew.  Here is what I learned.

All girls need someone to tell them they are beautiful.  They need it desperately.  We live in a world that tells them they aren’t good enough, pretty enough, or special enough.  Girls who are paper thin and the girls who are not don’t ever need encouragement to loose weight. They feel they are ugly.  They feel no one thinks they are pretty.  I spent the better part of two nights telling girls they were beautiful. That Jesus finds them beautiful inside and out.  God looks upon them through the eyes of Jesus and sees beautiful women of God.  Please if you are reading this go and find your daughter and tell her she is the most beautiful person in the world. If you have a friend who is a girl remind her she is beautiful in the eyes of Jesus. I know I just did.

Second lesson for the week is for all the men out there.  Show your sons  and other men that loving Jesus is manly.  I talked to a lot of boys who struggled with this.  I am so glad I had a number of male leaders this week who are some of the most manly men I know share with these boys how manly it can be to love Jesus.  We as men can be manly and love Jesus.  It is manly to worship Jesus. It is manly to be undignified to love Jesus.  Jesus isn’t just for women.

So parents, adults, and youth, remember to care for each other, remember Jesus finds you beautiful, and remember to share Jesus’ love with everyone it is the beautiful and manly thing to do.

Desecerning a Call…what does it mean?

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20150608_224256_001So yesterday at St. Peter’s it was announced that I have received a call to serve as the Director of Child and Family ministry at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Rochester MI.  So at High School youth group we talked briefly about what that meant and a student asked me how do you know what to do? How do you know you made the right decision? I was very glad she asked the question because I think many of us struggle with this as well in our everyday lives.  I am not going to claim to be this great expert but I thought for many of us in ministry it can be helpful to hear what others go through in their process to discern a call. By the way I don’t believe their is any perfect way to discern a call. I thought I would just get some thoughts on the computer screen to let others see how I discern a call.

When I am discerning a call the first and most important thing I do is pray.  I pray, I ask others to pray, and when I think I am done I pray some more.  We cannot underestimate the importance of this step. Everything in the call may seem great, the money, people, location, ministry, and good for family. Its the perfect Church. (This doesn’t exist by the way)  The most important thing I do when I receive a call is pray.

For those who are praying for me it is ok to be selfish in your prayers.  You want me to stay or you want me to come, it is ok to pray that, but I would ask you add this one part to your prayer, may God’s will be done. If you care about me or any worker going through the call process to serve another Church please pray that we will be doing God will in this decision.  God’s will is ultimately done in all this, but we pray that God will let us see His will and follow it.

Every Church worker looks at different criteria for a call.  For me it has always come down to these few questions.  Can I serve this new Church in the way they are asking me to do it? Am I a good fit?  Is my move helping the Kingdom of God? The first question is normally fairly easy for me to answer. The second is the tougher question. The last question I ask myself was shared with me by a DCE friend and it comes from a book he read. (I am not sure of the book or I would quote it here) “Are we leaving a call at the end of the book or at the end of the chapter?” This is probably the toughest question of all to answer.  This is why prayer is so key to these types of decisions.  Most of the time I listen to people who are praying also.  I listen to trusted friends and fellow workers to answer these questions. I talk with my wife and kids about these questions.  I read the scripture in search of answers.  Most importantly I listen. I listen and try to hear God speak the answers to these questions.

Lastly as a point of practice I normally make a decision at night and take an evening to pray about it one more time. If I have that peace the passes human understanding the next morning, I feel comfortable I am following God’s lead. I then start to share with others around me what the decision is. If it is a tough night, and don’t have that peace, then it is time for more prayer.  I want that peace. At a certain point you have to make a decision and you do and then you pray some more that God allows everything to go smoothly no mater the decision.

By the way Church workers are not the only ones who go through this. All people have a call in their vocations. We should all be going through this process when we think about where God is leading us to be and work. It shouldn’t matter if it is a Church, or retail job, janitor or babysitter, we should all be discerning God’s desire for us and where to serve.

So I am asking all of you, will you pray for me as I discern my calling to serve in these two places. Help me to know where Jesus would have me serve his Church. May God lead all of us on the path he would have us travel.