Called to the Ministry?

We are a month away from Servolution and there is a huge buzz right now not only in Auckland but Sydney and Brisbane as well. Thank you to all the pastors and the churches who are partnering together to share the love of Christ through simple acts of kindness.

This morning I was meditating on the fact that we are ALL called to the Ministry. To Serve People and to Share Christ. The Great Commission and the Great Commandment. ‘Ministry’ is not a special career for the clergy. It is a calling for all those who follow Jesus Christ. We are all called to minister not just the paid clergy.

Someone asked me the other day “when did you accept the call to the ministry”. I did say 9 years ago. But thinking about what I said back then, was wrong. I accepted the call to minister the day I gave my heart to Christ, which was the day I decided to follow him, 25 years ago.

‘Minister’ is not title, nor a position. It is a function. (my conviction)

Ministry is what ALL Christ followers do. There should be no ‘professional ministers’ in the Body of Christ. some are called specifically to equip he ministers (Eph 4), that does not make them professionals. If people are not ministering under their equipping ministry then they are not doing the ministry of equipping.

As a pastor I need to be careful not to act, talk and preach in such a way that sends a wrong message that I’m the “Super Pastor”, who is ever present in time of trouble, always counseling, always praying for people, making every decision, etc…….. ( try to do those every now and then).

Jesus trained the 12 to minister and then sent them. He did the same with the 70.

So are you called to the ministry? If you say you are a follower of Christ then know this……YOU ARE CALLED?

No one is going to ordain you to witness and share the love of Christ. You are called to the office, the factory, the school ….etc……where you work!!! you are called to the sports club that you are part of, you are called to the business and the clients you are part of……..

Thank you for obeying the call of Christ, to serve, to feed, to care, to love, clothe, to visit, to pray, to comfort…. ………

In Servolution Language; thank you for washing cars, giving out water bottles, mow lawns, giving out flowers, renovate schools, giving out food parcels, weeding gardens, baking cakes, picking up rubbish, painting out grafitti, etc………..

At LifeChurch, we say, “Every member is a Minister”. My wife and I are the pastors but everyone is a minister.

Secret of Accomplishing

Reflecting on John 15

Jesus says: “Without me you can do nothing.” This is a powerful statement. Here lies the secret of achieving and accomplishing Gods mission in us. It is totally reliance on Him. He doesn’t say, “Without me you can do a little.” Jesus says that without him we can do nothing.

“We must come to realise more and more how totally dependant we are: we can do nothing, know nothing, and have nothing. “Without me you can do nothing”, says Christ. Think about it! The sooner we realise how helpless we are without him the more we need Him.”

St. Patrick. (c. 387 – 493) a missionary who brought the Gospel to Ireland. He was known as “The Enlightener of Ireland.”prayed this prayer.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise.

This man knew the secret of accomplishing his purpose and mission in life.

Person Stretching Me Lately

Joel Holm:

I have a read a lot of books and listened to a lot of sermons on Mission. Joel’s perspective is unique and relevant. Joel uses new concepts, a new vocab, new strategies to fulfill the 2000 year old Commission by our Lord to  make disciples. I highly recommend his book ‘Church Centred Mission’- Transforming the church to change the world.

I was blessed to finally meet Joel on Monday. (Thanks Phil). I came away after the meeting challenged, and stretched in my thinking in making the paradigm shift.

Some thoughts:

• It is not we don’t know but what we do know that hinders us.
• Church focus more on worship rather than discipleship. The great commission is making disciples not awesome worship services
• Have a thy Kingdom come perspective in the church.
• Vocation / Career is a missionfield. Every disciple of Jesus is a missionary.
• Every skill was needed in Rebuilding the Jerusalem walls – not just the pastors.
• Principle: Receive a prophet – receive a prophets reward. Receive business person, receive a musician, etc…….
• Typically 1% of the congregation is involved in mission. 99% see themselves as supporters of the 1%. The BIG question for me as a pastor is how can I get the 99% to believe that their calling is the same as the 1% and motivate them to be missional in their Kingdom vocation.
• Use Kingdom Initiators not just ministry leaders
• Ask the right questions and you will get the right answers
• Think:
  • Strategic
  • Spiritual
  • Worship
  • Relational
• Speak new Language:
  • Steward of Influence,
  • Conscious competent,
  • Kingdom Initiator,
  • Ordination of all nations,
  • Kingdom cross pollination,
  • Kingdom ministers,

Re-Casting Vision

Recently a pastor asked me on how I cast vision and motivate everyone to get on board. I answered, “when I first started, it was with much tremble, fear and gnashing of teeth”.  Back then I was inexperience, didn’t know much about church leadership and casting church vision. All I had was a burning passion for God and what he laid in my heart.  I was like Moses saying to God and the ‘burning bush encounter’ – ‘What shall I say to the people who sent me’…….Lucky for Moses God said “Tell them I AM WHO I AM”.

Today I look forward to casting Vision.

This weekend I am meeting with all my leaders at LifeChurch. I will once again recast our vision as a church. My goal as a leader is to realign everyone and everything so that we are all on the same page, singing the same song.  This is necessary because you want all your leaders to be on board. Next weekend I will be doing the same thing with the whole church.

Here are some of the things that I will be sharing:

1.  Who we are.

Identifying who we are and explainging the reason why we exisit as an organisation is a great start. As a church we have a purpose and are on a mission. We don’t just exist.

2.  Where we are going.

This is where I will be talking about our goals and dreams and what we will do and where we will be.

3. Why we are going there.

I will be explaining reasons why we need to go there. Why do we do what we do? Why do we do it differently.

4.  What it feels like to be going there.

I will be honest with people. I will share the good the bad and the ugly. Lets face it ministry is hard work but it can also be a lot of fun. I love fun and hard work together.

5. What they can do.

I will be calling for commitment. Their time, energy, skills, resources and so on.

6.  How we’re going to do it.

I will be sharing our strategy as a church. This is one of the major differences between churches.

7.  What the rewards will be.

Ultimately God will say “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” I want to train their ears to look forward to hear that from God. When your team and church understand that God rewards us all individually and accordingly, then they will work to please God not the pastor. They will work to build the Kingdom not just the church organisation. When they get an eternal perspective that this is about the will of God and his purpose for our lives, then I beleive I don’t need to hard sell the reason why we exist as a church.

I think thats why it was so hard for me to talk vision in my early years.

We are here to please the audience of one. God.

Church Vision pt1

After Vision Sunday, I received several comments from our church people regarding the vision of the church. Most of  them were overwhelmed and greatful for having such a vision for the church and the community.

Some of the comments I made on Sunday:

Vision is the picture of the future that produces passion today. What is the picture of the church do you see? What picture of the community (Manurewa) do you see?

A Vision Guides us
A Vision keeps us focused all the way. -
A Vision fuels creativity and potential – Vision makes us do things we never thought possible - 
A Vision launches us into ministries and areas never considered before -
A Vision unites people - 

Vision reminds us of:
• Who we are:     Identity & Values
• What we are called to do:     Mission
• Where we are going:     Vision
• How we are going to get there:     Strategy