Tag Archives: Ministry

Intercessory Prayer for our Mission

Intercessory PrayerLiving in the Spirit
August 21, 2015

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. –Ephesians 6:18-20

Praying for others keeps them in our minds and hearts as while as resting them securely in each of our relationships with God. Although most of my family lives within a hundred miles of me, I do not see them very often. I know what some of them are doing because they post interesting tidbits on Facebook. I talk to my brother and sister by phone routinely. The time I spend with God about each of them each day keeps me connected to them as we all shuffle through our busy schedules.

The same is true regarding prayers for our brothers and sisters in Christ’s service. We practice intercessory prayer each Sunday morning, in perhaps more of a formal manner than some would like, because we only call out the names of people for whom we are asking special prayers or short phrases about situations in our community or our world. While we may not know the particulars of a situation we trust in the faith of the one who does and join in solidarity with them to own their concern without needing to know it. God knows the need. Most of our Sunday school classes follow a practice of taking prayer requests and in these more intimate settings more information can be shared, if that is helpful.

I must confess though that most of these prayer requests relate to ill health or other crises. Ephesians in our scripture today is calling on us to intentional prayer for individual ministries and collective ministries. I must confess I cannot remember many times having anyone ask for prayer for God to enable their service in Christ’s name. We may prayer for the Pastor or the church in general and I have prayer for friends who had expressed fear of speaking in a public service. I wonder what would result if in our times of intercessory prayer, we shared our individual needs for ministering and those hearing such request prayed with as much dedication for ministry concerns as they would for a health concern.

Prayer: Lord, bless each of us as we answer your call to ministry. Grant us courage to follow your will and enable us with the skills and talents we might need to accomplish it. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Dealing with Change

BluetoothEastertide
May 11, 2015

Scripture Reading: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. –Acts 1:21-26

It is that time of year when my church, which is congregationally governed, elects new officers and elders, deacons, and deaconesses. Just a few years ago we went through a process of reorganizing our governance system primarily to reduce the number of meetings people were having to attend but also to shift the time commitment of our membership from governance to ministry.

It is hard to give up familiar ways, and any changes that are made in any organization must be accompanied with transparent and consistent communications. One of the greatest challenges facing the church and other organizations is the many varied ways we now communicate that may cause age isolation, if we fail to cover all the basis. I just spent time connecting my cell phone via Bluetooth to my new home phone system. I have stubbornly attempted to allocate my cell phone to my personal safety and communications needs, but have discovered that the rest of the world does not recognize my designated use. Once the number escaped my control, it morphed into everyone else’s designations. It took missing many calls and text messages causing me to hurt feelings and miss important meetings for me finally to give up trying to control it. I, however, do not want to constantly be checking several devices thus when my old home system bit the dust, I invested in one that could keep all my messaging together that is until the world changes again.

The disciples in our scripture today, recognized the need to reorder their organization to make it fit the new life situations in which they found themselves, and to continue the ministry Jesus has set before them. We have the same calling today. We must make decision together that always work to support that calling and that may require adjusting our lives in ways we never imagined to fulfill the trust Christ placed in us.

Prayer: Lord, you gifted me with the ability to be steadfast, guard me from taking the next step into stubbornness when it may imperil my service to you. And thank you so much for whoever writes those step by step instructions: push menu, press the down arrow, and select Bluetooth when I do not have a clue what Bluetooth is. Amen

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Tell It Now

Jesus following transfigurationEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
February 15, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Mark 9:2-9

As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. — Mark 9:9

 This theme of not telling anyone what the first disciples were hearing and experiencing runs throughout Mark. Mark is apparently the first of the gospels in order of writing, but it was written many years after the fact. Mark does convey a certain sense of telling just the facts, getting the story down. But it has always been a puzzle to me why Jesus did not what them to tell others about his life.

I suppose it could have something to do with the timing of Jesus’ mission. He felt a need to accomplish some specific tasks, mainly preparing the disciples to carry on the ministry. I have never thought that it indicated a lack of confidence. He was confident at the age of 12. Perhaps Mark just wanted his readers to gain an understanding of the importance of the mission by telling it in such a full-motion manner.

Whatever the reason, we need to understand that we are engaged in a full-motion ministry that may be 2000 years old but is no less essential today than it was then, perhaps it is even more so.  There is no question about telling the story of Jesus now, however. We have even been commanded to tell it. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Prayer: Lord, write your words on our hearts so that that we can tell your story not only with your words and our words, but also with our actions. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Entrusted with the Word

Word of GodLiving in the Spirit
November 7, 2014

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.— 1 Thessalonians 2:13

How does God’s word work in us? First the word “believers” could also be translated “those who have been entrusted with the word”. I like this second translation because it implies more than simply to believe something. It says we are to protect it and value it beyond measure. Since the word translated “believers” is plural, it also means that I must engage with others and come to some common understanding about what the Word of God is saying. We, then, together must let it work within each of us and among all of us for the Word to produce synergy throughout our world today. Paul often called that fruit.

The Word of God for me includes both the Bible and the life examples of Jesus Christ. And yes, I realize that the life examples are for the most part gleaned from the Bible but they are in some ways more real to me in my daily walk. I have sat on the hillside above a crowd of hungry people and had compassion, walked along the water’s edge with friends and co-workers searching for answers to life’s questions, wept over the loss of a dear loved one, and enjoyed the innocent, fresh company of children. And all these experiences look a little different to me having seen them through the eyes of Jesus and actually through the eyes of all those who came before him and followed him. The Word of God is living as Hebrews 4:12 states: Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

As the word of God works within us to shape our hearts so goes our ministry to serve God.

Prayer: O Jesus, blest Redeemer,
               Sent from the heart of God,
              Hold us who wait before Thee
             Near to the heart of God. Amen*

*From the hymn Near to the Heart of God words by Cleland B. McAfee, http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/e/neartoth.htm

 All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Called

Wade in the waterLiving in the Spirit
November 4, 2014

Scripture Reading: Joshua 3:7-17

When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing towards the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan. — Joshua 3:14-17

What constitutes a “church”? I had the opportunity recently to participate in a short discussion of this question at a meeting of one of the organizational bodies of the faith group with which I am a member. We were discussing that our by-laws use the word “church” to describe certain rights and privileges. When we apply a conventional definition of the word “church” we most often think of a congregation with a building, by-laws, officers, and staff. We have ministries that might benefit from these same rights and privileges, but do not necessarily have a building or by-laws or officers or a staff. We decided that at a future date we needed to delve further into what is a “church” and perhaps reconstitute our by-laws to match what we find.

The English word “church” comes from the Greek word kyriakos, “belonging to the Lord” (kyrios)*. The Greek word ekklésia is translated 114 times in the New Testament as “church”. It means an assembly, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers*.  These definitions are certainly broader than the conventional perception of the definition of the word “church”.

What does all this have to do with the Israelites crossing the Jordan? Religious leaders must not be afraid to step into deep water to fulfill the call of Christ to be the Body of Christ in our world today and that may mean changing our constitutions and by-laws to keep up with the Joshua’s of the world. Such change will require much discernment and a whole lot of covenantal conversations that entail at least as much listening and prayer among all participants as they do talking.

Prayer: Holy One, grant us the courage to step out in faith and wade in the water of your callings. Amen

*http://biblehub.com/greek/1577.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.