What is Church Ministry?

The numbers of people in crisis of any kind are staggering but are absolutely real. Behind each number is a human being: a mother, father, sister or brother. We can be used of God as we commit to;

• Outreach Services through basket distribution, gardening and etc
• Family Counselling Services
• Emergency Assistance

Nothing compares to the power of people of faith in times of tragedy. Dietrich  Bonhoeffer, observed that;.

In a Christian community, everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable. A community which allows unemployed members to exist within it will perish because of them. It will be well, therefore, if every member receives a definite task to perform for the community, that he may know in hours of doubt that he, too, is not useless and unusable. Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship.

Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you

God called Abraham and Sarah and  said,

“Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12: 1).

God called Moses and said to him,

“Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward” (Exodus 14: 15).

God said to Samuel,

“See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle” (ISamuel 3: 11).

God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones and say,

“O dry bones….I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live” (Ezekiel 37: 4-5).

God told Habakkuk,

“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2: 2-3)

The angel Gabriel said to Mary,

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (Luke 1: 30).

Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5: 4).

Jesus said to the twelve,

“You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last….” (John 15: 16).

Paul wrote to the Romans,

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12: 2).

We are often blind to God’s miraculous works when they do happen in our very presence.

I’m reminded of the story of the visitors who were touring a large steel manufacturing plant. They watched in awe as a huge machine took a giant sheet of steel and in one operation stamped, punched and shaped it into a finished product. Immediately, an argument broke out among the visitors. Half of them were claiming, very loudly, that what they had seen with their own eyes couldn’t be done.

We all hunger for the miraculous in our lives. We all hunger to experience the power and presence of God in our lives. We all hunger to be touched and healed by Jesus. We all hunger to see what God is doing beyond our personal experience. And yet, like the Pharisees in John’s gospel, we are often blind to God’s miraculous works when they do happen in our very presence.

When have you seen God’s miraculous works and doubted?

PRAYER FOR THE JOURNEY

Almighty God, once again this month, we find ourselves opening up to another life and ministry process. Our growth process is now bringing us to a season full of mystery and a certain aching wonder.

In the midst of all the joy and pain of growth, we hear you calling us to face new beginnings, to leave the old behind, to discover new and deeper parts of our total individual, corporate and communal life.

Lord help us to realize that this is your will and that we can be free, that we are being freed at this present moment from the fears and anxieties that come with growth. Let each of us look beyond our own small world and smile on the mysterious way that you allow each of us to grow into the best of our own uniqueness.

Lord, we offer you the struggle, the joy and the beauty of transition. We ask your blessing as we go through a process of growth. We realize that the seasons that have gone by was just a beginning, just a first step in the continuous series of births that calls us to constant dying and risings, to a deeper and more meaningful life. We hear you now calling us to die to the former way of life so as to live more deeply, more wholly, more fully, more open and more freed. Help everyone involved in this transition.

God, we pray that you let us not fear the mistakes or the failures or the anxieties that come with growth, rather, let us see in all of this process the signs and the strength of your cross and your resurrection. Let each of us know the blessing of your presence in this ever-changing life. In Jesus Name that we pray- AMEN.

Responding to promptings of the Holy Spirit

Our movement was began as a response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. John Wesley, Charles Wesley out of the prompting of the Holy Spirit invited a handful of highly disciplined disciples of Jesus  who determined to live as Jesus had taught his disciples.  Both were priests of the Church of England. What if there were some two people today willing to do the same today?

Most of the people to whom they preached and who formed the early Methodist classes, bands and societies were people with little economic, religious or political power. Responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, the Wesleys sought to help people become the whole persons that God intended.  They made Christian faith simple and practical.  “Do no harm.  Do good.  Attend to the ordinances of God.”  A movement called ‘methodist’ was born. What if there were some two people today willing to do the same today?

Methodists were famous for their ability to move.  Responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, they moved physically.  Circuit riders traveled west and south with the wagon trains.  They transcended lines of race and class and language. They empowered ordinary people to express their faith in Jesus Christ.  They were known as a church which “moved with the spirit.” What if there were circuit riders moved by the promptings of the Holy Spirit to travel west and south today?

By 1850, nearly one out of five Americans was associated with the Methodists. Leading educational and medical agencies were associated with Methodist. There is a good reason to thank God for the Methodist Movement and the scriptural heritage of responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Thank God for institutions and agencies of our heritage which bring stability, order and good works.  Thank God for the people who envisioned them and whose generosity supports them.  What if we are truly grateful for the great institutions and agencies passed on to future generation?

As we start this year and decade, may we respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to lift up the foundations laid in 19th and 20th century as the platforms with which we launch Holy-Spirit inspired initiatives of the 21^st century. What if there there were two are three ready to rise up and dance before the Lord out of the promptings of the Holy Spirit?

Reciting our Story

At the end of his life, Joshua is standing on a hill at Shechem, addressing the twelve tribes of Israel. Joshua gathers all the people to recite what God has done for them (Joshua 24:1-13).

Reciting our story is a way of;

Stating beliefs
Explaining behavior
Claiming identity