by Chase | Discipleship, Leadership
How was your energy level after serving at church on Sunday?
Every volunteer, staff member, and pastor walks through passionless seasons of ministry. We feel frustrated, burned out, under-appreciated, and we spiritually disengage months (maybe years) before we actually transition out of our role.
If you are experiencing a passionless season of ministry the cause may reside with you more than your organization or leadership. Granted, I do not know your situation. I have served in incredible organizations and some that had extreme cultural issues. But I know that our initial reaction is to blame everyone else when we are dissatisfied.
Yes, there may be sizable changes that your organization may need to make, but if you are leading from a place of spiritual passion (the zeal mentioned in Romans 12:11) you can be a spark God uses to usher in a new wave of ministry within your church.
3 Signs You Are Losing Your Passion For Serving Your Church
You Are Avoiding Relationships
Are you late showing up to serve? Are you looking to travel the quickest route to and from your car to avoid extra conversations? Without relationships, ministry fails. Avoiding others is one of the first signs that you are losing your passion for serving others.
You Are Avoiding Spiritual Disciplines
How are your spiritual disciplines going? Personal study, worship, prayer, confession, and solitude are key pillars of your spiritual life. These disciplines align our heart and mind to do passionate ministry in the first place.
You Are Cynical of The Leadership
Do you find yourself questioning every decision the leadership team makes for your specific area of service? It is one thing to ask questions, seek clarity, and present potential pitfalls, but it is another to reject their leadership or, even worse, undermine their authority. Having a cynical view of the leadership is a sign that your service is more obligatory instead of an overflow of your passion.
Now What?
Questions to wrestle with and pray through:
Is there a broken family, work, or church relationship that you need to mend? Humans are relational people. Ministry is based on our relationship with Jesus and others. Unvoiced frustrations, emotional pains, and rejection will cause us to withdraw from the people we are called to serve.
How is your personal, family, and corporate worship? Are you walking with Jesus each day? Do the truths that you teach on Sunday transform your Monday? If you fail to be invested in God’s Word, prayer, and in a small group of others your energy, passion, knowledge, and creativity will run dry. It is impossible to point others to Jesus if you are not orienting your life toward Him.
Has your passion for the specific areas you are serving in shifted toward another group, phase, or area? Seasons of life often shift our desires to serve. It’s easy to confuse frustration with our current role and frustration with the organization as a whole. Perhaps you need to meet with your church’s leadership and discuss how you are gifted and see what other areas you can get involved in.
by Chase | Leadership, Ministry
Small group leaders are the unsung heroes of student ministry. Without their hours of service and investment, student ministries would fail at reaching their community.
- They are the ones who ask students tough questions about Jesus.
- They are the ones who serve on the front lines of student ministry.
- They are the old-timers who are still game to stay up for a lock-in!
Their spiritual investment into the lives of the students at your church should not go unnoticed.
Before they lead a small group this week here are three simple ways that you can appreciate all of the work they do.
3 Simple (And Free) Ways To Appreciate Your Small Group Leaders This Week
Respect Your Small Group Leaders’ Time
Clear and consistent communication is the easiest way to respect your leaders’ busy schedules. Get their lessons, announcements, and reminders to them via email, print, or text in a timely manner. There is nothing worse than waiting on someone to send you the lesson that you want to prepare.
Brag On Your Small Group Leaders To Students’ Parents
As the senior leader of the student ministry, it is your responsibility to create an environment of encouragement. An easy way to be an encourager is to brag about a student’s small group leader the next time you walk by a parent in the hallway. Small group leaders are the connection point between parents and the student ministry. Build this connection and it will build your student ministry.
Send Your Small Group Leaders A Prayer Message
Spiritual leaders cannot neglect the importance of prayer. Take a few minutes this week to pray for one small group leader. Don’t pray a quick one-liner (“Lord, bless Timmy”). Instead, intentionally pray for your leader’s family, group, work, spiritual journey, and health. I like to send the leader a quick text and let them know that I’m praying for them and ask if they have anything they would like for me to pray about.
Now What?
What other easy and free ideas do you have to encourage your small group leaders?
by Chase | Discipleship
Attend Church As A Family
Your family needs to be committed and connected to a local church if you want to grow spiritually. Families are able to worship together outside of a local church, but this cannot replace your commitment to a local, Bible-believing church. There you will be pastored, learn more about God’s Word, live in Biblical community, and serve others. You need to attend Sunday services together, as a family unit.
Strengthen Your Own Relationship With Jesus
Leading your kids spiritually begins with discipling yourself to grow in Christ each day. You will be unable to direct your kids if you are going through a spiritual drought. How is your soul doing? If you desire to lead your children, you and your spouse must daily spend time in prayer, study, and communion with Jesus.
Take Control Of The Schedule
Your kids shouldn’t dictate every second of their schedules. You’re in control, so make sure your calendar prioritizes what you really want it to. As parents we sometimes fill our lives with extracurriculars so our kids don’t miss out on opportunities, but we can inadvertently communicate to our children that those opportunities are the point of life instead of Jesus.
Be Honest About Your Mistakes
You don’t have to share everything, but when you are wrong, ask your kids for forgiveness. They need to see what repentance and forgiveness look like in real life. If you portray that you are above forgiveness and repentance they will believe that when they are adults that they will not need these either.
Look For Opportunities To Talk About God In The Normal Flow Of Your Life
Studies have shown that most students leave church and the Christian faith in college because they are unable to see how their faith applies to their career, degree, and day-to-day lives. As a parent you should be looking for opportunities to talk about Jesus during the normal daily schedule. It can be something as simple as asking what God thinks about how the characters handled a situation in the movie you watched before bed.
Eat Dinner Together As Many Times As Possible
Eating meals together gives your family a chance to connect in the midst of hectic schedules. It doesn’t have to be home cooked meals – you can eat around the table even if you grabbed a bag of burgers on your way home from practices. Sitting around a table allows for real conversations about what happened throughout your day and everyone’s hopes for the future.
Use Sunday Lunch As A Family Devotional Time
Take a few minutes and ask your kids what they learned during church that morning. If your church has each phase of life study the same topic or passage each week you will already have an idea of what your kids have discussed. This is an easy way to start a family devotional time since the lesson, sermon, and worship music is still fresh on everyone’s mind.
Listen To Worship Music As You Drive
I tell my family that the driver of the vehicle is the captain and the captain gets to control the dashboard. This works well for my two preschool kids! Add in some Christian music during your daily commute with the kids. Spiritual conversations about the goodness and love of God will come as the kids are hearing other people talk and sing about Jesus. Plus, other music is straight up trash that isn’t wholesome for adults, let alone middle schoolers.
Pray With Your Kids When They Are Scared, Worried, Or Concerned
When was the last time your son was scared? How did you respond? Taking a minute or two to audibly pray for your children. I had a co-worker who was phenomenal at this. If her sons were worried about a test in high school she would call them and pray before their class.
Now What?
What are some other ideas you have to spiritually lead your family this coming year?
by Chase | Ministry
If you are wondering how you can continue investing in the lives of students during winter break when worship services are canceled and students are MIA, you aren’t alone. A lot of small group leaders feel that way!
The holidays can be an incredible time of rest. But resting doesn’t mean that you have to cut ties with your small group for three weeks.
While adults are busy during the holidays, many students are bored out of their minds.
Here are six simple ways you can connect with your students during winter break.
6 Ways To Connect With Your Small Group During Winter Break
Call To Wish Their Family A Merry Christmas
Something as simple as picking up the phone and wishing a family “Merry Christmas” can significantly impact the family. The holiday season can be a difficult season for many people. Knowing that godly people are praying for them can have a lasting impact. You may also find out that some of them are staying in town, making it easier to connect in person as well.
Invite Students To Help You Take Down Your Christmas Decorations
You could use a couple extra hands to help take down the Christmas lights, tree, and decorations. Inviting a few students over to your house to help your family take down your decorations gives you several hours to connect with your students. Provide some hot chocolate or cider and let students bring toppings if they want.
Start A Bible Reading Plan
Send your small group a link to a five-day reading plan from the Bible App to connect them to God’s Word during their break. The Bible App is an incredible tool to keep discipling your students when you are unable to meet during the holiday break. Commit to following along with any students who show interest, and make sure to check in with them to see how God is working in their lives through the Scripture.
Promote The January Kick-Off Event
Is the student ministry having a kick-off event in January? Text your students and email their parents during Christmas break. Personal invitations are always better than generic announcements.
Hang Out At A Fast Food Joint
This is a great idea if student worship is canceled during the holidays. Simply pick an area fast food restaurant, text students to let them know you will be hanging out there during a certain time range, and tell them they can stop by and eat with their small group leaders.
Text Them About Christmas And New Years … And Keep The Conversation Going
You might already plan to send a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Years” text out to the members of your small group. That’s great! A really easy way to make those texts more meaningful is to ask any student that responds how their day has been. It is a simple text response that you can use to have a mini-conversation with students that go deeper than a non-personal text.
Now What?
How else do you plan to connect with students over winter break?
by Chase | Leadership
Regardless of your leadership capacity there is one area that you can excel in: encouraging others.
People willing follow a leader who encourages them. Why? Because people want to feel needed, valued, and want to be developed to do more for the sake of the Gospel.
I understand that for many encouraging others seems like a foreign concept. Many leaders find it hard to encourage people. It just isn’t how their are wired or how they think. I’m not advocating that you need to completely change the makeup of your personality (which is impossible and unrealistic) but there are a few small habits that you can add into your day that will communicate value into the people that you lead.
Whether you are a small group leader, pastor, spouse, or senior leader, these three areas will help you connect with people and encourage them to continue along the journey.
3 Ways You Can Be A Leader Who Encourages Others
Be A Person Of Prayer
Daily prayer will shape your heart and mind to be that of Jesus Christ. Nothing can combat cynicism like a daily habit of prayer. As you pray for others you will begin to follow up with them. Prayer also reminds us that we are all sinners in need of Jesus. It is our communion with Jesus that brings ultimate encouragement and unity with one another.
Celebrate Wins
When was the last time your team or group experienced a win? Perhaps you need to define what a win is for your team (that the group engages in conversation, that students hear the Gospel, that the staff brainstorms ideas during this meeting) then you can celebrate the win – no matter how small it seems to be. People need to know that their contributions are needed and beneficial. Simply stating that there was a win can go a long way to encourage others.
Coach Instead of Demand
In my opinion, a basketball coach is the best description of a leader. A coach spends intentional time preparing his team for a game, but once the game starts the coach doesn’t sit on the sideline and lets the game happen – he is active in making adjustments, encouraging players, and aligning for success. Leaders who encourage others are intentionally coaching other people. They assess the situation and give constructive feedback that develops the individual. Viewing your role as a coach may help you remember the intentional role you play in other’s lives.
Now What?
Would your small group, team, or office say that you are an encourager? What steps can you take to encourage a couple people this week?
