RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY: dreams

Showing posts with label dreams. Show all posts

Dream Small: Successful Children's Ministry

8:16 AM Dale Hudson

Today's article is a guest post from my friend, Aaron Contino. Aaron is the children's ministry director at The Blue Church in Brookhaven, Pennsylvania. He also works as a ministry leader with Child Evangelism Fellowship. He has been serving in children's ministry for over 15 years.

Aaron is participating in a 6-month coaching program with me. If you are interested in being part of a coaching program for children's ministry leaders, you can get more information at this link. The next coaching group will start up in January and we are accepting applications now.

I am excited about what God is doing in Aaron's ministry. He has a big heart for the next generation. In this article, he reminds us that success is not just about numbers, but about being faithful in the small, everyday tasks and responsibilities.

Dream Small: Successful Children's Ministry

Aaron Contino

Children's ministries have an obsession with numbers. These statistics are used to determine the success of the ministry. Whether it's the number of visitors, volunteers, baptisms, professions of faith or programs, this preoccupation with numbers leads to unhealthy comparison which is stealing the joy of ministry leaders.

Smaller churches and ministries cannot sustain and support large numbers and many are led to feel like failures. While statistics can be an effective gauge for success, true success can never be measured.

When feeling small and inferior, ministry leaders become discouraged and lose the vision God has called them to. This was what the Israelites felt after returning from decades of captivity in Babylon. Solomon's Temple was now in ruins and with determination they started to rebuild it. But with a lack of resources, they felt defeated and even wept in remembrance of the former temple.

With increased hostility surrounding them and declining morale, the project came to a halt. God used the prophet Zechariah to speak just what the Israelites needed to hear. He says, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the Lord Almighty.

Even though they felt weak, God was showing that the smallest of actions, used by the power of God are anything but inferior. Their actions were paving the way for the Messiah, the Savior of the world. The results of this work was not seen for half a millennium.

"Who dares despise the day of small things?" Zechariah 4:6,10

Do not despise the day of small things; what a powerful statement. If few resources and small numbers can be used to usher in the Messiah, God can make you successful right where you are.

Dream Small. That's what Christian artist Josh Wilson offers as a solution. In his best-selling single of the same name he sings, "Dream small / Don't Bother like you've gotta do it all / Just let Jesus use you where you are / One day at a time...Of course, there's nothing wrong with bigger dreams / Just don't miss the minutes on your way to bigger things, no / 'Cause these simple moments change the world."

God calls His Church to be a grand vision full of small moments which are easily forgotten amidst the panorama of comparison and numbers. These moments cannot be measured, and God never loses count.

So how do you know if your children's ministry is successful? Robert J. Morgan provides a timely definition:

"Success is doing our work one task at a time, one step at a time, one moment at a time, relishing the smallness of it while trusting God for the power to change the world through chain reactions of blessings that we'll recognize only in heaven. Next time you are feeling small and inferior and that your numbers don't measure up, remember that true success is God's eyes is relishing and finding joy in the small things each and every day."

Next time you are feeling small and inferior and that your numbers don't measure up, remember that true success in God's eyes is relishing and finding joy in the small things each and every day.

How Bad Do You Want it In 2014?

7:38 AM Dale Hudson

"Don't give up. No! Rather take courage. Do not let your hands be weak. For your work shall be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7

There are goals you want to accomplish in 2014. There are dreams you want to see come true in 2014. There are steps you want to take in 2014. There are projects you want to see completed in 2014. There are new heights you want to reach in 2014.

My question. How bad do you want it?

I know you want it, but do you want it bad enough to do whatever it takes to make it happen?

Do you want it bad enough to set the alarm for an hour earlier every day?

Do you want it bad enough to give up some sleep for it?

Do you want it bad enough to sacrifice for it?

Do you want it bad enough to stay up late at night?

Do you want it bad enough to turn off the TV?

Do you want it bad enough to change your lifestyle?

Do you want it bad enough to make your new year's resolutions last past February?

Do you want it bad enough to give up personal habits to make it a reality?

If you need some inspiration to jump start you into the new year, then read this story about Rocky.

If you want it bad encough, then you will hit your goal.

2 years ago I tipped the scales at 230 pounds. I had lost weight before but always gained it back...because I wanted it...but not bad enough.

Finally, I reached the point where I said, "This is it. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get in shape and stay in shape."

For me, this means drinking nothing but water.

For me, this means working out for an hour 6 days a week.

For me, this means not eating any breads or desserts.

For me, this means eating fruit instead of candy.

For me, this means not eating anything after dinner.

For me, this means a lifestyle change instead of a diet.

The result...50 pounds lighter and 8 pants sizes smaller.
I know you want it. But how bad? Bad enough to do whatever it takes?

2014 is your year...if you want it....really bad.

10 Things Kids Want While They're at Your Church

10:09 AM Dale Hudson

A leader who knows their name. Kids want to be known personally. If they get lost in the crowd, you'll lose them. It's vital you get them out of the row and into a small circle.

They want to have fun. They want to laugh...play games...be kids. When parents pick up their children there's a reason they ask them, "Did you have fun today?"

A lesson that will hold their attention. They want you to connect with their learning style. They want you to teach truth on a level they can understand. If they are saying the lesson is "boring." Guess what...it is.

They want to talk and share their thoughts. Instead of a one-sided "download" of information, they want to learn by being part of a conversation.

Rooms decorated with them in mind. They want environments with bright, kid-friendly colors and decorating themes connected to kid culture.

An opportunity to serve. They don't want to be known as the church of tomorrow...they want to be the church of today. They are eager to serve and make a difference.

A friend their age. They want to build a friendship with someone in their class.

They want to be prayed for. They want someone who will pray for their prayer requests. Even if it's a sick puppy.

They want to be listened to. They want someone who will listen...really listen as they share about their week...their favorite video game...their fears...their dreams...their family.

They want to be affirmed. They want someone to believe in them. Someone to see potential in them. Someone to show them that God has a great plan for their life.

Provide these things for kids at your church and your classrooms will soon be overflowing with kids.

Top 5 Deathbed Regrets

7:59 AM Unknown

Recently a nurse who worked in palliative care shared the leading deathbed regrets of those she cared for. Her patients were those who had gone home to die. She was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their life as they experienced a variety of emotions including denial, fear, anger, and remorse.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
It's important that you follow God's plan for our life...not what someone else has planned for you. What are the dreams God has placed in your heart that you haven't followed because of the boxes others have placed around you? What are you waiting for? Make 2012 the year you start fulfilling God's destiny for your life.

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
You keep telling yourself that the work is going to slow down. But it won't...so you've got to be the one who slows down. Make this the year that the kids' ballgames take priority over climbing the ladder. Make this the year that you make it home in time for dinner. Make this the year that you use your vacation time...all of it. Make this the year that you replace overtime with extra time with your family.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Who do you need to say "I love you" to? Who needs to hear "I forgive you?" Who have you been putting off confronting just to "keep the peace?" Is silent bitterness and resentment building because you are suppressing words that could bring healing? Let this be the year you have the difficult conversations you've been avoiding.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
It's easy to get so caught up in our own lives that we let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. It is not money or status that holds the true importance. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. Pick up the phone in 2012 and call that friend you've lost touch with.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
We can get so caught up with the mundane tasks of everyday life that we forget to laugh and be silly. We can take ourselves way too seriously. Do you spend more time frowning than you do smiling? Tell more jokes this year. Learn to laugh at yourself. Let go and smile again. Let the joy of the Lord flood over the problems and pressures you are facing.

As we enter 2012, let's live with these things in mind now so we are not full of regrets later.

Posted by Dale Hudson