Thursday, November 20, 2008

not self motivating

G2 is not a self motivating lifestyle. Our ability to love beyond our capacity comes from Jesus first loving us( 1 john 4:19). Jesus said in John 14 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." He then adds that this is not to be on our own but that He will send another Helper, the Holy Spirit. In our lives when we are called to Love: God, neighbor, and world we need to be motivated by the love of Christ and through the call of the Holy spirit in us. The goal of G2 is dependence on God and allowing Him to move and guide us through our specific relationships. Our lives can be so busy so fast that we tend to think past the direction of the Holy spirit to our own conclusions. It is time to slow down and listen. Stop and pray. Think about what it is God is moving you towards in a G2 lifestyle.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Volunteer letter 3

What a wonderful first two months we have had. We have had so many great things happening it is truly God at work. I have been blessed to grow in relationship with you. I feel that God continues to grow our volunteer staff in like-mindedness. As I have had many chances to speak with some of you it is clear there is a thread of similarity. You have a goal of seeing Jesus made alive to these children. Your desire for the children in your classes to hear and know the gospel is infectious. As we continue to keep the main thing the main thing (the gospel), my prayer is that God would use this to awake this church for more of His purposes. As the children in our classrooms grab hold of the gospel in their lives it will spill over into their home lives and affect their families.
God has called us to speak boldly the truth of scripture. I pray that God will give you wisdom and confidence as you proclaim the God of scripture with passion and excitement. When we are passionate in our teaching and in our relationships with the children in our rooms it will allow them to see real people living out love for Jesus. It is easy for me to say that when I see you with your children, it is clear that you are doing this because of your love for Jesus not out of duty.
Continue to fight the fight. Pour out your heart in prayer for your class, ask God to use you. When we are in full dependency on the Holy Spirit it will radically change our time with these children. I am continuing to pray for you. My heart longs for us to see radical love for Jesus from the children on our campus. I am grateful for you. God has blessed me over and over in this first year of being in children’s ministry. I continue to see people and families who are committed to seeing the gospel go forth to the next generation. There is nothing greater than proclaiming Jesus to all who will hear. Enjoy the mission field God has placed you in ever Sunday.

Volunteer letter 2

God has amazed me this first month as we have been serving together. It was been wonderful to see God move in your classrooms. I have heard wonderful stories of children connecting to teachers and feeling loved and cared for. This is a beautiful picture of God working in you.
I am also excited to see your teaching teams come together. For some of you this is your first run at children’s ministries and that can be overwhelming. It has been great to see you take ownership of your classroom and for all of the teachers to come together as one unit. God is our unifying theme and we unite under the banner of the gospel.
I want to continue to say thank you for all you do. For the hours you spend each week preparing and the time in class with sometimes-large groups. God is using you to further His kingdom and to call children to follow Jesus. Please press on towards the goal, of making Jesus known on this campus that He might be made known in our dying world.
Our love for the Creator will cause us to love His creation. These children our His precious creation and God has graciously allowed us to teach them about His beauty and majesty and most importantly His son Jesus. Please continue to make Jesus the point of every week. Every story whispers His name; our purpose is to make Him known.
You are a blessing and a wonderful gift from God. Thank you again for your service. As you are in church on Sundays and in your small groups take the time to ask people to join you on your mission of loving the children of evbc. You are the greatest reason to serve in this ministry, because you love Jesus most of all.

Volunteer letter 1

I was so excited to see a large majority of you at the kickoff for the school year. I am so encourage by they way God has provided you to love and serve the children of evbc. I can’t wait to see how God will grow us as teachers by spending time with the children. God knows exactly what we need and where we need to be stretched and He will bring in the specific children who will do that.
I have been praying that Children’s Ministry will be a front door to evbc. My prayer is that God will use you as a shepherd to the children who come through your classroom door. We are the face of evbc to the children and some of the parents who come on this campus. God has called you to love, care and shepherd the hearts of these children. I know this can sound like a large task, and it is when we do things in our own strength. I want to challenge you to trust God as you walk in to your classroom. I want you to be spiritually dependent on Him to make your class a success. Success is not when the class goes smoothly it is when you know that God was in control of your heart when you were spending time with these kids. The greatest thing we can do as teachers is to come spiritually prepared. Spend time with your savior and be on your face in prayer for your own life, family, church, and your classroom. You will find great benefit in trusting God with your class and not trying to do things on your own.
I am so grateful for this ministry. God has blessed me tremendously in the last seven months. I have learned so much about what these children need. The need to hear the Gospel , and that most likely will not come from your lesson but from your life and actions towards them. I am asking God to do great things and make our volunteer staff a group of people who love God more than anything else in our lives, and in return our lives will be a place where love overflows for others.
I am praying for you and thankful to God for the gift He has provided to our church in you.

here we are

I have been thinking about G2 for a few months. It came out of a discussion on discipleship. What are we to do in the discipleship process, what is the end result? I began to think about the two main things we were left with by Jesus. Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) and Great Commandment (Matt 22:37-40). I began to think about how these two amazing things would fit in the discipleship process. I came to some conclusions through more discussion and dialogue that if we take these two commandments that they comprise a concise description of what the disciple is to be about.

So G2 comes from my thought process about how we are to Love God, Love People, and Love our World. Now the words and ideas come from discussions and books and are a compilation of thoughts on a specific direction I want to go with my life and my families. Obediently living a G2 lifestyle has become some what of a motto for me. I am excited because this has grown me and add an excitement to my daily walk with Jesus.