Lead Well

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t initially sign up for this gig. To be honest I fought it. I have always been good with kids and can organize things quickly, so it was natural for the Youth Pastor to ask me to step in to kid’s church and help. You see, back in college I was interning at a local church. The children’s pastor had left, and the youth pastor was asked to step in. I really didn’t want to, but because I considered him a friend, I agreed to help for the summer. Before I knew it, I was running the thing and in a few short months, after leading a kid to Christ, I was hooked. Now I can’t imagine serving anywhere else. God has designed each one of us with gifts and talents. Just as Esther was put in a place for “such a time as this”, God has us in our place to do His work. Sure, I’m a pastor. That’s what I do everyday, but it wasn’t always this way. For a while, I worked at Sam’s club, and God used me there, too. (He taught me some stuff as well.) God can us...

Courtesy Getty Images You know, a lot of times we get wrapped up in the holidays and forget about what's most important.  I don't know about you, but since I work with kids every week in Church, it's kind of impossible to forget about Jesus.  But let's not take away from what Jesus told us to do.  He told us to love the Lord with every part of us and to love our neighbors as ourselves. When Jesus was asked who was our neighbor, he told them the story of the  Good Samaritan.   He then told the people to go and do likewise.  To be honest, many times this element of the Christmas story is lost on me.  So often, I get so excited about what I'm going to receive, I forget to think about anyone else, especially those less fortunate. After the Christmas Eve service, a lady came up to me to thank me.  I've seen her before, but didn't know her name or her kids.  She thanked me that we, the church, gave her Christmas.  She had just le...

This Wednesday, I had the great opportunity to work in the nursery and watch 7 babies.  While I have a hard time holding a conversation with a 9 month old, (I’m sure you moms are old pros) I did enjoy my time there.  While in the nursery, I found the scariest baby doll. One of our toddlers asked, “what is wrong with this baby?”  Our nursery worker said she didn’t know but we should pray for it, and they did. While we know God is not going to fix the freaky eyes of this baby doll, our volunteer took a seemingly insignificant moment and turned it into a teachable one.  Many people think that nursery is just babysitting someone else’s kids, but it is so much more.  Our nursery workers have the unique opportunity to lay the very beginning foundations for faith, love, and community.  Everyone one of you serve a vital role in the children’s ministry.  Not everyone can do what I do, and I can’t do what all of you do.  As Paul said in 1...