Tag: Church

Lead Yourself First-The 30-Day Challenge

Before you can lead others, you must first be able to lead yourself.

I’m going to share one of my favorite lead yourself first hacks. I won’t touch on the what of leading yourself, simply the how. There are plenty of people out there telling you to add this practice to your morning, or to do this one thing daily for instant success. This isn’t that kind of post. I don’t claim to have those kinds of answers.

I am, however, going to share the how with one of my favorite how techniques.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Luke 12:48 (NIV):

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

I don’t take this verse lightly. It’s the fuel to my constant push for personal improvement in the stewardship of all I’ve been entrusted with.

One thing I do to put this in practice is something I call the “30-day challenge”.

The basic idea is to decide on a practice you want to commit to –– whether it’s something you want to start doing or stop doing –– and simply commit to doing it every day for 30 days. That’s it. 30-days.

There are several reasons why I like 30 days.

First off, the commonly shared timeframe of taking 21 days to form a new habit, in my opinion, is far too short. Honestly, 30 days isn’t even long enough for most people, but it’s often long enough to decide if you want to continue the practice.

An important point to remember here is that the point of establishing a new practice or ritual in your life is not to start something for ritual’s sake, but to add a benefit or an improvement to your life. If your new habit or practice doesn’t deliver the desired benefit, stop doing it and try something else!

There’s no sense in doing something if it’s not yielding the benefits you’re after.

It was Albert Einstein who shared the definition of insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.

If you don’t get the desired result, change your approach. And 30 days is the perfect amount of time to see if your approach is working, or if it’s time for a change.

Additionally, 30 days has a natural rhythm to it in the course of a calendar month. I like starting a new practice each month. I personally don’t even track the days of my challenge this way. I simply know that I started on the first day of the month and therefore know how many days in I am, how many I have left, and what my current “win” streak is as well. The calendar date shows me how far I’ve come and how far I have to go without any external tracking system needed.

So, let me tell you about one of my latest challenges and how it came to be.

I recently took Seth Godin’s altMBA course. It’s an intense, 4-week sprint course for people who want to be effective leaders. When I received my orientation email, the schedule looked something like this:

Tuesday & Thursday evenings from 6-9pm & Sunday’s from 8am-5pm.

Again, this was for four weeks in a row.

Seeing this, I had a “my wife is going to kill me” moment. We have four young kids (Noah, Aiden, Eli, and Adele) and we were in the middle of selling, buying, and moving homes during this same 4-week time period. Being absent for three primetime “dad-timeslots” during the week for four weeks was not going to excite my wife about my altMBA experience (understandably so).

Not wanting to set off the volcano, I looked for an alternative and found out that the London cohort of the course met at the same time, except on London time. Therefore, their 6-9pm slot was 1-4pm New York time and their 8am-5pm Sunday slot was 4am-noon New York time. Perfect I thought, I’m in!

Now a part of the London cohort, I joined 25 other individuals, all from European and Middle Eastern countries.

One of my classmates was Sabastian. Sabastian lives in Germany and worked as a consultant for a number of years. As the consultant lifestyle goes, Sabastian worked 80+ hour weeks and was away from home Monday through Thursday. Each week, he’d return home for the weekend exhausted.

While on a vacation, as is typical for many European cultures, Sabastian’s wife hit him with something two weeks into the trip. She said, “You know Sabastian, you’re really a different person when we get away for a while.”

Not understanding what she exactly meant, Sabastian dug deeper (a true consultant he is).

Through the conversation, his wife shared that he was far more pleasant to be around, now two weeks into the trip, than he was a week ago and certainly than was typical in their everyday lives. He was happier, more joyful, more patient with his children, and a more loving husband.

Sabastian’s hypothesis to this change in his behavior was the additional 2-3 hours of sleep he was getting while on vacation. Rather than his traditional 5-6 hours of sleep per night, he had been averaging 8-9 hours. This piqued Sabastian’s interest in the study of sleep, setting him off on a several-year-long exploration, leading him to be a firm believer in the power of sleep.

Fast forward to my time with Sabastian as a classmate, the topic of sleep emerged.

I shared with my group that for years, I’ve been almost purposefully ignoring the trending topic idea of getting more sleep. I read Adriana Huffington’s “Thrive” years ago and dismissed the concepts as interesting and dreamy, thinking “oh sure, one day I’ll be able to sleep more, but not right now”. I felt the idea of being more productive after getting more sleep was nice in concept, but I don’t have time for that.

Appealing, nice in theory, but not for me. Not right now, at least. After all, I operate pretty well on 6 hours of sleep, right? I never feel tired. I’m happily married, my kids seem to like me, business is going pretty well, why rock the boat?

However, in my typical 30-day challenge style, I told my group I would commit to getting 8 hours of sleep per night for the entire month of August. I’d go to bed when I went to bed and simply set the alarm for 8 hours later. I felt challenged, but overall it was a pretty easy commit.

However, Sabastian fired back. He said, “I want to challenge you further, don’t set an alarm.”

Yikes! That one actually scared me. Don’t set an alarm? What if I sleep the day away (who am I kidding, I have four young kids!). What if I sleep 9 or 10 hours?

Between balancing family time, running a company, buying/selling our home, and taking this course, how am I supposed to risk losing one or two precious hours of the day?

However, the simple fact that the idea of no-alarm did indeed scare me was exactly what I needed to know that it was the right challenge. The fact that I was scared fired me up! So I committed.

Starting August 1, 2018, I completely banished an alarm clock. I left my phone charging in the kitchen at night and always went to bed around 9:30, plus or minus 30 minutes. I tried to always be off my computer by 8:45 and in bed reading by 9pm to give myself 30 minutes of “wind down” time before lights out.

With that, I very consistently woke up 7.5 to 8 hours later, between 5 and 5:30am, without an alarm. I followed this for 30 days, knowing that it may take some time for my body to catch-up and feel truly rested once again.

Reporting back on the 30-day experiment, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the consistency my body has shown in the time it desires to rest each night. My mood has certainly been no worst and I like to think my focus and clarity of thought have been heightened.

With that, I decided to continue the challenge, enjoying the “sleep until I wake” idea.

And now, I encourage you. Find your 30-day challenge. What have you been wanting to do and have been putting off? What is tugging at you to add to your routine? Is it a meal routine? A new morning routine? Working out? Meditation? Sleep? A task system? A family ritual?

Whatever it is for you, give it a try. Set your 30-day challenge and go!

Article written CatalystLeader by Dru Dalton. Dru is the founder/CEO of two companies; Real Thread, a super soft custom t-shirt printer, and Taab, an employee benefit travel program. If that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, Dru is also a husband to his wife Carrie, and father to four wonderful kids –– Noah, Aiden, Eli, and Adele.

How to “Set the Table” in Worship

A couple of years ago on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, my wife and I got to do a couple of five-mile hikes in the Smoky Mountains. To save money and time, we decided to fill our backpacks with a picnic-style lunch and some snacks (mostly candy).

It was so much fun eating sandwiches and cheap bags of chips picnic-style because there was a beautiful view, no one was around to tell me to get my elbows off the table, and I was eating with my new wife.

Another memorable meal was when I was in grade school. Every Christmas Eve my family would get out our fine china, light some candles, and have a fondue night. We didn’t get out the classy dishware often, mainly because my mom was afraid we would break it, but when we did, we knew that it was something special.

We would fill one dish with cheese, one with butter, and one with chocolate, and among our assorted hors d’oeuvres, we would make the most out of the special experience.

As worship leaders, we set the mood for what is expected for the worship experience for the majority of the congregation.

Obviously, there will always be those who are bold or mature in their faith who we don’t need to bring to the throne because they are already there. But for the lion’s share of the church, we set the table and the layout for what is generally expected during a worship service.

We can be the examples of whether or not it is OK to be expressive worshipers.

I know that a meal with fine china versus a picnic will have two different moods—both fine and enjoyable, but different. In the same way, a campfire devo with an acoustic guitar and cajon has a much different feel than a Sunday morning service with a full band. Both are great and both can be incredibly powerful times of worship, but they are different styles.

We are called to do the prep work through prayer, devotion, study, and thought to find out what message we want to convey to our congregation.

Josh Huckabay, a wise worship leader that I interned under, once told me, “Worship ministry is not about telling people where to go, but about leading them as you go there yourself.” Every week I try to encourage this mindset in the way our team leads.

Whether the position is deserved or not, if you are onstage or have a role on the worship team, you are seen as a leader.

What you do dictates to the majority of the congregation what is acceptable or inappropriate for the service.

However, as worship leaders, we can’t make the congregation do anything they don’t want to do. Just like a table-setter, I can bring you the finest dishes and cups, light the table with candles, and set out fancy silverware, but I can’t make you eat the food or even like it, and I shouldn’t try to.

If our goal is to lead people to worship and we begin to judge our services based on how many people raise their hands, we will become very effective manipulators. If we take a close look at Scripture, however, we can see that isn’t our job. In Psalm 23, God Himself does nothing more than prepare a table for David in the presence of his enemies, and it is David’s choice whether or not he will partake in the “meal.”

Table-setting is about giving people the tools to eat the meal. Likewise, it is our job to prepare the setting for worship and then get out of the way.

I imagine that our experiences are often like Moses’s after he came down from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. Moses had a literal mountaintop experience with God and was told to go down and tell the people to prepare themselves for worship. Then on the third day, he led them up on the mountain so they might worship God.

As many worship leaders or “creatives” do, we put a lot of time, prayer, and effort into our weekly services. We map out the flow of the songs so there aren’t any distractions, and we tie them together with the topic or theme we are trying to convey.

As Moses did, we lead people up the mountain. But I highly doubt that Moses would have held the trust of the Israelites had he not first been to the mountain himself and stood before God. You cannot lead someone where you have not been yourself.

It is easy to gauge a service by how well the band played, how the tech team did, and if the congregation sang loudly or only a few people raised their hands. I fall victim to this mentality quite often, but leading worship is centered around trust in God.

Craig Groeschel said, “If we blame ourselves when things go poorly, then we will be tempted to credit ourselves when things go right.”

Table-setting can be scary.

But we can do nothing more than that. So as you plan your service this week, think about what table you are trying to set. We lead our congregation to the table, not by pointing a finger, but by saying, “Come alongside me as we go together.”

Article written Austin Stone Worship by Creighton Tamerius. Creighton serves as the Worship Pastor at First Baptist Church of Sarcoxie in Southwest, MO.

5 Ways Your Church Can Have A Major Impact as the New School Year Begins

I have always been weird.

While most of my childhood peers lamented the beginning of a new school year, I looked forward to it with enthusiasm. I loved the opportunity to learn and discover new vistas.

As a pastor, I saw the beginning of a school year as an opportunity to try new approaches and to make a statement about the priorities of our congregation. Over the past three decades, I have been blessed to hear from other church leaders on a multitude of topics. Let me share with you what I have heard about great success stories of churches as a new school year approached. They are basic but profound.

Recommit to becoming a welcoming church.

September could be the month where you see a greater regular flow of guests. Families often move in the summer, so their children can start in a new school at the beginning of the school year. Take a look at two of my books to help guide you in this recommitment. Becoming a Welcoming Church is pretty much a complete guide for your church leaders and members. We Want You Here is a unique book meant specifically for the guest as a gift. Both books are only $5 when purchased in a case of 20 books. Commercial over.

Dedicate a part of a worship service to praying for students and teachers.

We recently did that at our church. And we followed the service by writing brief thank you letters to the teachers at one of the schools near us. It had a huge impact on both the teachers and on our members.

Adopt a school.

Request a meeting with a local school principal. Ask him or her what your church could do to best help the school. If it is within the scope of what the church can do, organize a ministry to meet that very need. Some churches paint classrooms. Some churches clean school grounds. Other churches provide back-to-school resources for students and/or teachers.

Revitalize the groups in your church.

Regardless of what you call them, community groups, life groups, Sunday school classes, or many other names, these groups are the lifeblood of assimilation, ministry, and stewardship in your church. Do whatever is necessary with a new school year beginning to re-energize and grow your groups.

Re-cast the vision of the church.

Many church leaders re-cast the vision of the church at the beginning of the calendar year. Consider casting the vision at the beginning of the school year. You will likely have more new members and guests in September than in January. You have a great opportunity to ride the wave of freshness that a new school year brings.

These are five of the most effective back-to-school ideas I have heard from churches all across North America and beyond. But this blog has several million faithful audience members. I know many of you have some great ideas. Please share them with our community.

Article taken from Thom Rainer and written by Thom Rainer. Thom is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, and online community and resource for church leaders.

10 Leadership Tips from the Millennial Generation

As a generation known for lack of long-term commitments, Millennials are poor poster children for proven work and leadership.

However, the tide is turning in churches and culture, with more young adults stepping into the forefront of businesses, arts, ministries, and more.

Those of us identified as Millennials, between the ages of 20 and 35, should just admit the stereotypes are true for good reason. We like doing what we want, avoiding responsibility and hard work, and saving money by living with our parents long after we attain a college degree (the fine art of “mooching”). In other words, we are fellow humans who’ve experienced the same difficult economic recession the same as all the rest. We’ve just embraced the new trend called “delayed adolescence,” while the rest of the world tumbles onward.

We may have prevalent flaws, but that means we need all the more help overcoming them.

Mentors and leaders are the cheerleaders and gatekeepers of our lives, simultaneously pushing us forward and keeping us back from doing meaningful work. To really accomplish something as our life’s work, we’re going to need assistance as well as responsibility. Just because we’re younger doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be respected or listened to. We may not have much proven worth career-wise at this point in our lives, but it doesn’t grant older generations a free pass to ignore us.

10 Suggestions for Leaders from Millennials

Cast vision.

Millennials don’t want to be given tasks to accomplish. We want to be part of a story bigger than ourselves. Paint the big picture and remind us where we fit into it.

Be accessible.

You’re an industry professional we can learn much from. But for us to learn from you, we’ve got to be around you and interact with you.

Be interested.

One rightly emphasized aspect of the postmodern perspective is relationship over rules. We can easily get lost in the minutiae of tasks, so even a brief, friendly conversation with a boss can lift spirits among the cubicles.

Be patient with us.

We desperately need work experience and we’re hoping your company is one that can grow us and prepare us for a better future, even if it’s not with you.

Lead with passion.

No one is drawn to dry, robotic rigidity. We want to see what gets other people motivated to do great work.

Develop talent.

It’s convenient for a leader to use interns or newbies in the office to fill gaps in the company positions, or frantically meet the demand of each day with an unplanned reordering. But take the time to learn who we are and what skills we can best use to benefit the company. It’s better for everybody long term.

Be honest.

We don’t need you to sugarcoat the truth. If we suck at something, tell us why and shift us into a role that works off our strengths for the good of the whole team.

Respect our commitments.

We’ve all got more going on in life outside of our work. Sure, we should put in our full hours and be willing to go the extra mile at times. But don’t abuse our schedules or take our time for granted.

Invite us into the decision-making process.

You can tell us something, or you can include us in creative problem solving and allow us to craft part of the organization. These kinds of opportunities will help us really buy into the vision of the company.

Believe in us.

We’ll work ten times harder if we know our leaders have our best interest in mind, not just the company’s profits margin.

A time will come when the current generation has had its final day. Transition will be necessary. A leader can’t keep his position forever. By valuing the Millennials in your organization, you ensure the next generation of leaders will take the helm the best equipped they could ever be. They will be better for it, and your organization will be better for it. Good leadership is about leaving a good legacy, and a legacy worth leaving is rooted in what benefits people.

Give Millennials a chance. It will be our turn eventually, so we’re better prepared if you lead us well in the meantime. We are leaders in the making. Don’t underestimate us. Besides, we might even surprise you.

Article written CatalystLeader by John Weirick. John writes resources and blog articles with NewSpring Church in South Carolina. Find out more here.

6 Ways to Lead Yourself in College

As summer draws to a close and you trade in your long weekdays on the lake for early morning classes, here are 6 ways you can lead yourself on your college campus:

Practice self-care

You cannot lead others well if you’re not taking care of yourself.

There’s a time to stay up late with friends, and there’s a time to go to bed early. Good self-care will take learning how to discern when it’s time to slow down, spend time with yourself, and just take a nap.

Get to know yourself

Leading up to college, it can be difficult to know who you truly are due to being a part of an environment that has been crafted for you. You didn’t have a say in what high school you went to or what neighborhood you grew up in. Most life-altering decisions were made for you, and that’s intended to be for your own good. You need time and help to develop.

College affords the freedom and responsibility of becoming your own decision-maker. What will I study? Who will I live with? What church will I go to? It’s these decisions that will reveal who you are and who you’re becoming. Get to know yourself by observing how you’re answering the questions that come with life.

Walk with confidence

You don’t have to have life figured out in order to be a confident person. As you discover your God-given identity, walk in it with confidence. You have nothing to prove. Your heavenly Father crafted you with purpose, approves of you, and has intentionally placed you on your campus. Help yourself walk in confidence by preaching yourself these realities.

Do excellent work

Focusing on your studies may be one of the most simple, yet difficult ways you can lead yourself at college. With friendships to form, organizations to join, places to explore, classes can seem like a joy-sapper in paradise. But you’re there to learn, so learn to the best of your ability. It’s the greatest opportunity to make an impact on your teachers and peers, and it’s a lifelong tool that will do you well beyond college.

Serve With Your Talents

Don’t feel like you have to serve somewhere for the sake of serving. Your local church doesn’t need a lifeless you directing traffic in the parking lot. Once you discover where your passions collide with your talents, use that mark as the means to find your space to serve. Nothing is quite as life-giving as combining passion with talent to serve another person. It’s also an excellent way to continue to sharpen whatever craft you’re developing.

Build Community

The key word is build. Finding yourself within the right community takes work. Join a local church. Check out organizations that share similar passions as you. Seek out people you want to be like.

By graduation, you will resemble the people you spent the most time with. Choose these people wisely.

Article written CatalystLeader by Luke Baker. Luke is the Digital Content Producer at Catalyst. He is a lover of tea and Twitter, and cares too much about his Uber passenger rating.

Churches That Play Together Stay Together

In its new Households of Faith report, Barna researchers claim that one of the many reasons “vibrant households” stand out from others is because they engage in “meaningful, fun. Quality time with both housemates and extended household members.” That includes playing games together (32%), sharing meals (63% eat breakfast as a family and 75% eat dinner as a family), and enjoying other leisure activities. “These are practicing Christians who know the meaning of play—and indeed, half call their home life ‘playful,’” according to the report.

In other words, the old adage still rings true: Families that play together stay together, and more than that, exhibit signs of strong spiritual health.

The same can be said of the church family.

From softball leagues to book clubs, jazz ensembles to craft nights, churches that play together seem to stay together and grow together, too, adapting more easily to upheaval and building up the camaraderie, compassion, and collective resilience that are essential to a robust church body.

“Our congregation is experiencing some growing edges as younger families begin to assume leadership roles,” said Katie Nix, lead pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church in Missouri. “Usually the generations become divided between gatekeepers and new people, but kickball helped to break down some of the walls of fear and create relationships. I believe we avoided several potential turf wars because the two groups experienced an opportunity to play together.”

Other pastors, too, report the unique gains of “letting loose” as the body of Christ.

Jackson Clelland, head of staff at Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo, California, often provides opportunities for his church staff and board members to play together as a way to lay the foundation for their collaborative work as the people of God.

“My mentor, the late Chuck Miller, taught that we need a proper order to our relationships within the church. [We need to view our colleagues as] brothers or sisters and then fellow workers,” quoting from Philemon 1–2. Staff meetings at Church of the Master are commonly held in a conference room—except when they’re not.

“We went to an escape room a month ago, We play so that we can learn to enjoy each other beyond the tasks we need each other for.”

In the earliest Scriptures, the people of God are called to a regular rhythm of work and worship, rest and play. In addition to the weekly Sabbath celebration, the Pentateuch mentions seven feast days. After the Exile, three more were added. Wedding celebrations commonly lasted a week or more. While some contemporary congregations find play by practicing these feasts of the ancient church and other traditional “holy day” celebrations, others are discovering it in even simpler, almost child-like forms.

Antoine Lassiter, pastor of Think Kingdom, a multiracial congregation in North Carolina, extols the power of play to bring diverse groups of people into deeper relationship.

“This church was the result of two churches merging—a predominantly black church with a white church. Play was a way to get folks who didn’t normally interact to talk. We’d encourage them at the doors—‘Find someone you don’t know and sit with them!’—and they wouldn’t do it.”

So Lassiter and his team came up with a creative solution in Sunday worship. “I’d say, ‘Grab all your belongings!’ Then the musicians would play some happy music, and we’d play musical chairs.”

As Lassiter helped shepherd his congregation through the change, he learned that play was essential for him as a leader, as well.

“For the first three months [after the churches merged] I was a politician,” said Lassiter. “I had stopped having fun and the ministry became dark. It became stressful. Then I realized that it wasn’t for me to make it work. It needed to be a Holy Spirit–led thing.

“We have a church full of young men who play basketball, so I started walking with them and having fun with them. And that’s where I think the church turned.”

Pastors in international churches, too, notice the benefits of church play in developing a community spirit and practicing creative mission.

“One of the signs of healthy community is laughter and the ability to have fun together,” said Ondřej Szturc, preacher at Evangelical Christian Fellowship in the Czech Republic. “It also attracts people and speeds ministry up, making it easier and more pleasant. Hospitality is one of the big priorities for us.”

Two other Europeans, Andrej and Nina, helped plant their church in Maribor, Slovenia. “We do yearly church retreats where we intentionally build in play time—bonfires and s’mores, hikes and swimming time. “We had to push ourselves once a month just to play games together as a leadership team.”

Lovse finds that occasionally replacing traditional worship with play can strengthen bonds of friendship and fellowship, especially in the group of young adults who comprise the bulk of his congregation.

“There have been times when we canceled our church service and all went out for coffee. When we grew distant and needed to reconnect with one another, through play we got to know and appreciate each other.”

Agaba Moses, an ordained minister in the Anglican Church in Uganda, noted that play hasn’t traditionally been part of his church culture. That is starting to change. “Churches in Africa commonly do not go beyond pulpit preaching to engage Christians in play activities like football, swimming, or drama, calling them ‘secular.’ But playing well is of great importance in navigating conflict and developing a united and focused church.”

“Towards the end of last year, we invited the bishop as the chief guest” of a soccer event. The bishop knew how to play, and he demonstrated it by kicking a penalty. This helped people change their attitudes toward the entire church.”

Research suggests that organizations whose members fail to play often descend into unhealthy seriousness, leading to increasing anxiety and resistance to change. By contrast, study after study show that play begets creativity, innovation, relationship, rejuvenation, and joy. All qualities found in healthy congregations and their time together both outside and inside of worship.

“If a fundamental purpose of corporate worship is to proclaim and to enact the gospel,” writes David Taylor, “then surely, I would like to believe, our practices of proclamation and enactment would somehow point to the astonishing, gratuitous, even hilarious nature of the good news.”

For pastors whose plates are often filled to overflowing with the traditional work of the church, enabling play in any form can feel like an additional burden. But when congregations engage in recreation, laughter, and creative pursuits together, they are building bonds that strengthen mission, deepen fellowship, and create a relational foundation for discipleship.

“As leaders, we have to teach people to flow with the rhythms of life,” says Lassiter. “Sometimes the music is happy. Sometimes the music is somber. We can dance to both.

Article written ChristianityToday by Courtney Ellis. Courtney is a pastor and speaker and the author of Uncluttered (Feb. 2019, Rose Publishing). She lives in Southern California with her husband, Daryl, and three kids. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.

Grace Bible Church

Each week, we feature a new church and introduce you to some of the new and exciting things that’s taking place within it’s doors and within their community. All of our churches have the same mission, however, and it’s to proclaim the gospel and make disciples. We’re all engaged in the same kind of work!

Let’s use this opportunity above all to encourage and pray for each other. If you would like your church to be featured and for us to pray for your church, please comment below with the name and location of the church.

Church Name: Grace Bible Church

Pastor: Rev. Donald Harris

Location: Haledon, NJ

Website: http://gracebiblenj.org

Grace Bible Church has been on the lookout for a new senior pastor for quite some time now. God knows their needs! The church knows that God wants to guide them to the right person that He has already prepared for this position in the right time. Pray that their next pastor would have a strong commitment to Christ, and a definite sense of God’s calling to be a pastor. Pray that this person would be a person of integrity and that they would be honest.

Finally, pray that the pastor’s life would be marked by prayer, faith, compassion and love. That he would be a person of vision, as well, seeking to strengthen believers and reach the lost for Christ. Pray that their congregation will welcome and support and encourage their new pastor once they find him. It’s been 3 long years that they’ve been on this journey – pray that the right person would be found soon and that a hire could be made quickly.

“Churches Praying for Churches” is a blog series at MinistryJobs.com. Come along side of us to pray for these churches. Let us know that you’re praying with us by commenting below.

If you would like your church featured in the “Churches Praying for Churches” series, comment below with the churches name and location.

Redemption Hill Church

Let’s use this opportunity above all to encourage and pray for each other. If you would like your church to be featured and for us to pray for your church, please comment below with the name and location of the church.

Church Name: Redemption Hill Church

Senior Pastor: Tanner Turley

Location: Medford, MA

Website: redemptionhillchurch.com

Redemption Hill Church is ready for a full summer as they’re diving deep as they serve within their community. Pastor Turley leads Redemption Hill with his passion rooted in connecting people within the community and helping them discover God’s design for their lives. When you visit Redemption Hill, you can expect reverence and relevance. They exist to glorify God by living out His mission as a community transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Pray for their summer outreach and service within their community. We ask that they would shine and be a light to the people they come in contact with. Pray that they would point people to Christ in all they do. Also, for new leaders that are coming on board to serve. Pray that the on-boarding and training up of these leaders is God ordained. We ask that God would increase their harvest season and that more people would come to Christ thru what is being taught within the walls of the church. Pray for the leaders and teachers that are training up and discipling these new believers.

May their words and actions be of God and that these new believers would want to know more about Christ because of what they’ve seen or heard.

“Churches Praying for Churches” is a blog series at MinistryJobs.com. Come along side of us to pray for these churches. Let us know that you’re praying with us by commenting below.

If you would like your church featured in the “Churches Praying for Churches” series, comment below with the churches name and location.

7 Elements of a Positive Team Culture in Your Church

A positive team culture doesn’t just happen. If you want to have a good start, begin my implementing an easy (but often overlooked) practice with your team—honestly caring about one another.

For years, people have talked about the need to build a great team atmosphere, especially in the work place. When there is synergy in your teams, people work better together and goals get accomplished that wouldn’t otherwise. A positive team culture doesn’t just happen, though. People are different, and therefore creating the right team atmosphere is different for every church and ministry. In fact, creating a strong team culture always includes trial and error. But, if you want to have a good start, begin by implementing an easy (but often overlooked) practice with your team—honestly caring about one another.

An excellent example of this is a conversation two pastors recently had after attending a seminar on strengthening marriages. The sessions were challenging but one particular seminar struck a chord with the men. Later as they drove home, one turned and asked his friend, “What do you think I could do to make my wife feel more valued?”

His friend thought about it for a moment and replied, “Well, maybe if you started to value her more.” That was an almost shocking answer because the pastor and husband thought he was doing that already. On the surface, he often demonstrated his care for his wife but he had to admit that when it came to him valuing her, he came up short. At the end of a day, he would listen as she ran down the list of all she had done at her own job and then how she had dealt with their kids. He nodded and listened and even offered a smile of encouragement, but his value of her as a very important part of his life was shallow and he knew it.

You see, a person can be an effective leader but not know how to value his or her team members.

Some leaders feel so out of touch with those on their staff that they hope someone else will show up and do the hard work for them, but God doesn’t let us off the hook that easily.

We were created for relationships—first with Him and then with others. If you think about it, the very thing Jesus did the most was to value those who were on His team. He knew their flaws and shortcomings, but He stayed on track with them and provided the right leadership to build a cohesive team.

Don’t become so busy trying to grow your church that you forget to take time to develop those who are on the journey with you.

Jesus made an effort to know His disciples and followers on individual levels. He didn’t call them to follow Him and then go on vacation. He called them and He led them so they would become successful.

Many pastors and church leaders eagerly sign people up to work or volunteer only to leave them floundering on the sidelines. They think their job is done when, in actuality, it’s just started. Individuals who join a team should be brought into the group where they learn to work, play and win as one!

Here are seven crucial elements of building a strong team.

Value others

We all know the old adage that tells us to value others more than ourselves. If you want to build a team that is exciting and loves to come to work, practice valuing your team members over yourself. When you demonstrate sincere interest in their contributions to the task or the goal, you are teaching them how to be successful along with how to respect and value one another. The team that is based on mutual respect usually excels in many different areas.

Leaders can struggle at this point. The challenge is to be willing to be authentic in valuing others. Listen to what your team members are saying while understanding their desires, goals and dreams for the future.

Be a relational and not transactional leader

Bill Hybels observes, “It stands to reason that a leader sometimes seems to be three-fourths steamroller and one-fourth caring and compassionate colleague. When a leader walks into a meeting, he or she usually has only one thing on the brain: mission advancement.”

Every leader loves it when someone shows up with a smile and brings “fresh sight” to their ministry. They are usually welcomed with open arms. If you are a transactional leader, you look beyond the pretty smile and see what team members have to offer. You go straight for the bottom line.

A relational leader will consider this same thing but will see team members like a flock of sheep that need to be nurtured at times. The more the sheep feel like they count and have value, the more they will feel secure and will produce even more each year.

Listen with curiosity

Learn to be a listener and not just a talker! Learning to listen well is foundational to every relationship. Listening with a curious intent shows that you are engaged and interested in what the other person is saying. It also demonstrates that you are “tuned in” and genuinely want to know about the person who is working alongside you.

All of us have worked for leaders who call a meeting and then proceed to talk the entire time about themselves. We come away feeling frustrated and like our time was wasted. Listening is a cornerstone to communication. The person who listens and speaks sparingly ends up building a deeper and stronger rapport with co-workers and friends. That person conveys that he or she is caring, trust-worthy and a good communicator.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. The only thing better than a good question is a good follow up question. The goal is to genuinely demonstrate you value the other person and you hear what they are saying. With each question you ask, you learn more about the person who is on your team.

Slow down

The pace of our world seems to be fast. We try to squeeze one more project, activity and challenge into our already “crammed to the max” days. At the core of this fast-pace lifestyle is the inability to focus on others and spend one-on-one time with them. People fall into bed at night and tell themselves that they are accomplishing great things for the Lord when that isn’t always the case, especially when the pace leads you away from spending time with Him.

One of the best parts of community at work is the time spent with others in collaboration. Make every effort to slow down, be still and listen. Having a team around you to do the work is one thing. Learning to value that team is the most important step in team leadership.

Don’t be distracted by technology

People know when you are distracted. It shows. You may think that you can hide your technology compulsions by saying things like “I’m listening; I’m just multi-tasking,” but your non-verbal message is clear. The team member or family member doesn’t have your attention, and they will feel the burn of being in second place. Put your smart devices away and refuse to be drawn away by them mentally.

Be engaged

Set a goal each day to check with a team member and spend a few minutes talking about life, work, and things that are important to them. The more engaged you are with your team, the stronger the bond will be. You’ll soon notice your team’s productivity increasing. Another very important thing happens: The team members begin to value one another. Tough challenges become solvable and even fun to achieve!

Show personal care

We live in a culture where verbal attacks and trash talking seem to be the order of the day. We have lost our sense of civility and no person or position is off limits.

When you hold up personal care against the backdrop of our culture, it is radically counter-cultural. Sadly, too often it is even counter to Christian culture. If you want to create an atmosphere where success and excitement thrive, learn to care for others. Deliver a cup of coffee to your co-worker’s desk.

Invite someone to have lunch with you and another team member and even pick up the tab. Take time to laugh with your staff, to talk with them, and learn how to compliment each person. Show you care and that you really mean it when you say that you value those who work with and for you.

The difference is yours to make and when you value others, it will be dramatic!

Article written for ChurchPlants by Joey Tindall. For other articles written by Joey, have a look here.

12 Things to Pray for the Teens in Your Life

1. Pray that your teens will be saved (Rom. 10:1).

The deepest cry of your heart should be that God would save the unregenerate teens you know. Pray for authentic, total heart transformation. That teens will not trust in a memorized childhood prayer or an emotional experience, but will repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone.

2. Pray that your teens will love God’s Word (Psalm 119:9-10).

Pray that God would speak to teens through his Word and bless them with an arresting delight in it. That they would submit every question, decision, and desire to the Bible’s authority and gladly follow its counsel. Also, that they would get into Scripture daily, and that God would teach and strengthen them through it.

3. Pray that your teens will stay in church (Hebrews 10:25).

Pray that God would give them an abiding love for his people and a passion to participate in the community of the local church. That they would prioritize church over work and friends and a thousand other trivial and temporal things. Pray that God would use the local church to equip, encourage, and sanctify them for life.

4. Pray that your teens will have discernment (Rom. 12:2).

Pray that they will know the truth and resist false teaching. That they will be committed to remaining faithful to God’s Word. Pray that they will submit themselves to sound teachers and pastors who are grounded in Scripture.

5. Pray that your teens will follow wise guides (1 Cor. 11:1).

Pray that God would put strong and gracious counselors in their lives who will point them on the right path. That teens will have the humility to listen to their elders. Pray that God will protect them from poor decisions and naïve mistakes.

6. Pray that your teens will fight temptation (1 Cor. 10:13).

Pray that teens will not cave to culture or crushing peer pressure but will stand firm against the temptations they face – sexual temptation, social temptation, digital temptation. That the Holy Spirit would convict them of sin and lead them in righteousness. Pray that teens would joyfully welcome and even pursue accountability.

7. Pray that your teens will make godly friends (Prov. 18:24).

Pray that God would grant them flourishing friendships that will encourage them in the gospel and mature them in their faith. That they will spend time with those who are kind, humble, gracious, and wise. Pray that they will be influenced for lasting good by the people they spend time with.

8. Pray that your teens will pursue healthy relationships (2 Tim. 2:22).

Pray that they would chase and celebrate purity in all of their relationships. That God would grant them a godly spouse and protect them from sexual sin. But pray ultimately that they would love God more intimately and deeply than any boy or girl.

9. Pray that your teens will stand out from the world (Matt. 5:14-16).

Pray that teens will embrace their identity in Christ and wholeheartedly obey him even when it costs them. That they will not be blown by the winds of culture but will risk their reputations to publicly follow Christ. That they would rejoice in their freedom from sin and shine brightly in a dark world.

10. Pray that your teens will endure suffering well (2 Tim 4:5).

Pray that God would teach them trust in Him through their bitterest trials. That they would be sanctified through suffering. Pray that God would use their circumstances to make their faith stronger and happier and more resilient.

11. Pray that your teens will have wisdom (Prov. 3:4-5).

Pray that they will have guidance and direction in the midst of great uncertainty. That God would guard them from fear and anxiety and make them more reliant on him. Pray that whatever he has planned for their futures would bring him glory.

12. Pray that your teens will rise up and do great things for God (1 Tim. 4:12).

Pray that God uses this next generation to do far greater things for his kingdom than your generation. We ask that this next generation learns from both the wisdom and the errors of our elders and boldly rises up to the challenges we’ll face. Pray for this next generation–for we are your next missionaries, your pastors, your professors, your teachers, your politicians, your authors, your parents. And we’re your next church.

Article written for UnlockingTheBible.org by Jaquelle Crowe. Jaquelle a 19-year-old writer from eastern Canada. She’s a graduate of Thomas Edison State University and the editor-in-chief of TheRebelution.com. You can find more of her writing at jaquelle.ca.