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The Sound of Ministry
This weekend, listen to your ministry.
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This weekend, listen to your ministry. The cackle of laughter means fun abounds. The stillness of a room indicates captured interest. And the sound of a sniffle can signal pain—maybe emotional, maybe physical—or simply a common cold. Listening to kids tells us plenty. Even life change becomes apparent based on what's heard. This three-part series of articles helps us determine the effectiveness of ministry by concentrating on key spiritual maturity indicators that begin with G—Grace, Growth, Groups, Gifts, and Good stewardship. The last article examined Grace, so now let's turn to Growth and Groups. Consider for a moment that while you can only see what you look toward, you receive sounds from 360 degrees. An important distinction, because auditory cues will clue us in on what's happening in ministry below the surface. And we must go deep to assess the spiritual Growth of children and the impact of small Groups on kids' lives. So what do we listen for? One answer is the stories of life change in children that parents and teachers/small group leaders share. Another answer, more reliable but typically at lower volume, is the manner with which kids describe personal spiritual activity and their perspective of your ministry. In the two ministry examples that follow, imagine that you are actually listening to the kids tell you their stories. Ryan"In our small group time we talked about how we can live what we learned about in the Bible lesson. Each of us tried to think of what it would be like to obey God or to honor Jesus in some new way. Sometimes we played a game that showed the teaching in a fun way. I really liked games because they kept me interested in learning about God, while having fun. "Studying the Bible was not the only thing we did. Sometimes our small group served together. One of the things we did recently was serve in the P.A.D.S. ministry—a service to homeless people who come during the winter to spend a warm evening in our church. Our small group made sack lunches for them and even drew creative pictures on the lunch bags to encourage them. I really wanted to cheer these people up, so on one of my bags I wrote "Wazzup!!" It felt good to know that I was honoring God and serving people who really needed it. "But our small group is not just about fun. We care for each other. This past year, a boy in my group lost his four year-old little brother to leukemia. Our whole group prayed for him through this hard time. Every day I prayed that God would comfort my friend and his family and I even wrote him a note to encourage him. "As I've grown older, I know how important small groups are for my spiritual growth. My relationship with God is stronger and I am more caring toward others." GrowthIn his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren sums up spiritual Growth when he says, "Your heavenly Father's goal is for you to mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus Christ." As you listened to Ryan tell you his story, did you hear key words that indicate maturation and Christ-likeness in him and his buddies? Let's review a few: "Live what we learned about in the Bible… Interested in learning about God … Honoring God and serving people who need it … We care for each other … Every day I prayed … My relationship with God is stronger." These phrases describe spiritual Growth in ways that might not be seen, but are definitely real to Ryan. |        
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