Your Calling!
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First can i show you something sis?Originally posted by babyys:This is where i am confused. I love music & i know i have a talent for music. eg....i have been involved in church dramas, choirs etc...
However, people are also drawn to me. Whenever they need a listening ear, i am there. Even the advise i give would be pretty sound i guess! I am begining to believe i am a natural at it. So now i am wondering am i also cut out to be in the counselling ministry?
My setback is i am not a professional in this area. eg. certifications etc etc....
Oh & does your ministry necessasarily have to be within the 4 walls of the church?
God gifted the church with men with specical God-given, supernatural abilities at their conversion:
Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
We have apostles to lay the foundational doctrines of the Church.
Then we have evangelist to preach the Christ whom these apostles taught.
Then we have pastors and teachers to feed the church of God based on the foundational doctrines of the apostles.
What is the divine purpose why these people-gifts [apostles, evangelist, pastors and teachers] are given to the Church [saved people-christians]?
look at verse 12 we have two:
12 a) "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,"
b) "for the edifying of the body of Christ,"
Look
a) these men in verse 11 were given to Christians so that they can equipp THESE CHRISTIANS FOR WHAT?
"FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY."
WHAT ELSE? IS THAT ONLY IT? NO. THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE.
"for the edifying of the body of Christ,"
SO THESE GUYS PASTORS, TEACHERS AND EVANGELIST ARE OUR TRAINORS BASED ON THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES FOR THE A) THE WORK OF MINISTRY [CHRISTIANS ARE MINISTERS!!!!] AND FOR THE EDIFYING THE BODY OF CHRIST.
AND WE ALL THOUGHT THAT MINISTRY IS JUST DELEGATED TO THE PASTOR!!!
WE JUST GO THERE IN CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY AND LISTEN TO THE PREACHER AND WARM OUR CHAIRS, GO HOME AND DO NOTHING FOR OUR SISTER NEXT TO US IN NEED.
No one pastor can do all the ministry. For No one man has been given all the spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are diffused to every Christian [pastor or no pastor]. In fact the pastor is just excercising his own gift to the Church.
What gift? the gift of teaching and preaching given by the Holy Spirit.
Here's one comment by one brother to a Bible teacher: " Ah pastor so and so is such a bad teacher, sister babys is more capable than him"
Why do you say so? asked one.
"Because sister babys encourages me more. Pastor so and so is an encourager but not as good as sister babys."
This statement is wrong. He thinks that a pastor has to be equally good in all the ministries made available by the Holy Spirit. He does not know that ministry is for all Christians. Maybe sister Babys is gifted in exhorting and encouraging. Pastor so and so is only a good dispenser of the things of God in the Bible taught by the apostles. No one man has all the gifts.
We cannot say that the mouth is not good because he cannot hold things the way hands can hold things. Of course!!! the mouth is not for holding things. It is for speaking.
That's why Paul exhorts the Church to be united. Be united. When you are united you can edify the Church because the work of the ministry is given to you all. When you are not united, when you fight against each other brother Ironside who is melancholic cannot benefit from the gift of encouragement that sister Babys has.
When you are not united and love one another, how can you minister your gifts to each other. YOur gifts are given by God to build up your brother. It's like Christ doing His ministry through you to anther brother or sister in need. And if that sister also must minister her gifts to sister babys. Sister babys should be humble enough to be ministered unto. And that goes to all the members of the Body of Christ. Serve one another with your gifts.
Hands serve the mouth. Mouth serve the body by doing your thing. Kidneys do your thing properly, the body depends on you. Feet stay healthy. The body cannot go anywhere if yoiu are not healthy. Body do not fight against one another. do not be a cancer to the body. You will kill the body. Serve the body in love.
Advice: On Sundays, go to Church be ministered to by the teaching minister. Apply the things that he teaches [if it is biblical of course] and after the service look for someone who is need of your ministry.
Befreind her, get her contact number, minister to her use your gift on her, follow up with her all througout the week or months following.
Imagine if all church members will discern their gifts and minister it to the Church. What a healthy church it would be!!!! How do you know if a body is healty? If all its organs are functioning rightly.
How about if the mouth is only doing all the things that the rest of the body should have done? the mouth doing all the work of the hands, doing the walking, doing digesting, doing the thnking, doing the work of the kidneys...
My!!! the mouth would burn out. NO wonder many pastors burn out. churh members do not use thier gifts to each other. They pay the pastor to do it for them!!! -
Hmmm...Originally posted by babyys:This is where i am confused. I love music & i know i have a talent for music. eg....i have been involved in church dramas, choirs etc...
However, people are also drawn to me. Whenever they need a listening ear, i am there. Even the advise i give would be pretty sound i guess! I am begining to believe i am a natural at it. So now i am wondering am i also cut out to be in the counselling ministry?
My setback is i am not a professional in this area. eg. certifications etc etc....
Oh & does your ministry necessasarily have to be within the 4 walls of the church?
you can be in the music ministry and still build up/encourage people (sometimes, people in ministry may also need people to encourage them).
you don't need to be in the counselling ministry to encourage/build up others, cause you can be just ministering friends.
From my personal experience, most people already had the solution in the heart, what they need is a listening ear and maybe some word of encouragement.
Do not let your lack of professional qualification stop you from ministering to others.
Ministry does not necessary be within the 4 walls of the church, there are times where we need to minister to people outside the setting of church.
God bless, and may He guides you.
* just remember I forgot to add one thing, very important, while its good to have a heart to take up a ministry to minister to God's people, sometimes, we ended up taking too much load on ourselves, so one important thing is to learn to say NO when it is required, there is no point burning yourself up in the process. -
I am so blessed and thankful for people like Ironside & Vince whose able to let me see things clearer and have a better understanding in the area of ministry & calling.
I pray that i am able to discern which area i should focus on & not let my emotions overule my head. Whichever area God puts me in, i just serve by faith!
BTW a bit off topic but i will be organising a charity drive for Christian Outreach for the Handicapp www.coh.org.sg sometime in November. Was wondering if any of u will be interested in participating. -
no problem, do keep us posted here.Originally posted by babyys:I am so blessed and thankful for people like Ironside & Vince whose able to let me see things clearer and have a better understanding in the area of ministry & calling.
I pray that i am able to discern which area i should focus on & not let my emotions overule my head. Whichever area God puts me in, i just serve by faith!
BTW a bit off topic but i will be organising a charity drive for Christian Outreach for the Handicapp www.coh.org.sg sometime in November. Was wondering if any of u will be interested in participating. -
Pray.Originally posted by babyys:Would like to know how to know if God is calling you into a certain area of ministry? hmmm.....i wonder if its the same as how would i know if God is talking to me.
Wat are the signs & messages that one would receive? or is it purely by faith & conviction? -
I just want to add one more point....
... the attitude of servanthood. I have seen to many well-intentioned individuals wanting to serve God only to be let down by the attitude.
What attitude? the attitude of not receiving anything in return. A servant is someone who exist in the background, many-a-times, the things that are done are humble tasks that no one will even thank you for. Sometimes, you can blamed for things that are perceived to be wrongly done.
Another salient point is the ability to let go. Lots of us has the talent and energy to go the whole nine yards, yet at the end, when it's time to pass over the baton, we'd end out having withdrawal symptoms and may end out overscutinising the new leadership and compare against what you may have done.
The most important of all is your heart of servanthood. The objective is not to glorify oneself but to glorify the one whom we call Lord. -
That's is a very good point and even so for those in leadershipOriginally posted by Chin Eng:I just want to add one more point....
... the attitude of servanthood. I have seen to many well-intentioned individuals wanting to serve God only to be let down by the attitude.
What attitude? the attitude of not receiving anything in return. A servant is someone who exist in the background, many-a-times, the things that are done are humble tasks that no one will even thank you for. Sometimes, you can blamed for things that are perceived to be wrongly done.
Another salient point is the ability to let go. Lots of us has the talent and energy to go the whole nine yards, yet at the end, when it's time to pass over the baton, we'd end out having withdrawal symptoms and may end out overscutinising the new leadership and compare against what you may have done.
The most important of all is your heart of servanthood. The objective is not to glorify oneself but to glorify the one whom we call Lord. -
Are you specifically asking about Full-time ministry?Originally posted by babyys:This is where i am confused. I love music & i know i have a talent for music. eg....i have been involved in church dramas, choirs etc...
However, people are also drawn to me. Whenever they need a listening ear, i am there. Even the advise i give would be pretty sound i guess! I am begining to believe i am a natural at it. So now i am wondering am i also cut out to be in the counselling ministry?
My setback is i am not a professional in this area. eg. certifications etc etc....
Oh & does your ministry necessasarily have to be within the 4 walls of the church?
Or
Is it personal ministry onto people?