Daily Archives: January 30, 2013

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Somebody Tell Them

 

Oh me, the stuff in my head… I have so many ministry opportunities that I see and desire to be a part of, but unfortunately I am a human being that is indeed bound by space and time and my own set apartness by God. I can only do what God will allow me to do at the present time. At this present time my ministries are wife, mother, homeschool mom, children’s ministry director and teacher at my church, homeschool co-op co-administrator and chapel leader, devotional author, blogger… and well all the stuff that entails… and I still have  all these other things floating around in my head that are just not possible for me to do at this present time.

However, maybe, just maybe, you are reading this and you are wondering “what could I do to serve my Jesus and His people” let me just shoot out some of the things I see that I would love to do if I could take on just one more thing.

Prison ministry: I would love to teach in the prisons… hey they are a captive audience and are no doubt, quite possibly hungry for light and life

Foster care: This is still something that I think will be doable to add to our family where we are at… and is something I hope to do in the near future… but hey what better ministry opportunity than to embrace a hurting, abandoned, little one in your arms and love them with grace and mercy and show them the gospel lived out.

Nursing home ministry: Once again a captive audience, what joy it would be to bring the study of the word of God to those who can no longer go themselves.

Shiftwork Bible study: My husband works a swing shift… I am not sure anything is on our schedule. I would love to begin an at home Bible study for the wives of those on his shift or if you are a shift worker why not begin one in your own home with meeting times that swing with your schedule

Stripclub Bible study: That’s right! I said it. This would be a great one for a 60+ year old FEMALE. Just march yourself right on in there and find a table and open up the Bible and start a study with whatever girl is willing to stop and ask you what in the world you are doing there.

Government housing Bible Study for single moms: Bring a friend to teach the kids and teach the moms!

Pampering Bible study: Do you do hair? Start a study in your home, if you don’t teach partner with someone who does, at the end of the study, whoever finished the course, gets a new do for free?

Princess party: do a weekend preteen Bible study that focuses on teaching these girls what it means to be God’s princess and do nails and junk food and all that slumber party fun as you study through Song of Solomon or Ruth or Esther

First Priority: Be an adult leader in a first priority group at your child’s school

After school Bible study: Do you have the privilege of coming home with your kids after school? Maybe choose one day a week to open your home or church to an after school Bible study and fellowship with food and fun with your kids peer group, and not necessarily the ones that go to church with you, but the one’s who don’t go to church anywhere.

Maybe you are not teacher? That’s okay volunteer. Do you know how many teachers would love to have someone come and serve along side of them who can keep up with paperwork and communication with the people they are teaching. Can you be the one to make sure everyone has a pencil and paper, can you be be the one to send a thank you card and we missed you last week card? Those are HUGE helps to a teacher!

Maybe you can serve as volunteer at a food kitchen or pregnancy resource center or nursing home, be there as friendly face and a helping hand… there are so many things… I know a lady who was a widow, she served as a volunteer at the pregnancy resource center and when a young girl came in pregnant or not with no place to go… well they came home with her and she loved them. She made them go to church with her and they could stay until they got on their feet again.

As the children’s ministry director at my church, let me tell you that if you would just be willing to serve a turn on the extended care rotation at your church, to help take care of the little ones so that their moms and dads can hear the Pastor and attend Bible Study and be strengthened in the Word so that they can in turn teach their children at home… this is huge as well!

These are just a few thoughts, just the things on the tip of my brain, running through my head… friend there is so much to be do, so much that can be done… I talked with a missionary from the Ukraine this past Monday and he shared with me how there is so much work to do in the Ukraine… he works with children in the Ukraine, with the orphans. Not only does he see the work that needs to be done in the Ukraine but he sees the work that needs to be done here.

He shared how he spoke at a church once here in the United States and he shared about his ministry work in the Ukraine… he told me that after he shared a man in the church came up to him with an attitude and wanted to know why he was wanting money for the kids in the Ukraine when there were kids here that needed support, his answer to this man… because I am doing what called me to do, God has called me to the children in Ukraine, what are you doing?

The man had no answer…

My friend there is so much to do for the Kingdom… what are you doing? God has given you an ability, an opportunity, an open door to make a difference in this world if it be only through the life of one that he has placed in your path… what are you doing? May we open our eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.

“Opportunities to display abilities and gifts come to all kinds of people, Christian or not. We can play it safe and get what we can for ourselves—or we can risk reputation, possessions, and life itself so that God may have what He wants.”

~ Pastor Ray Stedman

 

And I can wonder about the state of my heart all I want, if the arteries and the valves are hardly warmed over —

but give me a break, it’s right there in my hands.

It’s my hands that are content to mindlessly scroll through Pinterest and Facebook and too often it’s escapism and not ministry (and it could be. Anything can be made a ministry to somebody. All things are Big in the Kingdom of God).

It’s my hands that grow numb and cold and refuse to fold around God in prayer, refuse to fold hope around all this bleeding everywhere.

Hands are the thermometer of the heart.

And a heart that burns for it’s First Love — it flows like mercury to the hands that then reach out to warm a numbed world.

~ Ann Voskamp

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 1:1-7)

The Gospel in Math Terms :

If you are like me, you might just not have the time or the patience to figure out the Scripture Typer thing. I tried several times and well… I must move on or my heart is not going to be in the right “spirit” for memorizing the Word of God. Memorizing Scripture kind of loses its oompf when it is accompanied by growls and huffs of frustration…

Today is January 30th. If you are with me on the pursuit of memorizing the first chapter of Romans by the end of February then we should be on Romans 1:3 today. Now I must admit that I have not been as pro-active as I want to be in memorizing these first three verses… I just have them memorized because I have read them so many times in teaching through this book.

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 

which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 

concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh

Romans 1:1-3

One recommendation of memorizing Scripture is to begin with making a list of the first letter of every word…

P, a b o C J, c a a a, s a f t g, w H p b t H p i t h S, c H S, w w b o a d o D a t t f

Another recommendation is to hand write the verse or passage down on a card and read it out loud at least three times a day… I would think you could also take it and type it out three times in a day… maybe get three or four friends to join you in this memorization challenge and text the verses to each other… then you are not only texting them three times a day, but receiving them as well.

The next step is to take it past memorizing the words and discovering what these words mean… this will imbed these words in your heart and mind and soul. I am working on the study for kids… Here are some of the things I shared with the kids as we looked at these verses last Sunday:

I began the lesson with a reminder of our who, what, when, where, why, and how strategy. Then we started with the who, who wrote the book of Romans and then we looked a little at the why it was written to help set the context with a small background lesson into what was going on in the church in Rome. Since we had just finished studying the book of Revelation I took the kids back to Revelation 22…

 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

 Revelation 22:18-19
I explained to them that Paul was writing this letter to the church in Rome because of two groups that were causing problems in the church. One group was called the Judaizers. This group taught that yes, Jesus saved you, but you were kept saved by keeping all the laws of Judaism. The other group was the Antinomians. This group taught that since salvation was all about grace and Jesus had died and paid for our sins, then we could just sin all we wanted to and that just made His grace look even greater.
I drew a line chart on a dry erase board to illustrate how the Judaizers added to the Word and well the Antinomians took away. Once I shared what the two groups stood for the kids answered correctly when I asked who added to and who took away. (The kids thought it was quite funny that God used math). I then shared with them that the whole book of Romans is to teach us that the righteous shall live by faith… 
                 _____________________________________________
Judaizers                                                   Faith                                                         Antinomians

 

After this little background we began to look at Romans 1:1-7, but we really only got through verse 1 🙂

Here’s a copy and pasted version of the handouts I am working on as I teach through this book, maybe you can use them with your own children.

 

Read Romans 1:1, what do we learn about Paul?

 

He’s a  __ __ __ __-__ __ __ __ __ __ __  of Jesus Christ

He’s an __ __ __ __ __ __ __

He’s been __ __ __  apart for the __ __ __ __ __ __ of God

 

 

The word bond-servant is “doulos” in the Greek. Read Deuteronomy 15:12-17 to find out what it means to be a bond-servant.

 

It shall come about if he says to you, “__   __ __ __ __   __ __ __    __ __    __ __ __   __ __ __ __    __ __ __” because he  __ __ __ __ __  you and your household.

 

 

Read Galatians 1:1, 11-12 what is an apostle?

 

not sent from __ __ __ nor through the agency of __ __ __

but through J __ __ __ __  C __ __ __ __ __  and G __ __ the Father, who raised him from the dead.

 

 

Read Acts 9:1-17 and then look closely at Acts 9:15, what did God say about Paul, how was he set apart?

 

he is a __ __ __ __ __ __ instrument of M __ __ __, to bear My __ __ __ __  among the

G __ __ __ __ __ __ __  and k __ __ __ __  and the  __ __ __ __  of Israel.

 

Read Ephesians 2:10:

 

  what have you been set apart for?

 

__ __ __ __     __ __ __ __ __

 

  who prepared them for you?

 

__ __ __

 

   when did He prepare them for you?

 

__ __ __ __ __ __ hand

 

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

 

If Paul was a bond-servant he was completely dependent upon his master. His Master gives him his orders and his Master gives him everything he needs to fulfill those orders. If we are a bond-servant of Jesus we must must do what our Master commands and we can do it because we know that our Master will give us what we need to do what He commands. Do your parents tell you to do something that they know you are unable to do? No, they give you chores and instructions that they know that you can do because they have given you the knowledge and tools to complete the task. If your parents do this, do you think that God will too?