Mission Archives – Illustrated Ministry

God’s love has the power to heal and transform the world. But it starts with us and the way we relate to one another.

How has God’s love taught you to love better? We’d love to know in the comments below!

God chooses to experience reality embodied, taking on form in and through creation. In other words, the Creator of the universe resides within the expanse that is life.

Your body, your relationships, your work, your play. The Divine, which is extravagant, effortlessly unfurling love, is living what it’s like to be you. God chooses you, us, all of creation to give form to Being and to Loving.

Choosing to Live Alongside

So, is it possible that we could love the way God does? To do so, we must choose to live with and alongside others. We listen, learning what it’s like to be another in the same way the Divine does with us each day. How does another part of creation move and find their being in the universe?

Perhaps this year a relationship needs some extra care. Maybe there’s an area of life that poses an opportunity for the cultivation of compassion.

Is there a part of your community that calls for attention? Can the kids you serve get involved in meeting a need with love? Is there a way that your ministry can be giving courageously to those with less power? Maybe your family is craving love, calling you home for a few more hours.

How does Love respond to these invitations? How might you inspire others to live with open arms? What could this do to, and for, your church, family, city? And what might this kind of loving presence do for our world?

Opportunities to Love

Want to learn how to respond in love? But not sure where to look?

Close to Home

Our families can be the hardest territory. However, the opportunities for growth are right there. No travel required. Simply listen a little more intently to who each person is. How are you different or the same?

What is it like to be that one child or sibling or parent who’s hard for you to handle? How did they come to be that way? How might you settle your own anxiety in order to make space for compassion?

“Those People”

A friend of mine in ministry makes a concerted effort to seek out conversations with those of a different theological bent than he. And not to change their opinions, but because he knows we are more than our ideas.

He’s begun going to coffee and lunch with pastors from churches that are at a very different place on the theological spectrum. Very simply, he wants to understand them.

Are there people like this you can get to know? What are their thoughts? Why do they believe what they do? Where is the overlap in your vantage points?

Really, That Person?

Quite frankly, we’re all confronted with those we just don’t enjoy. We have options. One, we can avoid the person. Two, we can change our life to get away from them. Three, we can maintain connection and allow it to form us.

There isn’t a correct answer. Perhaps the most loving way to respond is to go your separate ways, wishing one another well. Alternatively, maybe there is space to learn God’s way of loving freely, learning what it’s like to live as they do.

How might you be changed? What can the experience teach you about Jesus’ love for self and other?

Our Hope

Our world is increasingly polarized. Wouldn’t it be easier to discard the things we don’t understand or like? After all, we learn, from a very young age that when we don’t like something it’s time to buy another one.

But, life is more than products. How can love change the way we see each other? Our human sisters and brothers, our creature cousins, our planet, life itself have so much to learn about Love through our presence alongside God’s masterpieces.

We say that our world needs love. And here’s the best news. We make up our political parties, our churches, families, schools, our cities and countries. And our own cultivation of empathy is the basis for the flow of love from one to another.

So, who is the other to you? And can you know them? It could change your little corner of the world. And enough of us changing our little corners of the world with love is the hope of our faith.

Oh, and don’t forget! How has God’s love taught you to love better? We’d love to know in the comments below!

So, what is God’s calling? And how does your ministry fit into it here and now? Read on for a few helpful steps that will guide you in your discovery for the upcoming program year.

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Where do your ministry’s gladness and the world’s hunger intersect these days? Tell us in the comments below! We can’t wait to hear!

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Assessing Health

Just like in our personal lives, before we move ahead with something new we must first address our present state of health. Our bodies can perform the work of pouring into something else when we are filled up. As a result, we will have the energy to spare, time to invest, space for more, and the resources at hand.

In the same way, we must evaluate our church body’s state of health before moving in a new direction. It is, of course, possible that God’s call is to heal, replenish, and restore if that’s what the season calls for. If your church has gone through a particularly trying period, spend time resting before catapulting into anything new.

So, how is your church doing? What has happened in the last few years? Has it been taxing? Is this a season of rest? Is it a time for grief? Or is the time right for new and exciting ventures? This is the first indicator of the type of work into which God is calling you and your church.

No matter the nature of the work your community is called to, it is good. Simply be wise and honest about that which you have the spiritual, emotional and physical resources for at this particular time in your story. Take an inventory and spend time reflecting.

If your church is ready for the work of heading into new territory, keep reading!

Paying Attention to Passions

Consider where your passions lie. If you can’t get excited about something, it’s going to be challenging to lead a group in bringing it to be. Your ministry needs you to be passionate about what’s happening. They look to you and they draw on your energy. Once you’ve made progress here, widen the scope.

What has come up in conversation with ministry leaders and volunteers? What have people been excited about in recent months? Avoid thinking back too far into the past here. What gave life and energy five years ago may be what does so now. But, it’s possible that this has shifted. Stay alert.

You’ve reflected on where passions lie within you and your congregation. Now, search for any overlap that may exist. What excitement do you share with those in your church? Keep these areas in the front of your mind and pray over them as you discern God’s call.

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Taking Inventory of Gifts

It’s crucial that you know what you’re particularly good at when looking ahead to new possibilities. Take stock of where gifts lie within you. If you haven’t already, explore your spiritual gifts with this assessment from the United Methodist Church. Also, consider what comes easily and energizes you based on your personality and temperament.

Then, once you’re familiar with your gifts, think about what gifts lie in your faith family. We often plan a cool, new program, and then try to find people to serve in it. It works better to build the new venture around gifts and talents already present within your community. So, ideally, start with the areas of ability in your church at present and go from there.

Don’t get caught in the trap of assuming that your church’s gifts are what they always have been. For example, it’s possible that fifteen years ago there was a group of men who were fabulous at woodworking. Are they still attending and able? Are they still invested in the craft and in using it to serve?

Sometimes, without realizing, we lose track of the ways the landscape has changed. In paying attention to the present you may discover people and their talents you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. And this can open new doors to God’s calling.

Locating a Need

Consider your local community. What needs exist in your neighborhood? Perhaps an area of strain within your city or county comes to mind instead. Alternatively, the need may be as close as your own faith family.

Or maybe there’s something farther from your context that calls for addressing. Consider a broader need in the country or world that presses on your heart and the hearts of your congregation. Presbyterian pastor Jan Edmiston shares an important question in this blog post: What breaks God’s heart?

God’s calling for the Church and your particular church is always attached and motivated by need. There is so much need. And we can’t minister to all of it. But, we can change things together, and we are together changed by serving. So, simply pay attention to what’s compelling and follow the path that unfolds toward it.

Considering Resources

Now, you’ve evaluated the health of your congregation. You have taken inventory of your shared passions and gifts. And you’re clear on where particular needs lie. This will all begin to guide you toward your ministry’s sense of God’s calling.

Now, go over what resources you have available to your ministry efforts already. In your assessment of these resources, be sure to look ahead to what your other projected expenses you have in the coming year. Then, once you have a handle on those, figure out what you have available for a possible new calling.

If there is little free for use, stay hopeful. There is so much money that individuals, organizations, and denominations are hoping to give for just the kind of thing that God’s inviting you to do.

So, if funds are short but all the other pieces are there and ready, then ask for a specific donation amount from the congregation. Next, search for financial support from outside the church. Do not let a lack of money hold your ministry back from saying yes to God’s calling.

We hope this helps you feel inspired to live out that to which God is beckoning you and your ministry. Don’t forget to share in the comments below what that is. We’d all love to hear!

Unlocking the Power of God’s Love to Transform Your Relationships

Choosing to Live Alongside