Who Should Be Serving in Childrens Ministry? Who should be serving in childrens ministry?

not just warm bodies not just someone that is required to be in childrens ministry not someone who is using it as a stepping stone to another ministry not someone that is there because there were guilted into it We need people who have positioned themselves to be used of God to minister to kid and parents. Characteristics of who should be in childrens ministry 1. People who are living for the eternal. 2. People who are backstage leaders. Front stage is what people see. Backstage are the areas of your life that they dont see. The real you. Who you are in the dark when no one is watching. Who you are is more important that what you do. If you will be who you are supposed to be, you will do what you are supposed to do. Be bigger backstage than front stage.

How do you take care of backstage? Walk with Jesus. And He appointed twelve that they might be with Him, and that He might send them to preach. (Mark 3:14) Your first calling is to be with Jesus. Dont get so busy working for Jesus that you dont have time to spend with Jesus. When you pray, go into your room - to the secret place, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:6) Out of backstage prayer comes front stage power and blessings. Guard your heart. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23) Guard against bitterness, anger, pride, jealousy, and resentment Run from sin. And because of their unbelief, He couldn't do any miracles among them except to place His hands on a few sick people and heal them. (Mark 6:5)

Be a vessel He can flow through. What is backstage eventually will come out on front stage. You teach what you knowyou reproduce what you are. 3. People who are bearing fruit. Your childrens ministry should reach kids and parents for Christ. God wants to use you to not only reach kids, but entire families. When you reach a child you change a lifewhen you reach the parents you change the entire family. God will work through the kids to reach the entire family. Throughout the years, society offers the church just a certain number of entrance ramps into the non-church world. At times, it's been sports. Then it was marriage enrichment. Today, I believe the single remaining common interest or entrance point for non-churched people into the life of the church is children. No matter how lost a guy is, he still usually loves his son. And no matter how off track a woman is, she still has a soft place in her heart for her kids. This means we have a wide-open door to almost every family in every community worldwide when we love and serve their kids. Bill Hybels 4. People who protect the unity of the church. Unity is so important for a church.

How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. (Psalm 133:1) This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35) Church leadership needs to know you have their back. Dont talk to someone who is not part of the problem or solution. 5. People who will be a voice for childrens ministry. The natural tendency of a fire is to go out. Be the person who keeps the fire burning for your childrens ministry. 6. People who are self-starters. "Years ago I stopped worrying about how to grow our church and instead focused on growing me. As I grew me, our church grew." -Rick Warren If had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first four sharpening my axe. -Abraham Lincoln Ultimately your leadership and usefulness in your church comes from the person you spend the most time with...yourself. Be a self-motivator Outward motivation will only take you so far. I am reminded of what David said when he saw Goliath. As everyone else

cowered in fear, David proclaimed, "Is there not a cause?" That came from within. Someone who is selfmotivated has a sense of God's calling on their life. They have an extraordinary purpose. Encourage yourself If you are depending on other people's praise to keep you encouraged, you will be sorely disappointed. Think you're having a bad day as a leader? Check out what David faced as a leader in I Samuel 30. "And David was greatly distressed: for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons, and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God." Learn to encourage yourself. Get alone with God and let Him fill you up. Control yourself "Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age." -Titus 2:12 You must control your emotions...your sinful desires, your attitude, etc. You can't control someone saying something mean to you...but you can control your response. You can't control someone mistreating you....but you can control how you treat them. You can't stop someone from being rude to you...but you can control how you act toward them. Dont be nice to people when they are rude to you. Not because they are nice but because you are nice.

Grow yourself spiritually You must walk with God for yourself...no one else can do it for you. God doesn't have any grandchildren...only children. Only you can determine your spiritual depth. Discipline yourself "All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize." (I Corinthians 9:25) No one will pick up the Bible and read it for you...it's up to you. No one will study a leadership book for you...it's up to you. No one will set the alarm for you to get up and go to work on time...it's up to you. No one will exercise and eat right for you...it's up to you. Be like Jeremiah...your leadership comes from a God-birthed fire that burns deep inside you. He said... "But if I say I'll never mention the Lord or speak in His name, His word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can't do it! Jeremiah 20:9 7. People who are servant leaders. Be a servant, lead by serving Never more like Jesus than when you are serving. Came to serve not to be served.

Towel leadership Jesus washed the disciples feet. Not how many serve you but how many you are serving 8. People who reproduce themselves. Invest yourself into others. Put other people into the spotlight. Help people discover their gifts and talents and shine. Work yourself out of a job. Can do it faster by yourself up front, but will go farther when you teach someone else how to do it as well. 9. People who finish strong. Finish the course God has for you. I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished my course. (2 Timothy 4:7) Greatest in ministry is not measured in years, but in decades. 10. People who are available. The best ability is availability. Reluctant leaders Moses, Jeremiah, Gideon Confidence must be in God not in yourself.

Depend upon God not yourself. Not by might nor power or by strength but by your Spirit. Goliath was a champion by mans standards. But David was more than a champion, He was someone totally dependent on Gods power. And God showed Himself strong and brought the victory through David.