Pastors – Page 2 – Witkowski Blog

Nothing in ministry happens by chance. God works. He builds his church. If we want to see our church grow, we must be humbly dependent on God. We must pray. Below, I our 5 great ways to pray for our church and ministries.

1. Pray For Unity:

Friends, unity is supernatural. Churches are made up of people like you and like me. old man praying I.e, Churches are made up of sinners. This means that every day we worship together, we teach Sunday school, and lead a bible study there is an opportunity for conflict. “Did you see what she was wearing; why didn’t Bob talk to me; do you think is upset about my Facebook post; how dare you correct my child?” It’s easy to let these thoughts fester. It’s easy to get offended and then to have fights in the church. It’s easy to destroy God’s house from within. This is why so much of the new testament is focused on relationships, on loving one another. We have to work at it. Notice what Paul says in Philippians 1:27

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.”

When the gospel takes hold of our lives it should produce unity and peace. Pray for God to work. Pray for God to give us humble hearts that are quick to ask for forgiveness and that are quick to defer to others. Pray for God to give us unity.

2. Pray For your Pastor and leaders:

Hebrews 13:18 says, “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all thing.” Paul regularly asked for prayer. We need to pray for our leaders’ holiness, for their relationships with their families and for them to have opportunity to reach the lost.

3. Pray for Wisdom:

Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” To fully understand the word of the God, we have to apply it to our lives. Sure, we can understand the Bible on our by going to school and getting a degree. We can know what it says. But we can’t live it out on our own. We need the help of the Holy Spirit. We can’t be changed by ourselves. Pray for God to open our eyes to his word. To fully understand it and to apply it, we need God’s help.

4. Pray For Salvation:

John 6:63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” If we want to see someone “get saved,” then we need to invite God to work. We can’t save anybody. I don’t care how cool your games were, how fun your lock-ins are, or how techy your service will be. We will save no one. Rather, we need to apply to the God from whom nothing is impossible.

5. Pray For God To Work:

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” (Eph. 3:20). The reason I get stressed when kids’ ministry workers quit, when events flop, and when new programs take forever to launch is that I miss this truth. I often think it’s up to me. For a ministry to grow, I have to be smart, creative, and cool. But that’s not the case. God’s working. He can do way more than we expect. God is not a little idol in a closet somewhere. He is the ruler of the universe. He moves planets and starts. And he can do more than all our tiny brains could ever imagine. I can’t tell you how many times God has provided, blessed events, and grown new programs simply through prayer. Time and time again, God has gone ahead of my phone calls and has already begun drawing people to teach, lead and serve. Let’s pray to the God of the universe. And then let’s expect him to work.

The idea of children being blessed by the church is firmly rooted in scripture. In Mark 10:13-15, Jesus welcomed the little children into his arms and blessed them. Christ’s message is clear: kids belong in church just as much as adults.

The Goal of Church

Although our children cannot physically interact with Jesus today, our kids can be introduced to his message, his character, and his very essence through the preaching of the word. This is the main benefit offered to kids with Christian parents: the preaching of the gospel of the glory of God! And while a child does not have to her forehead sprinkled or be dedicated to listen, she does have to be within earshot. For this reason, I believe welcoming children into church is a necessary, good, and blessed activity that all churches should pursue.

One Gospel For All

Now some may counter that kids learn differently today. Because of YouTube, twitter, and video games, they say kids need more music, more freedom, or perhaps they actually need more structure. Who knows? Regardless, many a good church is looking for ways to help their kids bounce out of the sanctuary. And while it’s true that kids are definitely more energetic than your average Baptist, it’s also true that there is one gospel and one name under heaven by which all men and women, and children get saved. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones once said, “There is no greater fallacy than to think that you need a gospel for special types of people.” Our kids don’t need the gospel message repackaged. They just need the gospel!

The Issue For Our Families

However with that said, I also recognize that many of the cute, smiling kids who accompany their parents are unredeemed. Others are unsettled because they have different parental rules every other weekend. And some simply lack the self-control needed to sit through a service for a variety of reasons. Our goal as a congregation cannot be to force children into our nicely sculpted programs. If we ask kids to sit through an hour service when they can’t sit still for more than 5 minute, we will frustrate them and their parents. Regardless of how valid our theology is, we will have failed to lovingly disciple these families seeking the community of Christ.

The church should always be a place where truth is infused with love and compassion. Although we need to encourage our preaching pastors to preach with children in mind and discourage our church members from scowling each time a child rustles some paper, we also need to be prepared to care for families the moment they enter our doors. The church should help kids and parents prepare for corporate worship. I think there is a need for nurseries and for children’s churches. By having limited kids’ programing during the main service, we can more effectively minister to our own church family and better welcome visitors.

Our Response

kids church In American culture, most kids learn how to sit through school by first grade. Consequently by 1^st grade, we think most kids possess the social and mental skills needed to attend church with their family. But until that time, we hope to structure our nursery programs and more specifically our children’s church to help prepare kids to excitedly join their families in worship. FBCE’S children’s church program will follow our churches order of worship. We will have offerings, prayer, singing, and teaching. And then at the end of the year, our children’s church will climax with the graduation of our rising first graders to church. Children’s Church exists not to provide an alternative to “Big Church” but to encourage our parents and to help our kids experience the beauty of the preached word.

Admittedly, no program can fully prepare a kid to obediently sit through a service. Only the redeemed will love the things of God. So parents, we will all have a few rough days. That’s ok. Don’t get discouraged or think you have failed as a parent. God’s word powerfully changes hearts. As long as our kids are exposed to the word, we have hope!