Every now and then it is a good idea to go back to the basics and/or essentials. BBM has been a ministry based on balancing the essentials for effective ministry.
Recently at my home base church, Mission Church of Lancaster, Lead Pastor Jerry Lingentfelter (full dis-closer he is my son-in-law) closed out a message series on the Essentials of Church. In this message he had each of the pastoral staff share their emphasis in church ministry. This motivated me to come back to the essentials of a balanced ministry that BBM has been built on.
Scripture clearly reveals each of us are given different gifts. It is through the diversity of gifts that he church is enabled to effectively ministry to the whole body. Additionally, we have personality characteristics that bring uniqueness to the ministry. It is though the combination of our spiritual gifts and personality that bring balance for effective ministry. The diversity of ministry is essential to developing a healthy and growing church.
So, going back to the essentials let me suggest an evaluation of your ministry on four specific areas of ministry.
I. The PREACHING of the Word with biblical authority and expositional teaching is essential to all effective ministry. There is no substitute for an effective pulpit ministry. The preaching of the Word is the foundation of all else. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
II. The PRIORITY is to lead believers to worship and glorify God. Worship is not just about songs but a life priority. However, worship music is a means of inspiring believers to to glorify God. Those of us little older have gone thru the “worship wars” of contemporary verses traditional. Actually, both can be inspirational. True “worship music” is not an end in itself, it is a motivation for bringing glory to God in every dimension of life. (Romans 12:1 ESV, John 4:24 ESV, 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)
III. The PREPARATION of leading believers to discipleship. Key areas of discipleship are:
Membership commitment and baptism is fundamental. Often churches are hesitant to place the biblical importance on these two keys in discipleship. If we expect God’s blessing we need to follow the pattern in Acts, believe and be baptized. (Acts 2)
Mentorship of disciples in gift and ministry discovery.
Ministry equipping the disciples through both training and opportunity to use their gifts.
IV. The PROPAGATION of the Gospel is the outcome of the first three foundations. A church should never be just about caring and developing internally those who become disciples. The church is called to impact the world. Balance between internal discipleship develop and external proclamation lead to new believers worshiping to the glory of God. (Matthew 28:16-20)
In a larger church these four points of balance are covered by a diversity in pastoral staff members leadership. One example of this balance is seen in this link from Mission Church, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOnrfh7lSHo . However, from experience I can say that careful recognition of gifts in these areas can lead to church members bringing balance to the church ministry even in smaller churches. A key is learning to develop members to lead in these areas of ministry and equipping disciples to minister. In a future post I will make some suggestions on how this can work in smaller churches.
BBM offers churches ministries a number of resources to build effective ministry on these essentials.