ASSISTS (FROM ARCHIVE 01/18/11)

The definition of an assist:

In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads to a score by field goal, meaning that he or she was “assisting” in the basket.

In basketball, the point guard is the player that usually averages the most assists on a team.  If you don’t have a good point guard running things, and really looking out for his/her teammates, then the team will not be very good.  Same way in ministry: we are all in this together, and we are one body in Christ.

Why is the Student Ministries program at First Presbyterian Church of San Diego so successful?  It’s nothing that I am doing, but it is because many of our adults and youth are assisting to make this a viable ministry, and a community where we love God, and we love one another.  We have an amazing ministry leadership team: Ben Montoya, Carol Rogers, Lloyd & Rachel Tooks, Pastor Jerry Andrews, Jason Evans, Doug Satre, Dave Jones, Sheri Soldau, Judy Palm, Glenn Carson, Josh Reyes, Bonnie Joseph, Joanna O’Hanlon, Bob & Lisa Parrish, Jeff & Christ Sloan, Jennifer McCain, and Sheila Luiken.

Parents have been coming up to me, saying that whatever I am doing, keep doing it, because our kids are coming home so excited about youth ministry again. . . it’s not me doing anything, but God working through me as well as through our adults and youth!  My role is to not only encourage others, and build them up, but also to be a leader with a clear vision, a leader that delegates well, and a leader who finds how everyone fits into the Big Picture.

Teamwork is a vital part of life in the body of Christ. God’s work involves many different individuals with a variety of gifts, talents and abilities. There are no superstars in this task,
only team members performing their own unique roles. We can only become useful
members of God’s team if we are prepared to set aside any desire to receive
glory for what we do. We should never seek or encourage the praise that comes
from people. The praise of human kind is always short lived and of no real or lasting
value. Instead, we should always seek approval from God.

God has given His church an enormous responsibility, to make disciples in every nation (Matthew 28:18-20). This involves preaching, teaching, healing, nurturing, giving,
administering, building and many other tasks. If we had to fulfil this command
as individuals, we may as well give up without even trying, it would be
impossible. But God calls us as members of His body. Some of us can do one task;
some can do another. Together we can serve God more fully than any one of us
could ever do alone. It is a human tendency to overestimate what we can do
individually and to underestimate what we can do as a team! As the body of
Christ, we can accomplish more together than we would ever dream possible,
working alone. Working together, the church can express the fullness of
Christ.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work (Nehemiah 2:17-18). Nehemiah had a vision, he shared it with enthusiasm,
inspiring Jerusalem’s leaders to rebuild the walls. He took the time to make
sure his vision was clear and compelling. The spark of his vision ignited the
people he gathered around him.

We frequently underestimate people and don’t challenge them with our dreams for God’s work in the world. When God plants an idea in your mind to accomplish something for him, share it with others and trust the Holy Spirit to impress them with similar
thoughts. Don’t regard yourself as the only one through whom God is working.
Often God uses one person to express the vision and others to turn it into
reality. When you encourage and inspire others, you put teamwork into action to
accomplish God’s goals.

I’m currently coaching the middle school City Tree boys’ basketball team, and we played our first game last week.  We were playing against giants (seriously, the kids on the other team were taller than me!).  I was proud of our team, because we worked as a team, communicated with one another, and never got down on each other.  The end score didn’t matter, but what mattered to my guys was that they had fun, and worked together as a team—-Definitely something to be learned in ministry in that if we are faithful, and good stewards of what God has given us (gifts/talents), then whatever happens, God will take the burden on his shoulders, and in that process, our faith will grow still.

Youth pastors do take great pride in seeing the faith and knowledge that our teens are taught being put into practice.  God desires for us to put our faith into action.  We are doing an injustice if we just hold onto the knowledge we learn, and do nothing.  Last Sunday, our youth participated in our Ladle ministry.  Even though there were plentiful volunteers, our youth took it upon themselves to get involved in any way possible, and many of them socialized/greeted the many homeless that came.  (Note: Ladle feeds about 300 folks each week!)  If you don’t know:

Ladle Fellowship is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church, San Diego to the homeless and poor in the downtown area.

What we do:

• We serve a Sunday afternoon hot meal, attended mostly by homeless people.
• We distribute food bags twice a month to low-income seniors.
• We assist needy individuals in their job searches, and help them reunite with family.
• We gather weekly for a discipleship class that aims at helping the homeless and others to become committed lifelong followers of Jesus Christ.
• We educate our church and the larger body of Christ about homelessness/poverty and how we can live out the biblical mandate to care for the poor and seek social righteousness.

Well, that’s it for now.  As Dwight in the Office put it, “Experience is the best teacher.”   

Grace and Peace,

Peter