Tag: Calling

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Ministry Journey Recap 2023

Christian Life Center Gridley | 2023 Recap 2

I reflect on my relationship with Christian Life Center in Gridley.

When I was a youth director at The Father’s House in Live Oak for eight months, the church needed guest speakers. My church recommended me, and I had the opportunity to preach a few times.

The first time, I preached about the Holy Spirit.

The second time, I preached about pastoral qualities.

The third time, I preached on “Strengthening Our Vital Signs.”

Taking on these opportunities helped me reflect on my preaching and develop a heart for service during a time when the church was in need.

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Ministry Journey Personal Journey Recap 2023

My Journey With Mission City Church: 2023 Recap 1

Since it has been a while since I last updated my site, I’ll be posting recaps covering the last two years of my journey.

At the beginning of 2023, my heart was set on serving a local church after my time at Live Oak, which was filled with volunteerism. After that season of mission work, I decided that I wanted to serve somewhere closer to my workplace.

Media Involvement:

It all started when a college friend asked if I was willing to help with media at their church. Since this church was closer to both my home and workplace, I decided to pursue this opportunity. I saw the potential of using media to help bring people closer to where I work and serve.

I officially started serving in media at Mission City Church around March 2023. I consistently worked during first services since my work schedule prevented me from attending second services. This commitment has continued over the past several months.

Youth Involvement:

After a few months, I felt stirred to serve in youth ministry. From October to December, I visited and reflected on whether this was a commitment I was willing to make. Given my background in youth ministry, my goal has always been to empower students and equip them for the gospel. This motivation led me to actively engage with the youth ministry.

2023 Run Down

• March 2023 – Began serving in media ministry at Mission City Church.

• October 2023 – Started exploring involvement in youth ministry.

• December 2023 – Made the commitment to youth ministry after a period of reflection.

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Personal Journey

New Journey and New Trials

Time has been a challenge including when you have goals that need to be prioritized and executed. My life is shifting before my eyes and it seems like these challenges are now becoming real to me to the point that sacrifices will have to be made.

As a minister, one of the eye-opening things is the obsession with being in Ministry. This was my big dream to someday be in full-time ministry when I was called to it in High School. This was the end goal and planned, prepared, and did everything I can to be able to achieve this goal. Goals are great but they should be flexible and not idolized. This was my downfall when I started to idolize this dream more than God. This dream dictated my value and worth. So when I didn’t accomplish this goal I felt like a failure. I had to remember that God is the one that opens doors. He is the one who dictates my value and worth not a position. So instead of allowing this dream to be first in my life, I now have God being first to allow anything to happen in my life. It goes back to surrender for worship.

Enjoying the Present:

I am currently working two jobs right now as a vendor and a produce clerk. Both of these jobs are full-time positions which I’m blessed with because of how bad the economy is going right now. Within these two jobs, I have been able to become light to those who need it (Matthew 5:14-16)

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

and be able to be a witness (Acts 22:15)

15You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

when the opportunity comes. I feel strongly that I am there to make an impact on my coworkers and while I have the chance, I treat this as a missionary assignment to plant seeds or water and if God will allow those opportunities to grow, they will grow.

Master’s Program:

I am one month away from starting my Master’s Program. Having two jobs will help me pay for it without getting more into student loans which I currently owe 45,000 for my bachelor’s degree. Pursuing this program, I am aware that it will be time demanding, and sacrifices I will have to be making throughout this program. This should take me less than 2 years which is a good outlook being 27 and having my Masters’s degree accomplished. Then my goal before 30 is to be completely debt free from my student loan debt.

I will be running this race well. Praying for God to use me in a powerful way through the connection I have gained with work and the studies that I am learning to impact the local church.

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Educational Journey

Ministry Philosophy of Paul (Part 1)

1 Timothy 1:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy my true son in the faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul’s View of Ministry:

We can notice a few things within the beginning letters of Paul towards Timothy regarding his philosophy of ministry. We can see that in verse 1 the word command indicates that this is not something Paul decided to do one day. This was a calling that God has chosen him to be apart of. Let’s not forget that Paul was persecuting Christians and Jesus decided to redirect his life for the sake of the gospel. (Acts 9:1-19) This should relate to us as ministers of the gospel. That this was not something that we decided to do one day and thought it would be a great idea. This is something God has called us to do, commanded us to do, which gives us the desire to do it.

To figure out whether we are called by God to minister in whichever area we must recognize if there must be a command to do it. Do you have a deep feeling that this is something you must do? Do you know and know and know and know that this is 100 percent what God has called to pursue? If you are called into the ministry then you are obligated to do the work of the ministry. Whichever path is presented will come when you commit yourself by reading the Word, prayer, and fasting.

Why do we need this validation from God?

We need to know this is from God because ministry is not as easy as it seems, nor it is as amazing as you would imagine. Let me break your bubble for a minute… I remember my calling by in high school and my goal was to become an intern at my church, during this time frame the church faced division and there was no internship after that. Afterward, I stayed persistent to serve and somehow if i would get to be in full-time ministry throughout those years. While God hasn’t made provision for that yet I believe that I need to go back to my specific first step and be apart of an internship or be trained under someone. Throughout serving the ministry there will be hard times and it is those hard times that God’s calling must guide us to stay committed to the cause. Paul did not have an easy journey throughout his ministry and we can expect struggles and challenges that will test our calling. I’ve struggled, wanted to quit, and simply believe that I’m not good enough but God… reminded me of my calling. This is the obligation that Paul was sensing while talking to Timothy.

Don’t forget your calling:

There are many people who quit the ministry simply because of the intensive expectations placed on them by people, the workload of establishing the church, and fighting against temptations. We must be reminded that God is equipping and preparing you daily if you allow Him to. If God has called you then he had all the pieces together to accomplish the tasks. We are created to do good works that God already planned for in advance. (Ephesians 2:10) Don’t forget that when we get tired and weary that Jesus is willing to help with our burdens. (Matthew 11:28-29) Lastly, Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)