I Can’t Do This On My Own

This past weekend was a joy for me because I got to speak in big church (something I haven’t done since last year).  It was my turn to speak in our summer series Creed, where we’ve been talking about what we believe and how it shapes the way we live.  Week 5 (this past weekend) was all about the Holy Spirit, the Nicene Creed says “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.”  Essentially my message was about how we try to do things on our own, but in the end we can’t accomplish much if anything without the guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit.  While I gave the message I thought about all the things in youth ministry I’ve tried to do on my own will.

• Run Student Ministry – Instead of delegating responsibility to those who were gifted in MCing, coming up with ideas, etc.  I tried to do it all on my own.  I asked God to send me the right people, He did but I never sought the Spirit’s strength to let go of control.
• Talk to Parents – I’ll admit when I first started ministry parents intimidated me (some still do), but now that I’ve gotten to know them, this hasn’t been a problem.  When I first started I just didn’t know how to talk to parents, but then again I never asked for God to give me the words.
• Believe in Myself – I don’t like blowing my own horn, I joke about how I do, but I really don’t; however, I know I have the gift of speaking, I also have the curse of stage fright.  Instead of embracing my spiritual gifts and asking the Holy Spirit to work through me, I often looked for other things I could be “gifted” doing.  What I was doing in turn was refusing God to bless me.

I could go on with this list, but these were three big ones.  There are many times when we doubt our abilities, we are afraid to approach a person or group and we are scared to relinquish control.  But the more we try to do things on our own efforts the more likely we will face burnout and even be tempted to sin.  My prayer is that everyone, especially those in ministry seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit because He is the Lord giver of life and He can give us a pretty awesome one.

You Can Watch My Message by Clicking Here or go to itunes store search churchnativitypastor.