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In this episode, we’re taking a time out for a heart check.
While we are committed to teaching proven strategies for successful small church ministry, we also know how easy it is to become so focused on doing ministry that we neglect our own walk with Christ.
Don’t let the busyness of ministry draw you away from the very reason we’re all here, to begin with. Take a slow, deep breath and consider if it’s time for a little rest and reconnection with Jesus.
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Listen On
074: Are You Too Busy In Ministry?
Laurie Graham 0:01
Hey, this is Laurie Graham. Welcome to the Small Church Ministry Podcast.
Laurie Graham 0:14
Hey, I’m so glad to welcome you back for Episode 74 of the Small Church Ministry Podcast. We are actually coming up on our third year anniversary in just a few weeks. We’re gonna have some special interviews, giveaways, prizes, discounts, and a lot of fun! We’re gonna be taking some time to look back on where we’ve come from, and also look ahead to where we’re going. But throughout the last couple years, it has been my absolute pleasure and joy to support you and others in small churches all around the globe. So whether you’re just finding us or you’re a diehard fan, whether you’ve been to our conferences, or don’t even know we have them, I hope you know that I’m in your corner. And it’s not just me, but entire community of people in small churches, across the globe, sharing what works and tons of encouragement.
So today, I have a quick message for you. It’s going to be a shorter episode than most of mine in the past, but it might actually be one of the most important messages you’ve heard, because it’s really about staying healthy and it’s also about abiding. You see at Small Church Ministry, we are all about strategies that work. We literally help people in small churches, like stop the madness of trying to imitate large church programs, or large church success, and start embracing the unique calling that God actually has for small churches. We talk often about what strategies work. We share that small church ministry isn’t less, but it’s very, very different. We train people in small churches, how to develop volunteers in a way that’s genuine and authentic to who we are and who God has called us to be. We show people in small churches, how to plan better programs by involving more people in the planning, by doing ministry with people instead of for people.
Laurie Graham 2:04
We totally stand against burnout and busyness. In fact, for me, when I hear people say, and this happens so often, that I’m spinning all the plates, or I’m doing all the things, honestly, I’m not impressed. I actually start praying, because none of us were meant to do all of that. When we started this ministry, Small Church Ministry, one thing that I insisted on, and I think we’ve remained really true to it, is we weren’t just going to be all theoretical or talk about principles and wise, but we were going to be really specific, and help small churches with actionable steps, help volunteers with real application on how to do this small church thing better, and we have done this really well! Testimonies every week coming in about the results of planning parties, or I applied this thing that came out of the blog, or these Ministry Bundles are completely changing our ministry. Every single conference we’ve done has been followed by testimonies and emails and posts of people sharing the very practical results and the wins of ministry successes and programs that are working, and it has been so good!
And in the midst of it all we talk to about how the best programs and the best ministry wins are nothing in comparison with our own walk with Jesus, that Jesus wants our hearts even more than He wants our hands, that programs, even, and sometimes even especially the successful ones, can actually become those noisy gongs and clanging cymbals that really are just adding to the noise. When I think about Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” I absolutely believe that our service and our doing is part of that, that He calls us to love and to listen, to feed the hungry, to do good, to love well, to be His ambassadors in every way on this planet. But in the midst of the doing and the programs, and the planning, I also know that He wants our hearts like, Jesus pursues us with love, not just for our doing or in reward for that, but He also calls us to be, and I truly believe that Jesus calls us to experience Him, to feel His presence, to sit in His
sanctuary, to be our all in all.
Laurie Graham 4:35
I’ve had quite a few conversations recently about burnout, and also about the big picture calling of the church, about a kingdom mindset. Have you ever had that when some theme just keeps popping up in your life, whether it’s from different people or different situations, or different conversations? This is what I want to talk to you about today. I just want to share about a few of those recent conversations that I have had because I think it helps to keep our focus on what’s first and what’s foundational, even, and especially, in small church ministry.
So one of my most recent conversations was a quick chat with Cledra Gross. Um, Cleadra is speaking once again, at our upcoming conference for spouses of pastors, that’s the one that’s coming up in July, and one of my biggest joys in this ministry, is really connecting with amazing people in small churches all over the globe, and getting to know those who serve as our conference speakers has been something that I’ve just held as just, it’s just been really special to me. Because, as these speakers develop their topics, we interact over what we see as the needs of small churches because people aren’t just coming in saying, hey, I want to speak on this, we’re actually talking about what are we seeing that people need? What are the biggest challenges we’re hearing? What are we hearing as we listen to those even in our churches, and as we have these conversations with the speakers, I am often challenged, and honestly, I am almost always called to better too. And Cledra’s one of those speakers who has really done this with me, really called me to be better not just to do better, but to be better.
Laurie Graham 6:18
Recently, she reached out to change the title of her topic. It was so special and so sweet because here’s Cledra reaching out to see if it’s okay that she changes her original title, and of course it is! As she was talking to me she said, “Yeah, I just don’t think that’s what I’m supposed to talk about.” Well, for me, that always makes me get really excited because it almost always means that God’s speaking and God’s leading in a totally different way. And she said, “How would you feel if I talked about,” and she kind of used this word radical, she said, it’s probably a little radical. She said, “How would you feel if I talked about breaking the idol of the way that church is supposed to be?” You know, that we are striving and straining and stressing over church and making it the way that we think it’s supposed to be, but maybe all that striving and straining and stressing is actually showing some signs of neglect in our own health and our own relationship, and our own walk with Christ?
Well, that topic has me all excited every which way possible, because I see that so much. In small churches, and big churches, just the modern church in general, our priority often becomes, especially for those of us who are the doers, who are the leaders, who are those core volunteers, our priority becomes making this church successful, sometimes, in lieu of like seeking God on our own, like seeking Him first. So I just want to toss that thought out to you to ponder and to sit with and to explore. Like, is anything getting out of order for you, in your service to Jesus? Like, how are you? Are you feeling passionate about your walk with Jesus, about seeking God wholly? Are you enthralled with Him? Are you experiencing Him at work in your life? Are you not just taking time to dwell like, in the Word or in prayer or in His creation, but are you actually making it a priority? I truly believe that when Christ is priority in my life, I change, and I change a lot, maybe even constantly. When I am making Christ a priority in my life, I am not the same person I was days ago or months ago, and especially not a year ago. When I am making Christ a priority in my life, I feel called to deeper in deeper ways, and sometimes drawn to sadness or struggle or deeper joys. It takes me off of autopilot and I’m looking at things differently, and I’m noticing deeper things. Do you resonate with this too?
Laurie Graham 9:04
And when I say when I’m making Christ a priority in my life, I hope you hear that He is not always number one priority in my life. I slip like we all do! We get a little messed up sometimes, a struggle, like starts taking priority, or a joy, or a project, or a ministry, or an event. And I do believe we should keep this constantly in our mind and on our hearts, whether it’s daily or weekly, or in the community where we serve, that we are reminding each other and asking those questions. How is your walk with Jesus? I talked to one of our Academy members not too long ago on a zoom call and she said, you know, no one asks me how my relationship is with Jesus, and she’s on staff at a small church. And she said, I miss that because I used to have that in my life. And we got to talk about her relationship with Jesus, and we also talked about how sad it is that we are not making that a normal part of our conversations with one another in communities where we serve.
Earlier this morning, I was talking to another member of our community, Tammy Adams, who serves as our Membership Coordinator for our Network and so many other ways. She’s spoken at our conferences, and is just a prayer warrior. But we were talking today about how life is just hard sometimes, and we’re both, honestly, just really asking God for an easy next season, and we don’t know that it’s gonna come, but we also talked about how much depth and growth there is in the learning and leaning into pain or struggle or growth. And also, how so often, as humans, we like to numb ourselves from our pain, so we don’t feel it, so it doesn’t stretch, so it doesn’t hurt so much. And I don’t know about you, but anytime I’ve grown, like really grown and changed, there was always stretching required. There was always some struggle and some pain. And how do we numb ourselves from our own growth or our own calling or our own struggles or our own pain, right? Like think about that.
Laurie Graham 11:29
Tammy and I talked about addictions, and how so many people in churches struggle with addiction, and here’s one of the addictions, busyness. Busyness can so be an addiction. It’s a buffer. As long as we’re doing for God or achieving or at least trying to achieve, we’re looking for our worth there. We’re struggling there. We’re pouring our time and our energy. We’re measuring success by what we do. And even if it’s not successful, we are trying. So we stay so busy working and striving for Jesus, in our churches, desperately trying to keep programs afloat that maybe shouldn’t even stay afloat, but we don’t want to take a break because our busyness has become an addiction. Our programs have become the focus, or the idol.
So here’s the question. What happens if we take a break? Can you sit in silence? Can I sit in silence? Can we have a season of doing less? Now, if you think you’d go crazy, if you don’t stay busy, you’re not alone. I truly believe that busyness in church ministry really is a problem because we are not called to be busy. We are called to stay in step with our Father, yes, but that does not always mean busy, and honestly, I think usually it doesn’t. If staying busy for Jesus is actually keeping you away from experiencing Him, experiencing His peace, growth, learning, study, pondering deeper things. If staying busy for Jesus is keeping you away from all that it’s a problem. It is not a badge of honor to be busy. And if you lead volunteers in your church, or you head up a team, or you even just have a friend that you do ministry with, I really believe this is a message not only that we need to share or discuss, but I really believe we need to model this. So I guess I’d love to encourage you today to plan your next break from busyness, to plan a little time off from ministry.
Laurie Graham 14:00
Now maybe this is really on my head this week because I’m in the middle of decorating for VBS. Like this is a busy time. It’s, it’s a little crazy making even trying to figure out how to do glow in the dark hallways then hang planets from a really high sanctuary ceiling. So maybe this is why this is hitting me is because I’m needing it, but I’d like to tell you that we don’t need to work to earn a rest or to say, wow, I’ve been so busy, I need a rest, or I need to get reacquainted with my First Love. That’s actually really opposite. We should be resting and getting reacquainted with our First Love so that we can serve better. So often I think we look at rest or sabbatical or a Sunday afternoon off as a reward. As if we work hard enough, we should get some time off. If we work hard enough, then we can earn that break, that time to regroup, that time to refill. But do you know that’s the actual opposite of how God created us, and what He desires for us and from us? We actually need to rest so we can do ministry well. We need to refill so we can pour out.
So if you’re feeling like you’re too busy for a break, you’re not. It’s the perfect time. You don’t need to earn it. In fact, we need to put it first. We need to reconnect before we keep pushing through because I really do believe when we reconnect with Jesus, when we take time away from a crazy busy season, or a program that is struggling, and we take time to get out of that stress, to release that frustration, to really let it go, spend time with God, with others in positive, connecting community, something shifts and we actually get first things first. And you know, if we don’t get this straight, if we don’t put first things first, I hate to say it in a way, but it’s totally true, if we don’t get this straight, all the strategies and successful skills, and ministry success means nothing, even if it seems like it’s working. I do not want to be a noisy gong. I do not want to be a clanging cymbal. And I also don’t want to be an influence that pushes you in that direction either. So if you have been listening to me teach about strategies that work in small churches, if you’ve been working on planning parties, and developing volunteers better, and pouring your heart into amazing programs, here’s the truth about the tools and practicing ministry success, even if it is proven, and even if it is good, and even as if it is successful, this still comes first.
Laurie Graham 17:15
I’m not sure why I felt like I really had to share my heart with you today. Again, I don’t know if it’s because I’m needing it or because you are, but I just want to say, if it’s been a while since you’ve sat with Jesus, and I don’t mean for a 15-minute devotional time that we’re checking off a list. I mean, really pouring out your heart and hearing from Him, being enthralled with Him, feeling His delight for you and in you, not just in your doing, but just in your existence, in your being, in the very fact that He created you. You don’t have to earn that love or that joy. He pursues us. So please, prioritize your abiding with Him. Now, I don’t know if this looks like a half-day retreat for you, or an entire season of sabbatical, but I do believe it should be visible, I believe our prioritizing our time with Jesus alone, right? I believe people should be aware of it, whether it is seen on our calendar, or it comes out in our conversations, or it just shows up in your character because those fruits of the Spirit, they are not about our willpower and our skill, or our practice even. Those fruits of the Spirit aren’t outflowing of Him from Him. That’s why they’re called the Fruits of the Spirit.
I don’t even know how many times I’ve heard people talk about practicing love, you know, choosing to practice love, or becoming more joyful or training themselves in patience. I do believe we can learn skills in all those areas, but there’s something very different that happens when we are so connected to the vine, when we are abiding so closely in Him that those fruits truly just flow out of us. They are Fruits of the Spirit, of the Spirit of Jesus abiding in us. Where we’re even shocked ourselves when somebody is curt with us and we respond with love or when some huge struggle comes up and we are filled with peace. I believe we should be dwelling there much more than we do. So that’s my message for today. First things come first, and as much as I love, love, love to share success in small church ministry, and truly give you inspiration and tools for finding that uniqueness, that unique purpose in small church ministry and doing, this being has got to be part of it.
Laurie Graham 20:18
If you want to be part of a community where this is our message, where we are about doing well, and doing ministry with excellence, and finding what works in small churches so we can change our community, but we are also about abiding on that vine, about staying connected with Jesus, about having our own walk with Christ infiltrate or ooze into every pore, every coaching call every event, everything that we do, please come join us in the Small Church Network and Academy, because that’s what you’re going to find there. Check out smallchurchministry.com/network. We would love to have you join us there.
So, next week, we’ll be back to tools and strategies that work in small churches. We’re coming up really soon. We’re also coming up to our third year anniversary, where we’re gonna have an entire week of fun and prizes and giveaways and amazing interviews with people in small churches all across the globe, including a super special Network event happening in June as well. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss any details of that upcoming event. And for today, with a little reminder that to be a light, we also need to be soaking in the Light. So make sure to take some time to do that, and I can’t wait to talk to you next week.
Laurie Graham 0:01
Hey, this is Laurie Graham. Welcome to the Small Church Ministry Podcast.
Laurie Graham 0:14
Hey, I’m so glad to welcome you back for Episode 74 of the Small Church Ministry Podcast. We are actually coming up on our third year anniversary in just a few weeks. We’re gonna have some special interviews, giveaways, prizes, discounts, and a lot of fun! We’re gonna be taking some time to look back on where we’ve come from, and also look ahead to where we’re going. But throughout the last couple years, it has been my absolute pleasure and joy to support you and others in small churches all around the globe. So whether you’re just finding us or you’re a diehard fan, whether you’ve been to our conferences, or don’t even know we have them, I hope you know that I’m in your corner. And it’s not just me, but entire community of people in small churches, across the globe, sharing what works and tons of encouragement.
So today, I have a quick message for you. It’s going to be a shorter episode than most of mine in the past, but it might actually be one of the most important messages you’ve heard, because it’s really about staying healthy and it’s also about abiding. You see at Small Church Ministry, we are all about strategies that work. We literally help people in small churches, like stop the madness of trying to imitate large church programs, or large church success, and start embracing the unique calling that God actually has for small churches. We talk often about what strategies work. We share that small church ministry isn’t less, but it’s very, very different. We train people in small churches, how to develop volunteers in a way that’s genuine and authentic to who we are and who God has called us to be. We show people in small churches, how to plan better programs by involving more people in the planning, by doing ministry with people instead of for people.
Laurie Graham 2:04
We totally stand against burnout and busyness. In fact, for me, when I hear people say, and this happens so often, that I’m spinning all the plates, or I’m doing all the things, honestly, I’m not impressed. I actually start praying, because none of us were meant to do all of that. When we started this ministry, Small Church Ministry, one thing that I insisted on, and I think we’ve remained really true to it, is we weren’t just going to be all theoretical or talk about principles and wise, but we were going to be really specific, and help small churches with actionable steps, help volunteers with real application on how to do this small church thing better, and we have done this really well! Testimonies every week coming in about the results of planning parties, or I applied this thing that came out of the blog, or these Ministry Bundles are completely changing our ministry. Every single conference we’ve done has been followed by testimonies and emails and posts of people sharing the very practical results and the wins of ministry successes and programs that are working, and it has been so good!
And in the midst of it all we talk to about how the best programs and the best ministry wins are nothing in comparison with our own walk with Jesus, that Jesus wants our hearts even more than He wants our hands, that programs, even, and sometimes even especially the successful ones, can actually become those noisy gongs and clanging cymbals that really are just adding to the noise. When I think about Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” I absolutely believe that our service and our doing is part of that, that He calls us to love and to listen, to feed the hungry, to do good, to love well, to be His ambassadors in every way on this planet. But in the midst of the doing and the programs, and the planning, I also know that He wants our hearts like, Jesus pursues us with love, not just for our doing or in reward for that, but He also calls us to be, and I truly believe that Jesus calls us to experience Him, to feel His presence, to sit in His
sanctuary, to be our all in all.
Laurie Graham 4:35
I’ve had quite a few conversations recently about burnout, and also about the big picture calling of the church, about a kingdom mindset. Have you ever had that when some theme just keeps popping up in your life, whether it’s from different people or different situations, or different conversations? This is what I want to talk to you about today. I just want to share about a few of those recent conversations that I have had because I think it helps to keep our focus on what’s first and what’s foundational, even, and especially, in small church ministry.
So one of my most recent conversations was a quick chat with Cledra Gross. Um, Cleadra is speaking once again, at our upcoming conference for spouses of pastors, that’s the one that’s coming up in July, and one of my biggest joys in this ministry, is really connecting with amazing people in small churches all over the globe, and getting to know those who serve as our conference speakers has been something that I’ve just held as just, it’s just been really special to me. Because, as these speakers develop their topics, we interact over what we see as the needs of small churches because people aren’t just coming in saying, hey, I want to speak on this, we’re actually talking about what are we seeing that people need? What are the biggest challenges we’re hearing? What are we hearing as we listen to those even in our churches, and as we have these conversations with the speakers, I am often challenged, and honestly, I am almost always called to better too. And Cledra’s one of those speakers who has really done this with me, really called me to be better not just to do better, but to be better.
Laurie Graham 6:18
Recently, she reached out to change the title of her topic. It was so special and so sweet because here’s Cledra reaching out to see if it’s okay that she changes her original title, and of course it is! As she was talking to me she said, “Yeah, I just don’t think that’s what I’m supposed to talk about.” Well, for me, that always makes me get really excited because it almost always means that God’s speaking and God’s leading in a totally different way. And she said, “How would you feel if I talked about,” and she kind of used this word radical, she said, it’s probably a little radical. She said, “How would you feel if I talked about breaking the idol of the way that church is supposed to be?” You know, that we are striving and straining and stressing over church and making it the way that we think it’s supposed to be, but maybe all that striving and straining and stressing is actually showing some signs of neglect in our own health and our own relationship, and our own walk with Christ?
Well, that topic has me all excited every which way possible, because I see that so much. In small churches, and big churches, just the modern church in general, our priority often becomes, especially for those of us who are the doers, who are the leaders, who are those core volunteers, our priority becomes making this church successful, sometimes, in lieu of like seeking God on our own, like seeking Him first. So I just want to toss that thought out to you to ponder and to sit with and to explore. Like, is anything getting out of order for you, in your service to Jesus? Like, how are you? Are you feeling passionate about your walk with Jesus, about seeking God wholly? Are you enthralled with Him? Are you experiencing Him at work in your life? Are you not just taking time to dwell like, in the Word or in prayer or in His creation, but are you actually making it a priority? I truly believe that when Christ is priority in my life, I change, and I change a lot, maybe even constantly. When I am making Christ a priority in my life, I am not the same person I was days ago or months ago, and especially not a year ago. When I am making Christ a priority in my life, I feel called to deeper in deeper ways, and sometimes drawn to sadness or struggle or deeper joys. It takes me off of autopilot and I’m looking at things differently, and I’m noticing deeper things. Do you resonate with this too?
Laurie Graham 9:04
And when I say when I’m making Christ a priority in my life, I hope you hear that He is not always number one priority in my life. I slip like we all do! We get a little messed up sometimes, a struggle, like starts taking priority, or a joy, or a project, or a ministry, or an event. And I do believe we should keep this constantly in our mind and on our hearts, whether it’s daily or weekly, or in the community where we serve, that we are reminding each other and asking those questions. How is your walk with Jesus? I talked to one of our Academy members not too long ago on a zoom call and she said, you know, no one asks me how my relationship is with Jesus, and she’s on staff at a small church. And she said, I miss that because I used to have that in my life. And we got to talk about her relationship with Jesus, and we also talked about how sad it is that we are not making that a normal part of our conversations with one another in communities where we serve.
Earlier this morning, I was talking to another member of our community, Tammy Adams, who serves as our Membership Coordinator for our Network and so many other ways. She’s spoken at our conferences, and is just a prayer warrior. But we were talking today about how life is just hard sometimes, and we’re both, honestly, just really asking God for an easy next season, and we don’t know that it’s gonna come, but we also talked about how much depth and growth there is in the learning and leaning into pain or struggle or growth. And also, how so often, as humans, we like to numb ourselves from our pain, so we don’t feel it, so it doesn’t stretch, so it doesn’t hurt so much. And I don’t know about you, but anytime I’ve grown, like really grown and changed, there was always stretching required. There was always some struggle and some pain. And how do we numb ourselves from our own growth or our own calling or our own struggles or our own pain, right? Like think about that.
Laurie Graham 11:29
Tammy and I talked about addictions, and how so many people in churches struggle with addiction, and here’s one of the addictions, busyness. Busyness can so be an addiction. It’s a buffer. As long as we’re doing for God or achieving or at least trying to achieve, we’re looking for our worth there. We’re struggling there. We’re pouring our time and our energy. We’re measuring success by what we do. And even if it’s not successful, we are trying. So we stay so busy working and striving for Jesus, in our churches, desperately trying to keep programs afloat that maybe shouldn’t even stay afloat, but we don’t want to take a break because our busyness has become an addiction. Our programs have become the focus, or the idol.
So here’s the question. What happens if we take a break? Can you sit in silence? Can I sit in silence? Can we have a season of doing less? Now, if you think you’d go crazy, if you don’t stay busy, you’re not alone. I truly believe that busyness in church ministry really is a problem because we are not called to be busy. We are called to stay in step with our Father, yes, but that does not always mean busy, and honestly, I think usually it doesn’t. If staying busy for Jesus is actually keeping you away from experiencing Him, experiencing His peace, growth, learning, study, pondering deeper things. If staying busy for Jesus is keeping you away from all that it’s a problem. It is not a badge of honor to be busy. And if you lead volunteers in your church, or you head up a team, or you even just have a friend that you do ministry with, I really believe this is a message not only that we need to share or discuss, but I really believe we need to model this. So I guess I’d love to encourage you today to plan your next break from busyness, to plan a little time off from ministry.
Laurie Graham 14:00
Now maybe this is really on my head this week because I’m in the middle of decorating for VBS. Like this is a busy time. It’s, it’s a little crazy making even trying to figure out how to do glow in the dark hallways then hang planets from a really high sanctuary ceiling. So maybe this is why this is hitting me is because I’m needing it, but I’d like to tell you that we don’t need to work to earn a rest or to say, wow, I’ve been so busy, I need a rest, or I need to get reacquainted with my First Love. That’s actually really opposite. We should be resting and getting reacquainted with our First Love so that we can serve better. So often I think we look at rest or sabbatical or a Sunday afternoon off as a reward. As if we work hard enough, we should get some time off. If we work hard enough, then we can earn that break, that time to regroup, that time to refill. But do you know that’s the actual opposite of how God created us, and what He desires for us and from us? We actually need to rest so we can do ministry well. We need to refill so we can pour out.
So if you’re feeling like you’re too busy for a break, you’re not. It’s the perfect time. You don’t need to earn it. In fact, we need to put it first. We need to reconnect before we keep pushing through because I really do believe when we reconnect with Jesus, when we take time away from a crazy busy season, or a program that is struggling, and we take time to get out of that stress, to release that frustration, to really let it go, spend time with God, with others in positive, connecting community, something shifts and we actually get first things first. And you know, if we don’t get this straight, if we don’t put first things first, I hate to say it in a way, but it’s totally true, if we don’t get this straight, all the strategies and successful skills, and ministry success means nothing, even if it seems like it’s working. I do not want to be a noisy gong. I do not want to be a clanging cymbal. And I also don’t want to be an influence that pushes you in that direction either. So if you have been listening to me teach about strategies that work in small churches, if you’ve been working on planning parties, and developing volunteers better, and pouring your heart into amazing programs, here’s the truth about the tools and practicing ministry success, even if it is proven, and even if it is good, and even as if it is successful, this still comes first.
Laurie Graham 17:15
I’m not sure why I felt like I really had to share my heart with you today. Again, I don’t know if it’s because I’m needing it or because you are, but I just want to say, if it’s been a while since you’ve sat with Jesus, and I don’t mean for a 15-minute devotional time that we’re checking off a list. I mean, really pouring out your heart and hearing from Him, being enthralled with Him, feeling His delight for you and in you, not just in your doing, but just in your existence, in your being, in the very fact that He created you. You don’t have to earn that love or that joy. He pursues us. So please, prioritize your abiding with Him. Now, I don’t know if this looks like a half-day retreat for you, or an entire season of sabbatical, but I do believe it should be visible, I believe our prioritizing our time with Jesus alone, right? I believe people should be aware of it, whether it is seen on our calendar, or it comes out in our conversations, or it just shows up in your character because those fruits of the Spirit, they are not about our willpower and our skill, or our practice even. Those fruits of the Spirit aren’t outflowing of Him from Him. That’s why they’re called the Fruits of the Spirit.
I don’t even know how many times I’ve heard people talk about practicing love, you know, choosing to practice love, or becoming more joyful or training themselves in patience. I do believe we can learn skills in all those areas, but there’s something very different that happens when we are so connected to the vine, when we are abiding so closely in Him that those fruits truly just flow out of us. They are Fruits of the Spirit, of the Spirit of Jesus abiding in us. Where we’re even shocked ourselves when somebody is curt with us and we respond with love or when some huge struggle comes up and we are filled with peace. I believe we should be dwelling there much more than we do. So that’s my message for today. First things come first, and as much as I love, love, love to share success in small church ministry, and truly give you inspiration and tools for finding that uniqueness, that unique purpose in small church ministry and doing, this being has got to be part of it.
Laurie Graham 20:18
If you want to be part of a community where this is our message, where we are about doing well, and doing ministry with excellence, and finding what works in small churches so we can change our community, but we are also about abiding on that vine, about staying connected with Jesus, about having our own walk with Christ infiltrate or ooze into every pore, every coaching call every event, everything that we do, please come join us in the Small Church Network and Academy, because that’s what you’re going to find there. Check out smallchurchministry.com/network. We would love to have you join us there.
So, next week, we’ll be back to tools and strategies that work in small churches. We’re coming up really soon. We’re also coming up to our third year anniversary, where we’re gonna have an entire week of fun and prizes and giveaways and amazing interviews with people in small churches all across the globe, including a super special Network event happening in June as well. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss any details of that upcoming event. And for today, with a little reminder that to be a light, we also need to be soaking in the Light. So make sure to take some time to do that, and I can’t wait to talk to you next week.