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Such is the case with a couple in our church - Sam & Karen Gibbs. I started attending FBC Wentzville in 1983. When I started attending this church Sam & Karen were both members. Sam always taught an adult Sunday school class, and Karen was always involved in the prayer chain ministry. They were both involved in other ministries as well but these 2 activities were like a constant in mathematics - these roles seemed to be fixed.
 
Sam was an engineer by training and preparation was always important to him. He liked to run transparencies of his lesson material, and the overhead projector was a fixture in his classroom. The material was hashed out verse by verse, and everybody had an opportunity to offer an opinion, make a point, ask a question or initiate a discussion. He was pretty good with his material, but if he ever hit a snag about some issue Karen could generally offer a very lucid comment or point which would clarify everyone's thinking.
 
I think what impressed me most about these two people was their attitude. Faith was a career; to be practiced one's entire life. With Sam & Karen one never felt that their ministry was an obligation they did for awhile and then hoped somebody else would take over. Their ministry was genuine and you always sensed that they received a greater blessing for having undertaken it than those that received the fruit of their efforts.
 
At those times in worship when the pastor asked for a personal testimony about how God might have met a need, provided direction, or given comfort you might hear Sam or Karen share. You listened to their testimony and you had an overwhelming sense that they knew God was sufficient for every situation.
 
Another neat thing about Sam & Karen is that though both loved life and each other. It wasn't all church; they had activities they did together and which they both enjoyed. They both liked golf, they traveled together, they would sometimes fly to a destination (Sam was a pilot), and they enjoyed each other's company.
 
Sam worked for McDonnell Douglas Corporation which was purchased by Boeing Corporation and during that early transition, a number of senior employees got forced out of their jobs. Sam was one of those employees that probably retired a little earlier than he expected but he took it in stride and went on with his life. Later those employees received a cash settlement as a result of an age discrimination lawsuit. For Sam that might have provided a little bonus, but it might have been the providence of God that he received an early exit. He got to spend extra time with his wife and grandkids and had some free time he otherwise would not have had. Sam had a congenital heart defect, and in later life it caused some health complications. He was hospitalized a number of times, but always seemed to rebound but ultimately complication from a surgery produced his death.
 
When Sam left Boeing he and his wife both worked at a local funeral home part time. It gave him a little extra money for flying, golfing and doing other things he enjoyed. I got to know Sam best from flying. We would sometimes fly together and I am probably a better pilot for flying with Sam. He always had an extensive checklist and was very thorough about every aspect of flying - preflight, weather, radio frequencies, navigation, etc. He also had a genuine enthusiasm which was easy to like. I sensed this with his flying and also of his interest in end time prophecy. He had a good sense of humor, and shared a story which I consider a classic.
 
He had signed up to give airplane rides to young kids as part of an Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program. (a program to get kids interested in aviation). The event was staged at a local airport, but more kids had arrived than was anticipated. He, rather than disappoint the kids, was forced to rent the aircraft for additional time which needless to say is not cheap. With reference to his funeral home job he remarked to me, " I had to bury a lot of bodies to pay for that flying." I guess flying is even more expensive than I first thought.
 
Sam's death was hard on Karen but she persevered. It put a big hole in her life because Sam was such a big part of it. That apparently is something that is not easily filled. Karen had her own health issues but overcame breast cancer. In spite of that, she is still active in the church. Karen is still doing the prayer chain and now is working in the church library. In spite of recent events in her life, she has a peace and dignity about her. She can still offer a warm smile and enjoy a hearty laugh. Her confidence in the Lord is unshaken.
 
One of my favorite recollection of Karen is of her most forgiving response to my weird sense of humor. On one of the occasions when Sam was hospitalized they thought he could possibly have a brain tumor. They were going to do a scan of his head. I saw her in the hall at church and I asked her about the brain scan on Sam. She replied that they didn't find anything. She got a real look of consternation when a smile started to crease my lips, and then she did a double take. She said, "I should have known with your weird sense of humor that you would laugh when I said the scan of his head found nothing." I confessed I couldn't help it, but then added that I was glad it was not a brain tumor.
 
As a younger man, you couldn't get me in a church. I did not have a desire to go. Now I know that it is the place that I ought to be. The word of God touches my life, and the people you meet are a blessing as well.
 
Hebrews 10: 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
 
Posted by Vance Poland with
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“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”   Ephesians 4:4-6 (ESV)

 ...has written a book entitled Team of Teams.  If you get a chance to pick it up some time I think you’d enjoy the read.  He addresses the fact that the development of information technology is changing the way we live. There are so many unpredictable outcomes that can occur within any group trying to reach goals that organizations have need of flexibility and adaptability to be successful. 

He cites a YouTube video which started a revolution in Tunisia that didn’t end until Egypt.  A protester named Tarek protested police corruption in his local city by setting himself on fire.  His cousin filmed the whole thing and posted it on YouTube which led to millions of views and then people started their own protests...which eventually led to the end of the reign of President Mubarak in Egypt. That outcome was totally unforeseen at the time of Tarek’s protest.

You used to be able to predict outcomes of certain actions with a certain degree of accuracy and plan accordingly, but things are a little different in our day.

In a complex world, efficiency does not equal success.

That’s one of the reason we have teams in our church...they were designed by God  to be able to adapt to whatever they might need to do to reach the goals that are set forth for us in the Scripture.  We have ministry teams...like Hope and VBS...and the roughly thirty other ministry teams that have poured out from the gifts that God has given to His people who serve Him with gladness through our church. Team members have common spiritual gifts and talents, share a common ministry, with all committed to a common purpose. We have too many people to put on just one team so we have multiple teams that work closely with one another and stay effective in reaching the overall goals set for us in the Scripture.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;  and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (ESV)

The General discovered, as he let the American Task Force in Iraq, that the teams you have need to share in the overall purpose of the whole and work towards the same end if you are going to succeed.  Once, when he was visiting the Task Force’s intelligence facilities, he found a storage room full of unopened bags of intelligence that had been gathered on raids.  That team had done their job well, but lacked an understanding of what they were trying to accomplish as a whole.  Thus the intelligence sat in a room until it was stumbled upon later and  the time-sensitive intel was useless; it was already too old.  They did a good job...but it didn’t help.

He discovered what the good Lord has already revealed to us, that every team needed to understand the overarching purpose of the whole team to make good decisions within their own team.  You can’t lose sight of the context of what you’re trying to accomplish.

He also discovered you can’t just throw people together and have a team.  A real team, whether in the military, or in a church setting will be comprised of people who have similar skill sets (the Bible calls them gifts and talents), who use those skill while learning to trust one another and work together with a shared understanding of why they’re doing what they are doing.  That happens by sharing experiences with one another and developing relationships within the team.

But you can do that within a team and still have that team not contribute to the overall purpose of the organization.  The intelligence team did a great job of collecting intel...but not seeing themselves as a crucial part of the overall purpose of the larger task force made what they did ineffective at best and downright a waste of time at worse.  A single military team intent on just doing what they are doing without thought of the overall purpose doesn’t help the organization at all.

Same thing can happen in church ministry.  All of us should discover our gifts and talents and find a place of ministry and service to the Lord...join that team of people who are like minded and similarly gifted who will work together with you for the glory of God.  But, make sure your team understands the overall purpose of the church as given to us through the Scripture or you might be doing a good thing but it has no value towards reaching the goals set forth in the Scripture.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,   to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,   until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,   so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.   Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,   from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)

The leaders of the teams...beginning with the Holy Spirit...through the leadership of the church...are the glue that holds the teams together.  They make sure the teams have the opportunity to make great decisions about what to do next within the context of the larger goals of the church.  The military...along with the businesses this book is addressed to... are  just now beginning to learn what the Bible has already revealed as the best way to be successful.

So, I trust you have identified a team to join...or a team to start...whether it is with our Adult teams or Student teams or Children teams...whether it is with Bibles Study teams or Vacation Bible School or Legacy  or ________________ and that together we can team up to serve the Lord with gladness. We serve Jesus because we want to...not because we have to.

And by the way...You do know the overarching purposes of the church right?  If not, check back here next week.  GOOOOOOO....TEAM...GO!

Posted by Ralph Sawyer with

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