 Hey guys, welcome back. I don't have the other good break Okay Right. So in the in the previous lecture, we Concluded on the chapter of women in ministry this chapter 22 Okay, I hope you all are doing all right. Yeah, I think Okay Right, so let's move on to chapter 23 Chapter 23. This is the section 4 In the book the house of God Chapter 23 and this chapter we will discuss about the systems and processes Within the local church, right? In the one of the chapters that we covered in the last class was about order the importance of having order which will help in avoiding all the confusion and the chaos When there is order and so this chapter addresses a few of that are some practical aspects of ministry and organization And in all of this again, this is these are just a guidelines or pointers This chapter is not to say that your church should look just like this Your church should have all of these you can take whichever you think might work for your church and adapt or you know Be flexible with it, right? And so some of the things that we want are important For a proper organization is have excellence and show proper functioning Right and to multiply and increase what is being done, right to have excellence and show proper functioning of what is being done and then The end goal is to multiply and increase right so the job Our job is not just to manage you know, what is happening to to make sure that it's happening week after week, but then Another responsibility is to make sure that your area of ministry grows As well, okay, right? So our motivation in ministry organization and developing the organization is that we can build local churches according to God's blueprint But that is the motivation, right? In ministry organization is that we do everything that they are doing according to God's blueprint Right, so we present some of the ideas from this chapter. So the ideas that's presented in this chapter is kind of in line Drawing a parallel from the human body and how the human body is organized and functions because now we say We are the body of Christ, isn't it and so in the past has taken some pointers are paralleled from how a human body functions And then how we can how the church is a body of Christ can function as well Right and so they're totally nine systems By by no stretch of imagination. I am a medical student Nothing can be far from further away from the truth But let's see what it has to say so page 144 Right, I'm so the first system out of the nine that we look at Drawing a parallel from a human body to church is a circulatory system Right and what that system does is it kind of cares for every part of our body, isn't it? Every organ it reaches and so what does it do? We develop more veins arteries capillaries etc etc and so some of the things what this system focuses on is that every individual in your congregation receives care and nurture And that's what this system does enough for our body is that every single organ You know every vein every joint receives is being cared for and nurtured for similarly Your church or your ministry should have an or others have a system where every single individual is scared for Right and that's where we some of the examples is you can have what we have at APC is one-on-one mentoring You know you're meeting with the team members have small groups in other words cell groups or life groups Member care team a member care team is a team where they would they would make for example If you have first-time visitors who visits our church, you know for the first time that's where they're called first-time visitors So we have a team. I mean we pass around a Card where they will write their name the phone number their email address and what the member care team does is During the week, they will follow up with the person who came to APC for the first time We call them up and say like hey, how are you doing? Did you enjoy the service? Do you have any feedback? Are you from the same city? Are you part of another church? Are you are you looking to make APC your home church? And whatnot and if they do say yes, I'm looking to make APC my home church The next step is we need to we want to plug them or get them plugged in to a life group a smaller group That's what we call it as our cell group, isn't it? So what are we doing here in this process is We're not just ignoring. Okay, this individual came for the first time and then just walk away without Encountering with an actual person who just came to a search service and felt like strangers and went back, right? Importance is making sure everybody feels important They are cared for nurtured for these are just first-time visitors and we also have another team called the one phone call team One phone call team is the only objective of this team is to make one phone call To every single member of the church once a month at least Okay Some day we will come up with a more creative name, but at the moment, it's just one phone So you know, we have a team above 10 or 15 people and They will each each each each team member will have a list of say 15 people that they will call They will at least make one phone call a month is just give them a quick call and say how was how are you doing? Is there anything I can pray for are you plugged into a life group? Is everything alright? So things like that, right? So what this system does is making sure that every single individual is valued is cared for is nurtured for right And other some of the pointers are ministries that you can have a specialized counselors to address personal needs regular seminars, you know weekends what we have weekend schools or we have workshops Constantly happening at ABC every month every weekend sometimes Workshop or seminars on marriage parenting finances workplace and all of that right so But that's a system where everybody is a place where people can feel cared for nurtured for come and be feel equipped Be equipped and be empowered to go and you know Do life so that's a circulatory system and the next system is the Skeletal system. Okay. What does it do? It provides a basic frame a shape and a structure That's what a skeleton system does isn't it? I mean Yeah, you can imagine a human body without a skeleton. Yeah, it's not It's not going to be very pretty right so what it does is there is a structure. There is some sort of It's kind of organized so there's a shape to it right there is There's a proper flow to it so to speak right so ensuring structure shape and support By having proper leadership proper organization and administration in place So how can we have this in line for our church for it to function? Well is You need to have a proper leadership in place a proper structure Knowing who's reporting to whom you know all the administration department And all of that great so leaders are pillars in the church In the in the previous chapters earlier chapters We've learned about how the importance of developing leaders how we can do that. We're not going to discuss that now but Leaders are pillars in the church, isn't it? So Holy Spirit can send people to be connected to your local church. You must welcome and receive them Okay, and most cases you need to raise up strong leaders within your local church Who will be a point of contact with with certain individuals? Okay, there is a shape. There is a structure Right, for example, if anybody wants to know how they can join the worship team You know, it's it should be easy for the people in the congregation to say okay You can meet so-and-so pastor who's the worship pastor? And he'll be he or she will be able to tell you now what to do next what are the next steps in order for you to Be part of the worshiping so to have a basic shape and structure is key to say the least, right? The next is the next system That we can incorporate in our church is drawing a parallel is a muscular system Right now. This is about muscular system I mean we we work out we exercise and just to make sure our muscles are in check and they are growing They are strong, right? So this is where strength and mobility comes into play right ensuring strength Movement and mobility in the body By ensuring that every believer becomes a minister So there is a constant training and equipping that is happening In this system, okay, the system is only focused on okay How can we take the congregation to the next level? How can we take your team to the next level or that if it's your life group, for example? You know, how can we take the members of my life group to the next level? Are we all growing in the same page? Are we all growing at the same pace? You know, I'll be growing strong in the word in the spirit, etc, etc, right? So the key is to keep this consistent Yes in any of this system guys one of the keys and I would say which which is the hardest key or challenging key is consistency Right and that is something I learned a very valuable lesson at least and I've always known the importance of consistency And I still do continue to learn Ignore sometimes but then during the pandemic, right? 2020 from March 2020 onwards until This year, I guess January I learned about the importance of just you know Keeping things on the move Regularly even if you don't feel like it and so for approximately two and a half years We did youth ministry online. We had youth meetings online Every Friday week after week after week after week after week Now did I feel like doing that every week? Absolutely not 100% no But the important What was important is that every youth knew that there was youth meeting happening every Friday And so they can get connected or they can invite their friends and whatnot Right. So being consistent in every area of life Yes, but in our context in ministry sets the tone sets the culture so people are up there Okay, so there's a system and now I know where I can go To you know to be equipped to grow stronger in my walk with the Lord right to grow spiritually so training Mentoring releasing a small of small group leaders Purposeful teaching and preaching from the pulpit right Choosing topics that are strong that will help people grow would be anything right? The topics that you can choose to preach or teach can be endless Right having a midweek a Bible study, you know the famous day is the Wednesday Bible study nights Are you choose topics to go deeper? opportunity for everyone to minister and Create a culture where everyone is encouraged to serve Okay, regular events that equip and mobilize people example weekend school of training As mentioned at APC every every month we have a weekend school That's an entire day of just training before it used to be two days but then We've reduced it to one full day the Saturday for morning to evening We cover different topics like healing and deliverance moving in the prophetic and in so much more Okay, so that's the muscular system where you can ministry or your church Needs to have that and the objective of the system is to you know make your Church folks are more stronger by equipping them right and Then you have the digestive system Which which ensures that a strong Anointed and timely ministry of the word so that people receive That just an absorbed solid spiritual nourishment Right. This is again in sync with the muscular system right consistent strong ministry of the word from the pulpit Make additional resources available for people to learn Encourage people to learn and receive from other ministers Create create a learning culture Right, so is this another system that is key for strong nourishment and And then the other system is the respiratory system isn't it we all need to breathe To stay alive That's one of the signs that shows us that we are alive Enduring a continuous fresh breath inspiration and work of this period Right one of the Hebrew words for spirit is Rua, which means wind or breath Right so and so ensuring that again, there is this continuous work of the spirit in us and in the congregation and this is Getting a little bit more personal right emphasize personal and corporate prayer and worship ensuring that they have a strong Personal walk with the Lord sit times for extended prayer and worship fasting prayer and whatnot stay yielded to the leading and the work of the spirit Encourage the use of spiritual gifts a prophecy tongues and all others. So This is a very important system, isn't it and And again, it all comes down and all of the system. I think it all comes down to us as leaders to create this culture challenging one and to constantly and continuously emphasizing re-emphasizing the importance of all of this and Just so that our congregation are growing strong in God Right And the next system is the nervous system which talks about I mean it all talks about the sensitivity and the responses Isn't it like it helps us respond to a certain thing? It's very important for you to for the church to have a point where people can respond to but react right For example is is there is there a point where is there a place where the congregation members can send their feedback Right, some churches can have a suggestion boxes Right, if if your church can have an email ID Where they can send their feedbacks to that's great where you know that though that email goes to the entire leadership Team of the church Right. So ensuring keen sensitivity and perception of what is happening in the local body and providing a timely response It's also this system talks about different teams Keeping say the senior pastor updated for example, if I'm the worship pastor, it is my responsibility To keep my senior pastor updated on what is happening Right a weekly report or a monthly report or quarterly report everything, right? So that's what this system is talking about have a system in place where people can give feedback or Where you can also share your feedback And a culture where your leaders will keep you in the loop of what is happening With the weekly updates and quarterly updates, etc Right. So create process by which people can provide feedback. That's one a regular reports by leaders Be sensitive to what you see and hear in the local church body so that you can respond quickly act quickly Correctively be sensitive to the Holy Spirit who can alert you ahead of time when needed right, so that's Another key system there and The next system is endocrine endocrine system No, it's It's tangible, but it doesn't have this obvious organ so to speak, right? So what is an endocrine system? It's it's something that releases these hormones, right? That keeps is your thyroid levels in check and and all of that now you will not be aware of it Like you can't it's not like your nose and say okay where show me where your nose and this is the nose You can't say okay where's an endocrine system? You can't point a finger and say that's what it is kind of a thing But you will their absence will be felt Right if they stop producing those hormones, which is very necessary, right? I mean there that's the system which uses hormones to To control coordinate your mood your your energy levels your Metabolism your stress levels and all of that it's it's kind of Is communicating isn't it? So that's what it that's what that system does and so again a simple system to have constant consistent communication is What the system is talking about, right? Without over emphasizing these bring in reminders from time to time from the pulpit and Through other means about hey, what what is happening this week? What is happening in church this month? What is your vision? reminding the congregation etc Letting them know that there's a weekend school coming up register youth camp youth retreat whatever it is So this is a system that you need to have to have constant It's like a bridge to have communications different modes of communications and you can have different touch points social medias, you know Making use of all those platforms to communicate to making sure that there's you know that this constant communication that is happening right and And while doing all of this, you know, you are creating a culture a kingdom culture that goes against Every everything else the cultures of the world that is not necessary that is not needed, right? Like there could be a culture of gossip When you are establishing a kingdom culture, you're getting rid of the gossip culture backbiting division strife competition selfish interests self-promotion And all of this So is there a system in place in your church? in your ministry How you can identify any of this or is all your teaching in all your workshops? Are you establishing and teaching about kingdom culture? So all so the cultures of the world are not people are not influenced by the cultures of the world right so regularly filter these things out from the local church body through times of prayer repentance and fellowship and You know one of the things that we do at least most of the year with biblical students during the beginning is we talk about the publication laying the axe to the root right which talks about The seriousness of self and lust and and jealousy and whatnot Okay, and so the whole point of all of this is what we've as we've mentioned before Is not just your your role as minister or or a pastor or a leader is not Is not just a role of a manager Okay, you're not just called we are not just called to manage things Okay, this is happening this month So my job is to manage making sure that the same thing is happening this month also this week Yes, that is part of your responsibility, but that is not your only responsibility But you are always looking to scale and grow Right multiply be fruitful Right, so that is the last system is a system of growth right is your ministry growing I motivate and engage people to you know to evangelize to win souls Lead and encourage all kinds of outreaches locally and to regions beyond Equip and release people into church planting and missions. So all of these things are Areas where you're looking a very intentional in your ministry to grow Okay. Yeah, you guys I have any questions or thoughts so far what we've discussed Okay, right. So the next section talks about local church ministry and ministry teams Okay, the local church ministries that different ministries With the church and then with the different ministries come different ministry teams right and so Again at APC we have teams that serve in specific church ministries Right the way it's functioned or the way it's set up. You look at in page 147 bottom of 147 There are different kinds of local church ministries and teams that serve in that area Okay, one is ministries and teams that are centered around ministry functions and ministry and teams that are centered around felt needs and The other ministries and teams that are centered around specific events Okay ministry and teams centered around ministry functions centered around felt needs and specific events and so this is how It's set up and organized at APC Okay, coming down to the next page. You see some of the church ministries centered around ministry functions The worship teams right so worship teams Responsibility is to minister right worship team members are ministering to people, you know every Sunday when as they lead in worship So and with that team comes team members and there has to be team leaders, right? So that's the way it's set up. So and just look at that list of teams That function in that way is the worship teams the prayer and intercession teams life group mission teams performing arts teams Schools outreach teams which is known as the catalyst at APC which goes to different schools and colleges to minister Counseling team member care media internet publications evangelism teams and so on and so forth, right? So in all of these teams all peoples of all ages work together in teams What is important to note? There is all people of all ages Work together in teams. I just a very quick example. The first team in ministry function is a worship team, isn't it? Wait So one of the difference between the worship team and a band Be it a Christian band, right? So a band is just very inclusive. It's like it says as for and no more That's what the band that's the that's what it's all about. It's as for and no more It's a full boy band or full. It's just a girl band Etc etc while the local church worship team is an explosive It's open for all ages right from the young into the old Right. That's one of the lessons that we can learn from david's worship team in first chronicles 25 is that The young and the old ministered in the house of the lord as one Right. So that's just an example just to say that all people of all ages work together in teams Right. We can have many teams That appropriate we provide formal and informal training On the job. So there are certain teams that needs Training for you to be part of for you to serve for example a setup team if you You know, you need to know how to roll. You'll be trained on how to Roll the cables. Uh, you know, it's not as simple as just putting together as it seems Knowing which connection goes where the different all the technical names the words for different kind of pins mic stands and all of that right and There are teams that don't really need a lot of training for example You know at the welcome lounge, you don't really need a training to say hi welcome to apc, isn't it? All right, maybe some people do is like yeah, you need to smile and then say welcome to apc You know, but that's about all the training you'll get Uh, so that's church ministries, which is which are centered around ministry functions Right, and then there are church ministries which are centered around age and felt needs What are they? Do you have the children's church? You have the youth ministry young adults men's ministry women's ministry the mothers single parents And the list goes on right and the teams leading these ministries will look a little different, isn't it? Right, so these are ministries centered around age and felt needs And then finally church ministries centered around specific events Right, so uh Sunday services is an event in itself Uh, right every sunday, uh, and just look at the teams that goes into it. Uh, this is just in our church here guys Okay, several smaller teams are formed to handle this sunday service. What are those teams transport team? What is their job making sure that you know the cars are parked? Uh, you know, uh without any chaos or confusion Making sure that there are signboards on the road that says parking for apc church and hospitality and greeters team Are just greeting people as they are coming into church the parking team sound and stage setup venue maintenance resource table information table A resource table is where we keep all the apc publication books Uh information table is where first time visitor wants to get some more information regarding any ministry That's the table that they would go to uh ushers You know as they as people are coming in To the church building You're guiding them to sit here sit there. You are serving The communion elements, etc That's a team in itself right then there's an ushering a team leader Making sure that every everything is organized Uh, and so guys, there are just all of these teams and all these teams uh have team members and team leaders who have to organize certain things and And you can see everything that goes into making one service happen Right and if not all most of this are applicable for say other events like youth camp church camp And all that etc, etc Okay And so I think in just conclusion of this whole chapter, uh, you know, we we started off learning about the importance of order and uh And at the same time the importance of letting God of the house Right just be the god of the house and sometimes we try to In in in our attempt to be very organized We forget who is the god of the house We uh suddenly the agenda becomes the god our our schedule becomes You know everything else our process everything else become takes god's place Uh, but it all you know, it just comes down to Uh The this perfect balance of us being sensitive in everything that we are doing in every ministry that we are leading In every ministry that is part of the local church Um, the kingdom of god is being established and that's the point of this whole thing Right in us being organized, uh in us having an understanding of all these different systems that needs to have a place It's not like one day you wake up and say, okay, I feel like I need to start a church and yeah, I'm going to start a church uh and not You know, some of us can have that mentality uh, but Uh church is god's idea. It's his blueprint right, it's You need to lean on to his heart And say, okay, you know, what are all the things you need to do the homework you need to do your research You need to plan you need to be organized and say, okay If i'm going to start a church, okay, what are all the teams that are necessary or the importance? What are the what are the legal steps that I need to take make sure that uh, that needs to be in place? the team of what you know, what are the uh What are the procedures to make sure that the finances are clean? you know Inquiring with the ca and having a system for that in place having a system for all these different things Is it's a big deal. It's important, right? It's it's not as simple as just waking up and saying I want to start a church Uh, but it's important. But then all of the system kind of puts Uh, it gives some kind of an order To what you want to do, isn't it? There's like a signboard. Okay. Hey, this is where you need to go Like when you're going on a journey, it says okay, your favorite restaurant is five kilometers away You're not just going to stare at that signboard and say wow, I have arrived Nobody stops at a signboard and say I have arrived at you know You're still pursuing towards the the the destination, isn't it? And so all these systems are like signboards That's leading us on to get to a you know to a place where everything is in order Everything is as a proper structure Etc etc, right? So um, I think that's the conclusion point of this whole chapter is that Remember the systems and see what will work best for you for your church As you're leading a ministry, uh, and then at the same time Be extremely sensitive to the leading of the the holy spirit That's what's going to make the difference Okay Right guys. So any questions or any thoughts? All right, then. Uh, well, uh, I want to stop Right now. I don't want to just Kind of throw more content Uh, y'all so we'll stop here. We'll resume next week with the rest of the Curriculum, okay. Thanks for joining in guys. Take care. Have a lovely and a blessed weekend. God bless you all Thanks, Vasto