God's Call, Our Response ~ God's Blessings

By Anne Nielsen

Wherever we serve, we respond to God's call. When we say "yes" to God, He blesses us in many ways.

A woman who serves in our ministry was feeling like everyone else but her "fit in" here at Central. She also felt she didn't have any gifts or talents to offer. This disconnect she experienced on Sunday mornings was so bothersome she was thinking about giving up on coming to church - any church. She said "yes' to God and began serving in Children's Ministry. She found that she really did have gifts to offer. Now when she worships on Sundays, she finds she's worshipping as a part of the body and not as an outsider. This has deepened her worship experience. Because of serving in Children's Ministry she spends more time reading her Bible so that she is well prepared. This time in God's Word has blessed her marriage and her parenting. She joined a group of us from Central and attended a Children's Ministry conference at another church. She realized through that experience some of her fears, but was strengthened by a fresh awareness of how much God loves her.

Another woman who serves in Children's Ministry values preschoolers' childlike faith, the way they worship and the immediacy of everything. She also has a love for this church body and seeks to serve in a way that helps her meet people outside of her stage of life and family sphere. As a result of her service, she comes away encouraged by her preschoolers! She gets to meet children and their parents and become part of their lives in a meaningful way.

We are also blessed by the service of a young man who assists a teacher. I asked him one day, "Have you noticed any difference in your life since you began serving in Children's Ministry?" He told me that it might take him 7 or 8 years to learn all that he had learned in 9 months. He had to be ready to answer the kids' questions and that meant he had to study the Word. I asked him if he regularly read his Bible. He said he used to read it fairly regularly, but mostly because he was supposed to be doing devotional reading. Because he needed to read his Bible, he found that he wanted to read the Bible. In fact, he spoke of looking forward to reading the Word! God has blessed his life with a hunger for the Word.

Children's Ministry has opportunities for you to serve in the coming year. Is God calling you to serve Him in this way? God wants to bless you with your "yes" to Him. Inside this issue you will find some of our specific needs for the fall. We look forward to the ways God will bless our ministry with volunteers and the ways He will bless the lives of those who respond to His call.