Ministry Fair

The next 40 Days of Purpose all-church event is the Ministry Fair, to be held on Sunday, May 18th. We will gather in a huge tent, called Grand Central Station, to explore the many ministries active within and beyond our walls. Central has been preparing us for this fair for over 2 years, as individuals have been seeking to determine their "spiritual design."

One's spiritual design is determined by many factors: Spiritual gifts, Heart (passion), Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, takes the first letter of each of these factors and calls one's spiritual design your "SHAPE."

Those of you who have experienced our Spiritual Design Course are particularly primed to investigate the many ministries that will be represented at the fair. But what about those who haven't yet had the opportunity to determine their SHAPE? Rick Warren says the best way to discover your gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service. Many books get the discovery process backwards. They say, "discover your spiritual gift and then you'll know what ministry you're supposed to have." It actually works the exact opposite way. Just start serving, experimenting with different ministries, and then you'll discover your gifts. Until you're actually involved in serving, you're not going to know what you're good at! At the fair you will be given "Opportunity Cards," on which you may express interest for ministries that you are drawn to try. Turning in a card(s) will allow someone from that ministry team to contact you and invite you to an orientation where you can ask more questions and find out more specifically how you might serve.

The "ALL ABOARD" you have seen with news of the Ministry Fair is very significant. One of our PURPOSES is that we are created, saved, called and commanded to serve God. There are trainloads of Biblical support for this, but the primary engine for the train might be Ephesians 4:11-16. All of us are to use our God given gifts and passions in service/ministry so that the body of Christ can be built up. If you aren't ABOARD in ministry, then the part of the body you represent is not growing and therefore the body is not whole. This latter part is why we need ALL to become involved. We hope you will pray about what ministry God is calling you to and then begin the process to make a connection at the Ministry Fair. See you at the Station!

Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga...