PERCAYALAH DAN BERGEMBIRALAH

Psa 37:3-7
(3)  Percayalah kepada TUHAN dan lakukanlah yang baik,
             diamlah di negeri dan berlakulah setia,
(4)  dan bergembiralah karena TUHAN;
             maka Ia akan memberikan kepadamu apa yang diinginkan hatimu.
(5)  Serahkanlah hidupmu kepada TUHAN dan percayalah kepada-Nya, dan Ia akan bertindak;
            (6)  Ia akan memunculkan kebenaranmu seperti terang, dan hakmu seperti siang.
(7)  Berdiam dirilah di hadapan TUHAN dan nantikanlah Dia; jangan marah karena orang yang berhasil dalam hidupnya, karena orang yang melakukan tipu daya.

PERCAYALAH

Sebagai orang percaya, kita sering kali berjuang untuk percaya kepada Tuhan.  Tuhan yang kita sembah—Dia Allah yang tidak kelihatan.  Bahkan pekerjaan tangan-Nya sering tidak kita alami terutama ketika kita sedang bergumul dan membutuhkan Tuhan.  Saat-saat seperti itu mungkin kita akan mengalami penantian yang panjang.  Pertolongan Tuhan tampak hanya samar-samar di balik awan.  Kapan Tuhan akan bertindak membela ku?

Semua orang percaya pasti pernah mengalami saat-saat seperti itu.  Saat di mana kita sungguh-sungguh mengharapkan pertolongan dari Tuhan.  Saat-saat seperti itu sebenarnya adalah saat yang hening—saat di mana kita bersama Tuhan.  Hanya ada kita dan Tuhan.  Kita sedang berdiri di hadapan Tuhan dan mengharapkan pertolongan dari tangan-Nya.  Saat seperti ini seharusnya tidak terdistraksi oleh keadaan kita;  saat ketika kita melihat Tuhan memandang pergumulan kita dan kita sedang menantikan Dia.

Saat seperti itu kita mendengar suara: “PERCAYALAH kepada Tuhan dan lakukanlah yang baik..”

Tetaplah percaya kepada Tuhan dalam persoalan yang kita hadapi.  Kepercayaan itu dilempar jauh tertanam ke hadirat Allah, bukan kepada persoalan hidup yang sedang dihadapi seperti jangkar yang dilemparkan masuk menembus ke dalam tirai Bait Suci di mana Allah ada.  Ini adalah kepercayaan yang mempercayai bahwa Allah ada di sana dan Ia melihat dengan jelas, lengkap dan melewati masa/waktu.

Meskipun kita tidak tahu mengapa seolah-olah Allah berdiam diri, namun kita tahu IA MAHA TAHU.  Bahkan ia tahu jika persoalan itu akan melukai kita.  HE IS GOD…we just human being.  HE IS OUR CREATOR, LET HE WILL BE DONE!

Satu tugas kita adalah tetap percaya kepada Dia dan melakukan kebaikan!   Percaya kepada Tuhan yang menguasai, memampukan kita untuk tetap berbuat baik.  Dari pada bergumul terus melihat persoalan dan kepedihan hati kita, kita seyogianya PERCAYA kepada Allah dan terus berbuat baik.  Lemparkan jangkar imanmu melewati persoalan hidupmu, dan biarkan jangkar itu sampai ke hadirat Allah.  Biarlah orang lain menemukan kebaikan dan kesetiaan kita kepada Allah.

BERGEMBIRALAH

Bergembira atau bersuka-cita di dalam Tuhan bukan ajaran dari agama.  Agama mengajarkan kalau ketemu Tuhan harus  serius, dengan takut dan gentar sebab sewaktu-waktu Dia bisa murka jika tidak berkenan kepada kita.  Itulah sebabnya agama mengajarkan ketemu Tuhan harus membawa sesajen/persembahan sebagai representasi ketundukan dan rasa gentar kita.

Namun, Tuhan kita tidak seperti itu.  Kita memang harus datang dengan penuh penghormatan dan takut dan gentar di hadapan Allah Pencipta kita, namun Alkitab mengajarkan bahwa Allah kita menginginkan kita bisa bersukacita di hadapanNya karena Dia.  Mazmur mengajak umat Tuhan bersuka dengan semua alat musik di hadapan Tuhan.  Daud sendiri memakai berbagai alat musik dan menari di hadapan Tabut Allah.

Tuhan menginginkan sukacita kita.  Ia seperti seorang ayah yang rindu melihat senyum di wajah anak-anaknya, bukan wajah ketakutan.  Dan Allah menikmati sukacita kita, senyuman kita, hati yang bersyukur yang kita bawa kepadaNya.  Dia bukan Allah yang serius, dan dengan wajah kaku seperti seorang hakim di pengadilan.  BERGEMBIRALAH KARENA TUHAN bukan karena hal yang lain.

Dasar sukacita yang berkenan di hadapan Tuhan adalah kerena Tuhan.  Bergembiralah karena Tuhan, bukan karena orang , barang, kekayaan, berkat, pergumulan yang dijawab, tetapi karena pribadi TUHAN sendiri.  Orang yang bisa bergembira karena Tuhan, jelas adalah orang yang mengenal Tuhan.  Jika seseorang bersuka-cita karena berkat, maka dasar bersukacitanya belum tentu didasarkan kepada pribadi Allah.  Sukacitanya karena pemberian-pemberian dan pertolongan Allah saja.  Jangkarnya belum sampai di ruang maha Kudus di mana pribadi Allah ada.

Sukacita hanya karena Tuhan adalah sukacita yang hanya karena pribadi Allah saja.  Sukacita yang demikian membuat Allah memberikan apa yang menjadi keinginan kita.  Lihat! Betapa Allah menginginkan kita bersukacita di hadapanNya dan karena Dia?

Lepaskan semua beban persoalan kita!  Datanglah kepada Tuhan....  Percayalah kepada Tuhan dan bergembiralah karena Tuhan, maka Tuhan akan memberikan apa yang diinginkan oleh hati kita.  ALLAH KITA LUAR BIASA..!!

Bible Storytelling: Preparing to Tell the Story

Let’s talk about it up front and get it over with.
If we want to tell Bible stories well—if we want to communicate the beauty and power of the gospel in engaging ways—it takes work. So, yes, your prep time will increase as you learn the art of storytelling. But remember that your kids are worth the extra effort! And the time it takes you to prep will shorten as you learn more about storytelling and practice it, so don’t stress too much if learning the art of storytelling adds more time than you’d like first.
With that said, the fact that you are reading this blog tells me you aren’t afraid of doing extra in your role of pointing kids to Jesus. So let’s plow ahead.
Telling compelling stories begins long before you sit or stand in front of your kids. It begins when you first rub shoulders with the Bible story and prepare to tell it.
Here are 6 steps to guide solid, meaningful preparation.

1. Read the Story

Begin by reading the story several times. Here’s what Maxine Bersch suggests in her book, Storytelling in a Nutshell:

Read the story aloud several times. This does not necessarily mean you do these readings in succession, but just simply take time to sit down and read the story aloud, then read it as many times as necessary for you to be able to write the sequences of events in 1-2-3 order. — Maxine Bersch, Storytelling in a Nutshell: A Primer for Storytellers in Christian Education (Genevox Music, 1998), 81.

You may want to consider reading the Bible story in different translations to give it a different feel. You might also want to listen to an audio version of the story using a Bible app. Once you are able to outline the story from the top of your head, you are ready to move on to the next step.

2. Know the Story

Now that you are familiar with what we often call the focal passage, it is time to broaden your reading to the context of the story. We aren’t able to cover nearly as much of the stories as we would like to cover in the focal passages because of time limitations, but don’t let that stop you from filling in the gaps that sometimes exist between stories or even within a story. So read the chapters around the story to get a better feel for the big picture of what is going on.
As you do this, you will need to roll up your sleeves and really study at times. Carefully consider what you read. Look up any terms you aren’t familiar with. Use cross references to find connections. Read the footnotes in your Bible or get a good commentary to help you understand what you read more deeply. Make sure there aren’t any glaring unanswered questions in your mind.

3. Know the Point of the Story

By this point, you have a solid grasp of the details—the “what”—of the story. Now it is time to go the next step and know the “why” of the story.
Spend some time praying and asking God to help you understand the point of what you are reading. What are you learning about God? About Jesus? About the gospel? This is where it is helpful to spend some time camping out in the Christ connection. The Christ connection provides much of the “why” of the story. You can think of it as the destination of your story. Maxine Bersch again provides some helpful suggestions for us at this stage:

Fill your mind with Bible reading and prayer. Be in love with it all; get saturated with it. Remember how you felt when you first heard the story. Try to recapture a sense of wonder about it. — Maxine Bersch, Storytelling in a Nutshell, 136.

4. Finalize the Story

At this point, you are ready to zero in on the Bible story script provided in the leader guide. First, read over it once more and adjust it based on your time of study. You know your kids and your ministry context better than we do, so you are the best one to know if you need to add more details to the story, remove some, use a word or phrase from your preferred Bible translation, or make changes to fit your time and storytelling style better.
Two words of caution are needed at this point. First, consider this warning from Maxine Bersch:

It is never acceptable to start Bible stories with word, “Once upon a time…” for at this age they do associate these beginning words with the imaginary story. — Maxine Bersch, Storytelling in a Nutshell, 32.

Second, be careful to stay as close to the Bible text as possible. It might be tempting to add details for added color and storytelling interest, but the more we add, the more obscure we make God’s Word.

5. Read, Record, and Listen to the Story

Once your script is complete, record yourself reading the story out loud. Then listen to it. Now, don’t worry as much about your storytelling technique at this point. What you want to listen for is flow. Does the story make sense? Did you leave anything out? Is there anything that is not needed? Is it too long?  Make any necessary edits and repeat this process until you have your final script.

6. Memorize the Story

OK. Now things are getting serious. I know that this idea strikes fear into the hearts of many of you who just read this—me included. But if you want to be the best storyteller you can be, you really need to memorize the story.
In his book, The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School (Zondervan, 2007), Aaron Reynolds strongly advocates memorizing Bible stories. Reynolds shares that memorizing stories:

• Creates intentionality of what you are teaching.
• Allows you to be in tune with the Holy Spirit; as you prepare and teach, you are not worried about what comes next.
• Makes excellence possible; it frees you to focus on creative moments instead of the script.
• Empowers your teaching; you are able to proclaim truths from the heart rather than words from the page.

He also provides these four practical memorization tips:

• Compartmentalize the material. Break the story down into bite-sized chunks that you can get your arms around. Memorize one at a time.
• Write on the script. This is especially helpful for visual learners. Use color codes such as highlighting all of the dialogue one color.
• Rewrite it. Writing out the script several times aids in memory.
• Record it and listen to it. Play it in the car on your commute or as you exercise.

Once you have that Bible story memorized, you are ready to go to the next step and begin thinking about how you will tell it in an engaging fashion. But before we wrap up this post, let me share one more tip.
If you’ve tracked with this, you’re probably scratching your head thinking how you can accomplish all of this in a week. That’s a great question to ask. The answer is you probably can’t. You really need to overlap your work and work ahead. So at any given time, you may be reading and studying one story, writing the script for a second story, memorizing a third, and perhaps even preparing to tell a fourth. But hear this: you can do it! The same God who created the universe with the spoken word indwells you and empowers you with His strength. Lean in on Him. He will not leave you stranded. Never forget 1 Corinthians 15:58 —

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

With that said, I also want to encourage those of you who still may feel overwhelmed. Just take a step or two! It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Do what you can do. That step or two can make a huge difference. You never know. So do what you can and trust God to work through you for His glory.

Source:
https://www.gospelproject.com/bible-storytelling-preparing-to-tell-the-story/?emid=clandes-tgp-newsltr-183921

Not To Measure

Powerless

Intimacy With God

The Barnabas Factor: Five Practices To Help You Find More Leaders

For some strange reason, my favorite Bible character has long been Barnabas. The poor guy doesn’t get much attention in Sunday school classes or sermons. At first glance, he’s remarkably second fiddle—a mere role-player in a cast of superstars. And even then, he’s not long for the storyline, exiting halfway through the book of Acts after a testy exchange with the Apostle Paul over staffing priorities for an upcoming mission’s trip.
But when it comes to finding and empowering people for ministry, Barnabas had no equal.
I can make an argument (at least from the human perspective) that without his contribution and nose for finding, training, and developing leaders, there would be no Apostle Paul, no book of Romans or any of Paul’s other New Testament letters, no Gentile Christians, and no gospel of Mark. That’s quite a legacy for someone who gets so little love from theological pundits and preachers.
After years of mulling on the life of Barnabas, as well as extensive writing and speaking on the subject of leadership, I’ve come to the conclusion that those who are most successful at building teams (be they lay-leadership teams or a top-quality paid staff) inevitably share with Barnabas the five traits that make up what I call The Barnabas Factor. At the same time, those who habitually bemoan a lack of volunteers, low morale, and a chronically high turnover rate tend to lack these same five traits.
So what are these powerful traits that made Barnabas so different? And what can we do to build them into our own life and ministry? Here’s a brief look at each one.

1) A SPIRIT AND PATTERN OF FINANCIAL GENEROSITY

The first thing we learn when Barnabas bursts onto the scene in Acts 4 is that he had recently sold a field and given the money away to help others. It seems that this wasn’t an isolated act. You see, Barnabas wasn’t his real name. It was a nickname. It meant Son of Encouragement. His given name was Joseph. But apparently, when you start selling your stuff to help out others, word gets around.
It’s no accident that Barnabas is introduced by a story highlighting his generosity. It’s an important window into his character and heart. It’s also a key trait found among those who excel at finding and empowering others.
Why is a spirit and pattern of generosity so important? It’s because stingy people tend to be threatened people. They protect and hoard. And it’s not just their possessions that they won’t let go of; they also hold tightly onto their prestige, power, and preferences. It’s as if they see prestige, power, and success as a zero-sum game. If someone else gains, they lose. So they won’t let anyone else win.
Stinginess of heart, if it’s allowed to remain, always sabotages healthy building. On one hand, it will cause us to reject anyone who we fear might potentially crowd into our space or fly higher than we’ve flown. On the other hand, it will cause others (especially those with strong leadership potential) to bail out at the first opportunity. No one wants to work with or for a selfish pig.
One of the most powerful tools (if not the most powerful tool) for breaking the stranglehold of a selfish and stingy heart is the discipline of generosity. It puts our treasures and priorities in the right place, and it helps keep them there.
Frankly, if I’m unwilling to share my temporal riches with those in need, there’s not much chance I’ll share my true riches—and according to Jesus, there’s not much chance he’ll trust me with them anyway.
That’s why I always tell pastors and leaders that the first step to building a great team of volunteers or staff is not found in developing better people skills (as important as this is); it’s found in developing a heart of generosity. Once that’s in place, everything else flows much easier.

2) QUICKNESS TO FORGIVE

The second thing that strikes me about Barnabas is his readiness to forgive. The next time he shows up in the book of Acts, he’s sponsoring and supporting the ministry of a former arch enemy.
It’s no stretch to assume that Paul had previously jailed and persecuted some of Barnabas’ close friends. He clearly collaborated in the death of Stephen. That’s a lot to get over. Yet, Barnabas was willing to look past what Paul had done to see what God was doing. It allowed him to see potential where everyone else only saw past sins. What God forgave, Barnabas forgave—quickly. (By the way, I know that Paul was called Saul in the early parts of Acts, but I’m using his more commonly known name throughout for the sake of clarity.)
Ironically, this same spirit of forgiveness that benefited Paul so greatly is what eventually led to a nasty split between Barnabas and Paul. Barnabas wanted to give John Mark a second chance after he had deserted them on an earlier mission’s trip. Paul said, “No way,” and went on his way. Barnabas took John Mark and set sail for Cypress, never to be heard from again in the pages of Acts.
Yet, on this one, time seems to have vindicated Barnabas, not Paul. Shortly before his death, Paul sought a special visit from John Mark, because by then, he’d found him to be “useful” to him. And far more importantly, God chose to use John Mark to write the second gospel. Now, I don’t know about you, but I consider writing the Bible to be a pretty prestigious assignment. Looks like Barnabas made the right choice to give him a second chance so quickly.
Being quick to forgive doesn’t mean ignoring sin. It doesn’t mean someone gets a platform in the immediate backwash of sin and repentance. But it does mean seeing people through the lens of what God is doing in their life now, rather than through the lens of whatever it is they might have done in the past.

3) A FOCUS ON ANOINTING—NOT PEDIGREE

Along with a willingness to forgive whatever God had forgiven, Barnabas also showed remarkable insight into what actually qualifies someone for effective ministry.
I’m sure a pulpit committee or ministry assessment team would have quickly pointed out that Paul lacked the prerequisites and pedigree necessary for ministry. Not only did he lack the early church credentials of having walked with Jesus. He also possessed a sordid past, a public record of bad theology, and blood on his hands.
Yet, somehow, Barnabas was able to see past all that to dial in on the amazing things God had done and was doing in Paul’s life—and the spiritual fruit that backed it up.
Over the years, I’ve found that many of the most effective volunteers, lay leaders, and staff members at North Coast are people who likewise don’t fit the ministry mold. Whether it’s a past sin or failure, a lack of formal education in their specific area of ministry, or simply never having taken the time to jump through all the normally prescribed hoops, these are folks who have been literally cast aside or passed over by other ministries that considered pedigree or education more important than anointing. So we picked up the pieces, and they have blessed us beyond measure.
Nothing puts a lid on volunteers and leadership development like an insistence that everyone must first past through some a man-made, artificial gauntlet of training or experiences before being allowed to unleash the gifts God has given to them.

4) DEFENDING THE RIGHT TO BE DIFFERENT

A fourth trait that set Barnabas apart was his willingness to defend those who did things differently—really differently.
Twice he stepped forward to aggressively defend ministry to Gentiles. Frankly, I can’t imagine that Barnabas was all that comfortable with it. It must have struck him as quite strange that a large group of people wanted to follow the Jewish Messiah, yet were unwilling to become full-on Jews. It must have been disconcerting to show up at an Antioch potluck filled with uncircumcised Christians wolfing down BLTs.
We all know that Jesus said new wine needs new wineskins. But I’m not sure how many of us really believe it—or realize how quickly our new wineskins become old wineskins.
Looking back over the years, it’s sad to realize how often I’ve seen a fledgling young leader marginalized simply because something about the way he or she looked, dressed, or approached ministry was uncomfortable to the pastors and leaders in charge. More to the point, it’s amazing how often God has used that rejection as the impetus to launch a new ministry (sometimes literally down the street) that quickly sucked all the youth, vitality, and future out of the very church that once so dismissively wrote off their new way of doing ministry as inappropriate or “unspiritual.”
We’ll never find and develop leaders for the future if we insist on judging what God likes by what we like. Barnabas knew better. He judged what God approved by what God blessed, not by his own personal comfort zone.

5) WILLINGNESS TO STEP ASIDE AND TAKE SECOND-BILLING

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Barnabas was his willingness to step aside and take second-billing. From the beginning it was always Barnabas and Paul—mentor and mentee. Then suddenly, in Acts 13 and 14, everything changes. Paul pulls off a powerful miracle, then delivers an anointed and convicting message. From that point on, it’s always Paul and Barnabas.
Not many people can go from top-billing to second-billing. But, apparently, Barnabas had no problem with it. He must have realized that Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said the path to greatness is found in serving others. He must have known that the mission is far more important than our status. But more than just knowing those truths (after all, most pastors and Christian leaders I’ve known would agree in principle), he was willing to live them out.
Barnabas was obviously more worried about exalting Jesus than himself. He didn’t fight to protect his turf or power, as if it was really his to begin with. His passion was expanding God’s kingdom whatever the cost, which explains why God was able to use him to find, train, and empower some of the greatest leaders in church history—the kind of leaders the fledgling New Testament church so desperately needed, and the same kind of leaders we still so desperately need today.
The Barnabas Factor is a powerful reminder that true ministry greatness isn’t found in how large our flock is. It’s not found in how many people report to us, help us, or volunteer for us. It’s found in how many people we serve, how many stand on our shoulders taller that we stand, seeing more than we see and doing more than we did.


(Diambil dari: https://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/larry-osborne-the-barnabas-factor-five-practices-to-help-you-find-more-leaders-731?ref=?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button&utm_campaign=scbpu20180216&maropost_id=713054102&mpweb=256-5970101-713054102)