Running head: ESSENTIALS OF MINISTRY
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Essentials of Ministry
Sarina Pirkey
Liberty University
Introduction to Christian Ministries
CHMN 201-B10
Dr. Danny Allen
February 7, 2018
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Essentials of Ministry
Part One: A Summary of Early’s and Gutierrez’s Essentials.
In looking at the essentials of ministry I wanted to understand the meaning of the word essential.
According to Merriam-Webster, essential is something of the utmost importance. It is necessary.
(Essential, n.d.). I believe that the essentials of ministry are very important and necessary not only
to ministry but to our daily relationship with God. Early and Gutierrez gives us much to think
about in their explanations of these essentials. I would like to expound on them one by one.
Preparing for the call. Are we spiritually at a place to hear God call us to do His work?
It amazes me how God has worked in so many people’s lives calling them to all different ways of
service for Him. The Bible list so many that was called by God, some of my favorites are Noah,
Moses, Daniel, Mother Mary, …the list goes on. Early and Gutierrez states, “God pours out his
favor and power on those who are willing to go. You cannot truly be a follower of Jesus until you
are willing to go.” (Dave Earley, 2010. p. 954). October 2011 I found myself with the sudden urge to
go camping. I was in a time of my life when the children were gone and I was moving forward
to a simpler life. I had decided to start downsizing. I had given away all of my camping
eguipement. I went to wal mart and bought a tent, stove, and latern. I packed up my dog, food
and bed roll. I got in my car and drove off not knowing where I would end up. I found myself at
a state park in Chelan, Washington it is beautiful there and on a very large lake. This time of year
is not condusive to camping as it is getting chilly therefore there were very few people in the
park. It was almost dusk, I had my campsite all set up and a fire going. I had a feeling I was
supposed to meet someone. Just at that time a man came down the road riding a bycycle with a
childs bycycle trailer behind it. He had dread locks and looked unkept. I was overwhelmed to
introduce myself to him and invite him to join me at my fire. After he set up his campsite he
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joined me.His name was Bracken. He produced a cello that was riding in his trailer behind his
bike. He played into the night. The music was heavenly. I will never forget his music. For three
days Bracken gave me information on my life and what I would be doing with it in the near
future. He explained about the mission that I would be running. Explained the runnings of it
down to the details of how to build, told me we would be off grid, self sufficient, on and
on….So much information to take in. I was so overwhelmed and felt that Bracken was an angel
that God had sent to me. I had an ongoing dream since child hood that I would someday live off
grid in the middle of nowhere. I felt this visit was my calling. The Bible gives us a promise in
Mathew 12:50,” For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother.” (Bible Hub, n.d, NIV). What a joy to be Jesus’s sister!
Responding to the call. How did we respond to God’s call? By answering God’s call,
we show commitment to Him. Early and Gutierrez tells us,” Christian commitment is giving all
you know of yourself to all you know of God”. (Dave Earley, 2010. P. 1009). After saying good bye
to Bracken I longed to get home and pray. I humbly came before God and thanked him for the
message. As I made the commitment to God, to follow Him and complete this project, A
wonderful peace came over me. I knew that my life was in God’s hands. I had nothing to worry
about and nothing to fear. All fear was gone.
Prayer, how do we build our friendship with God? Ephesians 3:12 tells us that we
should approach God in confidence and faith. (Bible Hub, n.d.NIV). To build our friendship with
God we should be in communion with Him always. All About Prayer, suggests that prayer, is
our direct line to God. (What is Prayer, n.d.). Since childhood I have had a direct connection to God
through prayer. Of course, praying waxed and waned throughout my life, depending on what
crisis mode I was in at the time. I remember in 2003, I was battling with a severe illness, I
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approached God begging Him to show me how to have a relationship with him as Elijah had. I
yearned for that closeness and friendship. I firmly believe praying with faith and confidence
brings us closer to God. Praying faithfully allows us to surrender our all to God and puts God in
charge of our daily lives.
Maintaining an eternal perspective. How do we remain positive and keep God first
above all? Paul lived his life understanding that everything in his life no matter how bad it might
seem worked to the good of God. Because of this belief, Paul set an example for us to remain
positive through all trials. (Dave Earley, 2010. P. 1245). He had faith that God was in control and the
outcome would glorify Him. In my own life, I have lived from one crisis to another. I now
realize that these issues-built character and God always brought something positive from it to my
life. I have more compassion and understanding. Got Questions suggests that putting God first in
your life” is characterized by moment-by-moment selfless service to God that flows from him to
his people”. (What Does Putting God First Really Mean?, n.d.). We must strive to keep God above
everything in our life. Our ego is the hardest thing to overcome. I was not even aware of how
much my ego was in the way of my relationship with God. My husband and I did a course that
really brought this to our attention. It is called A Course in Miracles. God brought about my
awareness and continues with Spirit to help me put ego aside. It is the negative sides plan, to
keep us so busy with life, that there is no time for God. How easy it is to accept others boasting
about your deeds. It comes way to easy. I believe we should simplify our lives to keep God in
the forefront. This takes continual prayer, prioritization, re-evaluation of our life, diligence, and
structure.
Continuing to grow, how do we keep ourselves on track for daily spiritual growth? Billy
Graham suggests that once we proclaim our love for Jesus we receive help from the Holy Spirit
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to become more like Jesus. (Grow, n.d.). According to Galatians 5:22-23 there are nine gifts
bestowed upon us by the Holy Spirit. These gifts include love, joy, peace, patience kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Bible Hub, n.d.NIV). It is wonderful to know
that God gave us the Holy Spirit to help us succeed in our devotion to Him.
Loving people, how do we love others? God told us in Mark 12:30-31 that the greatest
commandment of all is to love God and to love others. (Bible Hub, n.d.). It is important that we love
God with all our heart. We cannot show love to others unless we love God First. Love Him with
all our heart, soul, and mind. Love is something that grows with our relationship. The more time
we spend with God, love will follow and expand. When we feel loved we exude love.
Uncompromising faith, how do we get to the point of having uncompromising faith? I
believe it is all our prayers, to be steadfast for God, as the great bible heroes were. Looking at
Abraham, Daniel, Daniels friends, Moses…etc. Their faith for God was unwavering. Their
example helps me to know that this is attainable, by God’s grace. No matter the situation, God
has given us the tools to succeed in His love. These tools consist of the Holy Spirit, Bible,
Prayer, your Guardian Ange and other people. Early and Gutierrez suggests that you surround
yourself with people that believe the same way you do. (Dave Earley, 2010. P. 1493). I do believe
this is the right thing to do. To surround yourself with people that have the same belief system is
important to assist you to stay the course with your faith.
Loyalty to the truth, how do we stay loyal to God’s word in this ever-changing world of
compromise and making excuses to live whatever way they want. It is harder and harder to live
as God wants us to, I think of Noah and his family. How difficult it must have been to keep the
faith and build the ark. Knowing all the time you are the only family worthy to be on the ark and
to carry God’s word forward. My favorite person to look to for uncompromising love, is my
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adoptive father. He has lived his whole life as honest and true as possible. In everything he does
whether it be business or play he makes sure he is honest. I have never heard him say an unkind
word ever……He has set the example for me. My father does not talk much, but his life is the
example of God’s love and light. He has never wavered.
Being the biblical church, how do we ensure that we can live the example of the
church? Through out my lifetime there has been several evangelists that have fallen from the
graces of God through sins of the flesh and greed. I was younger and could not wrap my head
around the fact that these outstanding men were fallible. My senior year of high school our
youth pastor left his family and ran away with one of my class mates. I was appalled. He was
very popular, and we loved him as a pastor. He left behind a wife of over 25 years and an adult
son that was disabled. His wife was left to care for this child. I could not understand how he
could let this happen in his life. How does a man that professes God’s love so well just up and
leave his family stranded? Over the years, I have been able to come to the understanding of how
difficult the trenches are for ministers. The more we love God and work to bring others to Him
the harder the negative side works to keep you from doing God’s work. Early and Gutierrez
suggests that we should stay the course. We should live up to the name of the church and be the
church. (Dave Earley, 2010. p. 1693.) It is important to stay grounded in God’s love. Daily re-
valuation of who you are and where you are in your relationship with God is a must. Surrounding
yourself with diciples that are unified with you and pray for each other will also help to ensure
you stay the course. I cannot say this enough we must know that it is time for us to live in the
world but not off it. It is time to set ourselves apart.
Commitment to Obedience, how do we stay committed to God’s plan for us? It is not
an easy task to be in the forefront of a church. Everyone has all eyes on you and unfortunately
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some are waiting for you to make a mistake. It is important that living the life that God has called
us to you, we commit to living the example as Jesus did. It can be done by God’s grace. Here am
I, God grant me the will power and strength to live by example.
Upon dissecting the essentials of ministry, I have come to the better understanding of how
important they are. Not only to the ministering of people but to complete your daily experience
with God. I am in agreement with them and am thankful that Early and Gutierrez actually put
them in writing, so we can become more aware. I believe there is a common algorithm amongst
all the essentials. If followed, I believe with God’s grace all the essentials will fall into place.
Accept God’s love Commit to God’s love Continual
prayer/communication with God and Spirit. Due diligence Structure
Stay the course Re-evaluation.
(We must live in the world. It is time to set ourselves apart from the world. Live in the world but
not of the world.)
I earnestly pray that God continues to spread his light through me in all walks of life.
Part Two: Areas Where I Can Improve.
After our reading I was convicted by Spirit that there are areas in my life that need more work.
Every year on New Year’s, I use this time to re-evaluate my life and set goals for myself to work
towards spiritual growth. One year I decided to really work on being nonjudgmental. I have been
in the Health Care arena for forty-five years and always felt I was the most nonjudgmental
person out there. Well, I was in for a surprise. I started to pay attention to every aspect of my
life. I was standing at the Macy’s counter to check out when a very obese woman, poorly
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dressed, walked by me. I found myself eyeing her up and down and making comments to myself
about her size and her dress and shoes. Then it was like a light bulb came on! Wow did I just do
that? I was very upset about my behavior and vowed to start watching how I look at others. This
was a very strong lesson for me and brought me into reality.
For this exercise, I feel strongly that I need to continue to work on recognizing ego, letting it go,
becoming more humble and puting God First and areas of my prayer life. I have been working on
both areas, but I can see there is much more to do.
Part Three: My Specific and Measurable Plan for Improvement. I believe prayer is of
the utmost importance. This is our direct communication to God and Spirit. It is imperative to
build your relationship with Him. Currently I talk with God throughout the day. This is mostly to
express my needs. I feel I am lacking in spending alone time with Him and praying for others.
•
I will start by praying 15 minutes twice a day. I will record these times in my
journal.
•
I will create a prayer journal today, to list the people I need to pray for. I will pray
for them twice a day.
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I will meet with God in a very private area no co-workers, no children, no spouse,
no animals.
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I started a prayer book. I have put copies of prayers in this book. This gives me a
starting place to express myself in areas of need and growth.
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I will be more thankful in my prayers. I will list these areas of thankfulness in my
journal.
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The other area I need to improve on is letting ego go. Humbling myself and putting
God first in everything. Giving Him credit. This is more difficult to measure. As the actions are
increasing self-awareness.
•
I will pray for God and Spirit to increase awareness of ego in my daily life. I will
pray for humility. This prayer will be twice a day and added into my prayer
journal.
•
I already have started to be more aware of the compliments I receive and re-
direct them to God as much as possible. At the end of my day, I will re-evaluate
these events to bring more awareness to them. I will jot them down in my journal.
•
I will read the bible once a day for 10 minutes. Reading scripture will help keep
my sight on God and putting Him first. I will keep track of this also in my daily
journal.
•
I will look for at least one opportunity a day to put God first. I will write this
down in my journal.
•
I will pray daily that God helps me to be true to myself and not feel like I must fit
in. This prayer will be in my prayer journal.
•
I do firmly believe it is time to live in the world and not of it.
I want to thank you for this assignment. It has brought even more awareness to me and I am so
grateful for that. Blessings to you as you spread God’s light through your teaching.
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Bibliography
Bible Hub. (n.d.). Retrieved Febuary 10, 2018, http://biblehub.com/matthew/12-50.htm
Dave Earley, B. G. (2010). Every Day Ministry. Applying the Christian Faith. (G. E. Ben Gutierrez, Ed.) Nashville,
Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved February 10, 2018, from https://www.mywsb.com/reader
Essential. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2018, from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/essential
Grow. (n.d.). Retrieved Feburary 11, 2018, from Billy Graham.org: https://billygraham.org/story/9-ways-to-grow-in-
your-faith/
What does putting God First Really Mean? (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from Got Questions.org:
https://www.gotquestions.org/putting-God-first.html
What is Prayer. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2018, from All About Prayer: https://www.allaboutprayer.org/what-is-
prayer.htm
