Reminiscing on the Team Work

I start this blog with a prayer request – pray for your pastor!  On September 20^th, Friday, at 9 am I will be standing in front of panel for an assessment, “defending” my doctoral thesis.  I had waited for this moment over 6 years. 

Preparing for the project assessment I am reading through my work, and can’t help but feel nostalgic about the teamwork we had developing in 2005-2009.  From a personal ministries convention in Windsor led by Eustace Williams in 2005, focusing all churches on the need to evangelize unentered counties, and territories in Western Ontario, leading to district-wide campmeetings, to pastors coming together to offer training in different churches, so their talents would be shared by all.

I have not given up the dream for such a teamwork.  It is a biblical mandate – the doctrine of unity – the eschatological necessity for churches to work together!  So, I invite you to pray for unity, for cooperation, for teamwork, among pastors, ministries and church departments, and among churches.  Pray that our shared vision would be greater than a single church, greater than one individual ministry.  Our goal is the Kingdom of God for which all churches and ministries are to work together!

As we enter this new fiscal school year, we feel the need for alignment, teamwork and cooperation even more with the ACES church school moving into our facility.  Teamwork often goes against individualistic self-expression, because it is about common goal, and not self.  The invitation of Jesus to FOLLOW Him is based on self-denial (Mat.16:24)  and, as pastor Bob Winsor emphasized in his sermon last Sabbath, it has to happen daily (Luke 9:23) “deny yourself, pick up your cross daily!”  This week as I ordered the week of prayer reading I was blessed to see the general title “And they FOLLOWED Him!”   I just finished reading “I am a follower” by Leonard Sweet, and ordered the new Adventist book on leadership “As I follow Christ.”  This revival of emphasis on following Jesus is also a reminder of the teamwork, as we ALL follow the SAME Jesus!  We are going together toward the same destination, following the same leader – Jesus Christ, and that makes us a team!

This year’s evangelistic harvest series will be a team effort of 10 pastors working together in London, each presenting reasons to believe.  Pray for the planning and preparation.  Are you also a team-player?  How’s our teamwork?