Men's & Women's Ministry

January 18, 2019 Bryan Kim

The Problem

The Problem is that without the Body of Christ and its Leaders we will;

Not able to mature in our faith.
We will remain children in the faith.
We’ll be tossed to and fro by the waves of life.
We’ll be swayed by the philosophies of our world. / / (See, Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16)

“By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.” - Ecclesiastes 4:12 MSG

Men’s & Women’s Ministry’s Mission Statement

“Most Christians are stunted in their growth because they only have carnal and worldly fellowship instead of curating and cultivating spiritual friendships. That’s why Ekko has developed a men’s and women’s ministry, so that men and women can belong and become who they were meant to be.”

Primary Concern

How’s your relationship with God?
What’s getting in the way of my worship and union with God?
What are we doing to get stronger and more mature in Christ?

How Do I Know at the End of the Year that My Ministry was Successful?
Some things that will clearly define what we’re looking for in this ministry;

“That was so much fun.”

“I feel less alone.”

“I feel more confident and stronger about my walk with Christ.”
“I feel closer to God.”

“I care more about the hurting, the lonely, the marginalized.”

“I am more disciplined in spiritual habits.”

“I’m less impressed with the world’s ways and values. I’ve grown in my respect for the Kingdom of God.”

“I love my church. I need my church. I want my church.”
“I love serving.”

“I joined something in Ekko (advance, leading ortho, more involvement in Ekklesia, recess, mji)” (less silo and more love for the body)

The Plan
How do lead well as a Men’s and Women’s Minister

Cultivate Your Own Constellation & Koinonia (Pelotons)
Curate a Koinonia for Others
Contextualize the Teachings & Values of the Tribe

WORSHIP TEAM

December 30, 2018 Bryan Kim

VISION SESSION

A Very Clear and Real Problem

Most people coming into the service are coming out of a week full of violent floods;

Floods of chaotic emotions.
Flooded with anger, doubt, worry, pain.
Flooded with frustrations, things not working out.
Flooded with relationship problems.
Flooded with boredom.

Imagine what it looks like after a flood. We come to service battered and bruised.

Jesus warned us…
“In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” - Jesus | John 16:33 MSG

WORSHIP TEAM’S MISSION
Most people coming into the service are coming out of a week full of violent floods. But that’s why God raises up Worship Leaders to teach and train the Body of Christ how to respond in all circumstances, how to come out of a flood and how to reenter one in faith. So that no matter the circumstances, they are conquering the world with Christ

Let’s look at Someone Who Experienced the Greatest Flood Ever

Genesis 8
13 In the six-hundred-first year of Noah's life, on the first day of the first month, the flood had dried up. Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground. 18 Noah disembarked with his sons and wife and his sons' wives. 19 Then all the animals, crawling creatures, birds - every creature on the face of the Earth - left the ship family by family. 20 Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt-offerings on the altar.

Worship is Not Dependent on Environment or Circumstance
“Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground. Noah disembarked... Noah built an altar to God.”

Imagine earth after being flooded
Have you ever seen news clips of the aftermath of floods?
Desolate, wasted, uninhabitable.

Q: Does this inspire worship for you?

What Does Noah Do and What Can we Learn from Noah as a Worship Leader?

1. “Noah opened the hatch of the ship and saw dry ground.”
Noah didn’t see the devastation, he saw an opportunity, he had hope.

2. “Noah disembarked…”
Noah steps into the mess, the devastation, and faces it. He is determined to live with God in it, through it, he doesn’t go back into the safe ark/boat and hide.

3. “Noah built an altar to God.”
Noah worships.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.”

- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Explosive & Extravagant Worship
He must have come out of the ark with shouts of praise, gratitude, and expressed it with sacrificial offering. It cost him something!

Sacrifice is an act of faith
I don’t mind giving this to you as a burnt offering, cause I now know more is coming!

Shouts of praise
Now I know floods do end. God is faithful. He deserves my thanksgiving!

Noah’s Worship Exposed the New Creation in Him despite Devastation around Him
But nothing stops Noah from Worship, because new creation is in him first, not just around him. Worship exposes what’s within.

But the Story is not just about How Noah Responded with Worship, It’s about How God is able to Respond to Us... How God Responded Appropriately.
We imagine God to be hard, ruthless in judgment after witnessing the flood. But through worship, through an authentic response to the moment, we see another side of God.

God is Moved by Noah’s Cry and Worship
21 God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done. 22 For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."

Love and Worship gives us a Revelation of Who He Is and What He is Like.
“In extraordinary resolve, God now says, “never again”... What has changed is not anything about humankind or creation or waters or floods. What has changed is God. God has made a decision about the grief and trouble of his own heart. The relation of creator to creature is no longer in a scheme of retribution. Because of a revolution in the heart of God, that relation is now based in unqualified grace.” - Walter Brueggemann / Genesis

The Plan
True worship requires sacrifice.
It’s costly. It burns away, “wasteful”

Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt-offerings on the altar.” - v20

Burnt Offering - ‘olah, literally means, “that which ascends” - that which is entirely consumed by fire on the altar.

If your worship doesn’t seem wasteful, it’s probably not worship
We waste our youth in lust.
We waste our 20’s in pursuit of selfish pleasures.
We waste our time and money on things that don’t last.
Worship says, let’s “spend” it all on God.

Unless it Looks Wasteful to the World, it Probably isn’t Worship
Alabaster Jar and the Woman who moved the heart of Christ. It filled the room with the fragrance of worship.
Real Worship touches your money, time, body, heart, etc.

Worship, or Sacrifices, to God are Ways We “Sow” in the New Creation
“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” - 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

When Noah came off the boat, he needed food, gardens, he needed to plant for the future.
What does he do? He worships (sacrifices), or “gives” to God. First. He takes care of God first. He gives himself wholly to God first.

After Worship, He Then Plants a Vineyard
“Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.” - Ch9v20

What will you give to the Lord?
Do you want real authority when you worship?
Give to God extravagantly; your body, time, money, relationships.
Be holy, consecrated, separated for His will.

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

/ Worship Advance, Camp 10/06/2018

STEWARDSHIP TEAM

December 30, 2018 Bryan Kim

VISION SESSION FOR 2019

Biblical Vision for the Welcoming Team
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” - Hebrews 10:24-25

STEWARDSHIP TEAM’S MISSION STATEMENT
“Most people believe that it is more blessed and secure to take, receive, and accumulate. That’s why Ekko’s Stewardship Team was formed, to help people experience the truth that, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” So that they can become the people God intended them to be.”

The Plan

Teach
Testify
Trails

Teach
You teach by showing them, by being an example.
You give tithe, offering, time, you are hospitable, you take on a Safe Families Kid, Recess, etc.
Show them joy is experienced in sacrificial love.

Testify
Proof of Concept. His way is really better. Show me that His wisdom is truly better.

Trails
Trails that lead us home. We are lost, we’ve forgotten who we are, that’s why we horde, we don’t give generously, we become selfish and greedy and irresponsible. We need trail finders, people who know how to get us “home”.

“Psychologists have observed that one of the most basic human needs, beginning at birth, is to be gazed upon by another. Mothers throughout the world have been observed spending long periods staring into the eyes of their babies with a characteristic tilt of the head. To be seen is to be real, and without another to gaze upon us, we are nothing. Part of the terror of being lost stems from the idea of never being seen again.” - Gonzales, “Deep Survival”

How does Stewardship Team’s ministry help the overall mission of the church?
It helps us connect, cultivate, but most importantly - it helps us Change the World.

Welcoming Team

December 9, 2018 Bryan Kim

Vision Session for 2019

Biblical Vision for the Welcoming Team
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ - Jesus in Matthew 25

Welcoming Team’s Mission
Most people end the week lost and disoriented. That’s why the Ekko’s Welcoming Team was formed to help people locate themselves in God, God’s family, and God’s mission. So that they can know that God sees them and wants them to belong and become who they were meant to be.

“Everyone who dies out there dies of confusion.”

To be seen is to be real
“Psychologists have observed that one of the most basic human needs, beginning at birth, is to be gazed upon by another. Mothers throughout the world have been observed spending long periods staring into the eyes of their babies with a characteristic tilt of the head. To be seen is to be real, and without another to gaze upon us, we are nothing. Part of the terror of being lost stems from the idea of never being seen again.” - Gonzales, “Deep Survival”

“To be seen is to be real.”

The Goal

“Be Here Now”.

Thank you for everything Welcoming Team.

Because He Lives,
PB

I Want to Be Better Prepared

July 18, 2017 Bryan Kim

I've recently had a talk with some Ekklesia leaders who expressed their desire to study the Scriptures more. It was encouraging to hear and see how they wanted to be immersed in the Holy Scriptures.

Instead of using the Bible like we do with "Google," simply looking up answers here and there to our problems, I felt that these leaders wanted to be immersed in the Word, not just for the sake of pointing people to a helpful verse here and there, but so that they can embody the very "answers" they were pointing to.

This is what I call the desire to lead with congruence.
This leads to leading with confidence.

But one thing they mentioned is how hard it is sometimes to understand what they are reading. That's why I'm posting for you various links that may be helpful in your attempt to be immersed in God's Word and Truth. May the Spirit lead you closer to Jesus as you seek to serve and give from the inside out.

Love you,
PB