By Mark Prater

Editor’s Note: The following has been excerpted from a message that Mark Prater gave to our singles in our Thrive ministry on the topic of work.  The thrust of the message was honoring God in the workplace.  The full audio message can be found here.  Below are just two of the applications Mark gave for practical principles to guide our work.

1. Sincerity of heart  (genuine, it’s a disposition)

“…with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord…  You are serving the Lord Christ”
- Colossians 3: 22b, 23, 24

A sincere heart takes two dispositions.  The first is humility.  A humble heart does menial and mundane tasks with excellence and joy.  No task is so low that it falls below the call of excellence.  The humble heart remains a teachable one…one that is always seeking to learn.  And, thus, has an accurate assessment of gifts and abilities.  It understands that it is expendable, yet doesn’t become defensive or self-promoting.  Rather, the humble heart rejoices in the success of others.

The second disposition a sincere heart takes is one of servanthood.  Our disposition toward, and service to, our employer, supervisor, clients, customers, and work responsibilities say much about our relationship with Christ and our service to him.  As believers, our service belongs wholly to God.  A disposition to serve well is not just a good business principle, it is a way for Christians to make much of Christ in their workplace. 

2.      Godly speech

“but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord.”  - Colossians 3:22b-23

Our speech is important because God has poured significance into words.  God chose to speak to us first and to reveal himself, his plan, and his purposes to us through words.  Therefore, we image forth something about God in how we use words.  So, how can we fall in our use of words in our work?

First, we can fall into gossip and slander.  We say things about our boss that we would never say in front of him or her.  We cast negative judgments and take part in subversive office politics.  Next, we complain and grumble.  Sometimes this is about the workload, or the work conditions, or the quality of the coffee.  We also fall into conflicts with co-workers.  These do not make much of Christ in our lives and they even resist God’s purposes and plans for our lives. 

Rather, we need be diligent to examine the fruit of our words.  We need to apply not only the truth of the gospel, that Christ delivered us from bondage to these sins, but also the implications of the gospel.  (see James 3)  As our words have the power to join the culture of our workplace, they also have the power to change the culture of our workplace. 

Conclusion

The principles that we utilize at work actually shape a culture.  Though we may not see an immediate or drastic impact on the culture at large, they set a personal culture.  They set the expectations others have of us and how they evaluate our character.  When we form a consistent personal culture, we give people a glimpse of our purpose for work…of God’s purposes for us in work.  Thus, by the way we work, we make much of Christ.

By Mark Prater 

Editor’s Note: This past Sunday, Mark Prater included the following comments on parenting in his announcements.  Our hope as pastors is that our focus as a church would be on faithfulness to the gospel in parenting rather than a search for the magic formula or special technique.  We strive for godly character in our children…not just moral behavior.

One of the things we treasure about our life together as a church is our families  We love to celebrate marriage and we believe that children are a gift and blessing from God.  And because of that, we view parenting not only as a responsibility to be fulfilled but also a privilege to be enjoyed.

You can see our church’s commitment to children in the way we do ministry around here.  We have Promise Kingdom every Sunday morning where we endeavor to bring gospel-centered teaching to our children.  And we have commitment to continue teaching them through the teen years though our youth ministry called Cross Culture.

As important as the church’s role is in the lives of the children, it is not the most important role.  That role is reserved for parents.  The biggest responsibility we have as a pastoral team is to come alongside and equip parents for the responsibility to parent the children God has given them.  That’s why parenting is an important value here at Covenant Fellowship Church: to help the parents in their parenting.

If you’re new here, you should know that we are endeavoring to be parents who are faithful to the gospel, not only in the instruction we give or in the way we understand and raise our children, but also in the living example we are attempting to be in our homes.  We know that the greatest way we will fulfill our responsibilities as parents is to be faithful to the gospel as we raise our children.  Our focus in parenting is on faithfulness and not on the specific fruit that can come from parenting.  The reason for this is that real parenting fruit is ultimately up to God.  We do the sowing and we tend to the watering, but God provides the growth.

The key to parenting is not finding and using the right parenting techniques, even though we must use them and work hard at parenting.  The key to parenting is being faithful to our children and to the gospel.

And this is where we need one another as a church.  Jill and I have loved parenting, but it’s also the hardest thing we’ve ever done.  Parents in our church need our encouragement, our prayers, and our counsel.  So let us be a church who not only parents in community, but also feels a shared responsibility for the next generation.  And let us help one another to be faithful parents.

By Mark Prater

 Editor’s Note: The following was the Extra Point given in the first message of our current Cross Culture series called The Difference.  Marty Machowski preached the first message called “Why the Holy Spirit?” [Listen here.] The Extra Point was also recorded. [Listen here.]

Parenting is the hardest thing Jill and I have ever done.  It was and is harder than anything in the business world, pastoral ministry…anything.  Now, that is not because of the three girls that we’ve raised…it’s because of how ineffective and ill-equipped we are for the task.  Which is why we are so glad and thankful that we don’t have to do it alone.

God is eager to help us as parents by filling us with His Spirit and allowing the great Helper to do his work.  And, oh, how badly we need that help.  The task to which we are called is a mammoth one…we ought not attempt to do it alone.  Raising our kids to know Christ and to love the Savior requires divine work.

Here are just a few thoughts on how to embrace the promise and help of the Holy Spirit in parenting:

1.  Embracing our weaknesses as parents makes our dependence on the Spirit’s work in our teens more urgent and desperate.

As we grow and mature as parents there should be a commensurate awareness of and embracing of our weaknesses and limitations.  In other words, the longer we parent the less confidence we should have in our parenting.  The desperation that this creates in our souls is designed by God to create a hunger in us for the Spirit’s work. 

Parents who feel competent in their ability to raise their kids without the Help of the Holy Spirit have their sights set on only what man can achieve and the result is you simply raise moral kids.  But parents who know the rhythm of desperation and deliverance will at some point see and enjoy eternal fruit, kids who are lovers of Christ. Your teen’s desperate need for the Spirit of God in their lives will be awakened through your desperate need of the Spirit in your life.

2.  Pray for the Spirit’s work in your teen as much as you talk to your teen.

Talking in the teen years is key.  However, when it comes to our kids salvation, when it comes to coming alongside of them and helping them grow in Christ, we should be praying at least as much as we are talking.  One of our daughters went through a particularly difficult time in her soul.  While Jill and I were more than happy to talk with her, our talking seemed to have limited…and diminishing…effects.  So we turned to prayer.

The situation was well past what we could control or affect.  The only place we could hope…and the only true hope available for her…was divine help.  The difficulty of working this out may intimidate you from endeavoring.  But let me encourage you to endeavor.  Burdens are lifted off of parents who allow the Spirit to carry what was intended for His shoulders.

3.  Show them genuine Christianity by living a Spirit-filled life.

Your pursuit of the Spirit and your experience of the Spirit demonstrate for your kids what genuine Christianity is all about.  They authenticate the life we call our kids to.  So tell them.  Tell them how the Spirit brought a passage to life in your devotions.  Tell them how the Spirit convicted you of sin and how you responded by walking out repentance

Growing up in a Christian home poses challenges we and our teens may not always see. They don’t always detect this big difference between before they were Christians to after they were Christians.  They read their Bibles before they were saved and they read them after. But as Marty said, the difference for the Christian is the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Conclusion

As John 16:14 shows us one of the ways the Spirit works in our lives is to glorify Jesus Christ.  By being faithful to point our kids to Christ, we are simply doing what the Spirit of God is already doing.  Only He is doing it with divine power and He will have His way in our lives and the lives of our teens.

We have great hope as parents because we have a great Helper in the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Spurgeon said this to his pastors college students, but I think it applies to parents as well

“To us the presence and work of the Holy Spirit are the ground of our confidence as to the wisdom and hopefulness of our life work.”

By Mark Prater

 

I recently read an article from the Spring 2008 edition of the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood entitled “Pursuing Manhood” written by Ray Van Neste.  Mr. Van Neste’s main point is that pursuing manhood and pursuing maturity go hand in hand for he says, “avoiding maturity is emasculating.”    Van Neste is discerning about the cultural forces that shape us without our knowledge as he writes,

 

Our culture is infatuated with youth and encourages you not to grow up.  After all, it says, the glory is in the youth.  If you would be men, you must reject this siren song and swim against the tide.  You must diligently seek to throw off immaturity and to grow up.  Remember the one boy who never grew up was Peter Pan - and in case you haven't noticed, his role has typically been played by a woman.

 

In helping young men pursue maturity by pursuing manhood, Van Neste seeks to answer this question, “So, what does it look like to grown up in manliness?”  In answering the question he gives 8 traits that young men should pursue.  Here are the traits he suggests; you’ll want to read the article to see what he says about them.

 

1. Take responsibility
2. Do your work
3. Own your failures
4. Expect to work
5. Reject the temptation to whine and complain
6. Embrace commitment
7. Sacrifice
8. “Women and children first”

This is great summer reading for guys at any age.  If you’re a father or a single mom who has sons consider reading this article as a means to help you cultivate masculinity in your boys.  If your son is in middle school or high school, I would recommend that you read the article with them and then discuss how you can help them apply it.  The article can be found on the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood website at the link below.

 

http://www.cbmw.org/Journal/Vol-13-No-1/Pursuing-Manhood

By Mark Prater 

Each year we, as your Family Life Pastors, pull away on a planning retreat for a couple of days to pray, seek God and try to determine what we can do over the next one to two years to better serve the families of Covenant Fellowship Church. This is a wonderful privilege for us, for our time together always begins by thanking God for you and praying that your families would be strengthened in an on-going way by the amazing grace of God. In other words, this isn’t just a strategic planning retreat, but a strategic planning retreat that is very personal, for we carry each of you on our hearts. Knowing that God has given us the wonderful responsibility to care for your souls; would you please pray for us as we take the next two days to pray and plan? Our retreat begins today and runs through tomorrow. Here are some specific ways you can pray:

· That God would give us wisdom, discernment, direction, creativity, and fresh ideas on how we can better care for the families of Covenant Fellowship Church.

· That God would pour out his Spirit upon us, for our desire and eager anticipation is that our time would not just be working through an agenda, but a time that is led by the Holy Spirit.

· That God would give us creative ideas on how to continue to build a culture in the church that supports and strengthens the family.

· That God would give us clarity as to what we are to teach on in the next twelve to eighteen months that will better support what the leaders of our homes (dad’s and single parents) are endeavoring to do in the spiritual guidance of their families.

Knowing that you care for us and for the families of the church, we wanted to thank you ahead of time for being faithful to pray for us. There isn’t a day that goes by where we don’t consider the privilege God has given us to serve you. And, oh, what a joy that is!!