Pastor Al Paulauski, From Your Pal Pastor Al

Pastor Al Paulauski

From Your Pal September 2006

"What's your S.H.A.P.E?"

Being a youth pastor is one of the greatest jobs in the whole world. "That's not what I've heard." you may say. But it really is. I have the privilege of not only helping students grow in their relationship with God but I also get to see them discover their God-given talents. As most of you may know by now, last month we took eight of our students from our youth ministry to National Fine Arts Festival in Orlando. These eight students were privileged enough to advance past our state level in which we had many more students who participated in Fine Arts.
As I have watched many students in my years of youth ministry participate in Fine Arts, I can't help but get excited. I'm excited because they are incredibly gifted students. As a matter of fact, I believe many of them don't even comprehend how gifted they really are. So to those who would think that the church is in bad hands with our youth, I would say to you that you couldn't be more wrong. God never changes. He continues to pour out his gifts to each succeeding generation.
As each of these students continue to discover their gifts it begs the question, "Do you know how you're gifted?" You may say, "I don't have one" or "I can't do anything." But is that really the truth? Because as I read in
I Corinthians 12, it tells us that we all have gifts. Now it may not be one of those "glamour gifts" where it's seen out in front of everyone and gets lots of recognition, but each of us have been gifted. This is the first and most important step in discovering how God has gifted you. You need to understand that you are gifted.
If that is the case - if I am gifted - how do I discover what my gifts are? I want to share with you an acronym that I have heard and often teach when it comes to discovering how God has shaped us. It's called discovering your S.H.A.P.E.
There are five basic elements that can help you discover your personal ministry.

S = Spiritual Gifts: We must first ask ourselves, "How has God gifted us spiritually?" Romans 12 &
I Corinthians 12 can begin to give some insight into some of the possibilities.
H = Heart: "What do you love to do? What are you passionate about?" God has given you those desires and passions for a reason.
A = Abilities: "What natural abilities or talents were you born with or did you develop before your relationship with Christ?"
P = Personality: "How will your unique personality impact your ministry?" Maybe you're outgoing. Maybe you're not. It makes a big difference on how God may use you.
E = Experiences: "How can your experiences, both good and bad ("Praise the Lord"), be used to help others? God never wastes any experience we have in life. He always uses it for something.

It is so important that each of us discover and develop our God given talents and abilities because there is so much work to be done. There is a principle out there that you may have heard of. It's called the 80/20 principle. It's really quite discouraging when you understand it because it's not the way God designed the church to be. The 80/20 principle says that 20% of the people in a church do 80% of the work. The reverse is also true. 80% of the people do 20% of the work. God designed the church so that we would each have a gift(s) that we would be able to contribute and so that no one person or group of people would have to do all the work.
So what's your gift? How has God shaped you? Take the time and start asking the hard questions and you will discover how God has shaped you. Congratulations! You're gifted!

September Highlights

1. "Launch" (a ministry to students grade 6th-9th) will be meeting for the first time Sunday September 3rd during the morning service @ 10 a.m. "Launch" is our attempt to begin to minister to the younger students in 876 Student Ministries. We will be doing music, drama, games, and much more. One of our other goals is to begin to develop some of the talents and abilities of our younger students. We are expecting this to be a very successful event. "Launch" will meet on average of once a month when there is no Kids Church in the gym. If you would like more information, please see Pastor Al.

2. Grocery Store Gift Cards. Gift cards for Kroger, Farmer Jack will again be available for purchase on Sunday September 3rd after service. By you participating in a program like this we can earn 5% of your purchases towards missions. Remember, it's free money. Please make sure (if you have a Kroger card) that you are recharging your card before your purchase. Fair Haven is also now enrolled in "Meijer Community Rewards." If you will simply sign up with Meijer for a "rewards card" (it's not a credit card) through us, they will give a percentage of your monthly spendings to us. So far you have helped us earn over $600 for missions this year. Come by the table and see us for details.

3. "The X-Games" - The beginning of the school year signifies to us the beginning of our team competition known as the "X-Games." They will run from August 30th through September 27th. This is a five week competition in which all of our students will be split into 3 teams lead by one of our youth leaders. Teams will compete in a variety of team games, individual tasks, and much more. Teams are awarded points on a weekly basis with the winning team earning an incredible prize. Last year the "Green Team" won a two-night trip to Chicago. It's one of our highlights for the year. We hope to see your teenager there.

4. Parents Meeting - The next parents meeting for parents of teenagers in 876 Student Ministries will be on Sunday September 3rd after the morning service from 12-1 p.m. in the gym. We will again have a light lunch followed by a short meeting. We will be looking at the fall calendar, giving a report of what's going on in 876 Student Ministries, and taking any questions you may have. All that we ask is that if you would like to attend that you see Pastor Al so that we can plan adequately for lunch.