TEAM Ministry - Joe and Becky Cruse
Many years ago, God gave us an acronym for the word TEAM.
Together,
Each,
Anointed, to
Minister. We want to share some of our personal life story and drop into your spirit a few keys we believe are important for building a strong team. Each of us has an important part in the kingdom of God. When we come to know Christ, we are to be equipped and to find our place in the family (or team) of God.
The First Team (God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit)Even God knew the importance of team-we find this in Genesis 1:26 where God says, "Let us make man in our image," they were Father, Son, and Holy Ghost-the first team. Three persons-yet 1 God.
The Second Team (Your Family)The second team God instituted was the family. We see this in Genesis 2:7: "And the Lord God formed of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (KJV).
In verse 21-24 of the same chapter, the Bible says,
"And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her to the man. And Adam said, "this is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife: And they shall be one flesh." I was fortunate to be born in a family that has a great legacy in ministry. My grandfather and my father were ministers and my father and mother are still pastoring today at age 77 and 72. Throughout my life, I have seen the gospel work. My parents took us to church and lived the life of Christ before me. As a teenager, my parents, along with my siblings, began a traveling music ministry (The Cruse Family) and after many years were honored with some of the highest awards given in Christian music. During that time, the Lord brought Becky (my wife, and our keyboardist) into my life, and we made a commitment to serve the Lord with our lives together. (That was over 35 years ago.)
He gave us 3 beautiful children-our older son, Jody, is 29, married with 2 children and is an associate pastor as well as the drum instructor at IFTA. (
instituteforthearts.com) Our younger son, Ryan, is 26, also married, and he is the worship pastor and the leader of our Creative Arts Department at City Worship Centre, (
cityworshipcentre.com) the hub for Worshipworks Ministries International. (
wmiglobal.org)
And last but not least, our youngest is Allison, who is now 15. She is a singer and a dancer and has recently earned an opportunity to sing on the praise team at the church. We have always made it a high priority to include our children on our team. At whatever level they could be a part, they did so. Whether playing, singing, running sound, providing lyrics for the services-they were considered an integral part. It was important that they felt needed, even at a young age, which is why I believe they still work in our ministry today.
The Third Team (The Family of God)When we are born again, God places us into the most magnificent team of all-the family of God, (for this teaching, we interchange "family" and "team" extensively).
It is here we find our purpose and our destiny. So, if you were not fortunate to have a strong earthly family, you now have, not only the benefits of "sonship" at your disposal, but also the responsibilities as well. We are loved, empowered, and equipped as young sons and daughters of the Most High, for His service.
We see God's plan for His family spoken of in Eph 3:14-21.
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." The Fourth Team (Serving the House of the Lord)The Helps Ministry, (we call it Servant Leadership) of any church is vital to its success and as a worshipper, a worship leader, and now pastor, we find some practical things we can do to "HELP" the church be all God wants it to be.
For the last 25 years, we have been a part of building strong ministry teams in the local church. Whether you play, sing, set up, tear down, administrate, run sound or whatever you do, your gift is vital and necessary. Listed below are some practical things you can do to aid in building a stronger and better team where God has placed you. You can take these things and make them applicable to any area of ministry.
1. We are facilitators! Find the gifts in others and allow them to utilize their gifts.
2. Be confident in your calling. You can be confident knowing that God has given you something that others can't do.
3. Share the load-work together--don't take ownership of anything! The more you give away, the more God gives you!
4. Mutual respect for all is a big key.
5. Don't let strife come in or pride rise up.
6. Stay humble and teachable.
7. Strive for excellence in everything you do.
8. Stay in the secret place (Ps. 91) --this will allow you to avoid burn out.
9. Walk in love, and don't harbor bitterness.
10. When you've done everything in the natural, lean on the supernatural power of God.
For more information on the Institute for the Arts, visit
instituteforthearts.com.
