Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts

"We Are The World"

When many music legends came together in Los Angeles to record the song "We are the World," the organizer posted a sign on the entrance of the studio that read, "Check your ego at the door." You see, every singer was a star, but not everyone could have a solo. The project was a success because of working together. Some ministries need to put up a similar sign so that all of the visible, gifted leaders can be reminded what they are there for. Perhaps some worship teams need a sign to read before they come into the worship center that reads: "Check your egos at the door." A few years ago, a group of music legends assembled in Los Angeles to record the song ?We are the World.? Lionel Richie, the popular musician, organized the event. On the entrance of the recording studio, he posted a sign saying, ?Check your ego at the door.? Although every singer was a star, not everyone had a solo. A few years ago, a group of music legends assembled in Los Angeles to record the song ?We are the World.? Lionel Richie, the popular musician, organized the event. On the entrance of the recording studio, he posted a sign saying, ?Check your ego at the door.? Although every singer was a star, not everyone had a solo. The eventual success of the song was because of the cooperation, not competition.

Lincoln on Helping Men Permanently

?You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.? Abraham Lincoln

Help Yourself By Helping Others

As soon as you feel too old to do a thing, go out and do it. As soon as you feel critical, say something kind in a kindly way. As soon as you feel neglected, send a cheery note to a friend. (Oliver Wilson)

Treatment of Elderly

We ought to treat our elderly as if we expect to become one of them. (Frank Clark)

Business like Tennis

Business is a lot like a game of tennis ? those who don?t serve well end up losing. (Doc Anklam)

Investments Yield Dividends

View your gifts as investments that shall yield dividents--as plantings that shall yield harvest. A large gift is a gift of any size into which the sacrificial spirit has been introduced. (From the collection of Barry St. Clair)

Riley Learns in the Trenches

Title: Riley Learns in the Trenches Topic: Wisdom, Humility, Serving Pat Riley was one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. In reflecting back on what made him great, he thought about his small positions before he became head coach. Of these, he said, ?First, never demean the time you spend in the trenches. If you pay attention to what you?re doing, you can learn an awful lot about how an organization behaves, and that can be very useful later on.? ?Second, use any time when you aren?t on center stage to strengthen your powers of perception. Even being on the bench or working around the periphery of the Lakers was like attending a master class in professional basketball. It?s strictly attitude that lets you learn.? So don?t get down if you feel that your responsibilities for God are small. Do well at them. Learn under ministries that God is using. Don?t get discouraged. God often uses these times to train and strengthen us for greater things. (Pat Riley, The Winner Within, G.P. Putnam?s Sons, New York, 1993, p. 63)

Einstein Reads to Sister

"When Albert Einstein?s wife died in 1936, his sister Maja moved in to assist the great genius with his household affairs. In 1950 she suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. Thereafter, Einstein spent two hours each afternoon with her, reading aloud from Plato. Although she gave no sign of understanding, his intuition told him that a part of her mind lived, and he knew how much love could be communicated through an attentive act." The Friendship Factor, by Alan Loy McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1979, p. 52)

Scrooge Finds Incredible Joy

People don't get it. In every generation people believe the lie that just a little more money and just a few more things will give them the joy and peace that eludes them. They've missed the lesson learned by the contemptible Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dicken's classic tale, the Christmas Carol. Consumed by his greed, he lives a lonely, joyless life. People mean nothing to him. But after three spirits reveal to him the misery he's caused others and the way others despise him, his life is forever changed. He begins to empathize with others, forgetting about himself and meeting their needs. By turning outward, he finds an incredible joy he never knew. Listen carefully to how Here's how Dickens describes the changed man: Do you lack joy? Perhaps you need to learn from Ebenezer the joy of giving. He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows; and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk ? that anything ? could give him so much happiness? Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them? His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him." (Written Steve Miller, Copyright September, 2002, quote from Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol.)

What Motivated Mother Teresa?

Seeing people from a biblical world view, as created in God's image and thus worthy of our compassion, can radically change our attitudes and actions, motivating us to service. Let me introduce you to a woman who clearly saw the image of God in people. Because of this insight, she treated people very differently from others. Her name is Mother Teresa. She's known worldwide for spending her life helping the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India. She took the terminally ill off the streets and loved them so that they died with dignity. She bandaged stinking wounds and gave her food to the starving. Inspired by her life of sacrifice for the poor, similar ministries have been established in over 100 countries. She was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. What do you think motivated her to spend her life, not worrying about how people treated her, but serving the less fortunate? (Get their input.) In her own words, "Jesus said, whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me. If you give a glass of water in my name, you give it to me. If you receive a little child in my name, you receive me. That is why I want to receive all these unborn children. God's own image is in every single child, no matter what that child is, disabled or beautiful or ugly - it's God's beautiful image created for greater things - to love and be loved." (Mother Teresa, by Navin Chawla, Element Books, Massachusetts, 1992, p. 208) Another time, she told an acquaintance, "If we did not believe that this was the body of Christ, we would never be able to do this work. No amount of money could make us do it. In our wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor, it is Christ we touch in the broken bodies of the starving and destitute. He said, "What you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me." Then she took the interviewer's hand and pressed his thumb and each finger while saying "You - did - it - to - me." (Mother Teresa, by Navin Chawla, Element Books, Massachusetts, 1992, p. 61) How do you think that seeing people as made in God's image motivated Mother Teresa to love the poorest of the poor? How can understanding this truth change our lives?

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