On Sunday morning at our church Tim preached his first sermon.  The passage was Matthew 17:1-13. 

Through Tim the Holy Spirit taught us about Jesus' glory. We were encouraged to see the glory in Jesus' crucifixion as well as in his transfiguration. And having considered Jesus' glory, we were challenged to heed the Father's instruction, 'listen to him'.

If he's going to grow as a preacher he will need to develop skills in keeping eye contact with the congregation, work on a clear way to conclude and learn to get to church earlier than 9:01 for the 9:00am service! 

But those are little things that some experience (and an alarm clock) can easily fix.

I was glad to be at church on Sunday morning to witness Tim's preaching debut. Who knows whether in years to come Tim will be a major church leader and I'll be able to tell people I was there at his first sermon? Who knows whether in the years to come Tim will take a different path and we'll look back and marvel at the wisdom and intricacy of God's plans? That's one of the things I love about youth ministry"”being involved in the origins of things; of new lives, new ministries, new ideas. 

Recruiting for leadership is in some senses a bit of a gamble. Emerging leaders are just that, emerging. Which means they're not fully formed, even though there are signs of potential. Whether we're thinking about service in the church or the community, in recruiting new leaders we're looking out for faithfulness in small things that will give us some confidence of the work of God's Spirit to offer responsibility in larger things. 

I think back to those who took a punt on me as a young, emerging leader: invited to be a youth leader, given responsibility for organising a camp group, the first sermon, the opportunity to give the Bible studies for a leadership training week. 

I am very thankful to God for the way men like Ken Moser and Tim Foster saw some sign of God's gifting and provided the opportunity to let that grow. Barnabas did it for Saul (Acts 9:27); Paul did it for Timothy (Acts 16:3). One of the joys and responsibilities of youth ministry is to be able to do the same for others.
 
It's a bit hard to miss the fact that it's Spring Racing Carnival season More than $100 million was gambled on the 2009 Melbourne Cup through the TAB. This year they expect to process up to 700 bets per second on Cup day!  It's the season for taking a punt it seems.

So rather than investing our time and money on horse-racing, perhaps the racing season can be an encouragement to us to be looking around for those emerging, not-yet-fully-formed, potential leaders that God may be raising up among us. 

Is there a ministry responsibility they could take on, a training program they could commit to (even a youth and children's ministry College they could enrol in?!).  Or a sermon to preach?

Some of us are better recruiters and encouragers of others.  What are the tips and practices that have been most effective for you?