God has blessed me throughout my life; a good family, a wonderful wife, great friends, and so may experiences and blessings that give me joy in my heart. I am sure all of us have something to be grateful for in our lives. God also gives us special gifts through the Holy Spirit to help others and strengthen the church, giving glory to God. Using our gifts is a part of worship. You may not know what your spiritual gift is. My suggestion is to get involved in your church and serve. If one thing doesn’t work or doesn’t seem to fit, try another. God will lead you to the gifts He wants you to use when the time is right. I believe He may give us different gifts at different times to fulfill a need of a ministry He has for you. I have seen that in my life. When I was young, I tried helping with the youth group, then became a youth leader. That didn’t work out too well. Later on several other ministries came up and God gave me the gifts needed for my particular ministries. No matter what your gift is or if you know what it is, get involved with your church and serve. Let’s not be just a pew sitter but be active for God’s Kingdom. Continue reading “Great Gifts”
Tag: service
What is Your Foundation?
Sorry for no posts for a while, but I was on a mission trip in Haiti and we had no internet. What a blessing! One of the things we did was lay the foundation for a new church building. While I was out there pouring cement, a five gallon bucket at a time, so many parallels came to mind about laying a foundation for the church, on stony ground, with thorn bushes here and there, the hot sun beating on us, but God is in control and Christ is our true foundation, the chief cornerstone. The church service we had was wonderful, 41 people and 25 of them children. Although it was in Creole, we had one universal language and that was our love and faith in Jesus Christ. The people here were very passionate in their worship and with things like voodoo in this land, their faith (as well as spiritual battles) is very real. Continue reading “What is Your Foundation?”
Don’t Be a “Pew-sitter”
As we go through our series on “I am Saved…Now what to do?”, we will discuss the importance of being involved in your local church. Probably one of the first things to do after you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life is to find a good church, one that teaches the Bible with no compromise, one that disciples new believers, one who has a community of believers to help each other grow and encourage one another, one who is a praying church. Check out their mission statement, tenets of faith and what they offer. I am a strong believer in small groups. This is where people really get to know each other as they study God’s word. I also am a strong believer that everyone has a ministry that God has appointed them to do. We all need to be an active member of our church, participating in Bible studies, small groups, Sunday school, and ministries. Seek what the Lord has called you to do. Help where help is needed. That is a good way to discover your gifts and your calling. Don’t wait for it to come to you…but also know when to say no. God will lead you. Too many people come to Sunday services and think that is enough. I call them “pew-sitters.” Getting fed through the music and sermons is great, but there is more to it than that. How do you help to “feed” others? I believe this is what God meant when He says, “I know the plans that I have for you…to give you a future and a hope.” (See Jeremiah 29:11) Continue reading “Don’t Be a “Pew-sitter””
Character of the Church
When I first read Hebrews 13 and the notes from a study I had (you can look up The Summit Church or J.D. Greear for his study of Hebrews; the bullet points below summarize part of this study), it seemed this was about worship. It is. But it is also about the character of the church. Or, perhaps part of worship is the character of the church. To start with, what is the church? It is not a building and not where you “go to” to fulfill your duty as a Christian, though that is an important part of your spiritual life. That is a time to fellowship with other believers and worship God, but our act of worship should be non-stop throughout our week and our life. That is a study in itself, but not for this post. What the church is, though is you and me. It is Christ’s bride. It is the body of believers. It is those who follow Him. Continue reading “Character of the Church”
My Daily Scriptures 