2016 is upon us. Are
you making New Year’s Resolutions?
Some do and some don’t but all should meditate and pray upon
how to be God’s love in action in the year ahead. We have many opportunities that come at
specific dates and times.
Easter Egg Hunt –
Invading the godless world with good news by luring in kids and parents with
candy then telling them how much God loves them.
Chewy Tuesdays – Delivering
love in a paper sack. Well, there is a
little more to it than that, but do it once and you are hooked on loving these
kids that God has placed in our paths.
Vacation Bible School
– It is always great. We always have a
bunch of help. We always need more help
to make it the best VBS ever.
Trunk or Treat –
It’s another ambush by candy with God’s love ready to permeate the most ghoulish
of costumes.
Food baskets and
angel Gifts – We just finished this and yet it is really just around the
corner.
There are so many events when you can make a difference.
There are also
ongoing opportunities to be God’s love in action.
F4 ranks right up
there for difference making. Be a table
parent, a teacher, someone to help clean up, or just a utility infielder who is
ready to play any position. This is
perhaps our biggest ongoing mission that makes the biggest difference in the lives
of so many children.
Connect the
disconnected. No, this was not just
a passing fad or a last year’s trend. It
is an ongoing mission. Most people that
you encounter already claim Jesus as their Savior. Most also don’t really know him as Lord. They are missing out on the discipleship that
comes from living and serving in the body of Christ. Help them get connected.
Using your Spiritual
Gifts—that’s right, Tom or the session doesn’t have to come up with every
idea. You don’t have to have a committee
to get something started. If you have
the gift of evangelism, then evangelize.
If you have the gift of service (many here have that gift) then find
places to serve. If you don’t know what
your gifts are, then just start getting involved and see what God brings out in
you. Some have the gift of intercession
and will pray for every person on our pray list by name every week or every
day. Some have musical gifts that can
flourish. Ask God to reveal your gifts
to you and then put them to use to produce fruit for your Lord and for the body
of Christ.
There are also
committees where you may help plan, organize, and execute many of the works
of this church body.
The missions committee is by far the most active and always
needs people ready to be God’s love in action.
The worship committee needs to be resurrected. We need people who will study the scriptures
for the week ahead, plan music, make sure the sanctuary is prepared for
worship, read devotions, and find new ways to worship the Lord.
The building and grounds committee comes and goes and has
not been intact for a decade. Being a
handyman or handywomen is great, but committee work is also about organizing
groups and workdays to take care of things than are more than a one person job.
The fellowship committee has atrophied to nothing, not
because of lack of interest but because fellowship is second nature to
most. The fellowship committee is
organized on an ongoing adhoc basis every month in meals and showers and other
fellowship events. There is a fellowship
team list that makes sure our fellowship meals go smoothly. If you are not on that list, then please join
soonest.
If you have a knack for reviewing curriculum, then the
education committee might be a good fit for you.
In any case, there are many opportunities to serve God as a
part of a committee. We also have
committees that are vital parts of our presbytery. Check out the Red
River Presbytery website to see what we do at this level.
Not everything that you do as a vital member of the body of
Christ must have a name or be an established ministry. The kid across the street that you hug and
feed and tell him or her that God loves you is just as important
as something that we have done for a decade and has a name. The light that you bring to this dark world
is a big part of following Jesus. Being
the God seasoning of the planet—the salt of the earth—is just as important as
Pop Tarts and Peanut Butter or Ash Wednesday.
But now is the time for preparation and meditation and
prayer as to what God is leading us to do in 2016. Perhaps you should put a few Gospels of John
in your vehicle. Maybe you should check
on the family across the street to see if they have enough food. Maybe you have many empty rooms in your house
and would like to make them available to stranded travelers. Maybe there is something that God is placing
on your heart than only you know what it is.
Now is the time to seek God’s revelations to you.
Now is the time to seek God’s revelations to you.
Now is the time…
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