Go Ye #3

The Final Foundation

We've established the importance of serving God first and focusing on our inner circle before attempting to go beyond our home borders.  We are almost ready to take the message to the world, but there is one more place we must Go before we can spread the gospel

The Church

We want to reach our neighbors, friends and strangers in our community.  Before we can do that, however, we must focus on one more area in our lives:

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10

This scripture tells us to do good to all people, but it has an emphasis on those in the faith.  We can get so caught up in reaching the lost and dying world, we forget that the church is need, too.  There are pressing needs in every church, some of which include witnessing to the lost and wayward.  Also, if our communities are going to have a chance at coming to Christ, God wants to do it through a unified body of believers.  How important is the church to Christ?  He gave himself for it (Ephesians 5:25).

Typically, churches have established footholds in ministries and services that can help develop people in our communities.  What better way to get started than by serving through the church? By getting involved in a ministry at your local church, you can hone your gifts and talents in God and you can learn from someone who has been there before.  More importantly, by getting involved in your church, you strengthen your church.  You become a part of the Body, helping to further its cause in Christ. 

So how can we get involved?

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:10-11)

We all have received gifts from God.  There are a number of scriptures about gifts, so we figured we would just link to this page, though there are several other passages about gifts from God that we can use for His cause.  The main point is, we have something God has given us that we can use to give back to Him, to our communities and to the church.  If I am a teacher, I can educate people through Christian education, Bible Study, and other training services my church provides.  If I am good at building things, I can help when the church is putting on a production to build the stage.  If I am a good salesman, I can use that talent of persuasion to inspire people to follow Christ and attend my church.  These are just a few examples, but there are an infinite amount of opportunities for us to use our gifts, some in places that don't exist in the church yet.

Do you feel that you have a gift that doesn't fit in a specific ministry? 

Praying to God for how to use your gift might reveal an idea for a new ministry in the church that didn't already exist.  Schedule a meeting with your pastor to lay out your ideas, listen to his suggestions, refine your idea and get back with him.  Repeat this process until the ministry has taken shape and you can launch it with your pastor's full approval.  You've just created a new appendage in the Body. 

Once we've gotten involved in our church, we'll find that we have greater opportunities to get involved in our community.  Doors that seemed shut to us at first will suddenly swing open.  Opportunities that seemed so few will become plentiful.  We won't have to worry about what we are going to do for God.  He'll give us plenty to harvest. 

Service:
Pray to God about what gifts you have and how you can further contribute them to the church
God to your pastor and talk about further involvements
If there doesn't seem to be a place for you, let God guide you towards a new opportunity
Let your pastor go over it with you and approve before starting anything new in the church
See how this opens up opportunities for you to be used by God.

Resource:

The link we provided for the list of spiritual gifts also has a section where you can take a test. 
This test will help you in your quest to discover your spiritual gift
Don't let this be your only source of seeking for your spiritual gift, but it is a good guide
They have tests for both Adults and Youth

Our video that goes with this devotion will be released later in the day.  As always, you can find all of our videos on YouTube.