Have you been searching for a ministry niche of you own? Feeling like you could be doing more for the Gospel? Has your church life become stale, routine and well, just kind of ho-hum?
I recently read of a retired couple, Louie and Phyllis Grizzle, who wanted to start an outreach ministry for their church in Georgia. Not knowing exactly what to do, they came up with the idea of taking fresh baked brownies to community newcomers.
They started small in 1991, but each year they saw God opening all kinds of ministry doors. Over the years Phyllis baked more than 150,000 brownies that arrived at over 25,000 homes!
And was the effort worth it? Not long ago, when the pastor of their church asked how many people in the congregation had first heard about the church through the ministry of brownies, 75% of the crowd raised their hands! Phyllis said, “Through the years I have worn out four stoves and three mixers, but that’s a small price to pay to see God work in our lives and our church.”[1]
Then there is Velvet. She wrote in her testimony, “I grew up in an abusive, alcoholic and drug-infested home. My mom insisted that my siblings and I go to church so that she was free to go and do as she pleased. My safe haven quickly became the church and I valued every service I was able to attend. As a young woman I gave my life to Christ, because a youth pastor, who had also grown up in the bus ministry, began picking us up for church. I’ve grown so much in the Lord, and am now a bus worker in the same church. I work with the children’s ministries and wouldn’t trade my Sundays or Wednesdays for anything in the world. I am so grateful for the bus ministry and all those people who continue to run the buses.”[2]
In John 9:4, just before healing a man born blind, Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” Note the urgency in that statement—we have only been given a finite amount of time to be productive for the Lord.
Adrian Rogers commented, “All the soul-winning you're ever going to do, you're going to do while you are here on this earth. And it may be later in that day of opportunity than you realize.”[3]
One reason we’re left here on earth and not taken to heaven immediately after trusting in Christ for salvation is that God has work for us to do. “Man is immortal,” Augustine said, “until his work is done.” When we have done all that God has in mind for us to do, then and only then will He take us home—and not one second before. As long as we have the light of day, we must work—not to conquer, acquire, accumulate, and retire, but to make visible the invisible Christ by touching people with His love. We can then be confident that our “labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). It’s time to put our hands to the plow and do something for the Lord. You don’t have to be a preacher, a teacher, a singer or a wealthy giver. But I assure you there is a ministry where God can use you. Open your eyes to the possibilities and your heart to others and God will take care of the rest. -DM
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