Thursday, September 30

It was he who have some to be apostles, some to be evangelists, some to be prophets, some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.               Ephesians 4: 11-13

Back to football for just a moment! Someone once described professional football as “50,000 people desperately in need of exercise watching 22 men desperately in need of rest.”  We can see this same phenomenon in other areas of life. Have you ever driven through a “work zone” and noticed that one guy seemed to be working on the road while five or six guys leaned on their shovels? Have you ever worked in an office where two or three people carried the work load for 15-20 people? Sometimes that can be what the church looks like. There’s an old saying in church leadership circles that goes, “In the church 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.” In other words, even in the church there are more spectators than participants!

That’s not the vision of the church we see in the Bible!

If you read Ephesians 4:11-12 again (now would be a good time!) you’ll see that it is NOT the job of the pastors and ministry staff to DO all the ministry of the church. Rather, it is the job of the pastors and ministry staff to equip “God’s people” (that’s you!) to do the ministry of the church! At FBCG we believe that the church exists to reach, connect, equip and serve. Sometimes we have a tendency, as individuals, to stop after we have been reached, connected and equipped! We find a church home where we like the worship, enjoy the teaching, and make some good friends – and then we become, well… comfortable. And that’s a good thing! It’s great to be part of a church where you are comfortable! But, as we have been seeing in this series, God does not want us ONLY to be comfortable. He calls us out of our comfort zones and into growth and into his service!

The Bible teaches that each one of us was created not only for an eternal relationship with God, but for the purpose of serving him in some way (Ephesians 2:10). That service may be within the church – like serving in Children’s or Student Ministries; or it may be outside the church – in short term missions, or “Feed My Starving Children,” or simply in your community or neighborhood. The point is, we were each created and called to serve – and our shared service is part of the spiritual Velcro that makes us the church!

Prayer: Thank God for creating you with the potential to serve him by serving others. Ask him to plant a willingness to serve in your heart and to lead you to an opportunity to give of yourself in service.

Brian Coffey