As you know, our pastor left this morning for Burkina Faso. He is accompanied by his friend and body guard John Pearson. They will be there to teach and to encourage our missionary Keith Shumaker.
Moments after the pastor pulls out of the business park the games began. We started with red – red rover in the auditoruim, then we played dodgeball out back, and then finished with karoke in the spanish auditoruim. Just joking (or am I). We continue at the work that we are passionate about. There are so many things we can do to serve the Lord! If you can not imagine that there is so much to be done then let me invite you to come to the church, go down the hall to the 3rd door on the left, and say to Mark Coffey “I am here to help.. is there anything I can do?”.
Growing up I had a very narrow view of ministry. Sing or preach. I couldn’t and still can not really carry a tune, if you do not believe me ask the teenagers. I had a horrible speech impetiment so I didn’t see preaching as an option for a long time. However, I remember when a deacon in the church helped open my eyes to the fact that ministry is more then just teaching or preaching. I begin to enjoy doing all kinds of things in the ministry.
The Bible has a whole lot to say about.. well about almost everything. It especially has a great deal of information about how everyones talents and abilities are important to the church. Here is a study out of I Chronicles that may help us broaden our view of what ministry is and can be.
King David charged all the people to do their jobs with every fiber of their being (I Chronicles 22:1-19). God needs people of every talent- not just prophet and priests – to obey them.
Administrative Duties
Supervisors (23:4,5)
Bailiffs/ Officers (23: 4,5)
Judges (26: 29,30)
Public administrators (26:29,30)
Ministerial Duties…
Priests (24:1)
Prophets (I Chronicles 25:1)
Assistants for sacrifices (23:29-31)
Assistants for purification ceremonies (23:28)
Service Duties…
Bakers of the bread of the Presence (23:29)
Those who checked the weights and measures (23:29)
Custodians (23:28)
Financial Duties…
Those who cared for the treasuries (26:20)
Those who cared for the dedication gifts (26:26-28)
Artistic Duties…
Musicians (25:6)
Singers (25:7)
Protective Duties…
Temple guards (23:5)
Guards for the gates and storehouses (26:12-18)
Individual Assignments…
Recording secretary (24:6)
Chaplain to the king (25:5)
Private prophet to the king (25:2)
Captain of the guard (26:1)
Chief officer of the treasuries (26:23, 24)
I am not saying that our church needs a “guard for the gates” aka bouncer. However, there are so many different abilities that are needed to make a church run effectively. We should all search our hearts and consider what talent we have that we think is not usable for the church and ask God to show us how to use it for His glory! Even though the work of God is not a game, I do not know of anything more exciting and challenging. Everyone has a position on the team and a role to play!
Leave a Reply