I was reminded Sunday morning that I truly love the local church. Other organizations function similarly and pursue parallel causes but all ultimately prove themselves lacking. There isn’t another environment on the planet that can sustain, motivate, and empower such as a community proclaiming the good news of Jesus.

All over America, the Holy Spirit has drawn/drawing people of diverse interests, backgrounds, and personality into a local ‘ecclesia’ or fellowship/church. Paul explained that Christians, though individuals, are part of the body of Christ. Each person specifically purposed by God, to have his or her own role and function within a local church.

If God is a purposeful God, and He created each of us to serve a role or function within the body of Christ, what did God have in mind when He created you? Many of you may be wondering, “That is a difficult question. How am I supposed to answer that?” Well, think about it this way. What interests, passions, and abilities did God place within you? Commonly, we attribute these qualities about us to family, friends, or conditioning when actually God placed them within us.  

Growing up I loved history and when asked to select a foreign language in high school I picked Latin. To the surprise of my parents, I chose a dead language over Spanish and French and my ordering at restaurants has suffered since. Fifteen years later, I can clearly see God at work. He used my interests to ultimately prepare me for His purposes. I’m convinced that it was not by mere chance or fortune, rather a sovereign God preparing me for my future ministry. God created me so He above everyone understood that if I had any chance of preparing for ministry and learning Greek (Koine Greek – original language of the New Testament and closely connected to Latin), I had better start early and would need all the help I could get!

 So let me ask this again. What interests, passions, and abilities did God place within you for the building up of Christ’s Church? The reality is this; God prepared, equipped, and gifted us to serve His church and understanding how we were uniquely made can lead us towards the most fulfilling ministry we will ever experience.

As a pastor, one of the most rewarding things I encounter is seeing people function as God originally intended. My hopes for each of you: Discover how God has uniquely created you, and connect to a local church where interest, purpose, and opportunity collide.

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” 

1 Corinthians 12:12