Someone recently nominated me for the “Cold Water Challenge”. It wasn’t a choice of giving money or going in, but it was a challenge to share my “favorite” Bible verse. I eventually shared a verse that has meant a great deal to me, with the message to the person who nominated me. The message said, “I will NOT jump in Lake Superior until the ice is gone!” The verse I shared is 2 Timothy 4:5. “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
If any verse is my life verse, it is this one. By now you’re thinking, “How depressing. His life verse is filled with seriousness, suffering, working and ending.” Yeah. But it’s also filled with hope. This is Paul talking to his spiritual son, a newer pastor named Timothy. Paul said that the people wanted their ears tickled. What Pastor Timothy needed to do was to tell the people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. And yes, it is a serious business, and yes, there will be suffering, but in the end, there are changed hearts and lives, and there is a reward of being fulfilled in ministry.
We recently celebrated 60 years as a church. It was a great time to look back at all that God has done in our lives and in our community. As we saw the past, we discovered that the present is a great time in the life of Faith Baptist Church. But we also looked to the future.
Where are we going as a church? The destination is easy to declare and hard to reach. The end goal is a fulfilled ministry. That doesn’t mean quadrupling our attendance or our offerings. Those things are by-products, not goals. Fulfilled ministry is the place of knowing that we are all that God has called us to be, and that out of that relationship we are doing all that he is calling us to do. It means sharing our possessions and time with our community, and it means sharing the hope of Christ with people.
How do we get there? First, we need to realize that this is serious business, and that we are the only hope of heaven for some that we know. Yes, there will be suffering. There will be sacrifice. There will be times we would rather do something else. We need to not only open our wallets and our calendars, but we need to open our mouths and share Christ with those around us. Then we need to do it all again. We need to complete our ministry, to fulfill our mission. By the way, it’s a life-long mission. But along the way we will experience the rewards of seeing new life in Christ, and of seeing prodigals return home.
Is it worth it? You know it is! Let’s be the Church to the people of the Bayfield peninsula and surrounding area. How about it? Are you in?
Remembering the past, and celebrating the present, we look forward to fulfilled ministry through our Lord Jesus Christ!
If any verse is my life verse, it is this one. By now you’re thinking, “How depressing. His life verse is filled with seriousness, suffering, working and ending.” Yeah. But it’s also filled with hope. This is Paul talking to his spiritual son, a newer pastor named Timothy. Paul said that the people wanted their ears tickled. What Pastor Timothy needed to do was to tell the people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. And yes, it is a serious business, and yes, there will be suffering, but in the end, there are changed hearts and lives, and there is a reward of being fulfilled in ministry.
We recently celebrated 60 years as a church. It was a great time to look back at all that God has done in our lives and in our community. As we saw the past, we discovered that the present is a great time in the life of Faith Baptist Church. But we also looked to the future.
Where are we going as a church? The destination is easy to declare and hard to reach. The end goal is a fulfilled ministry. That doesn’t mean quadrupling our attendance or our offerings. Those things are by-products, not goals. Fulfilled ministry is the place of knowing that we are all that God has called us to be, and that out of that relationship we are doing all that he is calling us to do. It means sharing our possessions and time with our community, and it means sharing the hope of Christ with people.
How do we get there? First, we need to realize that this is serious business, and that we are the only hope of heaven for some that we know. Yes, there will be suffering. There will be sacrifice. There will be times we would rather do something else. We need to not only open our wallets and our calendars, but we need to open our mouths and share Christ with those around us. Then we need to do it all again. We need to complete our ministry, to fulfill our mission. By the way, it’s a life-long mission. But along the way we will experience the rewards of seeing new life in Christ, and of seeing prodigals return home.
Is it worth it? You know it is! Let’s be the Church to the people of the Bayfield peninsula and surrounding area. How about it? Are you in?
Remembering the past, and celebrating the present, we look forward to fulfilled ministry through our Lord Jesus Christ!
