What's God Say? | January 11th
Sermon Overview
What Does God Say About Stewardship? Using Your Spiritual Gifts
As we enter a new year, many of us are looking to recalibrate and set up our lives in a way that honors God. Instead of asking what culture says or what others expect, the most important question we can ask is: What does God say? When it comes to living as followers of Jesus, understanding biblical stewardship is essential.
What Does It Mean to Be a Disciple?
Before we can understand stewardship, we need to grasp what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In Matthew 4:18-22, we see Jesus calling his first disciples - fishermen who immediately left their nets to follow him. These weren't casual observers; they were people who chose to follow Jesus closely.
There's a beautiful first-century blessing given to disciples: "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi." The idea is that you're following so closely behind your teacher that when the dust kicks up from his sandals, it lands on you before hitting the ground. That's the intimacy and commitment God desires from us.
A disciple doesn't just know about Jesus - they follow him, imitate him, and do what he says. Discipleship isn't a spectator sport where you cheer from the stands. God calls you onto the field to actively participate in his mission.
What Is Biblical Stewardship?
King David understood something fundamental about stewardship that we see in 1 Chronicles 29:14: "But who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us."
The Principle of Ownership
Biblical stewardship isn't primarily about generosity - it's about recognizing ownership. Once you understand who owns everything, your responsibility becomes clear. David recognized that he wasn't the owner of his authority, gifts, talents, or abilities. He was simply a steward of what God had entrusted to him.
When you understand that everything belongs to God, whatever he places in your hands isn't meant to be possessed and held onto. It's meant to be freely stewarded back to him for his glory and kingdom purposes.
How Does God Give Spiritual Gifts?
In the New Testament, God doesn't just give resources - he gives himself through the Holy Spirit. When you place your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters your life and seals your decision. But he doesn't stop there. He also gives you spiritual gifts.
Every Believer Has Received a Gift
First Peter 4:10 makes this clear: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Notice the phrase "each one has received" - it's past tense. This isn't something you earn or unlock later based on good behavior. God has already entrusted you with something of his.
The word "gift" here is "charisma," which comes from "charis" meaning grace. Your spiritual gift is an act of God's grace - not something you've earned, but something given freely that you can now use through obedience.
Why Should You Use Your Spiritual Gifts?
Peter makes it clear that using your spiritual gift isn't optional. You're called to "minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." The word "manifold" paints a picture of beautiful, multifaceted, multicolored grace - like a tapestry where each thread matters.
The Church Functions Like a Body
Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12 that the church isn't designed like a stadium with spectators, but like a body where every part has a function. When every part plays its role, the body functions properly. But when believers withhold their gifting from the church, the church doesn't just suffer - it limps.
You don't get to sit this one out. There are no spectators in the body of Christ, only stewards. If you're waiting for permission to use your gift, consider this your permission to step onto the field.
What Are the Categories of Spiritual Gifts?
Peter gives us two broad categories in 1 Peter 4:11: speaking gifts and serving gifts. Some people's grace comes out through words - teaching, leading, encouraging. Others express it through their hands - serving, helping, giving, organizing.
How Should You Use Your Gifts?
Whether you have speaking or serving gifts, both are governed the same way:
The purpose is clear: "that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." God gets the glory, not you.
How Can You Discover Your Spiritual Gift?
If you want to discover how God has wired you and what your spiritual gift is, the best step is to take a spiritual gifts assessment and learn more about how God wants to use you. Many churches offer classes or resources to help you identify and develop your gifts.
The key is to step out in faith and begin serving. Often, your gifts become clear as you engage in ministry and see where God blesses your efforts and where you find fulfillment in serving others.
What's at Stake When You Don't Use Your Gifts?
You never know what's hanging in the balance on the other side of your "yes" to God. When you step onto the field and use your spiritual gifts, you become part of God's mission in ways you may never fully understand this side of heaven.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers ordinary people, and extraordinary things happen. When they do, it gives God glory, builds up his church, and lives are forever changed.
Life Application
This week, commit to discovering and using your spiritual gifts. If you don't know what your gifts are, take steps to find out through a spiritual gifts assessment or by talking with mature believers who know you well. If you do know your gifts, ask yourself: Am I actively using them to serve God and others?
Remember, you're not serving God to earn his love - Jesus already secured that on the cross. You serve because of the love he's already shown you.
Questions for reflection:
May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, staying close enough to Jesus that his life marks your life as you steward the gifts he's given you.
As we enter a new year, many of us are looking to recalibrate and set up our lives in a way that honors God. Instead of asking what culture says or what others expect, the most important question we can ask is: What does God say? When it comes to living as followers of Jesus, understanding biblical stewardship is essential.
What Does It Mean to Be a Disciple?
Before we can understand stewardship, we need to grasp what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. In Matthew 4:18-22, we see Jesus calling his first disciples - fishermen who immediately left their nets to follow him. These weren't casual observers; they were people who chose to follow Jesus closely.
There's a beautiful first-century blessing given to disciples: "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi." The idea is that you're following so closely behind your teacher that when the dust kicks up from his sandals, it lands on you before hitting the ground. That's the intimacy and commitment God desires from us.
A disciple doesn't just know about Jesus - they follow him, imitate him, and do what he says. Discipleship isn't a spectator sport where you cheer from the stands. God calls you onto the field to actively participate in his mission.
What Is Biblical Stewardship?
King David understood something fundamental about stewardship that we see in 1 Chronicles 29:14: "But who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us."
The Principle of Ownership
Biblical stewardship isn't primarily about generosity - it's about recognizing ownership. Once you understand who owns everything, your responsibility becomes clear. David recognized that he wasn't the owner of his authority, gifts, talents, or abilities. He was simply a steward of what God had entrusted to him.
When you understand that everything belongs to God, whatever he places in your hands isn't meant to be possessed and held onto. It's meant to be freely stewarded back to him for his glory and kingdom purposes.
How Does God Give Spiritual Gifts?
In the New Testament, God doesn't just give resources - he gives himself through the Holy Spirit. When you place your faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters your life and seals your decision. But he doesn't stop there. He also gives you spiritual gifts.
Every Believer Has Received a Gift
First Peter 4:10 makes this clear: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Notice the phrase "each one has received" - it's past tense. This isn't something you earn or unlock later based on good behavior. God has already entrusted you with something of his.
The word "gift" here is "charisma," which comes from "charis" meaning grace. Your spiritual gift is an act of God's grace - not something you've earned, but something given freely that you can now use through obedience.
Why Should You Use Your Spiritual Gifts?
Peter makes it clear that using your spiritual gift isn't optional. You're called to "minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." The word "manifold" paints a picture of beautiful, multifaceted, multicolored grace - like a tapestry where each thread matters.
The Church Functions Like a Body
Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12 that the church isn't designed like a stadium with spectators, but like a body where every part has a function. When every part plays its role, the body functions properly. But when believers withhold their gifting from the church, the church doesn't just suffer - it limps.
You don't get to sit this one out. There are no spectators in the body of Christ, only stewards. If you're waiting for permission to use your gift, consider this your permission to step onto the field.
What Are the Categories of Spiritual Gifts?
Peter gives us two broad categories in 1 Peter 4:11: speaking gifts and serving gifts. Some people's grace comes out through words - teaching, leading, encouraging. Others express it through their hands - serving, helping, giving, organizing.
How Should You Use Your Gifts?
Whether you have speaking or serving gifts, both are governed the same way:
- If you speak, do it "as the oracles of God" - let God flow through you
- If you serve, do it "with the ability which God supplies" - rely on his strength, not your own
The purpose is clear: "that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." God gets the glory, not you.
How Can You Discover Your Spiritual Gift?
If you want to discover how God has wired you and what your spiritual gift is, the best step is to take a spiritual gifts assessment and learn more about how God wants to use you. Many churches offer classes or resources to help you identify and develop your gifts.
The key is to step out in faith and begin serving. Often, your gifts become clear as you engage in ministry and see where God blesses your efforts and where you find fulfillment in serving others.
What's at Stake When You Don't Use Your Gifts?
You never know what's hanging in the balance on the other side of your "yes" to God. When you step onto the field and use your spiritual gifts, you become part of God's mission in ways you may never fully understand this side of heaven.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers ordinary people, and extraordinary things happen. When they do, it gives God glory, builds up his church, and lives are forever changed.
Life Application
This week, commit to discovering and using your spiritual gifts. If you don't know what your gifts are, take steps to find out through a spiritual gifts assessment or by talking with mature believers who know you well. If you do know your gifts, ask yourself: Am I actively using them to serve God and others?
Remember, you're not serving God to earn his love - Jesus already secured that on the cross. You serve because of the love he's already shown you.
Questions for reflection:
- Am I currently a spectator in the stands or a player on the field when it comes to God's mission?
- How can I step out of my comfort zone this week to use the gifts God has given me?
- What's holding me back from fully stewarding what God has entrusted to me?
- How might God want to use my unique gifts to impact others for his kingdom?
May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi, staying close enough to Jesus that his life marks your life as you steward the gifts he's given you.
Devo 1 – Covered in the Dust of Your Rabbi
Devotional
Have you ever watched someone so closely that you began to mirror their movements without realizing it? Maybe you noticed yourself adopting a friend's laugh or picking up a family member's mannerisms. This natural human tendency points to something profound about following Jesus.
When Jesus called His first disciples by the Sea of Galilee, He didn't invite them to a weekly Bible study or Sunday service. He called them to follow Him - literally. They would walk where He walked, eat where He ate, and learn by watching His every move. In ancient Jewish culture, devoted students would follow their rabbi so closely that they would be covered in the dust kicked up by their teacher's feet. This is the heart of discipleship: not just knowing about Jesus, but following Him so intimately that His character begins to shape ours. It's about being so close to our Rabbi that we naturally begin to love like He loves, serve like He serves, and live like He lives.
The beautiful truth is that Jesus doesn't call us to perfect performance before we can follow Him. He calls us as we are and transforms us as we walk with Him. Every step we take in His direction, every choice to follow His example, every moment we choose His way over our own - these are the moments we become covered in the dust of our Rabbi.
Following Jesus isn't about perfection; it's about proximity. The closer we stay to Him, the more we become like Him.
Bible Verses
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.' At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. - Matthew 4:18-22
Reflection Question
What would it look like for you to follow Jesus so closely this week that His character begins to show up in your daily interactions and decisions?
Quote
May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi. The whole idea is you're so close to that rabbi that you're moving the way he moves. You're taking the steps that he's taking. You're doing the things he does.
Prayer
Jesus, I want to follow You so closely that I become covered in the dust of Your footsteps. Help me to stay near to You today, learning from Your example and allowing Your character to shape mine. Show me what it means to truly follow You, not just know about You. Amen.
Have you ever watched someone so closely that you began to mirror their movements without realizing it? Maybe you noticed yourself adopting a friend's laugh or picking up a family member's mannerisms. This natural human tendency points to something profound about following Jesus.
When Jesus called His first disciples by the Sea of Galilee, He didn't invite them to a weekly Bible study or Sunday service. He called them to follow Him - literally. They would walk where He walked, eat where He ate, and learn by watching His every move. In ancient Jewish culture, devoted students would follow their rabbi so closely that they would be covered in the dust kicked up by their teacher's feet. This is the heart of discipleship: not just knowing about Jesus, but following Him so intimately that His character begins to shape ours. It's about being so close to our Rabbi that we naturally begin to love like He loves, serve like He serves, and live like He lives.
The beautiful truth is that Jesus doesn't call us to perfect performance before we can follow Him. He calls us as we are and transforms us as we walk with Him. Every step we take in His direction, every choice to follow His example, every moment we choose His way over our own - these are the moments we become covered in the dust of our Rabbi.
Following Jesus isn't about perfection; it's about proximity. The closer we stay to Him, the more we become like Him.
Bible Verses
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.' At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. - Matthew 4:18-22
Reflection Question
What would it look like for you to follow Jesus so closely this week that His character begins to show up in your daily interactions and decisions?
Quote
May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi. The whole idea is you're so close to that rabbi that you're moving the way he moves. You're taking the steps that he's taking. You're doing the things he does.
Prayer
Jesus, I want to follow You so closely that I become covered in the dust of Your footsteps. Help me to stay near to You today, learning from Your example and allowing Your character to shape mine. Show me what it means to truly follow You, not just know about You. Amen.
Devo 2 – Everything Belongs to Him
Devotional
King David had it all - wealth, power, a kingdom, and the resources to build a magnificent temple for God. Yet in one of the most profound moments in Scripture, he made a startling declaration: everything he possessed actually belonged to God, and he was simply giving back what God had first given him. This wasn't false humility or religious rhetoric.
David understood a fundamental truth that transforms how we view everything in our lives: we are not owners, we are stewards.
The house you live in, the job you work, the talents you possess, even the breath in your lungs - all of it comes from God's generous hand. This perspective shift changes everything. When we recognize God's ownership, the pressure to hoard, control, or anxiously protect what we have begins to lift. Instead, we can hold our possessions, relationships, and opportunities with open hands, asking not "How can I keep this?" but "How can I steward this well?"
Stewardship isn't about giving God a portion of what we think belongs to us. It's about recognizing that everything belongs to Him and asking how He wants us to manage what He's entrusted to our care. This includes our time, our talents, our treasures, and our very lives. When we truly grasp this truth, generosity becomes natural, not forced. We give freely because we understand we're simply moving God's resources according to His heart and purposes.
Bible Verse
Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us. - 1 Chronicles 29:14
Reflection Question
If you truly believed that everything in your life belongs to God and you are simply a steward, how would that change the way you make decisions about your time, money, and relationships this week?
Quote
Biblically speaking, stewardship is not generosity, it's recognition of ownership. Because once the ownership is settled, the responsibility becomes clear.
Prayer
Father, help me to see clearly that everything I have comes from Your generous hand. Transform my heart from an owner's mentality to a steward's heart. Show me how to manage what You've entrusted to me in ways that honor You and bless others. Amen.
King David had it all - wealth, power, a kingdom, and the resources to build a magnificent temple for God. Yet in one of the most profound moments in Scripture, he made a startling declaration: everything he possessed actually belonged to God, and he was simply giving back what God had first given him. This wasn't false humility or religious rhetoric.
David understood a fundamental truth that transforms how we view everything in our lives: we are not owners, we are stewards.
The house you live in, the job you work, the talents you possess, even the breath in your lungs - all of it comes from God's generous hand. This perspective shift changes everything. When we recognize God's ownership, the pressure to hoard, control, or anxiously protect what we have begins to lift. Instead, we can hold our possessions, relationships, and opportunities with open hands, asking not "How can I keep this?" but "How can I steward this well?"
Stewardship isn't about giving God a portion of what we think belongs to us. It's about recognizing that everything belongs to Him and asking how He wants us to manage what He's entrusted to our care. This includes our time, our talents, our treasures, and our very lives. When we truly grasp this truth, generosity becomes natural, not forced. We give freely because we understand we're simply moving God's resources according to His heart and purposes.
Bible Verse
Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us. - 1 Chronicles 29:14
Reflection Question
If you truly believed that everything in your life belongs to God and you are simply a steward, how would that change the way you make decisions about your time, money, and relationships this week?
Quote
Biblically speaking, stewardship is not generosity, it's recognition of ownership. Because once the ownership is settled, the responsibility becomes clear.
Prayer
Father, help me to see clearly that everything I have comes from Your generous hand. Transform my heart from an owner's mentality to a steward's heart. Show me how to manage what You've entrusted to me in ways that honor You and bless others. Amen.
Devo 3 – Gifted by Grace
Devotional
Imagine receiving an unexpected gift from someone you deeply love - not because you earned it or deserved it, but simply because they wanted to bless you. That's exactly what happens when you become a follower of Jesus. God doesn't just forgive your sins and promise you eternal life; He gives you Himself through the Holy Spirit, and with that comes a spiritual gift uniquely designed for you.
These spiritual gifts aren't rewards for good behavior or prizes for spiritual maturity. They're acts of grace - unearned, undeserved expressions of God's love and trust in you. Every single believer receives at least one spiritual gift, and many receive multiple gifts that work together in beautiful harmony.
Peter reminds us that these gifts come in many forms. Some are speaking gifts - teaching, encouraging, prophesying - that flow through our words to build up others. Others are serving gifts - helping, organizing, showing mercy - that express God's love through our actions. But whether your gift involves words or deeds, it's designed to serve others and bring glory to God.
The amazing truth is that God has specifically equipped you to contribute something unique to His kingdom. Your gift isn't an accident or an afterthought - it's a deliberate choice by a loving Father who wants to work through you to touch the lives of others. You don't have to wait until you feel ready or worthy. You already have what you need to begin serving others with the grace God has given you.
Bible Verse
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10
Reflection Question
What unique ways has God gifted you to serve others, and how might He be calling you to use those gifts more intentionally in your current season of life?
Quote
Each one has received a gift. When you are in Christ, you're not just a new creation, though you are. But you've also been given the opportunity now to live for him in one of the ways God has gifted you to do that is through a spiritual gift he has given you.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank You for the gifts You've placed within me. Help me to recognize and embrace the unique ways You've equipped me to serve others. Give me courage to step out in faith and use these gifts for Your glory and the blessing of those around me. Amen.
Imagine receiving an unexpected gift from someone you deeply love - not because you earned it or deserved it, but simply because they wanted to bless you. That's exactly what happens when you become a follower of Jesus. God doesn't just forgive your sins and promise you eternal life; He gives you Himself through the Holy Spirit, and with that comes a spiritual gift uniquely designed for you.
These spiritual gifts aren't rewards for good behavior or prizes for spiritual maturity. They're acts of grace - unearned, undeserved expressions of God's love and trust in you. Every single believer receives at least one spiritual gift, and many receive multiple gifts that work together in beautiful harmony.
Peter reminds us that these gifts come in many forms. Some are speaking gifts - teaching, encouraging, prophesying - that flow through our words to build up others. Others are serving gifts - helping, organizing, showing mercy - that express God's love through our actions. But whether your gift involves words or deeds, it's designed to serve others and bring glory to God.
The amazing truth is that God has specifically equipped you to contribute something unique to His kingdom. Your gift isn't an accident or an afterthought - it's a deliberate choice by a loving Father who wants to work through you to touch the lives of others. You don't have to wait until you feel ready or worthy. You already have what you need to begin serving others with the grace God has given you.
Bible Verse
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. - 1 Peter 4:10
Reflection Question
What unique ways has God gifted you to serve others, and how might He be calling you to use those gifts more intentionally in your current season of life?
Quote
Each one has received a gift. When you are in Christ, you're not just a new creation, though you are. But you've also been given the opportunity now to live for him in one of the ways God has gifted you to do that is through a spiritual gift he has given you.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank You for the gifts You've placed within me. Help me to recognize and embrace the unique ways You've equipped me to serve others. Give me courage to step out in faith and use these gifts for Your glory and the blessing of those around me. Amen.
Devo 4 – Your Thread in the Tapestry
Devotional
Have you ever seen a beautiful tapestry up close? From a distance, it looks like one seamless, magnificent picture. But when you examine it closely, you discover it's made up of thousands of individual threads, each one essential to the overall design. Remove even one thread, and the entire tapestry is weakened. This is exactly how God designed His church.
Paul uses the metaphor of a body to describe how believers function together - each person is a vital part, and when one part isn't functioning properly, the whole body suffers. Your spiritual gifts aren't just nice additions to the church; they're essential threads in God's tapestry of grace. When you withhold your gifts or choose to sit on the sidelines, you're not just missing out on a blessing - you're depriving the body of Christ of something it desperately needs. The church doesn't just suffer when believers don't use their gifts; it limps.
Someone somewhere needs exactly what God has equipped you to give. The grace that flows through your spiritual gifts isn't meant to stop with you. It's designed to flow through you to others, creating a beautiful cycle of giving and receiving that reflects God's generous heart. Whether you're teaching a child, encouraging a friend, organizing an event, or serving in ways that seem small, you're participating in something much larger than yourself. Your thread matters. Your contribution is irreplaceable. The tapestry of faith is incomplete without you.
Bible Verse
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - 1 Corinthians 12:27
Reflection Question
In what specific ways might the body of Christ be missing out on the unique contribution God has designed you to make, and what would it look like to step more fully into that role?
Quote
Your thread matters in the tapestry of faith. And so we should allow this grace to flow through us, to serve others.
Prayer
Lord, help me to see how important my role is in Your body. Give me the courage to step forward and contribute the gifts You've given me, knowing that others need what You've placed within me. May Your grace flow through me to bless and strengthen those around me. Amen.
Have you ever seen a beautiful tapestry up close? From a distance, it looks like one seamless, magnificent picture. But when you examine it closely, you discover it's made up of thousands of individual threads, each one essential to the overall design. Remove even one thread, and the entire tapestry is weakened. This is exactly how God designed His church.
Paul uses the metaphor of a body to describe how believers function together - each person is a vital part, and when one part isn't functioning properly, the whole body suffers. Your spiritual gifts aren't just nice additions to the church; they're essential threads in God's tapestry of grace. When you withhold your gifts or choose to sit on the sidelines, you're not just missing out on a blessing - you're depriving the body of Christ of something it desperately needs. The church doesn't just suffer when believers don't use their gifts; it limps.
Someone somewhere needs exactly what God has equipped you to give. The grace that flows through your spiritual gifts isn't meant to stop with you. It's designed to flow through you to others, creating a beautiful cycle of giving and receiving that reflects God's generous heart. Whether you're teaching a child, encouraging a friend, organizing an event, or serving in ways that seem small, you're participating in something much larger than yourself. Your thread matters. Your contribution is irreplaceable. The tapestry of faith is incomplete without you.
Bible Verse
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. - 1 Corinthians 12:27
Reflection Question
In what specific ways might the body of Christ be missing out on the unique contribution God has designed you to make, and what would it look like to step more fully into that role?
Quote
Your thread matters in the tapestry of faith. And so we should allow this grace to flow through us, to serve others.
Prayer
Lord, help me to see how important my role is in Your body. Give me the courage to step forward and contribute the gifts You've given me, knowing that others need what You've placed within me. May Your grace flow through me to bless and strengthen those around me. Amen.
Devo 5 – No Spectators, Only Stewards
Devotional
Picture a football stadium where 90% of the people are sitting in the stands while only a handful of players are on the field, exhausted and overwhelmed. You'd immediately recognize that something is terribly wrong. Yet this is exactly what happens in many churches - a few people doing all the work while the majority watch from the sidelines. Jesus never designed His mission for spectators.
When He walked the earth, He didn't gather crowds to watch Him work; He called disciples to join Him in the work. He didn't establish a fan club; He built a family of active participants. Every person who follows Jesus is called to be a steward, not a spectator.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and when that happens, God gets the glory. You don't serve to earn God's love - Jesus already secured that on the cross. You serve because you're loved, because you're gifted, and because there's a world that needs what God has placed within you. You never know what's hanging in the balance on the other side of your "yes."
That conversation you have, that act of service you perform, that gift you share - it might be exactly what someone needs to encounter God's love in a life-changing way. The church isn't in the entertainment business; it's in the disciple-making business. And that means there's a place for you on the field, not in the stands. You don't get to sit this one out, and honestly, you shouldn't want to. This is your invitation to be part of what God is doing in the world.
Bible Verse
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8
Reflection Question
What would it look like for you to move from being a spectator to being an active steward in God's mission, and what fears or hesitations might you need to surrender to take that step?
Quote
There are no spectators in the body of Christ, only stewards.
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving me so completely through Jesus. Help me to move from the sidelines into active participation in Your mission. Show me where You want me to serve, and give me the courage to say yes to whatever You're calling me to do. Use me as an instrument of Your grace in this world. Amen.
Picture a football stadium where 90% of the people are sitting in the stands while only a handful of players are on the field, exhausted and overwhelmed. You'd immediately recognize that something is terribly wrong. Yet this is exactly what happens in many churches - a few people doing all the work while the majority watch from the sidelines. Jesus never designed His mission for spectators.
When He walked the earth, He didn't gather crowds to watch Him work; He called disciples to join Him in the work. He didn't establish a fan club; He built a family of active participants. Every person who follows Jesus is called to be a steward, not a spectator.
The Holy Spirit supernaturally empowers ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and when that happens, God gets the glory. You don't serve to earn God's love - Jesus already secured that on the cross. You serve because you're loved, because you're gifted, and because there's a world that needs what God has placed within you. You never know what's hanging in the balance on the other side of your "yes."
That conversation you have, that act of service you perform, that gift you share - it might be exactly what someone needs to encounter God's love in a life-changing way. The church isn't in the entertainment business; it's in the disciple-making business. And that means there's a place for you on the field, not in the stands. You don't get to sit this one out, and honestly, you shouldn't want to. This is your invitation to be part of what God is doing in the world.
Bible Verse
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8
Reflection Question
What would it look like for you to move from being a spectator to being an active steward in God's mission, and what fears or hesitations might you need to surrender to take that step?
Quote
There are no spectators in the body of Christ, only stewards.
Prayer
Father, thank You for loving me so completely through Jesus. Help me to move from the sidelines into active participation in Your mission. Show me where You want me to serve, and give me the courage to say yes to whatever You're calling me to do. Use me as an instrument of Your grace in this world. Amen.