Equipping the Saints
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ...” Ephesians 4:11-2
I love church! There is a reason I love church. It is because I feel that is where I am my truest self. I have always felt loved and welcomed at the churches I was part of. Church is also the place where I have grown more than I ever have.
Even though I was involved with church growing up, I don’t think I really knew who Jesus was.
There was a pivotal moment when I was 19 years old where God put this conviction on my heart, “You say you love Jesus, but do you really know who He is?”
That question rocked my world.
I went home a bit shamed and convicted. But I also went home motivated to learn who this Jesus I claimed to love was, and I did just that. I dove into the Gospels and, wow, I fell in love with Jesus! I couldn’t stop reading and learning and growing in my knowledge for him and how our awesome King Jesus is!
A couple years later, after filling my head with all this amazing knowledge of our Savior, God put yet another conviction on my heart by asking another question. That question was this, “Great! You know and love Jesus! Now, what are you going to do about that?”
A friend of mine that was the church’s youth pastor kept pestering me to come serve in the youth ministry. But what could I bring? I had never taught or discipled anyone. What good could I possibly do for kids?
Then that conviction from God came again: “Great! You know and love Jesus! Now, what are you going to do about that?”
So, reluctantly, I began serving. It wasn’t until I started serving that God really grabbed ahold of my heart and began to unveil who he had made me to be. I started to being discipled and in return discipling others. I served on global mission trips and began teaching regularly.
The more I devoted myself to ministry the more I grew in my faith with Jesus and the more I discovered who he is and who I am.
Why am I telling you this? Is it just because I want you to know a little history about myself? Well, maybe. But maybe there is more.
One of the things I love about what I get to do as a pastor is to see others grow and flourish in their giftings. That’s what brings me the most joy out of anything. It is what I think this pastoring thing is all about.
That philosophy comes from Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…”
This is also my heart and vision for GPBC, that we will be a church that disciples, trains up, and equips the saints for the work of the ministry and allow them to grow.
First and foremost, my encouragement to you is to discover and fall in love with Jesus. Open up to the book of John, pour yourself a nice cup of coffee, and spend time with Jesus. In the fall, we will also be starting some leadership courses to help people grow in these giftings.
Second, what are you going to do about it? There are many ways to use your gifts, skills and passions in our faith community. If you are doubting what you can bring to ministry, as I was, let me assure you that if you have Jesus, you have everything to give.