Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos
Pulpit Series Volume 22, Issue 4 February 12, 2012
II Peter 1:5-7 “Make every effort to add to your faith,
goodness; and to your goodness, knowledge; and to
knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance;
and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness,
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”
The majority of ministry and missionary activity in the early Church and ministry was accomplished by non-professionals, ordinary men and women involved in secular work as their occupations.
Jesus entrusted ordinary people with major responsibilities of spreading the Gospel. Jesus took fishermen from their boats, He made them “fishers of men”. Jesus knew that ordinary people would become extraordinary when empowered by the Holy Spirit.
When the Lord calls us into His ministry, He does not place any limitations on us. We are only limited by our own imaginations. We look forward to speaking with you about your calling and how we may be able to help you reach your potential in the ministry.
Romans 12:1-4-8 “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Jesus Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do so cheerfully.”
The authority of Jesus was opposed because He was not an approved religious leader. He did not hold the credentials of a scribe or Pharisee. They questioned His authority because He was a carpenter's son from the poor village of Nazareth.
Please remember this and let no one stand in the way of your call into the Lords' ministry.
Galatians 6:4 “You should each judge your own conduct. If it is good, then you can be proud of what you yourself have done, without having to compare it with what someone else has done.”
The Lord has called each of us to live for a cause a lot greater than ourselves.
If God were to asked you today what have you done for the poor, for the suffering or for the needy, what could you say?
John 14:12 -13 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.”
You can count on this. I have seen it time and time again in my own life.
- We must stand firmly rooted in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- We must live the life He has called us to as His servants and His messengers.
Please never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough or smart enough. Listen to your heart and follow the Lord’s calling in your life.
Many claim to have faith, but my question is, are they faithful?
Faith to the unfaithful is worthless.
Just something to think about.
“I pray that The Gathering Place will be about the
great commission by recruiting good hardworking people,
who have been there, to go out into their world,
spreading the gospel, going to for them to come to us.”
According to the apostle Paul, all believers in Christ are part of “one body”. And if one part suffers, “all the member parts suffer”.
So we must ask ourselves:
- Do we grieve when a brother or sister is in trouble?
- Do we experience sorrow and pain in our hearts when a child of God is going through times of afflictions and trials?
If not, we must get on our knees and ask our Lord and Savior to help us become the kind of people who can understand and share the pain and suffering of others.
Please don't just read scripture. Stop and think about what it means and then act on it!
John 13:35 “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
Let the love and the beauty and the holiness
of Jesus shine me. May the things that I do
and the things that I say, bring glory Lord to thee!
Folks you can make a difference!
“To the world, we might just be one person, but to one person we may be the world.”
Never let your lack of education or life history keep you from pursuing what GOD has called you to do.
We have all made mistakes.
I don't know about you, but I will do everything I can to stay faithful to the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the ministry that HE has called me to.
I Corinthians 9: 1-27 “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
What I’ve been feeling as of late:
- There is a very real need for trained and certified volunteers to help with, Critical Incident Stress Management and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder within the emergency services. Firefighters, Police and Emergency First Responders are all at risk.
If anyone should be filling these roles, I believe it should be the church. If you are interested in learning more about this, please let me know.
Consider these recent headlines:
- Deadly fiery crash kills five family members (two children)
- 11 killed, including 10 migrant workers in deadliest ever Ontario crash
- Two Maple Ridge teens killed in early morning crash
- Volunteer firefighter killed in Enderby, B.C. fire
- Landslide levels 5 homes in B.C. Interior
- Oliver, B.C. high school ravaged by fire
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