Ministry - Bring Your Best!

As you have considered the past few weeks about the challenge ahead of us and our preparation for Bring Your Best Sunday on Oct 1, many of you have spoken to me about what God is showing you about tithing, giving, and how we approach stewardship. It is a blessing to know that God is working in our church and I believe that we are only at the mere beginning of what God is going to do. The beginning brings excitement, but it also causes us to be aware of what lies ahead and approach with a constant awareness of our need for God’s hand and direction.

In essence, this is what ministry is. It is about seeing the lives that are touched and shaped when God’s people embrace His Truth, enjoy His presence, and engage in His mission. We see this in Luke 8 when Jesus (the very Truth and presence of God) is traveling and teaching, bringing witness to the fullness of His Father. He was touching and shaping lives, but in a way that you and I can continue to day. This is ministry. Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully man. This means that He had all of the resources of God at His disposal, but chose to limit Himself to our level of accomplishment. He could have called upon the riches of heaven and angels supplied His every command. He could have created resources from the dust of the earth to support His disciples or even commanded that their physical needs disappear. However, Jesus, Who was fully God, emptied Himself and took on our flesh to reach US (Phil. 2:7)!

That’s where we find Him in Luke 8. It says in verse 1 that He was traveling from town to town ministering to people by teaching about God’s Kingdom. He had the 12 disciples and a few others with Him. This was a small ministry with a BIG goal. It was a beginning point for something HUGE. It was the mission of an almighty, all-knowing, loving God. It says in v. 3 that some of the women traveling with Him were using their possessions to support this ministry. Mary Magdalene, Joanna (wife of one of Herod’s servants), Susanna, and many others were giving out of their own pockets so that this ministry could thrive. But, Jesus was God. Did He need their money? Was He incapable of providing for His own work? Can ministry survive without support? The answers to these questions is obviously “No”. I believe we have this passage for these reasons:

1. Ministry is not a ONE MAN Show. Jesus was traveling to share with people about the Kingdom of God. He didn’t go alone.  He had his disciples and others with Him because He knew His assignment on earth was temporary with eternal effects. To leave ministry up to one person, whether in serving or supporting, is a devastating failure to see what Jesus demonstrates here.
2. Ministry requires different abilities. Since it is not a one man show, ministry utilizes the ways that God has uniquely gifted each of us. Notice that it wasn’t just Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susannah who were giving. Luke 8:3 says that “many others” were involved in this. We cannot say that each was giving in support in the same way, but we can say that each was giving their best in order to support this ministry. You may not have as much to give as another person, but it takes the giving of each of our financial abilities to support the ministry. You may have much more than others that you can give, and while you will not end up mentioned by name in Luke’s Gospel, your contributions carry ministry far.
3. Supporting ministry ensures that people hear the Good News. At its core, this is what ministry must be. Yes, we serve. Yes, we worship. And, yes, we enjoy fellowship. However, notice the full extent of what Jesus was doing. He was “preaching and telling the Good News of the Kingdom of God” (CSB). This was not a crusade to build churches, resource for homeless shelters, or provide medical supplies. Those are all GREAT things that our church can and should be doing. However, if we forsake the preaching and teaching of the Good News of the Kingdom of God, we have ceased to truly minister. But, when you and I give faithfully through the local church, when we embrace the leading of God and bring our best, I will assure you that people will hear the Good News through our church.
4. Supporting ministry is the responsibility of those who have been changed. Notice with me that in verse 2 Luke makes the note that the women who were supporting the ministry had been healed of sickness or had demons cast out of them through the ministry of Christ. This demonstrates God’s plan for supporting the local church and the ministry of the Gospel. If Jesus has changed you, you are in a position to give sacrificially so that others can be changed. If Jesus has forgiven you, redeemed you, saved you, and is now sanctifying you, you now have the opportunity to assist someone else in receiving the same blessing.

My prayer for you and for our church is that we see God’s plan for us to reach Fairburn and rejoice in the ministry of the local church that has blessed us and been used by God to reach us. I pray that as you seek God and prepare your hearts for Bring Your Best on Oct 1, that the hope of changed lives compels your obedience to the leading of God as you give.