Dear Church Family,
It is my prayer for us that we would depend on Jesus more deeply in our lives. We can do nothing without Him (John 15:4-6). The reason that Jesus told us to abide in Him is because we are tempted to move away from a complete attachment to Him for our full supply of fruit.
Too often, I have found myself working hard to achieve various goals for Jesus in ministry. But God has taught me that there is a vast difference between trying to achieve for Him and labor in Him!
Colossians 4:17 gives us that sense: “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
Although written to Archippus, this is also written to us. We have all received a ministry in the Lord. Notice how he received the ministry. It was not made. God has granted each one of us different kinds of service and areas of influence. Don’t give up in whatever gift, skill, personality, job, or relationship that God has given to you. It is an opportunity to minister (‘serve’) selflessly in and towards other individuals with a Christ driven aim. Recognize that there is a vast difference between making your own ministry opportunities and receiving a ministry opportunity from the Lord.
But then there is also a great difference between laboring for the Lord and laboring in the Lord. Paul says, “fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” Remember that Christ has an all sovereign plan in building up His Body (Matt. 16:18). We don’t help Him. He uses us. And He uses us by working in us and through us (Col. 1:27-29). And we work hard by recognizing that we are ‘in Him.’ We could get nothing good accomplished without God’s hand of blessing in our lives and over our lives.
My prayer is that we as a Church will fulfill God’s plan for His Body. He is the brain, we are not. We can use our brains but let’s, as Colossians 2:19 says, “(hold) fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”
May God grow His WOL Chapel Body of Christ in Bainbridge and beyond!
With love in Christ,
Aaron
