40 Days of Prayer - Ministries

40 Days of Prayer
Ministries

Ephesians 4:11-16
11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

How do you love somebody? And how can someone know that they are loved? In our culture there are lots of ideas on how best to do that and know that. There are songs that tell you that it’s in a kiss. There are movies that indicate that it’s just some nebulous feeling. And there are buddies that tell you that it’s all in the looks. The problem is that kisses, feelings, and looks are all fleeting and will one day be gone. Love is more of an action than it is a feeling. At Crossroads we seek to love people and to love them in real ways no matter their situation or how much it is “deserved.” We do this because we are driven by the gospel and it is the gospel that tells us that it was Jesus that loved us by dying on the cross for us. His love was demonstrated primarily in his actions and not just in his words. How can we love people in our actions?

We love people through our ministries; that is the point of them. It is not a race of trying to have more programs than the “other guys,” but rather finding ways that we can love more and more people in deeper ways. Whether it be teaching our children, handing out a foodbag to a homeless person, giving away a bike to those in need, or gathering in our community groups, each is a way of giving and showing love in real ways.

As I sit here at my kitchen table writing this, I can hear my daughter through the monitor singing in her bed. Many times the song that she chooses to sing is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” That’s right, my two year daughter’s favorite song is that classic hymn. How can teaching children old hymns show love? Because it is one way that points them to the only real hope that there is; and that is the hope that Jesus Christ gives us. Why does offering a homeless person a bag of food show real love? Because it opens up opportunities to tell them and others about the only real hope that there is and the perfect demonstration of love ever given.

As we pray and consider the future of Crossroads Fellowship and any potential ministries we must keep in mind the gospel of Jesus Christ because that is what drives us. We are not driven by what other churches are doing. We are not driven by what churches that we attended in the past did and we thought was really great. And we are not driven by some kind of narcissistic church model where everything is about what I get out of the deal. We are driven by the gospel and to show that gospel to those that we come in contact with.