Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.” (Ephesians 4:11 NLT)
For the last few days, I’ve sat in meetings with department and oversight leaders of my denomination from across our nation, hearing the vision God gave them for our Fellowship. In turn, we take these visions and goals back to our home states and pass them along to leaders and pastors, trying to connect the head with the grass roots. And then as a Pastor, I have to pass these along to my leaders and teachers, that we can accomplish all these plus our own community vision as well.
When God created the Church, He called men and women to set aside their life goals and ambitions so that He could fully use them to fully reach His people. Regardless of the messes fleshly people have created, the Church was God’s gift to the world, and ministry workers were His gift to the Church. They are not a secret society or a league of superheroes, simply common people with a heart for God, a mind for the work, and a willingness to serve.
Take time to pray for your denomination or organization leaders. Then lift up the wonderful leaders at your local church that you love. It takes a lot of folks surrendering their lives so that you can know God and make Him known. Celebrate the gifts God gave so that you could know that you are loved!