Today You Be the Minister at Church or...

Today You Be the Minister at Church
or
How to Really do Church
or
How to Have Church Body Life
or
What Ministry Can I Have at Church?

I hope you get this before you go to church today. If so, think about this plan for your preparing to go to the church meeting.

Do you think your pastor or the elder who is preaching today has probably prepared at all for the service? Do you think his heart and mind have done some preparation and that he is going to show up at the meeting, having a heart to minister to others, and will specifically offer the congregation something he has prepared? Will he consciously bring something that they he hopes, by God's grace, will be used by the Lord to edify the body?

I want to encourage you to do exactly that today. Don't just go to receive something, though God does want you to receive today. Don't just go to get, though we do need to get benefit. Do not go empty-handed or with an unprepared heart.

Why don't YOU be the minister today? How? Here's a free trial sample of how you can.

Being prepared means you are consciously choosing to do some or all of the following.

1. Go to your church meeting today determined to have a heart before God to be a blessing to others there.

2. Go to your church meeting today with a plan to greet with sincerity each person you come in contact with.

3. Consciously and purposely be a blessing to those you engage at the meeting.

4. Choose the 'least' or 'weakest' among you, and show them love, give them a hug, and say or share something appropriate with them that will show them you care for them today.

5. Work at going out of your way to be friendly and find out how others are doing and ask specifically how you can pray for them.

6. EXPRESS verbal appreciation and love for different ones; choose to go outside your comfort zone and go up to a few people and tell them, with words. Undoubtedly, there are a number of the brethren you worship with and are supposed to be committed to and your never or rarelyand it has been weeks, months, or even longer (perhaps never with some of them) that you have expressed that you are thankful for them and that they have been a blessing to you.

7. Make yourself go out of your way and get out of your little Sunday rut and seek out a number of people individually.

- if someone has been a blessing to you at any time, today tell them, even if you have told them before.

- if someone has been an encouragement to you, today tell them.

- If someone's love for Christ has been an example to you, tell them.

- If what someone has said or done has been a ministered to you, tell them.

- If you have appreciation for someone and have never told them, today's the day.

- If you want to do ministry (and if you don't want to, you're probably unconverted), THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.

- And you start TODAY !

If you can't engage lovingly your own brethren at home, you couldn't and wouldn't if you were overseas. If you don't have a heart to do it here, you won't somewhere else. We can't love those in India, China, Romania, Mexico, or Somalia, if we are not doing it right in our own church. We won't ever really love sinners if we can't even practically love the brethren we are with in our own church.

Today, at least this one Sunday, just practice, by dependence on and obedience to the Holy Spirit, BEING the minister at church today.

By the way--today especially express love, thanks, support, prayers, and commitment to all your elders. That will minister more to them than their own sermon will. Probably very few will think of doing that today, so you be the one. Set a time during the holidays and take them out for coffee or a meal and show them you love them. You minister to your ministers and it will be true ministry.

And not just for one Sunday-- its a life style that will change your life and others. But it starts with today.

I wonder what would happen in our church life if we were all living this way at church meetings every week? The preacher might not even get to preach because the Spirit has come and is Himself preaching a living epistle through the whole church.

Ready, set, go . . . . . . . . you be the minister at church today. I think the Lord Jesus will like it very much.

- Mack Tomlinson