The sermon this past Sunday was entitled “Start Where You Are;” the preaching passage came from I Timothy 1:3-7 where the apostle Paul admonishes his young son in the gospel Timothy to make full proof of his ministry!
Paul understood that the young preacher, Timothy, had a tall order in front of him. He was being asked to go in as a young man and teach, instruct & organize the church. This would be a tall order for any man, but especially difficult for a young man who would be teaching some who were definitely older if not wiser than himself.
Yet, Paul tells Timothy to simply be himself, have faith in God and to do the things that he knows are right and true. You know, that’s pretty good advice for any of us. The danger is often seen when we look at the task in front of us and feel overwhelmed and inadequate. The thing that we should be looking at is the ‘Opportunity’ that we have before us to use what we have for God. Before you know it God will open even more doors of opportunity for us to use our unique ability to make a difference for good!
The temptation is often to think that one day, somewhere, somehow you’re going to do this great & wonderful thing for the Lord! However, the sad truth is that too many times we let multiple opportunities slip by while waiting for that ‘one day’ to arrive. I want to challenge you instead to start where you are by sharing your faith with family & friends you interact with day by day. Before you know it you’ll find yourself encouraged and motivated to reach out into greater areas of work and service for the Lord.
Someone once joked, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer of course – “one bite at a time!” The same is true for growing God’s Kingdom; we must simply start where we are by building relationships and sharing our faith, ‘One person at a time!’
John P.
growinggodskingdomdotlive 