Using Our Mess for Ministry
GOD TAKES OUR MESS
God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity, he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. He went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. After all, this is a fight we’re in. There are some, you know, who by relaxing their grip and thinking anything goes have made a thorough mess of their faith. Romans 3:24 ~ Romans 8:3 ~ 1 Timothy 1:19
TURNS IT INTO A MESSAGE
Praise God! He can make you strong by means of my good news, which is the message about Jesus Christ. You will be saved by this message if you hold firmly to it. But if you don’t, your faith was all for nothing. We announce the message about Christ, and we use all our wisdom to warn and teach everyone so that all of Christ’s followers will grow and become mature. Romans 16:25 ~ 1 Corinthians 15:2 ~ Colossians 1:28
AND USES IT FOR MINISTRY
Those with spiritual understanding will have a wide ministry of teaching. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry.
Keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Daniel 11:33 ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18 ~ 1 Timothy 1:12 ~ 2 Timothy 4:5 ~ Ephesians 4:11-12
“Spend your time in prayer, preaching, and teaching.”
Acts 6:4
