From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Lessons of Ministry – Part 2

“Sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat
And came to the region of Magadan.”     (Matthew 15:39)

As we continue to evaluate the lessons of Christ’s ministry to the Gentiles, we see that the true goal of ministry is worship. Although the vast majority of those who witnessed Jesus in this particular part of His ministry were Gentiles, when they saw his overwhelming power, they were astounded and “glorified the God of Israel” (15:31). The perfection of what He said and did demanded their worship, and many of the Gentiles offered it as best they could. But Christ was infinitely more concerned to save their souls from eternal damnation and make them citizens of His kingdom. The final goal of evangelism and Christian living is always to “worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” (John 4:23).

The priority of worship is an especially important lesson for today when our evangelism likes to make the way of salvation very wide, even though Jesus defines it as narrow (Matthew 7:14). We also like to present the Christian life as an easy one, whereas the Lord says believers must take up their crosses (Matthew 10:38-39).

Another lesson is that we must depend on God’s resources. Like the apostles, we are most usable for the kingdom when we admit the lack of our own resources and turn to the Lord. Jesus did not command the disciples to be His “witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” until He first promised empowering from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

Ask Yourself:
Let today be a day when you deliberately seek to worship, not only through song and prayer, but in giving excellence to your many tasks and serving those around you in His name and for His glory. How many ways can you think of to worship with what you know to be in front of you?