“Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common.”
~Acts 2:43-44 (Msg).
I used to marvel at others who do what I do now, only a few years ago. It was my dream to be actively involved in ministry; having that door slammed shut via the need to return to fulltime secular work from part-time paid youth ministry. Don’t get me wrong—I love my day job.
But now, funnily enough, God has delivered me an opportunity to serve in joy—in Jesus’ name—along with the thousands of others on this planet. It’s only as we take moments to reflect back that we can see God’s mighty hand in it all.
What resounds most for me, in this ministry for God we’re all involved in together, is this deeper sense of a “wonderful harmony” that exists. There is some conflict every now and again, sure, but there’s love and respect underpinning our rapport even when we disagree.
It’s even a safe place to disagree.
Ministerial Blessings
Being ‘in ministry’ is, by definition, working with and serving people. It is going after people in love—wanting to be underneath them, wanting to lift them up, and not ourselves.
And in these ways it’s not just ministers that minister... everyone’s involved in it!
Ministerial blessings and much anointing occurs when we ‘hunt’ in packs of love with and for each other—and this is the church everywhere. The church wasn’t ever just a building where we met... “Where two or three come together in my name,” said Jesus, “there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20 [NIV]).
Although we’ll often be tempted to isolate ourselves and take solace in our own personal ‘comfort,’ which is not always a bad place and quite often it’s a very good one, getting in and amongst the fellowship of believers always tends to make living life better; certainly from the aspect of hindsight.
There’s nothing quite like body fellowship.
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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