Luke 10:41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things”
What a wonderful Candidate Class we had in August! We were blessed with three couples who have a heart for ministry. Chip and Karen Wood’s ministry will be with our “Joy Club.” We are so excited as we hear Chip share his heart for reaching children for Christ. This is thrilling for me as this has been a passion of mine for over 60 years. Carlos and Issa Vasquez have a burden and love for the Hispanic people. Their desire is to disciple them to know the Lord on a personal level as well as starting a church plant. Nathan and Stephanie Sharratt are looking forward to planting a church wherever the Lord leads.
Serving, that is so important when we think of honoring our Lord with our hearts and hands. Pastor Paul Robinson, our church planter in Camden, New Jersey, shared a devotional at the council meeting this past week. This is in part (my words) what he said. So often we get busy serving our Lord and neglect our personal fellowship with Him. We prepare our Sunday school lesson, perhaps a devotional, a Bible Study we are leading, and all the time we think of other people or things that would take our thoughts away from applying these studies for our own personal growth. Examples would be, “This would be good for Elizabeth to hear; she has this issue.” Maybe as we are studying we get distracted by thoughts of things that we should be doing or that should have been done by someone who failed to accomplish a project. Something like Martha who was sooooooooo busy with everything going on, like preparing the food from scratch (no Pillsbury box cakes or cans of Ragu spaghetti sauce,) setting the table, pouring grape juice. You get the picture, right? Yet there in her home Jesus sat sharing His life and teaching about His Heavenly Father! How many times have I done the exact same thing–closed my Bible and forgot what I read or didn’t apply a principle that God showed ME, and I directed it to another person rather than seeing MY need for the principle to be real in my life! Luke 10:42 say, “But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Well then, I asked myself, who is going to bake the Pillsbury cake and heat up the spaghetti sauce? That would be me (however Bob does help me), but I want to choose the “the G00D PART.” So I will sit and listen, so I can stand and serve.
Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the Cross.
Keep Looking up! Our Redeemer is coming!
Donna
Candidate Coordinator
Baptist Church Planters
