Chapter 33
SERVING EVERYWHERE
(Luke 10:30-37)
The question I want us to ask ourselves is who are we passing by? There are people all around us who are living in shame, beat up, half dead, lying around without help. Are we like the priest and the temple worker who do whatever we can do to avoid helping others out. We might not like to admit it, but like myself I believe many of us are too preoccupied with our own personal agenda to even recognize those around us who need help.
We may feel we are helping enough, we give our hard-earned money and time to the church. See a church service is not for us to really serve God it is time that God serves us. The Holy Spirit has bestowed gifts, the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. So, our primary involvement with church is for the purpose of being equipped to greater serve our world which is the true ministry of the Lord. For He came not to be served but to serve, to give His life as a ransom for many.
A churches impact in a community will be determined by it's ability to meet it's natural and spiritual needs. So how well are we doing? We see the Samaritan saw the need, had compassion, and truly helped the individual in need. Are we praying for people, asking them to come to church, yet having the means to help them practically and refusing to do so? Are we so heavenly minded we are no earthly good? It is so easy to be so called spiritual, but practical comes with a price, our life - time, money, energy.
The community we live in is marked with violence. I am part of a committee called Stop the Violence made up of many different distinguished individuals, including Mayors, Police Chief's, Atlantic Care, United Way, the Clergy, etc. Being part of this has really opened my eyes how little I myself know when it comes to really making a difference, and yet those with the education don't have the answers either. Hopefully joined together we will be able to make a difference. I myself am going to educate myself more in the area of Human Services/Community Development, so I can use my spirituality in practical means to help people better.
So let's ask ourselves how can we be a good Samaritan? Are we offering the best service we can with our lives? How can we approve on it? What need's in our community can we meet? How can we use our gifts, talents, education, and experiences to meet those needs? It maybe just an hour a week, but our churches need to become community centers. Man's natural programs need to be meet with God's supernatural power to really see transformation take place.
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