At a recent Saturday morning prayer meeting, Pastor Eric preached about the house church meeting he attended the day before. “When I looked around and saw the members’ faces, the thought occurred in my mind: what would everyone be doing on a Friday night like this if they weren’t Christians? They’d probably be drinking at a bar or staying home watching TV alone.”
I agree. Most non-believers spend their weekends getting drunk, watching movies in dark theaters, idling away their time surfing the internet, frantically shaking their bodies at clubs, or playing cards until the early morning with bloodshot eyes. These activities give some measure of pleasure but not real joy. House church meetings are genuinely fun when people get together, share their innermost thoughts, and laugh and cry together. Yet some people think attending house church meetings is a burden and consider it a favor they pay to their Shepherds.
Some people refuse to get involved in church ministries because they think that their families and jobs are more important and they don’t have time to spare for ministry. But when you devote you entire life only to your family and job, what is left after you die? Nothing. You just disappear from this world without a trace.
Human beings have a primal desire to leave our marks in this world after we die. The best way to do this is to live for saving souls – reaching non-believers and making them disciples of Jesus, because human souls last forever. When people are saved as a result of your ministry, and they spend eternity with God in heaven instead of being thrown in hell, you’ve worked for something eternal. And when their children are born into Christian families and live holy lives, they become your legacy in this world.
A friend of mine related an experience he had at a seminar sponsored by a church known for its active ministries. During a question and answer session, a seminar participant asked a caustic sounding question to the senior pastor: “People are busy enough with their families and jobs. When your church asks them to get involved in church activities, don’t you think you’re adding burdens to their lives?” The pastor answered: “When I ask people to get involved in church ministries, I don’t give them a burden but rather an opportunity to gain something that lasts forever.”
We must remember that when we do church ministry, we’re not doing God a favor; God does us a favor by allowing us to work for something that lasts forever, an opportunity to leave a long-lasting legacy in this world.
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