by Sharon Howard
Eastern PA District Team
I love to tell the story of how my relationship with God began! It started with my mom as a little girl (who grew up in a home where no one ever mentioned God) being invited by a neighbor first to a Vacation Bible School and then to a youth evangelistic campaign. She heard for the first time that there was a God who made everything including her. In her words, she felt God drawing her heart to respond to the message she was hearing. She prayed with someone to invite Jesus to come into her life, which she says was like going from “darkness to light.”
Fast forward about 20 years when I was a little 5-year-old girl hearing my father preach out of the passage in Exodus where the people of God put blood on their doorpost the night the death angel was to pass over. Believe it or not, I felt the conviction of the Spirit showing me I needed Jesus’ blood to cover my sin. I cried, went to get my mom and I knelt at the church altar with her and my father to invite Jesus to come into my heart. I had no idea what a treasure I was getting!
Over time God has gradually opened my eyes to the reality that when Jesus’ died and the curtain of the temple was torn in two; a way was opened for me to not just experience forgiveness of sin but to also have the privilege of a relationship with God. I get emotional each time I remember the miracle of the God of the Universe inviting me to a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!! What mercy, what mystery that God would choose me out of all of the billions of little girls in the world to know Him. I get to live in His presence now and for eternity! What a treasure!!!!!
It grieves me some nights when I go to bed, reflect back over my day and realize that I didn’t pay attention to the Spirit of God that has been given to me. How sad it is that I can end up running through my days doing my tasks on my own. I miss out on abiding in Him, talking with Him and paying attention to things He is doing, and leaning on Him for what I need for each situation.
It grieves me as well that often times as Christians/church leaders we plan church services and programs, we talk about theological issues or outreach events as tasks that we do without mentioning Jesus in it or consulting Him on what HE wants us to do. It is sad to me that we can attend a church service without once thinking about Jesus’ presence among us. We can even teach our kids about “rules” and “doing what is right” without pointing them to the Spirit of Jesus inside of us who wants to grow His life/fruit in us. How can we in so many situations live as though the reality of Jesus in me means nothing to my daily life?
I personally am very grateful for the conversation our District Team is leading us in in this season about what is essential in church ministry. I agree that it is the good news of relationship with Jesus and learning to live in Him that will result in Him working deep heart transformation in us.
Here are some questions I think it would be good for us to ask ourselves as we continue to dialog about what is essential:
When we read our Bible is it about sitting with the person of Jesus getting to know what He is like, what He values, what He longs for what His will is? Do we speak to others about what God is saying to us? (“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” II Corinthians 3:18)
When we gather as a Body is it to be together with others in God’s presence? Is our desire to get to know Him and worship Him? Is He the focus of our worship? Do we give His Spirit space to move among us and to reveal himself to us? Do we linger in His presence to let Him speak to us and change us? When we speak to each other, do we speak about our relationship with Jesus? (If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25)
When people visit our churches or when we go into our community with other believers, do outsiders come in contact with the living Body of Christ? Can they sense His presence living in us? Do we each uniquely display Jesus’ life, together carrying out things on Jesus’ heart? (“from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:16)
When we talk with our neighbors, are they impacted by God’s presence in our lives and do they know that we have a real relationship with a person named Jesus? (“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” II Corinthians 2:14)
When we do ministry is it a task/burden we try hard to do or is it about us staying close to Jesus so we know what HE is wanting to do in us or through us? When we lead people to go on a mission, do we show them how to follow Jesus in it or do we show them how to do it on our own? (“Abide in Me and I in You apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5)
When we preach, do we point people to an ongoing relationship with a real person? Do the illustrations that we give from our lives show people what it is like to have a real personal friend and Savior named Jesus that we interact with on a daily basis?
Would you join me in praying for our District Family as we continue these “Essentials” dialogues that each of us will have one encounter after another with the person of Jesus? May relationship with Jesus be what we treasure both personally and as churches. May His presence be what transformed us, our families, and our church families, and may the joy we have of relationship with Jesus spread in increasing measure to the communities where God has placed us.