This weekend is known as First Fruits at our church. For the past couple of months, members of the church have been asked to pray about this weekend and their commitment to it. It is based on Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine) where we are encouraged to give a freewill offering of our first week’s income as an offering to our Lord. It is a powerful declaration that we serve God and not money.
Today Ps Rob preached on Revelation 2:1-7 and told us how Christ had different messages for different churches. He wanted to remind us also that each and every one of us is a minister of our church, with our own particular ministries. That whilst he is the senior pastor of our church, we are all ministers, and he encouraged us to remember that when talking to people in the working place, at schools, shops, and anywhere else we venture when not at church.
I’d not thought of myself as a minister before, although I’ve been very aware that I do have a ministry. What about you? Have you thought that in having a ministry it means you are a minister? Would that change the way you do things, speak to people, respond to various things?
Something else Ps Rob spoke about was going back to our First Love (Rev 2:4), when we first accepted Christ into our lives and our hearts. In other words, going back to basics – which was the thought that was in my mind whilst he was speaking.
Hence the reason for the theme this year being called “First Fruits, First Love”. Ps Rob prompted us to think about how we felt when we first accepted Christ. He also asked if we had changed? Hopefully the answer is ‘yes’ and that it means we have grown in maturity and wisdom in our walk with Christ. Finally he asked us to do the thing we used to do when we first accepted Christ. Not to wait until the ‘feeling’ comes back but to act first, in our offerings it will draw us nearer to God (offering [Heb] = drawing near). Matt 6:21 Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If your ministry is in the workplace then I encourage you also to go back to basics. Remember the joy, the awe, the wonder of it all, and the disbelief that you’d been forgiven no matter what, when you first accepted Christ, and know that it will be like this for others also. Share your experience with them in your witnessing.
ministry, workplace, matt 6:21, Revelation, Proverbs 3:9-10, first fruits, minister