December 16th, 2024
By: Tabitha White
This past weekend was a weekend that I know I will not forget any time soon! Over Friday and Saturday nights, we had over 800 people on our church campus to decorate cookies, make ornaments, and watch our Revival Kids present How the Grinch Found Christ in Christmas. The Family Life Center was buzzing with activity and chatter from first thing in the morning until late at night!
As we wrapped up the weekend, one verse kept echoing through my mind, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
You see, those two nights were two years in the making! Over the last two years, countless people have chipped in to help make this weekend a success. From creating elaborate sets, decorating hallways, setting up microphones, and learning lots and lots of lines, so many people have used their God-given talents to make this vision become a reality! This weekend was an entire church effort! Because of the combined talents of so many people, we were able to share the true meaning of Christmas with over 800 people and at least 20 people gave their lives to Christ! I can easily say that is worth all of the time spent in planning and prayer!
You might be asking why I am sharing this, but the answer is easy! You have talent that you can share to help spread the Gospel!
Romans 12:6-8 says, “We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
There are a lot of times that it can be easy to slip into the comparison game. “If only I could speak like him, I could share the Gospel with my friends.” “If I had her leadership ability, then I could easily help in a ministry.” But, that’s not what these verses tell us to do. Paul is reminding us that everyone has been given different gifts, and our job is to use them well for the glory of God!
Personally, I have zero artistic ability! I can barely draw a straight line or a stick person, so creating an entire Whoville set is well outside of my wheelhouse. However, God gave us a team of people that excel in carpentry, painting, and creating all the things! In that situation, we really have three options…
#1) We can try to do it ourselves and potentially make a mess of things.
#2) Pout and complain that we aren’t gifted in a specific area.
#3) Find the people that God has already put in our lives that have those gifts and let them excel in what they do best!
1 Corinthians 12:12, 18 says, “The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ…But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design.”
The gifts that you were given aren’t by accident. God placed those gifts in you “by design,” so in the famous words of Nick Saban, “trust the process.” He has placed the gifts in you and the people around you to point people back to His Kingdom. As we go into a new year, I am praying that each of us learn to identify the gifts that God has given us, celebrate the God-given gifts in the people around us, and work together to bring the Gospel to all of the people that God has placed in our lives!
This past weekend was a weekend that I know I will not forget any time soon! Over Friday and Saturday nights, we had over 800 people on our church campus to decorate cookies, make ornaments, and watch our Revival Kids present How the Grinch Found Christ in Christmas. The Family Life Center was buzzing with activity and chatter from first thing in the morning until late at night!
As we wrapped up the weekend, one verse kept echoing through my mind, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10)
You see, those two nights were two years in the making! Over the last two years, countless people have chipped in to help make this weekend a success. From creating elaborate sets, decorating hallways, setting up microphones, and learning lots and lots of lines, so many people have used their God-given talents to make this vision become a reality! This weekend was an entire church effort! Because of the combined talents of so many people, we were able to share the true meaning of Christmas with over 800 people and at least 20 people gave their lives to Christ! I can easily say that is worth all of the time spent in planning and prayer!
You might be asking why I am sharing this, but the answer is easy! You have talent that you can share to help spread the Gospel!
Romans 12:6-8 says, “We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
There are a lot of times that it can be easy to slip into the comparison game. “If only I could speak like him, I could share the Gospel with my friends.” “If I had her leadership ability, then I could easily help in a ministry.” But, that’s not what these verses tell us to do. Paul is reminding us that everyone has been given different gifts, and our job is to use them well for the glory of God!
Personally, I have zero artistic ability! I can barely draw a straight line or a stick person, so creating an entire Whoville set is well outside of my wheelhouse. However, God gave us a team of people that excel in carpentry, painting, and creating all the things! In that situation, we really have three options…
#1) We can try to do it ourselves and potentially make a mess of things.
#2) Pout and complain that we aren’t gifted in a specific area.
#3) Find the people that God has already put in our lives that have those gifts and let them excel in what they do best!
1 Corinthians 12:12, 18 says, “The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ…But in fact, God has arranged the members of the body, every one of them, according to His design.”
The gifts that you were given aren’t by accident. God placed those gifts in you “by design,” so in the famous words of Nick Saban, “trust the process.” He has placed the gifts in you and the people around you to point people back to His Kingdom. As we go into a new year, I am praying that each of us learn to identify the gifts that God has given us, celebrate the God-given gifts in the people around us, and work together to bring the Gospel to all of the people that God has placed in our lives!
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