Thought of the Day !!

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
Philippians 3:8-9

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14

Something that I've been thinking about for the last couple months and preaching on the last couple weeks is finding our passion for ministry. What do these three passages from the letter to Philippi have in common? Well, they may have a lot, but what I see is not found in the wording, but instead in the attitude of the writer.

Listen to yourself as you read these verses, and you just might hear the passion of a man who desires nothing but to know, love and share Jesus with others. Most anybody will get passionate about something. Many get passionate about sporting events. Start up a conversation about the Atlanta Braves and you'll see excitement come over my face. Many are passionate about politics or books or their favorite television program. And while none of these are bad things, how many of us are as passionate about serving Christ as we are the football games on Friday or Saturday nights or the next election or upcoming "season premiere of the hottest new drama on TV"? How many of us have the attitude that Paul displays when he makes the claim "to live is Christ and to die is gain"?

As individuals, we are all given a passion when we turn our lives over to Christ. That's why many new Christians seem on fire and want to join everything in the church. I believe that our passion is a gift just like our faith or ability to love. And I believe that God instills in us a passion for ministry as well. It's a fire within us to do something. But if this passion is not fueled and used, it will burn out and we will become comfortable doing nothing.

I've heard that a church's vision can be viewed as the pastor's passion plus the congregation's passion plus the needs of the surrounding community. The pastor cannot do it on her/his on. And then there are of course those pastors with burned out passions as well. So the pastor and the people must both seek out their passions and together do something with them. Otherwise, the church will die.

So what is your passion for ministry? What desire has burned in you before or is burning in you today? Do you need God to place a passion for Christ and doing ministry with Him in your heart? Think about it. Pray about it. And ask God to fire you up. This is not for you to take a side of an issue or to have an agenda. Instead, it's to find the love of Christ burning in you and leading you to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called (you) heavenward in Christ Jesus".

In the love of Christ,
greg