Of Florida Swamps And Brooklyn Bridges

This church gave birth to a neighborhood-wide youth ministry at a time when chaos reigned in this city. There are young adults today who look back to the sixties and seventies and credit this church for rescuing them. We’ve kept on doing youth ministry, and to God be the glory.

This church gave birth to a tutorial program at a time when the schools seemed unable to keep up with the demands and the parents were desperate for help. Though that program was abandoned, we have brought it back as an after-school enrichment ministry. It’s vitally necessary.

This church gave birth to a ministry with the mentally challenged that has gone on for nearly thirty years. It is widely recognized and has been copied in other churches. It is a model of compassion.

But it seems as though we stopped for a while. We rested on our laurels. We took a few good things and felt satisfied. We didn’t see that the needs around us were changing. We had a serious debate about what it means to do ministry, with some arguing that that was the pastor’s job and not the congregation’s. But finally, just a couple of years ago now, we began to take off. We organized a unit of SHARE to provide low-cost food for at least a few families. We created the Visitation Volunteers to take the good news out into homes, intentionally. We’ve just developed a health care ministry. We are beginning to blossom with compassionate care for others.

Do you see that we must multiply these ministries? We must multiply them because there are all sorts of needs around us. There is a high school that needs a Christian presence. There is a community college where ministry ought to take place. There are families with heartache brought about by divorce or family tensions. There are people all around us with the distress of joblessness, the agony of drug abuse, the sorrow of bereavement. There are people around us who are desperate for a word of counsel on how to raise their children, how to manage their resources, how to build self-esteem, how to overcome destructive behavior. We ought to be there for them. And we can be there!

I see a community ministry night here in our church. I see a night on which, on a regular basis, people are brought into support groups where compassionate Christians, trained and armed with God’s word and with sound psychology, bring insight and hope. I see this church building ablaze with light one night a month, maybe eventually one night a week, maybe even more, but radiating hope for the hurting and love for the distressed. I see multiplied ministries for the sake of those around us.

And I see that for our sake too. You and I need to serve others! God has given gifts of discernment and energy and resourcefulness and wisdom to every one who is a part of this congregation. We dare not waste it! We dare not ignore it! You and I dare not dodge our place in the body of Christ. I intend to work for the day when every person associated with this church is involved in at least one serving ministry. It’s for your own good as well as for the good of those around you.