As a brand new Christian, I can remember my first experience of acquiring this one thing. My wife, Sara and I, would end up getting to church rather early and we would do something simple. As I think back, this was the start of what we get to experience today.
Smiles and a Door
I believe that 1 thing every Christian absolutely must have is… a personal ministry. For Sara and I, it started with smiles and a door. In other words, our first personal ministry was getting to church early for first service so that we could greet people at the front door. I am so thankful that we got involved when we did.
By engaging in a personal ministry, we were starting to serve. It was simple. Arrive early, open the door for people, smile, welcome them to church, and then go worship God with everyone we just greeted.
My First Time Sharing God’s Word on a Stage
I can remember it so vividly, our Sunday morning group of young married couples started a marriage seminar that was held at the church. It was great. We all helped plan it and execute it. It got us all involved and all owning this event.
One of my responsibilities was to read a passage of Scripture at one of the sessions and share a few words. I wrote out what I wanted to say word for word and had the small paper in my Bible. I basically read from that piece of paper that night. I was nervous. But I was excited. My time of sharing probably lasted for less than a minute, but looking back I can see how it was a small step toward something more.
Offering and Communion
Next, I served as one of those people who walk up the aisle and pass the offering plate and communion plate (yes, Crossing family, it wasn’t in a plastic cup). I felt like I was contributing more and more.
Stacking Chairs
Next came putting away the chairs after second service. That’s right, often times we would end up being at church for both services. Sometimes this was due to Sara serving on the worship team, but I can remember times we stayed for both services just because we wanted to. I took notes from the sermon during both services. After second service I started stacking chairs. Then I eventually started moving the stacks into the storage area.
Why do I tell you all of this?
I tell you all of this because I believe every Christian absolutely must have a personal ministry. I tell you this to show you what that looked like for me in the beginning of my walk with Christ. Your personal ministry doesn’t have to be something spectacular, although it could be. Just get involved. Serve at your local church and contribute to the ministry. Start small and work towards getting your feet wet in your areas of passion and gifting.
If you have an idea for a ministry, do it. Start something awesome. Serve your community through your local church.
If you don’t yet have a personal ministry, don’t wait to get involved. Email someone from your church right now and tell them that you would like to get involved. Start serving. Get your personal ministry and start blessing others in the name of Jesus. You won’t regret it. You’ll be grateful and glad you finally got started.
