Articles/Bulletins
Make The Effort
It was the first day of basketball practice at Wingate High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Coach handed a ball to each player. “Boys,” he said, “I want you to practice shooting from the spots you might expect to be in during the game.” One of the boys (who was pretty much there as a substitute for the star players - in fact he was substitute #12) immediately sat down on the bench and began shooting the ball toward the basket from there.
You might say that boy didn’t expect to get to play much. And I suppose he was just trying to get a laugh out of his teammates. But, there are some people who sit the bench, because that’s where they’ve gotten used to being. They never strive to much more than that, because they don’t believe in themselves enough to put in the extra effort and practice to change their status. And because of that: they’re always going to sit the bench.
It’s as if we’ve made Christianity into a spectator sport. We just sit back in church and listen to the singing and the sermons and never really get involved in the game. We need some Christians today to get off the sidelines and get on the front lines. There is a special position that God has for all those who are in Christ, but we will never discover it as long as we watch safely from the sideline. We need to put action to our faith and get involved in the spiritual battle that is taking place all around us.
It’s time we get off the bench and we get to work for the Lord’s kingdom. This church has a lot of great and wonderful things that are happening: we are holding a monthly evangelism class, there’s a new adult class on Sunday mornings, we have three groups (Prayer, Family Focus, and Follow-Up) that are meeting regularly, we have our Youth Lectureship coming up this week, monthly singings to the home confined, and so many other wonderful activities. What are you doing to make sure you are involved with what this church is doing?
Paul tells us that we are all members individually, but together we make up one body of Jesus Christ. If a few people are doing most of the work, then we will get nowhere fast. However, if everyone volunteers to do their part, we can start moving forward with momentum and confidence. It’s time we start making an effort. It’s time we start volunteering to help. It’s time we start asking what needs to be done. It’s time we start attending services more. It’s time we start living up to our name of “Christian.”
Making the effort is sometimes hard to do, but I guarantee that you will not regret getting busy. You will not regret working for the Lord. And I know that God would be proud of the work that you are doing. It’s time to get off the bench and get into the game.
~ Kevin
- Bulletin 7-21-13.pdf.zip (1.92 MB)
