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Your Role in the Body of Christ

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Shannon Green

As I write this devotional, we are entering August. Although there is still some summer left, the month of August causes me to start planning. September is that time for me in school or our church in ministries where we get things up and running again after a bit of a hiatus. The planning needs to get started for those things to be prepared and ready. 1 Corinthians 12: 5 says, “There are a variety of ministries and the same Lord.” As we hear of ministries beginning or needing workers, we can sometimes think of one of two things. As busy human beings, it is easy to get caught up in our own lives and feel we have no time or energy left to share; or we can sometimes feel we do not have the skills required to contribute to a particular ministry effectively. Our church put out a link last week (https://gifts.churchgrowth.org)

encouraging us to complete the questionnaire as a means of discovering our spiritual gifts. Have you each had a chance to look at that and see what your gifting is? It is a great place to start if you have never done a spiritual gift analysis.

1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in various forms.” God has equipped us with specific gifts and skill sets that we need; no gift is greater than another. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the church being one body with many parts. God has placed each part in the body just as He wanted it to be. Further, it talks about if all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? We are a team Central, and we need each one of us to serve alongside together to be effective. 1 Corinthians 12: 26 and 27 encourage us, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honoured, every part shares in its joy. You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.” I challenge you to find your gift and seek a way to use it this fall in ministry. Without you, we will not be as effective!

Serving is not always easy, and often it is a thankless job. Some jobs will not be the ones that are praised or easily recognized. I am sure there have been times that serving alongside others has been a struggle and a challenge. That is why we must keep focused on who we are serving. Colossians 3:23 reminds us, “whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for man.” Working with other frail and imperfect people can cause our hearts to grumble or have our feelings hurt. Keeping our eyes on God and not man is key to serving with a proper focus. 1 Samuel 12:24 says, “Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”

It is a command that we are to be working and serving the Lord while here on earth. John 12:26 says, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him.”  I have heard it said that 10% of the people do 90% of the work, which worries me. We are blessed with a church family with many different skills and abilities that God can use in endless ways. We do not want to fall into the habit of missing some of the parts (skills and abilities) of our church body. That includes all of us, and we each play a vital role in our Central family and the impact we can have on our community for God’s glory. As I move into the fall season, I am praying and seeking where the Lord would have me serve. I challenge you to do the same. How can you be used and serve God? What role is God asking you to fill this year at Central Baptist Church?

Bringing Our Honest Questions to God While Suffering

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Rebecca Feere

The title of this devotional most likely prompted a response in your mind. Perhaps you said – “Ugh, suffering, that is the last thing I want to read about it. Isn’t this world depressing enough?!” Or maybe you said – “Ooh, that is me, and I am not sure how to biblically handle this season of life. Every day something seems to be being added to my load of cares and concerns.”

Either way, I pray you will stick with me here for a few minutes. While we all long for peace and pleasant circumstances, as believers, we know God’s Word tells us that won’t be attained until Jesus returns or He chooses to take us home (John 16:33). But, if you are like me, perhaps you have found yourself asking, “How much more can I handle?”  “God, don’t You care?”  “When are You going to send relief?” 

A few months ago, I found myself studying the book of Habakkuk (It is one of those little “minor prophet” books of the Old Testament where the pages stick in most of our Bibles.) And I am still there – reading, studying, mulling over, and meditating on those three chapters. Habakkuk came to God with questions (chapter 1). Both his questions and responses give us an example of how we, as believers, can come to God with our honest questions about suffering, trials, etc.

Habakkuk demonstrates that it is okay to bring our hard questions to God. But something essential in that process is remembering to embed our questions for God with truth.  Habakkuk does so in his prayer in chapter 1, verses 12 -17. Here are a few things God’s Spirit pointed out to me in those few verses. 

No matter how hard (or utterly impossible) our circumstances seem, God is: 

  • Eternal (v.12) He is without beginning or end (Rev. 22:13).
  • Personal (v. 12a) He is our God, our Holy One.
  • Self-Existent (v.12) He is Yahweh (Jehovah, LORD) – the God who is, who was and always will be (Ps. 90:1-2). He needs nothing outside of Himself (Acts 17:24-25).
  • Sovereign (v. 12b) He ordains and controls all things (Job 42:2; Lam 3:37-39).
  • Mighty (v.12) He is our Rock, our Protector (Deut. 32:15; 2 Sam. 22:4; Ps. 95:1).
  • Faithful (v.12) He is the Covenant-keeping God. His faithfulness is not dependent on our faith (Rom. 3:3). Being faithful is not just something God does; Faithful is who He is (2 Tim. 2:13).
  • Holy (v.13) God is pure, without sin, righteous in all He does (1 Sam. 2:2).
  • Inscrutable (v.14-17) His ways are higher than ours. He knows all things – past, present, and future. While we only see this moment, He sees how all things work together for our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28). He is unlimited in knowledge and past our understanding.

The challenge for all of us is to keep our focus on the character of God (Col. 3:1-2); to keep our minds saturated with what is true about God no matter the circumstances of our lives. This comes by spending time in His Word daily; it comes with intentionality. We must plan for quiet time alone with God in His Word. There is no shortcut. Time in God’s Word may not be “convenient” in our modern world’s eyes, but it is ESSENTIAL. I challenge you to dig into the book of Habakkuk and ask God to reveal more of Himself to you as you do. A second challenge would be to dig deeper into the Word to learn more about these and other attributes of God. In this brief devotional, I have barely scratched the surface.

This World Is Not Our Home

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Jessi Heikkinen

God can use our physical ailments to remind us that this world is not our home.

As I was preparing to write that statement, I received a text that another one of my family members was experiencing a health emergency and had been rushed to the hospital. The irony. I should note that they are now stable and recovering at home. Before I got that text, I was going to tell you that this year has been unrelenting with physical health issues. And, as you can see, it still is. Maybe you can say the same? 

Some of you work in the healthcare field and are exposed to physical brokenness daily. Some of us struggle with chronic illness. Some are primary caregivers with loved ones. Some of us keep catching virus after virus because our immune systems have taken a significant hit after Covid. Some of us deeply love people who are physically suffering.

Lately, I have found my heart crying out “it’s not supposed to be this way” too many times to count. Because, it’s not. There would have been no need for hospitals, medicine, or quarantines before Genesis 3. But, sin entering the world broke everything. Everything, except for hope.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” -2 Corinthians 12:9

It is good to be reminded that I am merely human. It is good to be reminded that I desperately need God. With every symptom, diagnosis, long days and nights caring for loved ones, let us not despair. Let us not dwell too long on our own weaknesses. Instead, let us worship. Let us dwell on God’s great incomprehensible power. Let us remember that the suffering of this world is temporary! God promises us forever with Him in a place with no suffering, no sickness, no sin! Not yet, but soon. 

Let us allow every sneeze, every headache, every fever, every positive Covid test, every trip to the hospital, every need for medication remind us of this today: this world is not my home.

Eyes up, sisters and brothers. Not yet, but soon. 

Winning the Battle of Your Mind

Challenge Central: a CBC devotional

By: Alicia Clarke

So, I had a unique situation happen about a month ago. Someone in the congregation placed a book in the pew where I usually sit, with the instructions to my husband to ‘give this to Alicia.’ Upon finding the book, I asked my husband who dropped it off, and because his mind was on the worship music he was nervously going to play, he didn’t notice who it was that gave me the book. So still, to this day, I don’t know who gave me the book by Louie Giglio entitled Don’t Give the Enemy A Seat at Your Table: It’s Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind…. But wow, I devoured it, and everyone should read it as it is excellent, and I need the giver to reveal themselves so I can say thank you, but I thought I would bless you with a few tidbits I drew from this book!

The author speaks about how the Enemy wants to tinker in our minds with temptations or thoughts that are not from God and that are contrary to God’s best for your life. The Devil appeals to our basic human needs for acceptance, worth, satisfaction, fulfillment, and happiness and offers a lie that sin will satisfy these needs. ‘Hey, this will satisfy your needs. Take a bite. You deserve to be happy.’ But sin is a mirage always over-promising and under-delivering! And if those thoughts are entertained long enough, they will win the battle for your mind.  Proverbs 14:12-13 states: “There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough; look again-it leads straight to hell. Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak” (THE MESSAGE). Sinful pleasures don’t provide peace or fulfillment. They lead to harm, separation, disappointment, and shame.

So how do we avoid sin? Stop gazing at the path marked Temptation. Go a different direction entirely and keep your eyes on Christ. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Nothing keeps you from sin better than keeping your eyes on Christ. Sin might feel good for a moment, but it’s always less than God’s best for you. 

This is where ‘renew the mind, engage the heart, enlist the body’ comes in! The way you go about stopping the Enemy from sitting at your table is by winning the battle for your mind, as the title of the book states! Winning the battle means replacing old, harmful thoughts with new, life-giving thoughts. The thinking of these new thoughts will engage your heart, which will result in doing different things – changed behaviour. One of the most powerful tools is the ability to memorize Scripture and recite it when the Enemy starts trying to tempt you as you can take control of what you think about, which should be God’s truths. For me, when anxiety kicks in, I have trained myself to recite 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline,” and it helps me ground myself that I have strength when focused on Christ. When tempted to sin, I recite 2 Corinthians 5:9, which states, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him.” It took time to make this a habit, but it certainly is a beneficial habit. It is putting into practice what Romans 8:6 states, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

You can win the battle for your mind. Don’t give in to sin but take every thought captive by memorizing Scripture, letting God’s words renew your mind.

And if you were the giver of this book to me, thank you, as it certainly was well received, and I would love to know to whom I owe the gratitude!