I have a conviction that one of my roles as a pastor is to be a chief storyteller. Meaning, I should be attuned to the many ways God is working in our church and be able to communicate that to our church. To be honest, I am not sure I have always done the best job at sharing what God has been doing. That’s why, a few weeks back I shared several answers to prayer by our gracious God. It was incredibly encouraging to my heart to be able to visibly see how the Lord has been working in our church family. I fear that sometimes we get so caught up in complaining about what’s wrong with the world that we are blind to see all that God is doing.
As we have been preaching through Philippians, one of my prayers for our church is that we would see all the circumstances of life, good or bad, as being used by God to advance the gospel (Philippians 1:12). So, here are several ways God has been working in our church family to reveal his grace and to advance the gospel.
A church member applied to several PhD programs. Deep down he struggled with doubt about whether any of them would accept him. He had many friends and church members praying for him and encouraging him to keep trusting. He later found out that he got into three of his top schools and the one he accepted offered him a full scholarship!
Several of our students invited their friends to snow camp. They had never been to church but agreed to go to camp where they heard the gospel and got to see the gospel lived out in our youth group. Now, these students are coming to 24/7 (our youth group meeting) and learning more about Christianity.
A couple stopped by the Easter Eggstravaganza and marveled at all the work we did to bless our community. They came up to me and said, “We have lots of grandkids who would love this kind of event. We stopped by because we wanted to personally thank you for caring about our community. We absolutely love that you are doing this. Please continue to do these kinds of events, it’s exactly what we need.”
A church member was talking to his co-worker about a project at work. They had been building a relationship for several years. The co-worker asked our church member about something related to his faith. That led to a conversation about what he believed. Our brother got to share his testimony and the good news of Jesus Christ. The co-worker had never heard the gospel of grace like that before.
One of our church members sat down at church one Sunday and a guest sat down next to her. Although this church member would consider herself fairly shy, she decided to welcome this lady to church. The lady shared that she had just lost her husband a few weeks ago and her children told her she should find a church for support. That church member had also lost her husband and was able to empathize with the lady’s grief. The two ladies have been in touch ever since.
I talked with one of our missionaries in the Middle East recently. He shared how there has been a unique move of God among the people to whom he is ministering. They are seeing Muslims come to faith in Jesus every week! Just a few weeks ago, they baptized twenty new believers! Over the last year, they have baptized over one hundred new believers. Praise God for his mighty power.
A young mom was invited by a church member to visit Grace. She first visited on Christmas Eve. She has been attending regularly since then. She is going through an incredibly painful divorce. She started meeting with one of our pastors for care and support. At a recent meeting, she realized her desperate need for Jesus Christ. She affirmed that she understood the gospel and trusted in Christ as Savior! There is still a lot of pain, but she now knows that she is unconditionally loved by her Heavenly Father.
I hope these testimonies encourage your heart. May they remind us that we serve a gracious and faithful God. Sometimes God answers our prayers in ways that make no sense to us. Often life seems like one painful trial after another. We are called to grieve with those who grieve. But at the same time, we are also called to rejoice with those who are rejoicing (Romans 12:15). So, let’s humbly and boldly ask that God would continue to work in our midst. Let’s keep our eyes open for how God is working. Let’s bear one another’s burdens. And let’s keep giving, serving, and trusting that Jesus will be most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
