Praise the
Lord for a sweet and sometimes sizzling summer season. The summer season is not
for sleeping and slumbering. We have the whole winter for that. Summer is for
sowing seeds in the Kingdom. It is the season for laboring together in the
Kingdom of Christ our Lord. I praise the Lord for Christian summer camps around
the corner and around the globe. Praise the Lord for those who with joyful
abandon serve Christ and His people around the corner and around the globe.
Praise the Lord for all those who are involved passionately in the ministry of
The Vacation Bible Schools. I praise the Lord for each and every one who are
blessed with Joy in our VBS ministry of this week in our church.. Praise the
Lord for the VBS ministries around the corner and around the globe. Please take
time to pray for these summer missionaries in the local churches. Praise the
Lord for short term summer missionaries serving in diverse and exciting places
and, at times, in very difficult places. There is joy and fellowship in serving
others.
In the
letter to the Philippians in the first verse of the first chapter, the apostle
Paul gave a familiar introduction, "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and
deacons. Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus
Christ."
The passage
reveals that the apostle Paul did not do ministry alone. He ministered with
others. In this case, as in many other cases, he served alongside his young
apprentice, Timothy.
One of the
great joys of living is giving away to another that which we have received. We
are called to do ministry together. That is the life of fellowship of joyful
people in the church; that we are not isolated but in communion with a common
mission in the common goal. This fellowship
is part of our identity as believers.
Paul
identified himself with Timothy as a servant. The Greek word is
doulos. It is the
word for slaves, or
bond
slaves, the lowest of
the lowest of the household order of slaves. It is a ruling motif for the
pattern of service in the church. Christians are called to serve as slaves,
never exalting themselves or their personal positions, but using their positions
to lift up others. Paul and Timothy were servants of Jesus our Lord and as such
they were servants to the Philippian church. That means that everything
that came after is for their good and in order to promote and advance their
well-being in Christ and in the world.
There is a
joy in the fellowship in our ministry within the church.
How important
is the fellowship of other believers to us? Could it be that there is a lack of
joy because there is a lack of fellowship?
God
invites us to the first and the greatest fellowship of all, fellowship with Him
through His Son, Jesus Christ. We can enjoy that fellowship, and in that
fellowship we can receive that joy by receiving Him as our Lord and Savior. It
is a joy that will never go away. Then we can joyfully declare, "Lord, I am
Your bondservant."
Then we will
know the joy of fellowship with others and the joy of fellowship
with Jesus.
http://youtu.be/mEXmmIji6fY
In Christ,
Brown
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