Sunday, Feb. 15th, we completed our second session of training in the outreach program G.R.O.W. The acronym stands for God Rewards Our Work. God likens His Kingdom business to a garden with each church representing a field in which He is the Creator, Landowner, and Head Farmer. As I was praying one day asking God to help Bethel MBC grow, He impressed upon my heart that if we wanted to see a growing crop we needed to be planting seeds in the field instead of pouring them out in the barn!
My dad loves to garden. He grew up farming and has continued it through his adult life. Some of the most vivid memories of my childhood are those relating to my working with my dad, usually quite reluctantly, in the garden. We always seemed to have enough to feed the whole county, but I never saw all those people there when it came time to harvest! Though I wish now I had paid more attention back then, I did pick up on a few things. This idea of pouring the seeds in the barn is not only comical but foolish and a sure way to be in a lot of trouble. It would not be long before my dad would have realized that something was not right when he didn't see plants growing out in the field we had plowed and prepared for planting.
As I considered what God was revealing to me, it finally sunk in that we pour the seeds in the barn when we as church members think that all of our work for Jesus revolves around our church services. We come together to teach the Gospel, sing the Gospel, and preach the Gospel in the barn, a rather nice one for most of us. Then we go out into the field and play in the rows of the garden that our Heavenly Father is plowing and preparing for planting. The few times I did that as a child did not prove to be in my best interest!
As I continued to meditate on this topic my heart broke as I saw how often I had miserably failed my Heavenly Father. I began asking the Lord to help lead the church He has called me to pastor in taking the seed out into the field in a purposeful manner. God is answering my prayers in this regard. I am excited about utilizing the G.R.O.W. program as a tool to aid us in organizing our efforts as we plant and water in the local field God is plowing and preparing for us. I have no doubt that we will see the increase for our Heavenly Father does no work in vain!
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Hey Bro James, I am so glad you have something going with G.R.O.W. I like your originality. Anything to move our churches off of dead center will be a blessing.
ReplyDeleteMy grandpa (Mennonite German Canadian) once said to us young kids in the car as we were passing a local cemetery, "Here is the dead center of Town". We all remembered what he said. It can be said of all too many of our churches "Here is the dead center of town". God help us!
David