David grew stronger and stronger, because the Lord Almighty was with him. This is the list of David's famous soldiers. Together with the rest of the people of Israel, they helped him become king, as the Lord had promised, and they kept his kingdom strong. 1 Chronicles 11:9-10 (GNT)
We planted a church on April 1 in the middle of the COVID pandemic. I have always known God has a sense of humor but seriously? It doesn’t look like I thought it would. Everything is virtual. We’re figuring it out as we go. Some of the stuff I thought we’d figure out early on has been tabled and other things have moved to the forefront.
One thing I know for sure. We are all in this together. Each member of our team brings something unique to the church. And we need each and every one of us to be about His Kingdom. Each of us is designed with our own ministry style (APEST) and each of us brings talents to the group that allow us to serve individually yet for the collective good.
For example, my top scoring ministry styles are Apostle then Teacher. This is great except if we went forward with only these, there wouldn’t be the level of love and nurturing that is needed. The ‘heart’ of the church would be lacking. And God knew this. I found it interesting in 1 Chronicles there are a lot of chapters that talk about the band of men around David, their talents, what they brought to the Group. And in those verses was today’s verse.
David was a great leader. He loved God but without God being with him and without his famous soldiers and the “rest of the people of Israel”, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did.
In the New Testament God spends a lot of time talking about the body. We need each other to accomplish the mission he has given us. We are to work together, complement each other and be one with him. We cannot do what he has called us to do alone. And when we serve this way, the miracle of God’s unity is seen by all. It is truly mind-blowing.
We might be in the middle of a pandemic but God is still working. He is still bringing together a body of people to be about his mission. He is still, even virtually, using the talents and gifts of everyone to knit us together with the Holy Spirit to move His Kingdom forward.
The lesson has been demonstrated all throughout the ages…Pandemic or not, we need each other.