Testimony & Heart of Ministry

Good morning everyone. I’m Germiko Hill. I know Bethany and I grateful this morning to be here with you and for me to share my testimony with you, so that you get a chance to get to know me a little better. I’ll also share a bit about my heart for ministry and hopefully a little encouragement for us as we head into this New Year.

In thinking about my testimony I really can only think of one bible verse that really helps me to frame what God has done in my life and how he’s brought me all the way to where I am today. The verse is , “11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

My experience with Christianity and church began at a very young age. As a young kid I was taken to church with my Grandmother. My grandmother was an evangelist in the AME church in Bermuda and was someone who’d take me to church each Sunday. I think this helped to initially create a love for faith and the church. This makes the verse from come to life for me, “6  Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The church and religion has been an important factor in my life, for as long as I can remember.

As I grew up during primary and middle school, I was a curious kid. My mom would say and she’s here this morning to confirm it, that I wasn’t necessarily a bad kid but I’m sure I had my moments. But during this time I began looking at different denominations and groups. This searching took me to groups that are kinda on the outskirts of Christianity. During these years I checked out; the Anglican Denom, Seventh Day Adventists, Salvation Army, more African Methodist Episcopal churches, a Baptist Church and even Jehovah’s witnesses. During this season I was learned a lot of things from each of these groups and I was even able to see the differences in how these different groups viewed and interpreted the bible. Unfortunately, this resulted in a jumbled understanding of who Jesus was. But throughout it all I was determined to seek out what was right. The scripture that comes to mind when looking back on this time is , “4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Throughout all of this I believe had this desire to remain in Christ and to cling close to the vine, even though I didn’t understand it fully at the time.

The point where everything became clearer was when I became a part of a Youth Group at First Baptist Church. I had a friend from school who invited our whole friend group to the Youth Group at his church. As a side note, I’ve found this to be the best method of reaching the lost, having friends invite their unbelieving friends to church and events. And this was true in my life. It was at this Youth Group that I felt for the first time really at home at a church. There was a Youth Pastor that genuinely cared about me and my friends and cared about our spiritual growth.

You see this youth pastor at the time was a pretty cool guy from the States who challenged me and my friends on what we believed. He encouraged us to have a personal relationship with Jesus. During my years of Youth Group he mentored me and helped to steer my biblical understanding in the right direction. He helped to clear all that clutter that I had gathered while checking out all those groups as a kid.

One thing that really drew me toward my Youth Pastor was that I was encouraged by the way he did live his life. He was able to explain to me, simply, what I needed to do to be a follower of Christ and all that it needed to do was to accept Christ into my heart. Not only that but he lived out what he shared with us, what he preached to us. Because of this simpler understanding and the awesome example I had through my Youth Pastor I gave my heart to the Lord. It was then in 2004 that I took the step and said yes to Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and was baptized. My Youth Pastor continued to mentor me throughout my high school years and encouraged me to become a student leader within the Youth Ministry. He gave me more and more opportunities to lead and at one point even allowed me to Preach during a Youth service, which was an amazing opportunity.

Then it came time for me to head off to college. And as I think about this time in my life I realize God has a sense of humor. I remember one of my last conversations with my Youth Pastor before I went to college. He called me into his office and asked me to consider going to university to study Youth Ministry. You see I had already applied and was accepted into Universities to study Accounting and that’s what I was going to pursue. In my mind I was going to university to study accounting and was going to come back to Bermuda to work in this field and make a lot of money. You see I’ve learned there are times in our lives were others might see the horizon a little clearer than we do. And my Youth Pastor saw the calling in my life and honestly at the time I didn’t.

Nevertheless, my Youth Pastor honoured what I said I was going to do and encouraged me to do two things that I think continued to help nurture my love for Jesus and the church and helped me to grow in my faith. He encouraged me to; 1. Find a local church to be a part of and 2. seek out a Christian Organization on campus to be a part of. These pieces of advice served me so so well. I decided to attend Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Before I left Bermuda I researched a number of churches and Christian groups on Campus. I began attending a church and joined their Young Adult’s group. Which was a great group which spent time each week diving into the scriptures. God always seems to show up right when you need him to and he allowed me to get connected so quickly with this group which helped to keep me focused on my faith and growth. Which was so good for me.

Also, while I was in university I was able to be a part of the Campus for Christ student organization. This was another incredible group that helped to develop my hunger for God’s word and helped to develop a desire for world missions. During my time in University and in Campus for Christ I gained a desire to be a part of fulfilling the Great Commission, , “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Being apart of this group in University was formative for also developing a love for missions. It was this Go instruction in this scripture that was communicated to us so often at Campus For Christ that took me twice to Scotland for missions trips. These opportunities fostered an urgency to share the word of God to those around me. While in Scotland we saw what happens when we allow the word of God to take a back seat in the lives of people, when the church doesn’t stand strong and share God’s word to those around them. In Scotland we got to see many church buildings which were no longer places of worship but had now become bars, clubs and stores. Not only this but just witnessing an apathy for religion and faith while we did random evangelism was so eye opening. God uses moments like these in our lives to fire us up and create in us a need and a want to see change take place around us.

While I was at university my Youth Pastor resigned from the church. As I mentioned his life was a testimony to me and I remember him sharing with me that he was leaving and said that what he wanted to was to be obedient and available to wherever it was that God calls him and his family. This being obedient and available was something that frightened me. I was a business student and had me a 10 year plan, which I learned it a useless exercise when living for God. But he left and went back to the US. After 3 years of studying in Halifax I graduated and returned to Bermuda.

And again I have to mention that our God has an incredible sense of humour. I came home and began working for an accounting firm. When I was back my pastor at the time asked me if I wanted to serve in Youth Ministry, a ministry he was leading to keep it going, I told him that after spending 3 years in College Ministry that I wanted to try to develop a Young Adults ministry at the church and didn’t want to be in Youth Ministry. This is where God’s sense of humour came in. Cause I think he allows us to try out what we’d like at times but always finds a way to pick us up and place us right where he wants us. I tried creating a Young Adults ministry. It started off pretty strong but petered off after a short while. It was after I had to abandon this ministry that my Pastor asked me to come and serve as a Youth Leader, which tail between my legs I begrudgingly agreed to. It was shortly after I began serving as a Youth Leader that he gave the ministry over to me.

It was during this early season of ministry where I had to develop a balance of ministry and working a secular job. At the time I was working at an Accounting Firm and studying to be a qualified accountant. Again there are times in my life where I see God allowing me to do what I wanted for a bit but he always finds a way to reign me in an to direct me back to where he’d like for me to be. I spent a few days shy of 5 years at this accounting firm. During this time I advanced the corporate ladder and spent many hours and days writing an passing accounting exams. I was very close to completing this journey in accounting and becoming what I had dreamed about til this point, a Qualified Accountant. I was able to get to the final exam of this process, which is a 3 day exam; 5 hours the first day and 3 hours during days 2 and 3. The first time that I wrote this exam I was confident that I’d done well and would be able to enter into my career. On results day I found out that I failed the exam by 1 mark, I know there are a few accountants here so you’ll know what the pain of getting a mark like that on results day would be like. This mark was a bitter pill to swallow in that it was in the tax component of the exam. Living and working in a country where we didn’t do taxes made that even harder to take. This was crushing. It might sound cliche but was so real to me at this point in my life, “1  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3  though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” In spite of this happening God had a plan for me that was much greater. Throughout my time working and writing exams I was leading this Youth Group and loving every moment. I’d work the week to then be able to go and lead Youth Group. My desire was serving these students and pastoring them the best that I could. And it was a great time, God blessed each and every moment with these students.

I ended up writing this accounting final exam 2 more times, and each time I saw my margin of failure get larger. It was after the 3 time that I was given some great advice from a manager. She told me that I might just need a change of scenery and that I’d probably be able to do well in taking the exam for a 4th time. Her advice was good to a point. I did need a change of scenery but I also needed to spend time asking God what my next steps would be. I determined after time in prayer, talking with mentors and seeking God that I wasn’t meant to pass those exams. I also got married to the love of my life while taking the last 2 exams and I talked with her about what I was to do next. You see if I were to have passed and moved onto becoming a high profiled accountant, I’d probably not be here today. I’d be focused on making my way further up the corporate ladder and focused on making that money. And we know what God say’s about the pursuit of money. That is a ploy of satan to distract us and pull people away from God’s best and it would have pulled me away from God’s best in my life.

So I stepped out and applied for other jobs. God was so gracious in that he guided me to a new job where I had a better quality of life. I didn’t have to work crazy hours and was able to earn more to take care of my family. At this time I had be serving in Youth Ministry at my church for 5 years and was gathering more and more responsibilities at our church. I was plugged into many places and loved how God was using me and Bethany in our church. Shortly after moving jobs God did something to get my attention again and redirect my life. I was asked by 3 people on 3 different occasions a very similar question. The question was along the lines of whether I was studying to become a pastor. Again there were people around me in the church who had sensed a call to ministry that I had be pushing to the side. This time though I listened and again talked to my mentors, to Bethany and my pastor and I began to apply to seminaries.

God really crafted the best opportunity for me to enter into this new career path. He gave me a job where I was able to leave the office at 5pm and head home and complete my seminary in the evenings and he allowed me to continue to develop and grow in my pastoral skills while serving at the church. And he gave so many people to encourage me when times got tough. God always seems to step in at just the right time to guide and direct when we need it. I spent 3 years working my day job, studying at night, leading the Youth Ministry and serving in many other places in the church. But God was my sustainer and he gave me all that I needed to be a blessing to others. My goal in all of this was to live and serve as a living sacrifice to others for God’s glory.

The fourth year of my Seminary degree, my Masters of Divinity, required me to be an intern in a church to learn and gain experience to complete my degree. I had a choice at this point to stay in Bermuda or gain experience abroad to complete this requirement. God again stepped up in an incredible way. The year before my internship we visited Bethany’s friend in Sicamous, British Columbia, a pretty tiny town in Canada. While we were there we mentioned that we were looking at some places in the US to do my internship and Bethany’s friend shared that there might be an opportunity to do it in Sicamous. This was a blessing and a gift from God. I got to meet my future boss and mentor Bob Evans during this trip. He agreed to bring me on as his intern. We began the process of applying for permission from my university, from the Canadian government and trusting that if this was God’s will that everything will be sorted out. was so true in my life at this stage, “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” The process did have moments were we were not sure if it would all come together, but God was so good and June 3, 2018 we moved to Sicamous for me to complete my final year of Seminary.

This time in Sicamous, Salmon Arm and at SCC has been a blessing that I wouldn’t have ever imagined 5 years ago. I’ve been able to be exposed to so many opportunities here and have been able to work with some great men and women of God. I’ve been prepared, mentored and guided into full-time ministry so well through this opportunity. I completed all of the requirements for my degree earlier this year and in May graduated with my Master’s of Divinity degree. During that time we also agreed to stay on one more year to work with the Sicamous campus. That saying yes opened the door to being able to be the Interim Youth Director in Salmon Arm for the last few months and again has allowed me to be used in many areas throughout the church.

As I mentioned at the start I really have embraced , “11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Our God is such an amazing provider, encourager and gives us guidance. I’ve seen throughout my life so far where he regularly shows me that he has amazing plans for my life, even when I don’t realize it at the time. These plans have been to give me a hope and an amazing future. And I know both Bethany and I are excited to see how God will guide us into the future.

Even throughout this time in Canada I believe God has been nurturing a desire to return to Bermuda and to minister back here. In the past year and a half there have been many conversations with God, friends and family on what that might look like. And in the midst of this I think God was continuing to fire up a passion deep inside us for ministry here at home. After spending a number of years ministering to Youth I know God has tethered my heart to that ministry. There are so many students who need to know the love of Jesus, who need to know that He has a plan for them and desires for them to give their lives to him. And in general Bermuda has so much potential, this is really a sending ground for students and adults into the world.

In all of this there has been a desire to return to Bermuda and to minister back here. In the past year and a half there have been many conversations with God, friends and family on what that might look like. And in the midst of this I think God was continuing to fire up a passion deep inside us for ministry here at home. After spending a number of years ministering to Youth I know God has tethered my heart to that ministry. There are so many students who need to know the love of Jesus, who need to know that He has a plan for them and desires for them to give their lives to him. And in general Bermuda has so much potential, this is really a sending ground for students and adults into the world.

What I’ve learned over the last few years is that many students who really do want to know who Jesus is, they desire to understand how they can live a life that is pleasing to Him in a world that continually says that Jesus is irrelevant. And I’ve learned than an important method of seeing this take shape is through ministering to and through families, linking generations together and creating an atmosphere where students can ask questions. My youth team over the last semester read this book together called “Faith for Exiles” by Dan Kinnman and Mark Matlock and they hit the nail on the head when they write, “We discovered that people don’t learn to follow Jesus simply by having lots of great head knowledge about him (although having the right beliefs matters). Experiencing Jesus is found along a relational pathway with family, friends, and other people who love and experience Jesus”.

And I really love the passage that was read this morning . For me it speaks to the heart that I have for ministry. I love the writings of Paul in general because he hits to the heart of the things that was going on in the lives of the people he was writing to and some 2000 years later are still the things that we have going on in our lives today. And the part that speaks to me is, “I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” This passage shakes me to my core in that I don’t want the church to be resolute in staying the same and seeing the world and the culture around it change. And my heart for ministry is to see the church step into the world and into the culture, to understand the pressures that our students, families and friends are facing to be able to help them to navigate what that looks like in a Christian context. In some way for us to adapt our message and approach for the culture to show people that the gospel speaks in and through all of that. And that no matter what they’ve done and who they are that Jesus loves them and wants them. But in doing this making sure we don’t compromise the gospel. Cause the gospel stays the same, but how we share it can and should be changed.

This is a topic that my student ministry team talks about regularly, prays through regularly, as we ask ourselves the question, “How can we present the gospel, how can we present Jesus in a way that is relevant and understandable to our students and what they are facing in their day to day lives”.

For many of us we allow various things to capture our passion. It could be many things; sports/exercise, hobbies, activities, work or career, and the list goes on. We spend lots of effort trying to master, understand, and further these passions of ours. We go through great lengths sometimes to be the best at these things. We seek out opportunities to see whatever it is we are passionate about grow in our lives. We are committed to these things that hold our passion. Now Paul was passionate. As we look at our passage this morning I want you to listen for the passion and desire that Paul had. And then we will look at the various aspect of this passion this morning. So if you can turn with me to , “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

​ ESVFor though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Just a little background here so that we know where Paul is coming from. This letter is written by Paul to the Corinthians (effectively this would be an example of a local church). From what we know of Paul, from scripture and history, was that he was a passionate follower/servant of Christ. During his time in Corinth he sought to attend the synagogues, to share Jesus with and minister to the Jews, and then once the synagogue was closed to him he then would move onto and sought after sharing Christ with the Gentiles. Now the church in Corinth was floundering, Corinth was a city with a very sinful reputation, and the church was plagued by these issues and was beginning to become divided. And in our passage this morning, as I was reading it, I was struck not only by the passion in the words that Paul spoke but by the way he lived out that passion. And in the the midst of this I had to do a real evaluation of my walk with Jesus. And so I was compelled to ask myself a few questions, that I'll ask each of us this morning.

My heart for ministry is also for the church to step into the lives of the people around us in a meaningful way, in a way that captivates them and allows them to know and understand that a life with Jesus is exactly what they need. You know one of the things I’ve learned is that the students that we have in our ministries at this point in time feel more lonely and isolated than ever, which is a product of age that we are in with media and technology. And because of this loneliness we’ve found that they desperately want relationships with people, they want people to notice them, to take an interest in them, to try to understand who they are. And I’ve found the church to be an amazing place for this. In November I took a group of Jr. High students to a Retreat at the local Bible Camp in BC. And we were able to get 14 students to sign up, which was great we were so thrilled. One young lady in the group showed up for the first time the Thursday night of youth where we were doing final signups. And her guardian, who I realized was a foster parent, was a believer and she just wanted this young lady to get some experiences in a Christian community. This foster mom shared with me, not in detail, that this young lady comes from a tough situation and she’s been pretty closed off. I tell you the change in this young lady over the 3 days of camp was extraordinary. As she spent time with the rest of the kids and us leaders at camp she really came alive. It was so awesome to witness this. And over the following weeks at Jr Youth she’s developed better relationships with the girls in her small group, she really taken to her small group leader and I feel she’s so close to accepting Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. And I’ve seen stories just like this over my time in ministry, students who just needed an opportunity to be seen.

Where are you in your faith journey? How is your relationship with Jesus?

I also believe wholeheartedly that discipleship is a key rhythm of ministry. I’ve learned that for us to develop students and adults who love God and who will be prepare for a life of faith, with its up and downs, they need solid discipleship. Someone to be actively stepping into their lives and seeing where they are at in their walk with Jesus, bearing their burdens with them, asking them the hard questions of life. I’ve seen the importance of this in my own life and I’ve seen the impact of this in ministry. This I believe is the essence of the Great Commission to go and make disciples, which isn’t a one off they are done,

Firstly, from our passage I was initially struck by and got a sense that the passion that is flowing through Paul that? I think Paul gets from from a belief in and a love for Jesus. These words seem rooted in a desire to serve God. To go and be used according to that love. These words are dripping with passion toward Christ, they are dripping with a love for God and a desire to see him Glorified in the lives of those in the Corinthian church. Do we have a similar passion? When we think of Jesus and his sacrifice for us what is our response? Are we drawn to a deeper love? Are we compelled to share this love? I’m going to do something that is a little unconventional. I'm going to add something here that is normally left to the end of the service, but this is a crucial starting place for all believers. As this is where the Paul’s passion began. Because we got to start somewhere and so if you are here this morning and you are like I want to know more about Jesus, and with this I would encourage you to not delay, I desire to know Him. Then I would encourage you to seek out the Lord, find out who he is. Ask someone about him. says “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” We are all called to this. God desires for us to know him. We are also told in the famous passage, , that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. I don’t know about you but this passage blows me away. That God would love you and I so much that he would allow his one and only Son to go through what he did. And if he can do that for us then what should our response be, how should be react. Well that brings me back to . We must confess and believe in Jesus and we will be saved. Are you at this point. Have you given all that you are to God, through Jesus? This is where our passion for God should start. It is where it is ignited. We can see it through the life of the author of our passage. He also says in "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." And in this newness we begin cultivating a passion for Christ. We start to live differently and our desires and passions begin to shift toward Christ and a love for him. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." If that isn't something to be passionate about then I don't know what is. And there are many things in this world that seeks to command our passion. Many things that we talked about at the beginning; sports/exercise, hobbies, activities, work or career, etc. And don't get me wrong they are not bad things. But when we get to the point where these things pull us away from our passion for Christ, then we need to reassess. We can't serve two master, we need to choose and my hope and prayer is that we choose Christ.So where is our passion? Who holds our passion?

Community is also an aspect of ministry that I feel is so important to develop. One of my roles over the last year was to be our Life Group coordinator in Sicamous. To organize and to encourage people to join a group that will meet throughout the week to study the bible together and to do life together. We originally started off with 2 groups that had probably about 20 people in them. This quickly grew to 6 groups with over 70 people in a groups. Even after we had started up the groups I had people coming up to me to get plugged into a Life Group, to get connected into a group of people to grow with. I really believe that God’s heart is for us to be in community with one another and you see it when he says not to neglect meeting together as some and in the habit of doing. You see it in Jesus’ ministry when we gathers the community of disciples together to learn and grow.

For sake of time I’ll end here. But I’ve learned over the last few years is that many students who really do want to know who Jesus is, they desire to understand how they can live a life that is pleasing to Him in a world that continually says that Jesus is irrelevant. And I’ve learned than an important method of seeing this take shape is through ministering to and through families, linking generations together and creating an atmosphere where students can ask questions. My youth team over the last semester read this book together called “Faith for Exiles” by Dan Kinnman and Mark Matlock and they hit the nail on the head when they write, “We discovered that people don’t learn to follow Jesus simply by having lots of great head knowledge about him (although having the right beliefs matters). Experiencing Jesus is found along a relational pathway with family, friends, and other people who love and experience Jesus”.

And if we can link people together under the gospel I truly believe that we can see growth in our community. We can see lives changed for the better. We can see students and families go into their workplaces ready to face the challenges brought on them, to see them stand for what is right. And I’d end with Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians in that my desire and what I hope all our desire is when we step into doing any sort of ministry is to “Do it all for the sake of the gospel, that we might share with them with the people we minister to in its blessings”.

When we know who Jesus is, are we passionate about sharing him? ()

And if we can link people together under the gospel I truly believe that we can see change in our community. We can see lives changed for the better. We can see students and families go into their workplaces ready to face the challenges brought on them, to see them stand for what is right. And I’d end with Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians

Paul shares some great wisdom here. He says that to the Jews he became a Jew, in order to win Jews. And to those under the law he became as one under the law, that he might win some. Wow. Now it is important to note that Paul isn't telling us that he conformed to these various people groups. He's not telling us that he changed who he'd become in Christ in order to please his audience. He did not change the message of Christ to fit what he needed and who he was speaking to at any particular time. He boldly and unashamedly sought after sharing the good news of Jesus in such a way that he adapted his message to minister to the people groups. He met the people on the level where they were at. For example, and we can see this more fully in the book of Acts. When he was preaching to the Jews he started with the Old Testament patriarchs, this was what the Jews knew, they were familiar with this and then Paul was able to take this discussion further and ultimately leading to sharing who Jesus is. Then for the Gentiles, who were not under the law he was able to start at the beginning with creation. It was a tailored message for the group that he was ministering to. Paul also shares this in "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."And this wasn't new. This was a method that Jesus used throughout the gospels. When he met with someone he shared with them about where they were at. Look at the woman at the well, Nicodemus, and the list goes on. Paul followed the wise example of Jesus in this.So I get through reading this section and again I'm struck with what is my response to this? What should my response to this be? And I'm seeing another instance of Paul's passion for Christ and his people flowing out through what he is saying. He has become all things to all people, so that by all possible means he might win some. This passion is leading him to desire to share this good news. And the saving here isn't specifically talking about conversions, as Paul was speaking to the church in Corinth who would have already been shared the gospel. Here he is talking about encouraging them toward maturity in Christ. To move past the elementary teachings and to feast on the meat that God's word provides. And not for his own sake but so that together they may rejoice in what the Lord has done. John talks about this to in his gospel, "Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together."So I ask you. Where is your passion? Are you passionate about Christ? Does this passion cause you to desire to share Christ? Are we being compelled to meet people where they are at?

Let’s Pray

Are we nurturing our passions? ()

Paul provides a great analogy about a runner, an athlete. I'm sure there are those here who watched the Olympics. And just as a small historical tidbit Paul and the Corinthians were likely familiar with the Greek Olympic Games, which is pretty interesting. But this summer you may have watched the runners or athletes compete in various events to win one of those gold medals. But what we don't get the ability to see, while watching the Olympics, is the huge amount of time each of these athletes put into training for and qualifying for the Olympics. They go through great lengths to get themselves physically and mentally prepared for their race. These athletes give up/sacrifice many things for their chosen event. They are passionate about competing and aiming to be the best. And again after reading this section I was compelled to ask myself what my response should be? Paul is saying that we must strictly discipline ourselves, like an athlete who strove to be the best in their event. We are not called to run around like someone aimlessly. We must train ourselves in such a way to win the prize. But what does that mean in the life of a follower of Christ? Well we must spend time in God's word. There is no way around it. In order for us to train ourselves we must spend time with our training manual, the bible. When we study we should be looking to grow and strengthen ourselves. We should seek from within the bible the things we should be doing to strengthen our Christian walk. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."And then are we should spend time praying and truly listening for God's direction. This is an area that I felt convicted about just last week. Am I nurturing my relationship with God by spending the appropriate time in prayer to and with him? My response to that was that I wasn't doing it enough. And we should also be asking ourselves these sorts of questions. To go back to our athlete analogy, they are always asking themselves and their coaches if what they are doing is right. Are we talking with our coach? "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."And are we seeking out opportunities to grow in our faith? This could mean stepping out and joining a bible study, or joining a Sunday School class. We are all striving toward that ultimate prize, fellowship with Jesus in eternity. Some of the best training opportunities happen when we are in fellowship together. I can't tell you the number of times that I've been in a bible study or small group where a particular passage or topic that was giving me trouble was explained a better by another brother or sister. Or even in the midst of a study the Lord provided me with clarification on what he was communicating and I was able to share that with the group. It is incredible. And as people who should be passionate followers of Jesus we should seek out these changes to fellowship together. says "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." and "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."Paul finishes off this section by making a point that he does this training and he seeks to refine himself in such a way that after he preaches to others he will not be disqualified himself. This meaning that he cannot be so concerned about others that he isn't concerned about himself and how he is training himself. Again he is emphasizing the importance of personal discipline within the life of a believer. Where is your passion? Are you are we nurturing our passion as followers of Jesus?

Conclusion

I truly believe that each one of us is capable of a passionate relationship with Christ. This can manifest and play out in many different fashions in our lives. But the fact remains that we should consider the items that we discussed:- Assessing where we are in our walk with Christ.- Making sure that we are sharing with others all that we've been blessed with. This message is too good not to want to share with others.- And we must be continually training ourselves and nurturing our relationship with Christ.Again the passions of this world that we follow may not be bad things. But when we assess how vigorously we chase these worldly passions how does that compare to how we chase after our relationship with Christ?

Let us pray.