Scott

Several days ago I was reading through Matthew 10 and came across a verse that brought to my attention something that had gone unnoticed in my subconscious for the past week or so. It was Jesus speaking, saying,
"Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."
It struck me that what we do in the 1304 ministry is uniquely Christ-like, and in that sense we are confessing Him before men. We are distinguished from secular the world because we are doing the work that nobody wants to get involved with, the work that Christ called us to do. But while I see that we are acting as Christ and deepening relationships in the community, I can't recall too many times when we have specifically brought the name of Jesus and His importance into our conversations. We are doing the work of God, and people recognize that we are doing it, but it is crucial that they also realize that we are doing His work because it is a reflection of the sacrificial work of Christ. It is our job not only to care for these people physically but spiritually; and in our spiritual lives there is nothing more important than Jesus---His life, death and resurrection. To most of the people we come in contact with, we are church and we are the pastor. If we don't tell them plainly about Christ's love and sacrifice, then they may never hear it from anyone else. I would encourage everyone to continue to go deeper in conversation in this way: ask people about Jesus and what they know about Him, and to tell people about Jesus, and discuss Him in any way shape or form. It's why we're here.