Have you ever been part of a team where you were missing a key element?  When I was in middle school we had quite the exceptional football team.  We went undefeated for three straight years and honestly didn’t even have many close games.  At first we had a struggle though because we ran out of the shotgun formation and didn’t have anyone to play center and hike the ball.  Our first practices and even first few games we mishandled lots of snaps and even had a few lost fumbles as a result.  Finally we had a practice where coach made everyone practice at center.  It turned out one of our wide receivers was great at snapping the ball.  We had lots of people who could play receiver and catch but he was really the only one who could snap worth anything.  Once we had his skills we were unstoppable.  The same is true with the church.  When everyone is using their gifts and talents the church thrives.  Let’s look at one such situation in the early church from Acts 6. 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Once these first Deacons were established and began using their gifts it said the word of God spread and the number of disciples increased rapidly.  That’s the thing about the church, it’s not about any one thing or one person.  It thrives when everyone is using their gifts well.  That is what God intended and why He gives us all spiritual gifts in the first place.  From serving to singing, from teaching to hospitality God needs each and every one of our gifts for things to really grow like they should.  I pray that we all might use the gifts He has given us to help build His church

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave