Posts with the tag “invitation”

What if the greatest relief in the Christian life is discovering that the weight of saving souls was never ours to carry? In this message rooted in 1 Corinthians 3, we are drawn into a profound truth about God's providence: He is the one who plants, waters, and gives the growth. We are not the source of transformation in others' lives, and we are not even the source of our own spiritual maturation. That power belongs entirely to God. Yet here is the beautiful paradox at the heart of this message: because God does all of this, we are freed to participate joyfully rather than striving anxiously. Like children who pull up a stool beside a parent in the kitchen, we are invited into the work not because we make it better, but because a good Father delights in having us near. The story of Thomas Jefferson Bowen, who spent just five years planting the first Baptist church in Nigeria only to see 9 million Baptists and 12,000 churches emerge 175 years later, stands as a breathtaking testimony to what God's providence accomplishes through faithful, ordinary people. This message calls us to stop staring at the sky and fix our eyes on the work in front of us, whether that work is happening across the ocean or in the next aisle at the grocery store.  Read More