At my core, I know that I am a broken, sinful, and selfish person. I have a bent towards what it easy and cheap. Left on my own, I drift from God and toward my own desires on a regular basis. This is why I am so amazed that 1) God would love me at all, and 2) that He would not only forgive my sins, but go as far as to call me into His service in ministry. What I see in myself as disqualifying character flaws, God sees as redeemable testaments to His goodness and grace. I never want to lose my sense of awe over the scandal of grace that God has given me in Christ. It’s out of this overwhelming thankfulness that I want to do everything I can to serve and honor the One who has given me more than I’ll ever know.
In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a story about a master who gives bags of gold to his servants, then after returning from a trip, expects those servants to have gained a return on what he had left in their care. I love this story, and in it I see that although God gives gifts out of his goodness, not because we deserve them, he also expects a return on those gifts. I am very confident that God has given me gifts worth far more than gold and that He expects me to use these gifts in a way that produces spiritual fruit for the sake of the gospel. He has given me a specific burden to use my gifts to lead others in the truth of Jesus Christ, helping to edify the local church, His bride, through preaching the word, equipping his people, and walking alongside men, women, and families as they seek God’s will for their lives. God has blessed me with gifts of leadership, preaching, and exhortation, and I want to use those gifts for His glory. He has also given me a vision for taking the gospel beyond Pine Hills Church. By launching a church plant and sharing this message with people I have yet to meet, I hope to fulfill the Matthew 25:21 call to live as a “good and faithful servant."
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