God Says You Are Capable

By Rick Warren

It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work not because we deserved it but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and kindness to us through Christ. 2 Timothy 1:9 (TLB)

You have a right now to go directly to God; you have direct access. You don't have to pray through anybody else.  You don't have to confess through anybody else.  You don't have to go through anyone else to have fellowship with God. The Bible teaches that you have a direct line now.

In addition, God says you have been gifted for ministry to serve other people.  Every Christian is a minister. That doesn’t mean every Christian is a pastor, rather minister. Anytime you're using your talents and gifts to help others you're ministering.

Notice the Bible verse above says, “He saved us for His holy work.” You are saved to serve. Why did God save you?  So you could serve Him.

You may be thinking, “How do I know what my ministry is?” You look at your talents, your gifts, and your abilities. You look at how God shaped you. God wants you to use those talents and gifts to help other people. Every time you do that, that's called ministry: nothing fancy, scary or supernatural about it.  It's just helping others.

Can you minister in a sales office?  Yes, you can. Can you minister as an accountant? Yes, you can. Can you minister driving a truck?  Sure! Anytime you're helping other people in His name, you're ministering.

In fact, God says you're necessary in the church. You're a necessary part of this family. Look at it this way, if I don't use my talents -- you get cheated.  If you don't use your talents – I get cheated. Everybody else in the congregation gets cheated.

We're all important; we're all necessary to do our part as we fit together.