Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin... Zechariah 4.10
From my earliest days as a Christian I've loved the opportunity to preach to whoever, whenever, wherever. Oftentimes as a young preacher I would load my car with friends from youth group and we'd double the size of the congregation at the church I was preaching in. I never minded how small or seemingly insignificant the opportunity was to talk about Jesus- I just did it and enjoyed it. When I commenced work for The Boys' Brigade much of my time was spent talking to small groups of young people or small groups of adult leaders. A lot later on in life, when Gary and started BIG IDEAS (which became IGNITE) in 1995, we decided to accept all invitations and explore what God was calling us to more permanently. Often we would be working with smaller churches, fairly uninspiring and with little money to pay us expenses. Our office was one cold room in a Baptist church in Cardiff with borrowed and second-hand equipment. Gary and I took it in turns to rive the one decent car we had between us, and our first monthly salary was about £30 each! We had an old van full of sound and lighting gear and our technician Pazza would drive us the length and breadth of England and Wales as we led seeker services, youth missions, schools weeks, and outreach events in theatres and working mens clubs. My prayer all through this time was 'Lord, please speak through me to someone tonight, even if it's only one!'
Often people ask me how I ended up as Road Pastor to Third Day. I believe that being faithful in the small things has not been insignificant in my journey.
The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful
in handling
this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s
celebrate together! Matthew 25.21
You are just inspiring Nigel! I hope 2009 is a blessed one for you! Hope to see you at my next Third Day show.
BTW...I love Brennan Manning. Good book (The Importance of being foolish).
Posted by: Wendy | 01/01/2009 at 07:39 AM