Welcome to the El Camino Baptist Church blog. We wanted a place where our ministry leaders could share things that God has laid on their hearts. Please feel free to comment and join in the discussion as we share how God is moving through His church.Other places to find us on the web are our website, Youtube, and Facebook. You can also check out Hoss' music blog at hosshughes.com.









Saturday, November 5, 2011

We Can't Do Everything!

Opportunities abound at El Camino right now. As we strive to lead 777 people into a personal relationship with Jesus, and share the gospel with 5200 people, the Lord has led us to several avenues to help us along.

A couple weekends ago we hosted a marriage conference, in which 3 people gave their lives to Christ. What a praise! This weekend we have Picnic and Praise in the Park, next weekend the J Walk Ministry, then comes the Children's Thanksgiving musical. These are all opportunities to invite friends, neighbors and family members to attend something fun and entertaining, and hear about Jesus.

In reality, we don't need events. God has brought into each of our lives people who don't know Him. He trusts us to faithfully share Him with them. But the truth of the matter is that we aren't always faithful. We don't openly share...for whatever reason. I am just as guilty. We have lived next door to a wonderful family for about a decade, and they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus. It is more comfortable for us to invite them to events in which they will hear about Jesus, than to openly share the gospel. And to be honest, we rarely do that! What a shame.

A gentleman at our church said to me last week that he wasn't going to participate in the J Walk Ministry or Picnic and Praise in the Park. He said, "We can't do everything! Weekends go so quickly as it is. We need time to rest and replenish, take care of our home and vehicles, etc." I totally understand. No one can do everything, and I don't think God expects us to.

This morning I again read Mark 12:29-31. It said, “The most important one(commandment),” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

If I truly loved God completely, my focus would be on Him and on what is most important to Him. I believe the thing that is most important to God is that no one would perish, live forever separated from Him. And if I really believed that, then my top priority would be making sure I was faithful to share Him with those He brings into my sphere of influence.

I don't need an event to be faithful. I just need to be faithful. But if inviting someone to an event gets the job done, then I hope I will at least make that effort. Lord, please increase my love for you, help me be faithful and selfless, and please help my priorities match yours!