» Church http://www.marvc.com Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:07:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 My Call to Give http://www.marvc.com/index.php/2010/03/21/my-call-to-give/ http://www.marvc.com/index.php/2010/03/21/my-call-to-give/#comments Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:00:04 +0000 marvC http://www.marvc.com/?p=377 face a My Call to GiveSo while in church service a few Sunday's ago I sat behind a gentleman who introduced himself during the Welcoming session. After service ended the gentleman approached and asked if I was a member or visitor to the church. I explained to him that I was a new member and after welcoming me again he began to speak about the Outreach ministry that he supports. He goes on to explain the services provided by the ministry and extends an invitation should I care to participate. Basically the group meets every third Saturday of the month to provide food to members of the surrounding community. Preparations are done the Friday before and everyone's asked to be onsite Saturday morning before 9:30am to receive instruction and prayer prior to performing the task at hand. I see this as a two-fold opportunity to not only get involved with the church but to give back to "something". I don't live in the area so it's not "my" community I'm giving back to per say, but my spirit welcomes the requests so I go with it.

So the third Friday arrives and I'm excited as if I'm preparing for my first day at work. I arrive at the church at the specified time to find most of the members already sorting the items to be handed out on Saturday. I'm introduced to everyone and given an overview of the operation. I can tell from how they all communicate with each other that they've been together for a long time and that I was the new kid on the block. Things goes as planned and within the hour everything's set and ready to go for tomorrow.

Saturday arrives and I'm onsite in time to receive my instructions which are simply to help carry bags to the car. More members of the church arrive in support and we all gather in a room seperate from the recipients to receive further instruction and to be lifted up in prayer. We then enter into the room with the recepients where instruction and prayer is provided to them. While standing and listening the faces of the recepients began to appear to me as if they were all hidden when I entered the room. As I began to take notice of each of them I'm overwhelmed by a sense of compassion as I suddenly realized the severity of the situation I was in. This wasn't some candy-assed ploy to satisfy a childhood fantasy, I was actually performing an act that had a major impact on somebody's life! A life laced with turmoil and afflicted by circumstances to which there's no control. It was then that I got nervous as I wondered what they thought of me. Could they see my affliction? Could they see me as someone passing as a "giver"? I did all I could to hold the emotions that were building up inside as I began to realize the mirror into which I was staring. I thought to myself, I have absolutely nothing to give and I need just as much as they do, yet here I stand. Up to this point I hadn't thought twice about what I was doing because it felt like something I "could" do. My nerves subsided once a passage from Romans 8:31-39 was read as it helped to put things into perspective. Once we left everyone went into action and the operation ended as a success. Towards the end of it all I stole a moment to reflect on the lesson gained from this new undertaking which is all about being obediant. Once I acknowledged the request and obeyed the call everything was revealed to me.

]]> http://www.marvc.com/index.php/2010/03/21/my-call-to-give/feed/ 0 New Member Orientation – Week 1 http://www.marvc.com/index.php/2010/02/05/new-member-orientation-week-1/ http://www.marvc.com/index.php/2010/02/05/new-member-orientation-week-1/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:53:08 +0000 marvC http://www.marvc.com/?p=349 mc5 New Member Orientation Week 1Tonight was my first week in new members orientation and I admit that I've been anxiously waiting for this day to arrive so that I may learn of the message to be delivered through this newfound venture. I arrive just in time and upon entering was immediately greeted with hugs and handshakes welcoming me to the class. The atmosphere was pleasant and I noticed that everyone joked as if they were more than new members. After a few more minutes of greetings and upon receiving my new member orientation manual we were instructed on today's lesson which would cover Baptism of the Holy Spirit? This is when it became obvious that I was the only "new" member and that everyone else was already ahead of me in their lessons. Seeing the confusion on my face one of the teachers advised me not to worry and advised that I would come full circle with the lessons. During the ceourse of this lesson discussion was extended on the following subjects:

  • Speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4)
  • Using tongues as a gift (1 Corinthians 14)
  • Tarrying for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost (Luke 24:49; Acts 10:38)

Considering how long it's been since I studied all of this seemed foreign but comprehensible. So I sit, listen, and observe how everyone engages themselves in the discussion. I admit that I was very pleased in the way the teacher presented the instruction. Her approach is passionate and inviting which keeps everyone engaged and inspired. Towards the end I even feel compelled to speak but it felt just as good to sit back and observe how things were done. The last and final part of the discussion focused on the biblical definition or interpretation of the word "tarry" as used in the following context: Jesus instructed the disciples to wait and tarry fir the Baptism of the Holy Ghost or the promise of the Farther which would endue them with the power to witness to the uttermost parts of the world (Luke 24:49; Acts10:38). So for homework we were tasked to learning and understanding the definition of the word "Tarry" from the spiritual perspective. This means it was probably time to pick up a spiritual dictionary.

Today's Message

I came to the conslusion that the lesson from today's venture centered on the discussion of using tongue as a gift. I've never found myself speaking in tongues but I've seen a few people do it and wonder if it's a gift I'm ready to receive? I've been in plenty of situations where I've tried to inform and advise from the perspective of the greater good. The question I have to ask myself  is what made me think that I was ready to advise on a particular situation and that particular time? Was God speaking through me and using me as a tool to deliver a certain message and a certain time? As I sit here tonight is God using these people as vessels to deliver instruction to me and the rest of the class? How should I receive and intepret this message before I validate it as real or false? These are the thoughts racing through my head. As I continue to take in the instruction I can't help but wonder if I've led anyone astray through a messages? Although I feel I had the best intentions where they received with the best of intentions.

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