MINISTRY FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH…to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Ephesians 4:12 Another function of the church is ministry. As Christians we need to be aware of the spiritual needs of others and sensitively seek to help them at every opportunity—both fellow-believers and non-believers. A word of encouragement or a small act of kindness may be the deciding factor in whether or not a struggling friend is able to stand against the enemy. In a tribal area of northeast India, the poor Christians of one tribe made great sacrifices and took great risks to aid and encourage the new believers in another tribe after their leader, his wife and ten-year-old daughter were killed for their witness. Ministry is demonstrating God's love to others by meeting their needs and healing their hurts in the name of Jesus. Each time you reach out in love to others you are ministering to them. The church is to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. A co-worker and his family were visiting in the southern part of the Ukraine. As they entered the hotel after a tiring day in the streets, their daughter came sobbing into their room. "I saw a man today begging for money. He had no legs and was sitting on a skateboard. He looked so poor and lonely." The tears rolled down her cheeks. She truly felt compassion for a sight that they didn't even notice. "I think Jesus wants us to give him a Bible when we see him again," she commented after they prayed together. The following morning early, as they started their journey through the streets of Odessa, it wasn't long before she saw him. They knew that there was a certain amount of risk involved in handing out Bibles in the streets and thus didn't want to make it too obvious. He opened the Bible and slowly started paging through it. He reached down and took all the money in the handkerchief next to him and offered it to them. They suddenly realized that he must be under the impression that they were selling the Bible on the black market and therefore the offer of all his savings. "Nyet, gift, gift," and they pushed back his hand with the money. He took the Bible, pressed it against his chest and then tears started rolling down his cheeks. He opened the Bible spending several minutes reading and paging through a book that he had obviously heard about but had never seen. They left him with hearts overflowing with gratitude. Jesus made ministry so simple. It can be as easy as offering a thirsty person a glass of water in His name! RESPONSE: Today I will look for opportunities to minister to needy hearts in Jesus' name. PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I ask You to show me today those to whom I can minister in Your name. | 
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