A Sea of Servants

I try to make a habit out of counting my blessings. There’s an old hymn by that reminds us to do just that, and it certainly is a good spiritual discipline, because when we count our blessings we are reminding ourselves of the giver of every good gift, namely God!

Lately I’ve been reflecting on the blessing of serving here at Beacon as pastor, and in particular, the amazing number of people who serve in the ministry. Many of those servants have moved away, some have gone on to their eternal reward, but all are precious.

Tuesdays, I walk through our Hope Chest ministry and am greeted by one smiling face after another. I see people who are being kind and offering support to those who come through the doors. Others come on Wednesday mornings to organize and sort clothes and keep the area in shape for the following week. Wednesday evening I see volunteers serving dinner, cleaning up, working with children, junior and senior high students, moving chairs, teaching adults, and meeting to pray. I see others during the week planting flowers, painting, overseeing our new building project, working on our grounds, pulling weeds, raking, leaf blowing, grass cutting, cleaning, upgrading stuff, keeping our building and property in great shape! When ministries like Upward and Day Camp are in season, it’s overwhelming to see all the people throwing in their energy to make those things happen. Sunday we have ushers, greeters, praise team members, computer and sound operators, welcome desk people, all kinds of servants walking around with “Beacon Kids” emblazoned on their shirts and loving on our kids. We have security guys, coffee and bagel makers, teachers, nursery workers. We have men’s and women’s ministry events, Grief Share, Divorce Care, a group that goes into Atlantic City to bless people and hope to strike up conversations. There are teams no one sees, counting offerings and handling finances. We have those who continually bless our “senior saints” in all sorts of ways. Others look for ways to bless our widows\widowers and care for the poor. A team focuses on how to bless those with special needs. There are numerous Bible study\small group leaders all around our community. We minister to moms with preschoolers, organize retreats. We have other teams that work on things like encouraging and adding to our missions family, keeping up with our sister church in Haiti, connecting new visitors, serving as elders in leading and praying for us all. people cook and deliver meals, make soup, write notes, visit nursing homes…. Just typing this list is a great reminder of how blessed we are!

I know I’ve written a blog similar to this before, but in my mind it definitely bears repeating…. We have a sea of servants! All of you encourage this pastors heart! Thanks for serving our Lord in such a tangible manner. I love the apostle Paul's words:

“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the good news about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”