Weekly "Call To Worship" Encouragement

1 Peter 15: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 

I want to be better at sharing the hope I have, sharing my faith in Jesus Christ. Is it on your heart to reach out to friends, loved ones, family, neighbors?  But how? And maybe it stresses you out. I believe it is out of the comfort zone for most.

In Philippians 2:5 we are called to have the mind of Christ, to think like Jesus. That is why I want to read this scripture from Matthew chapter 9:35-38:

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Yes, the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few; it’s good to notice that. But notice the mind and heart of Jesus: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 

I believe if we want to be better at sharing our faith, this is where we start. We see the people around us with compassion in our hearts because they are truly harassed and helpless, they don’t have the great shepherd, and they desperately need him. It may seem like they have it all together and they don’t need a thing, but that is not the way Jesus sees them. We also need to look at our friends and loved ones with compassion.

Let’s pray. Father in Heaven, we want to have the mindset of Jesus. Father, help us prepare to share our hope by having a heart of compassion. Father, we need to show mercy and love to those around us; we want to do that and we need your help. Father, we worship you now, you are compassionate and loving and merciful and we are so thankful to be in relationship with you because of our Savior Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.