"WHAT CAN I DO?"

Many of you recognize that there is much to be done, if we are to fulfill our responsibility as a congregation in ministering to this community. You recognize that it is our responsibility to preach the gospel of God's grace in Christ to the people of this area. But you hesitate to become directly involved in ministering to others. You say to yourself, "What can I do?" It is true, you cannot all stand in the pulpit and preach. You cannot all become teachers in one of our Bible classes. But there is much that you can do, and should do.

YOU CAN ALL TELL WHAT YOU KNOW. If you have experienced for yourself the riches of God's grace in Christ, you can talk about his grace. If you know that there is life, pardon, and acceptance with God by faith in Christ, you can tell it. If you know that this is a place where the gospel is preached, where Christ is honored, and where your own soul is fed, you can tell others about it. Make it your business to talk to people bout the gospel.

YOU CAN ALL BRING PEOPLE TO HEAR THE GOSPEL. Use your telephone to contact people you know, and encourage them to come with you to hear the gospel of Christ. Go out into your community and visit with people, specifically to invite them to come with you to hear the gospel. They will not all come, but some will. You can invite relatives and friends to spend Sunday with you, and bring them to hear the gospel.

YOU CAN ALL DISTRIBUTE GOSPEL LITERATURE TO YOUR NEIGHBORS. Take tracts, tapes, bulletins, and booklets to people, and encourage them to read the articles or listen to the tapes. Encourage people to listen to the radio broadcasts. If a message or article was a particular source of blessing to you, you probably know someone to whom it might be a blessing. Take it to them, and tell them how you profited by it.

YOU CAN ALL GREET THOSE WHO DO COME. When our services are over, you don't need to rush out of the building as though it were on fire. Take time to greet one another with a kind word. Look especially for those people who are visiting with us, greet them and encourage them to return. You may even have opportunity to talk to them about the message and press the claims of Christ upon them. In a congregation no larger than ours, there is no reason why you should not greet everyone, especially those who do not regularly attend.

There is much that you can do! Make it your business to do what you can to get people under the sound of the gospel, for the glory of Christ. Do not wait to accomplish some great thing. Do that which God has given you the ability and opportunity to do. And do it now!