By Pastor Tim White
Do you know what your basic strengths are that were endowed to you when you chose to follow Jesus Christ?
One of my favorite jobs was as a high school age basketball coach in the inner city of Pasadena, California. Where we lived, we had a basketball court just outside our kitchen window. All kinds of kids would play on that basketball court from early in the morning until late at night. It took a long time before we could even talk to those kids. Finally, Jackie made a chocolate cake and brought out a thermos of cold milk. We built friendships that lasted a lifetime by forming a basketball team and entering some pretty good tournaments. I’ll never forget showing a 6’5” 8th grader how to slam dunk and then watching him do what I couldn’t do. How thrilling! We lost a lot of games to teams that had players who seemed destined for the NBA. When we entered a tournament in Watts, California along with hundreds of other teams, we won; and one of the prizes was a brand-new basketball which we definitely needed. I have never seen a team get better faster than this team because they had discovered some strengths they never imagined that they had.
And so it is as we study God’s Word and we learn that there are basic strengths we can acquire. That is a great analogy for our Christian lives as we discover our strength of faith to be used the way God wants us to use it. Or it can be praying, trusting, loving, etc. This Sunday I am starting a new series on how to harness our basic strengths in Christ. You will find roots deeper and stronger than you imagined and wings to soar like you have never dreamed.
Your friend for the rest of my life,
Pastor Tim White