Synopsis "How to Serve the Lord with Confidence and Enthusiasm (in English)"
This text has been written in response to a question that I was asked at a Wednesday night Bible study at Wallers Baptist Church in Partlow, Virginia. The question which had been asked by the church's pastor had been in regard to the obvious enthusiasm that some of the saints of God seem to have for the Lord's work. The study that evening had been in Acts 13:13 which talks about the Apostle Paul's first Bible-recorded missionary journey. It says, "Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem." So when the company had arrived in Perga, the above verse says that John Mark had returned to Jerusalem. Exactly why he might have gone back is not known for certain. He might have been too afraid to continue since there had already been some opposition to the message that Paul and the others had tried to deliver. He might have felt the Lord leading him home at that particular moment. But the real question that had been posed by the pastor had been why the others had continued the journey since their task had obviously been so dangerous. In answering that question, the model about which this text has been written was developed. The quick answer to the pastor's question is that Paul and his company had had a general desire to do what the Lord had wanted them to do. When they had understood exactly what He had wanted them to do, their general desire had become a specific desire. Then when what the Lord had wanted them to do had been an exact match to their spiritual gifts, their desire had been raised to an even higher level. They had no longer just been doing church work. At that point, they had been serving the Lord with confidence and enthusiasm. Thus, this text has been written to explain how that can occur for any saint of God. The conclusion is that it is possible to not just do work for the Lord. But it is actually possible to serve Him with confidence and enthusiasm. The members of the Bible study at that church were Judy Baylor, Collins Beasley, Pete Delosh, Matt Dickey, Michelle Dickey, Barbara Fulkerson, Robbie Fulkerson, Sheila Gist, Dan Haller, Tamara Haller, Alberta Johnson, Linda Jo Johnson, Donelle, Steve Krull, Linda Lee, Catherine Myers, Tammy Petrie, Craig Petrie, David Pritchett, Scott Sale, Clint Scott, Sue Shelton, Bob Stelman, Bill Venable, Millie Venable, Pastor Jojuan White, and Joseph White. The attendance and participation of each person in the class was greatly appreciated. In addition, special thanks is also extended to Pastor White and to Dan Haller. Pastor White had asked the original question that has led to the developing of the serving with confidence and enthusiasm model. Mr. Haller had designed and developed Figure 13 which appears in the last section of this text to show how the congregants at Wallers Baptist Church are already serving the Lord with confidence and with enthusiasm. So in closing, it is hoped that this work will bring those in Christ even closer to Him. May He be uplifted and glorified for all that He has done for those people that truly love Him.
