What Can I Do?
This question can be answered two different ways. The first could be by viewing things the same way Moses did. When told to go gather the Lord's people out of Egypt, Moses seeking an excuse asked this question hoping that God would re-evaluate Moses and relieve him from this great task.
Often times we feel that we are such a small part in the grand scheme of things that what we do really does not matter anyway. This attitude needs to be changed.
Some people ask the question because they want to do something, but are not sure what they can do to assist others in the grand scheme of things. Most Christians really appreciate it when someone ask if they can do something for someone or the church.
So, we will proceed with this article under the assumption that you are asking what you can do to help the church or someone.
In Worship: You can come prepared to worship God in the right frame of mind leaving the cares of this world behind and seek God in spirit and truth. You can really show others your love for the Lord by singing with a purpose to glorify God and sing praises to His name, and to build up and edify others. You can encourage others for being there, and you can encourage others to not miss the assemblies of the congregation. You can attend all the services including the classes. The time to learn more about God and His word is never wasted time. You can participate with enthusiasm, and you can encourage those who take part in the service (song leader, leader of prayer, assisting on the Lord's Table, or the preacher).
In Evangelism: You can invite people to church. It may be you feel uncomfortable about discussing the Bible with others, but you can at least invite them to services, and others can answer the questions that might be brought up. You can share your bulletin or other reading material with someone. We do not know if our efforts will produce fruit because that is what God will provide. Our job is to teach people about heaven and how to get there. John 4:21 tells us that people are seeking to worship God in spirit and truth. Since that is what God wants, we do not know that perhaps God is using us to shine our light on the path for these seekers to follow. According to Ephesians 2:10, we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works". The work we do for God is the best work anyone can do for another human being.
In Living: You can learn how to be the best Christian possible. Yes it is hard sometimes to deal with all of life's problems, but that does not mean you can ignore doing right. You let your light shine by learning God's will. This comes through Bible study; both the classes provided by the congregation, or through personal Bible study. The words of life should teach you how to behave in the present world, so that you might enjoy the future world prepared by Christ and God. You can learn to be happy and content in life through the knowledge of God and doing His will. The world is painfully void of the knowledge that produces this contentment. Perhaps someone looking for such a life will see yours and ask you your secret. Well, it should no longer be a secret then, will it? That is what 1 Peter 3:15 is all about.
In Service: Our duty to each other calls us to be active in serving one another. We can do this in many ways. Of course we can always pray for our fellow Christians knowing that hardship is suffered by all. Perhaps some of us have forgotten how hard it is to fight against what this world is throwing at us. Those of us who have been around for a while need to mentor and encourage those who are new to the faith. People do not change overnight, and the transition of a worldly life to a spiritual life is difficult. We need to be helping and praying for those who are struggling. What we can do might be as simple as making a phone call. Perhaps visiting one of the members will do wonders for someone's feelings. In our service we should really want to do for others. After all, if we are trying to be like Jesus, we will want to serve others. That is what Jesus did, and He is our perfect example.
Really, what we need to do is to get to know one another better. By learning who they are, we can learn to appreciate them even better. All of this should take place because we desire to do something for God and for Christ and His church. We all have the ability to do better and at least do something. Doing something is better than doing nothing. We should know that our life will have fulfillment when we have done good things for others. We should want to be this kind of person so that people will love and respect us and hopefully learn from our example. Paul told many people that by following his example, they would be on the right path. Are you on the right path? Please ask what you can do.
By Carey Scott

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