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Devotional | Bill Search | Sep 12, 2021
I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NLT
I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.
1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NLT
In the 1970s, a trend emerged in residential architecture. Designers began placing the family gathering spaces and outdoor entertaining spaces on the back of the house. The garage began to dominate the front of the house and homeowners raised the garage door at the push of a button, drove in, and then down came the door. Gone was the front porch as the social space of the family and neighborhood.
Just two generations ago, neighbor knew neighbor. Fifty years later, many people don’t know the names of the people who share a fence line.
Some people lament the change and yearn, sentimentally, for a bygone era. Others prefer the fortress home of impenetrable privacy. If you were born from the 1980s onward you may not even realize the front of the home was once a gathering place unless you find yourself in a quaint, older part of town.
Jesus’ last recorded words before he ascended into heaven was a challenge to his followers. In the Acts of the Apostles we read, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NIV).
Just look at the instruction Jesus gave. Those first followers were to be witnesses right where they were (Jerusalem), then within the region (Judea), then to another culture (Samaria), and finally everywhere else (the ends of the earth).
Sometimes when we think of “going,” we think we have to go to another country or maybe on a mission trip somewhere else. While that is also true, we have a community to reach and each of us has a neighborhood (a Jerusalem) where God has planted us.
But how do we serve as a witness for Christ in our neighborhoods of fortress homes? Do I have to knock on a door and give a little speech for Jesus like a politician running for city council? Probably not.
Ed and Allie, who faithfully serve here at Crossings, prayerfully considered how they could reach their neighbors. They realized most people appreciate prayer—even if they aren’t people of faith. Very few turn down prayer.
So, Ed and Allie wrote cards to their nearby neighbors and in the cards, they placed a self-addressed envelope offering to pray for any request that came to them. They were overwhelmed with the response. Neighbors they had never met responded. New relationships were formed. And now, Ed and Allie are planning a social for their neighbors this fall, right on their front lawn!
Now all those neighbors come to church. I’m kidding, that wasn’t the result! But that wasn’t their worry. They had a role to play, and it was to plant a seed.
In his first letter to the Christians living in Corinth, the church leader, Paul, wrote, “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work” (1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NLT).
Our job is just to plant a seed. God is the one who works in the heart.
Who are the residents of your Jerusalem? It might be your neighborhood, like Ed and Allie. Perhaps it’s your apartment complex, college residence hall, or the guy you share a cubicle wall with at work.
We don’t have a project to complete. People aren’t projects. They are people God loves, who bear his image, and for whom Christ died. So, let’s pray, ask God where we are to go, and then faithfully steward that opportunity.
Bill Search
Executive Pastor of Ministries
bsearch@crossings.church
Bill Search serves as the Executive Pastor of Ministries at Crossings Community Church.