Last Sunday was one of those days that will be remembered for many years. We started church as usual at 9am and Sarak led us in worship, the presence of God was real and we enjoyed praising and worshipping. After we finished I spoke for a few minutes following on from Sarak’s message two weeks ago, and then my own last week about using our gifts and serving in the church.
I then told everybody we were going on a field trip, like a school outing, to the new building. We all piled into the cars and tuk tuks and headed not far to our destination. As we arrived everybody was buzzing, only a few had seen the church in its almost finished state before. We went upstairs but made everybody wait while the worship team prepared to sing a song. Eventually we were ready, the doors burst open, and the church entered the building to the sound of “How Great Is Our God”. It was truly special to see people who have been part of Phnom Penh Elim for many years worshipping God with tears running down their faces.

Dren and his passengers

worship team getting organised

worship group volunteers

sound and media volunteers
Why did I do this during church? Why not wait till later you might ask? Well I believe that we can ask people until we are blue in the face to use their gifts or be involved more in the new building from a distance and they don’t get (because they can’t see) what we are trying to do. By showing them and letting them see God’s great blessings they can visualise the way ahead. We challenged each person to join different areas of ministry: worship, sound and media, and welcoming, cleaning, general help etc. The results were amazing, we had so many people committing to each of the groups and we are now looking forward to seeing each person playing their role within the body of Christ.
The rest of the week was busy getting everything ready for the grand opening on Thursday 26th September, it will be amazing!
In closing I want to leave you with a thought or even a question. Are you playing your role within the body of Christ in the church you belong to? If not, there are others who have to take up the slack; they eventually end up burnt out, and why? Because you are not playing your part. It’s time to wake up, smell the coffee, get off your backside and do what God created you to do. Be who He made you to be!
Of course I say this all in love, God bless!!