The other day our church had an fundraiser for a Mexico missions trip at Chick-fil-A. The deal was that if you brought in one of the fundraiser tickets when you paid for your meal we got a percentage of what you paid. The highlight of the night was the games that the staff at Chick-fil-A held for us. The games included a puzzle in which you team did together that put together a resemblance of the New Beginnings logo, a Milkshake eating contest and a frozen t-shirt contest. I know what you are thinking, "A frozen t-shirt contest? At a church function?" The concept was that they drenched the t-shirts in water and then put them in the freezer all night to freeze. Then the contestants that were competing in the game had to unfold the t-shirt and then put the shirt completely on. I did not know the concept of the game when they asked for volunteers.
I sat there and looked at this t-shirt and contemplated many ways as to which I was going to unfold this frozen brick. It was as hard as a rock. As I attempted to unfold this shirt I tried breathing on it to warm it up, sit on it cause for some reason someone suggested sitting on it, and I also tried brute force which I though for sure would be the best solution and would undoubtedly work.
When I sat down and looked at that t-shirt I knew for sure I couldn't do it. When I felt it and knew that I had to unfold a frozen brick I said to myself, "What's the point in even trying because I can't do it."
Sound familiar?
Do you look at ministry the same way? Do you feel like, "What's the point in even trying because I can't do it." In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians he wrote:
CHAPTER 15: 9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Paul who wrote a majority of the New Testament and was a key factor in the beginning of the church said, "I can't do this. Actually I should not even be called an apostle because of what I have done but with Christ I can do this. With a little help I can."
So I didn't tell you how the frozen t0shirt contest ended did I? I won but not on my own. You see my brother-in-law to be took the t-shirt when no one was looking and took it to the bathroom and ran it under some hot water so that I could unfold it with ease. Meanwhile, I pretended to sit on the frozen block of ice. So needless to say I won. What I couldn't do by self was accomplished in a way that I never even considered, all with a little bit of help.
