Stewards of God’s Grace

In Ephesians 3:2 Paul wrote of the “stewardship of God’s grace.” He was addressing his particular calling to ministry with the “Gentiles” but we can make a general application of that phrase as it applies to the ministry of the Church in the world.

Every Christian is the benefactor of the mysterious work of Christ coupled with the faithful stewardship of that Gospel of grace by the Church. At Center that stewardship has blossomed into our understanding of ministry as a “seed-starter” community. We are blessed with a small country church in the city that has an intimate family atmosphere which is “open” to all. We seek to provide excellent composting soil for rooting broken or severed plants and a place for building up new seedlings. That is our stewardship of the grace that we have received from God and from our forbearers in this historic little Church.

Some of the plants we serve become part of our own stock while others, re-invigorated, are replanted in their home soil or move on to grow in new gardens. We truly have been blessed to be stewards of God’s grace as we covenant to “work and walk together as Christian brothers and sisters, obedient to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures” sharing that ministry in Buckhead, Atlanta and into the world!

I also never cease to be amazed that the Apostle Paul wrote most of his epistles from prison! Even in the face of abuse and adversity, by God’s grace he could still say, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4) These are days of insecurity and adversity but, thanks be to God, while tomorrow may be in the haze, with Paul we know who holds tomorrow and we can say, “Rejoice!” We would share this stewardship of God’s grace with you too!