Fast Day 2: Healthy and Growing and Full of Love

By: Pastor Brad Wuori

Bible Passage: 1 Corinthians 12

I am so thankful for the day that God saved me over 20 years ago, I was lost and had no real direction for my life. I would pursue hobbies and things of this world that never seemed to satisfy, until I met Jesus and He changed my heart. He gave me purpose and belonging that cannot be found anywhere else! 

I remember, shortly after being saved, I read a verse that is probably my favorite (actually) found in Ephesians 4 as Paul is writing about the maturing of Christians. Verse 16 says this; “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” I remember thinking that this is what Jesus had in mind for how His church, His Body, should look and function. And not just one particular church, but actually collectively as well, we are not in competition, we are all working together, individual parts that are needed and in need of the other parts as well. As this happens, we are healthy, we are growing, and we are FULL of love. 

I am thankful that I was able to learn and grow from Pastor Bill, who modeled what it looked like to embrace and help to cultivate giftings within the Body of Christ with a genuine heart for the health of the church. He celebrated the part each person played without trying to control or compete and the result has been many finding their place at COTR to be the part that God has called them to be in the Body of Christ! 

Do you recognize that you are a part of the Body of Christ, that you have a special function that is needed for the Body to function at full capacity? My own testimony isn’t that God wrote in the sky and made it obvious, I just started with a yes! Yes to setting up chairs on Saturday night while we were mobile church meeting in a school, yes to picking up the equipment trailer (that seemed to always have a flat tire early in the morning) and bringing it to the school, yes to serving the church in any way that was needed. And as I did that, God began to stir different passions in my heart, passion to know Him and His word deeply, passion to share it with others, people at work, whoever would listen really and then He began to open more doors to share the Word with others. My point is this, if you don’t know your place yet, begin to look for ways to serve, give God your yes to a life surrendered to Him and watch how God will use that to help you find your place.

Do you recognize the need for the other parts in the Body of Christ? The more I have gotten to know some of the other local pastors, the more thankful I have become for them. Each church will have different expressions of worship and discipleship and outreach and I love seeing how God is using them to advance the Kingdom and serve the local community in love. Let’s pray for ALL the parts of the Body, within our own church and including other churches as well, that His church would be healthy, growing, and full of love in 2026, and that we would be that city set on a hill, shining brightly for all to see!