Pastor's Corner – October 24th, 2022
I entered the ministry at the age of 19 with a single ambition - to serve the small Methodist Church to which I had been called.
A few years later we began the process of planting Faith Church and I sincerely wanted to reach people for Jesus in a fresh way, but I was also pretty interested in making a name for myself.
I wanted a big church, and I was pretty sure God was in favor of that wish, so it seemed like a win-win situation for both of us.
But how many of you know, God won’t bless what you claim as exclusively your own. One day, the Lord asked me if the church was mine or His. He raised that question during a time when I was praying that we could spark a revival in Birmingham, bring an end to segregated worship and generally re-shape church in such a way that people would write books about it. It seemed like a reasonable request; however, as I prayed, the Spirit of God impressed something on my heart that left me broken: He said “And what if I answer this prayer, sending a revival into Birmingham beyond all you’ve asked or imagined, -- but I choose a different church in this city to accomplish that?
What if that other church grows, and that pastor becomes famous, and Faith Church stays the same? And what if one day when they write the history of Christianity, they never even mention you or Faith Church?”
I knew how I was supposed to answer that question. I was supposed to say, “yes, Lord! As long as the Kingdom increases, I’ll be satisfied!” But I had to admit, I didn’t just want the Kingdom of God to grow, I wanted the Kingdom of Aubrey to grow. I realized that somewhere along the way, “thy kingdom come” had become “my kingdom come.”
I can’t say that I’ve completely gotten over all of my sinful desires for success and acclaim, but that Saturday evening marked a turning point in which the eyes of my heart shifted from building my kingdom to being used by God to build His. So, what are you praying – “thy kingdom come” or “my kingdom come”
Blessings
Pastor Aubrey Miller