I was at a funeral a while ago and was introduced to a woman who used to go to this church.  When she found out who I was, she demanded to know why I changed the name of the church.  She emphasized her displeasure by repeatedly pounding her cane on the floor and then pointing it at me.  I smiled and I told her that we changed the name of the church from First Baptist to Greater Life Church, because we felt it better described what God wanted us to offer to our community.  She looked surprised and said; “Oh, that makes sense.”  I thanked her and I began to ask her about when she attended and who was the pastor, etc.

I have said many times that we are here by divine appointment.  God could have brought us anywhere at any time to do His will and we find ourselves in Elko, NV today.  We are God’s gift to our town.  My question is; what kind of gift are we?  Are we the kind that someone looks at says thank you politely and moves on?  Or are we the kind of gift that keeps on giving?  Are people drawn to us time and time again?  Do they just know that if they talk to us they will get the truth, sure, but they will be encouraged and feel better?

In order for that to happen, we ourselves need to open avenues for God to pour His greater life into us.  We cannot give what we do not have.  Galatians tells us that a natural result of spending time with God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23 (NASB)).  If you are running low on these, you are not alone.  There are times when we just seem to run out of gas and the answer is easy;  start spending a little more time with God.  After all, Greater Life is not our idea, it is His and He came to share it with us and through us.