Hi friends, this is Paul Scharf, Church Ministries representative with the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. I'd just like today to share a word of encouragement to those of you who are in small churches. Small churches are a big subject. I pastored two small churches. I speak in a lot of small churches. Sometimes we have really wonderful days in small churches. Now there can be reasons why a church may be small and some of those are very legitimate and understandable. Sometimes they're not so great. But God can use a small church. Whatever the past may have been, God can take that small church and use it for great things. I believe that. Let me just say this culturally, just purely in terms of America, I think small churches to this day are the backbone of this country. And we could really say that to a large extent with regard to the church and the Christian world. Small churches are really the backbone, especially here in America, of the work of God in our country. We will always have small churches. There are some small churches that do a powerful work for the Lord. As I said, we have had some tremendous opportunities within small churches in our work with the Friends of Israel. One reason that we're in a lot of small churches is because, first of all, there's a lot of them. Most churches are small. Secondly, it's a lot easier to get into small churches when you're looking for opportunities to teach and preach and share the ministry. If you call a great big megachurch, they may not be so excited about handing the pulpit over, the whole service, the whole Sunday over to someone that they may not even know, even if they know the friends of Israel, they may not know me and that might not be something that's too exciting of a prospect in their plans. I love to do that when it occurs and praise God for larger churches as well. But you know a lot of times in a smaller church it's easier to make a connection, get to know the pastor directly, get to know the people. and receive an invitation to have someone say, sure, we'd love to have you come in and speak on behalf of and about the friends of Israel. You know, when the people of Israel returned from the Babylonian and Medo-Persian captivity and rebuilt the temple, Ezra chapter three, verse 12, says that many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, verse 13, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off. And the prophet Zechariah had a word about all of that weeping, comparing the second temple with the Solomonic temple, and being so utterly disappointed when they saw what it was going to be like when it was rebuilt following the captivity. Zechariah said these words in Zechariah 4.10. You've probably heard them before. He said, has despised the day of small things. God can take that which is small in our eyes and he can use it in great ways. And that's true and it's spoken directly about the second temple into which, by the way, our Lord walked when he was on this earth. But it's also true of our ministry in our churches today, isn't it? You know, there are some small churches that have made a much larger impact than would normally be commensurate with their physical size. Their reputation precedes them. They're known for doing something with excellence and they have made an impact for the gospel, for teaching the whole counsel of God, even though they're a relatively small church. So if you're in a small church today, be encouraged. There are lots of them, and God can use them, and God can help you to take your small church and use it in a big way for his glory. And your small church is not too small for the friends of Israel. So please call us if we can be an encouragement, come and minister in your midst. We'd love to do that. Just thinking with you today about small churches, and may God bless you as you consider these words. Thanks so much.
Paul Scharf, church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, answers another frequently asked question about the Scharfs' ministry with FOI in this short video. The question is: "What about small churches?" We hope that you will find his answer helpful and that it will encourage you to utilize our services. May God bless you as you listen and share this talk.