Today's Passage - 2 Timothy 4:19-22

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english 2 Timothy 4: 19-22     "Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all."                  Paul is a person who knows how to work together with people, there is always a team of good coworkers at his side partnering with him. In the path of ministries, the Lord never call us to go it alone, no matter how capable and smart you are, there is a limit to a person's ability; we need to learn how to labor with God, and labor with people. We have to be careful working with people, find the right people to partner together. How to find the right people? There are four basic principles: F.A.S.T.                  F is faithful; the most important virtue is ministering. Rev Nathanael Chow once said, "Little things are minor matter, but faithful in the little things is a major thing." This is why Paul exhorted Timothy, directed him to entrust the faith to those faithful in teaching others, he did not say to find the gifted people; instead he said to find the faithful people.                  A is available; a person serving God demands not only faithfulness, but also makes oneself available. Many people have talents but their hearts are in bondage to the world, having no time for God; and some people are so bogged down by their families that they are not available. We need to ask God to give faithful and available people to serve together.                  The third is S, submissive; this is a very important quality to serve God; not only submissive to God, but also submissive to people. A lot of people claim they submit to God, but they refuse to submit to the authority of other people; many people who pursue in earnest have  difficulties working with others because they refuse to submit to the leaders. A person who refuses to submit to the authority of the others, and one day when he stands at the leadership role, no one will submit to him.                  The fourth is T, teachable; one must be humble and teachable to serve God. The meaning of "disciple" is student, not only we have to learn from God, we also need to learn from God's servants, and also to learn from the situations that God gives us. Only people who keep on learning can continue to be used by God. Are you a FAST person? Be Faithful, Available, Submissive and Teachable!                                                         Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, make us faithful, available, submissive and teachable, so that in our way to serve you, we know how to team up with people as well as working with you to build your glorious church. We give thanks and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!