Serve!
                                It's One of Our Core Values
As followers of Jesus, our motivation for who we are and what we do in life could be boiled down to one single, governing passion. When embraced fully, this passion can become the incentive that gets me out of the bed in the mornings; the fuel that keeps me going through the day; the inspiration that guides my decisions; the urge that overrides my selfish impulses; the yearning that supersedes my temporal preoccupations. What is this ruling passion? It is the deep longing to one day hear the Lord of heaven and earth say six simple words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Many of you recognize that those words actually come from a parable that Jesus told in Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents. I think one of the main points, if not the main point, of the story applies to us all. Remember how the story goes? A man going on a journey entrusts his property to some of his servants. He gives each one of them a number of talents based on their ability. When he returns from his trip he discovers that two of them had put their talents to good use. One servant put his talent in the ground. He buried it. It produced nothing. He had potential like the others. He had "ability" like the others. He had opportunity like the others. However, he apparently lacked something the others had. Motivation!
 That's where my point about the deep passion to hear those six words come in. I happen to believe the two faithful servants were faithful for one reason. They were motivated by the desire to one day hear their Master say six words. The anticipated affirmation from the one they longed to honor and felt accountable to would be all the reward they needed.
Dear friends, I believe one of the real important points in the story, and in life for that matter, is that everyone has "abilities." We may not have the talent or skill set that some people have, but just like in the story, we all have something we can put to use for the Master. This leads us to one of our fundamental core beliefs here at Isle of Hope UMC. We believe that each individual follower of Christ, has been given unique talents, abilities, gifts. And even though our gifts and talents may differ, all of us need the same things in order to put them to good use.  We all need an opportunity to serve and motivation to serve. Well, I want you to know that the staff and the leadership of the Church are committed to providing opportunities for you to serve. As we envision our future together, we will be seeking ways to help every member of this great Church find a PLACE and a way to fulfill our third core value. With some creativity we can do this.
I believe that by working and planning together we can provide the opportunities, encouragement and the training for serving the Lord in the ministry and mission of our Church. What we cannot provide is the motivation. But then, you don't need us to provide that. You can find it in the desire to one day hear just six simple words!
Seeking to Excel In Serving Christ,
Mike