A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Previous Message · Easy read/print edition Monday, July 9, 2007  Brooksyne along with Carol Menditto (right) and Lynn, who is the church secretary at Philadelphia Christian Center.  Click here to listen to us read this message on your audio player."Faithful Servants" "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). Last Friday we went to a Memorial Service in the Philadelphia area. Following the service we drove by the campus of the Philadelphia Biblical University since we have some friends who attended in the past. Upon our return home I got lost in the sprawling Philadelphia area and kept relying on my sense of intuition to get back on a main highway, since I didn't want to stop and ask directions or look at a map! We passed a huge and very busy casino and noticed across the street from it was a large church. I told Brooksyne "I think that's Phil Menditto's church". We turned around and sure enough it was the church where he is the pastor. We visited with an associate pastor who told us Phil was not in but gave us a tour of the church building. When we went into the sanctuary we saw Phil's wife, Carol, and had a nice visit. Phil and Carol are friends from Bible College. Phil spoke in our church in northern Pennsylvania several times back in the 70's. He and his wife Carol started the church in Philadelphia in 1981. We recall speaking for them once when the church met in a Howard Johnson's Hotel. They had services in a large function room and used several of the motel rooms for nursery and classrooms. The agreement with the hotel was that they could use rooms without charge if they took those that had been occupied the night before and would clean them before leaving! Over the years we haven't had a lot of contact with the Mendittos due to various ministry moves but we'd heard the church had really grown. It is now a large multi-racial, multi-ethnic congregation with believers from over 50 nations. The church has all kinds of programs unique to city ministry such as a feeding program to the homeless. They also have a hands-on Bible training program called Master's Commission among many other ministries. We were so heartened by our visit and the evidence of God's blessing on this church and our friends. Planting a church in a hard place and sticking with it for over 25 years is worthy of honor. I know they had some real discouraging times early on and likely have all along, as is true of all Christian ministry. They surely became weary in doing good at times. There were setbacks and disappointments. But they pressed on in faithful service, didn't give up, and are now reaping a harvest with scores of souls they are impacting for Christ and eternity. That's the joy of ministry and is available to all of us in service since the Word says, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Let us continue to be faithful servants! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, Your promise to bring forth a harvest to those of us who labor in Your vineyard gives us Scriptural motivation to never give up. In the process of planting gospel seeds we realize that many will not take root and germinate much like the seeds we plant in the fields. But there are others that will take hold of the life-giving Vine and spring forth into new life. Help us not to become weary by the numbers who fall by the wayside, but renew and strengthen our resolve to be faithful in service as we rejoice in those whose surrendered hearts have brought about changed lives! Amen. Some more people in our life   Kim Garrett joined us for breakfast Saturday morning and then went for a long walk with Ester. Kim taught Ester when she attended a Christian school and continues to be a blessing to Ester years later.  Jim is a friend of mine I periodically work with when I assist my friend Jesse in stonemason work. His family joined us in church yesterday and then came to our home for dinner. What a lovely family! Suggested music: "Find Us faithful" Audio version 1 Audio version 2 |
Administration Information  The Weber Family Stephen, Brooksyne & Ester  Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. Would you please consider a financial offering to support us in this encouragement ministry? Thanks! See here for details.Join: To receive these free "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. You can also subscribe to the rss feed. Cancel: To remove your address from this mailing list merely use the link placed by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each message. Weekly Version: The weekly version is designed for those who do not check their email regularly. It is merely the Friday message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Please feel free to pass this message on! Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com (Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link will help the Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission.) Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; and the King James Version. © Copyright 2007 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved  "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" We want to share a brief update concerning our ministry for readers who may be interested. This is an opportunity for us to share our hearts with you as we go forth in this online ministry. www.dailyencouragement.net |
