• Contact Us
  • Classifieds
  • About
  • Home

Pathway

Missouri Baptist Convention's Official News Journal

  • Missouri
    • MBC
    • Churches
    • Institutions & Agencies
    • Policy
    • Disaster Relief
  • National
    • SBC Annual Meeting
    • NAMB
    • SBC
    • Churches
    • Policy
    • Society & Culture
  • Global
    • Missions
    • Multicultural
  • Columnists
    • Wes Fowler
    • Ben Hawkins
    • Pat Lamb
    • Rhonda Rhea
    • Rob Phillips
  • Ethics
    • Life
    • Liberty
    • Family
  • Faith
    • Apologetics
    • Religions
    • Evangelism
    • Missions
    • Bible Study & Devotion
  • E-Edition

More results...

Just remember … God uses ordinary people

January 28, 2008 By The Pathway

Just remember … God uses ordinary people

Recently I had the opportunity to visit with some friends I made while we lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Phil and his wife reminded me of the day I asked them to take on the role of a Sunday School department director. This married adult department, I think, had five classes and a total enrollment of over 150 persons.

Phil said this to me, “Dave, I remember when you came to me and asked me to become the director of this Sunday School department. You told me that the enrollment was larger than many churches in the Southern Baptist Convention and that I was to act as a lay-pastor to this group. Well, that scared me. We had never done anything like this before. We prayed a lot about that decision, accepted the role and now have been a Sunday School Director for over 20 years. Thanks for believing in us.”

Through the years, I have seen many people just like Phil. There is great potential and ability. But many don’t think they can make significant contributions to the kingdom. God doesn’t use ‘superstars’ to do His most significant work. God uses ordinary people (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). 

The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember . . .

Noah was a drunk…
Abraham was too old…
Isaac was a daydreamer…
Jacob was a liar…
Leah was ugly…
Joseph was abused…
Moses couldn’t talk…
Gideon was afraid…
Sampson had long hair, and was a womanizer…
Rahab was a prostitute…
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young…
David had an affair and was a murderer…
Elijah was suicidal…
Isaiah preached naked…
Jonah ran from God…
Naomi was a widow…
Job went bankrupt…
John the Baptist ate bugs…
Peter denied Christ…
The Disciples fell asleep while praying…
Martha worried about everything…
Mary Magdalene was demon possessed…
The Samaritan Woman was divorced….more than once…
Zaccheus was too small…
Paul was too religious…
Timothy had an ulcer … and…
Lazarus was dead.

. . . no more excuses now. God’s waiting to use your full potential.

Comments

Featured Videos

A Video Story: Mission Minded Church Plant

Discover how Jesus is calling, providing, and sending His Church today. A new church plant, Antioch Church, saw the need to be missionally minded and take the gospel to Liberia.

Find More Videos

Trending

  • Missouri Baptist camps should be free from state bureaucracy
  • Baptist denomination banned in Nicaragua as religious persecution grows, CSW reports
  • MBC Prayer & Evangelism Conference to take place, April 27-28
  • Supreme Court ruling removes gag on Colorado Christian counselor, raises questions about Kansas City-area restrictions
  • Why do we, as Southern Baptists, cooperate?
  • Ventriloquism opens doors to ministry for associate pastor at Faith Baptist Church, Festus

Ethics

Supreme Court ruling removes gag on Colorado Christian counselor, raises questions about Kansas City-area restrictions

Michael Whitehead

In a sweeping First Amendment decision issued March 31, the United States Supreme Court removed a virtual gag on free speech which the state of Colorado had imposed on Christian counselors when talking to minors about their sexuality. The Chiles decision has immediate implications beyond Colorado—including within the state of Missouri.

Trump admin seeks stay, dismissal of two more pro-life lawsuits against abortion pill

Diana Chandler

More Ethics Stories

Missouri

Kansas City’s Northland Church reproduces disciples through church planting

Richard Nations

Matt Marrs says he would rather be a pastor of a smaller church that has planted 20 churches than to be pastor of a church with 2,000 members. Northland Church, where Marrs serves, has sent out 10 church plants and church planters in the past two decades.

Copyright © 2026 · The Pathway