Fan the Flame

I talked on Mother's Day about the way mothers fan into flame the sparks that are inside people. They nurture and help their children grow. We are called as the church to fan into flame the faith that is in others. I also want to remind us to fan into flame a specific spark, and that is a call to full time ministry.
I was thinking back to my call to ministry. It first came from a former Sunday school teacher who said I would make a good pastor. Of course, I had bigger and better plans for myself, but that little spark was fanned by others. Eventually by the time I was 17 I knew God was calling me to enter full time ministry and become a pastor. I did have other options like becoming that great accountant I always dreamed about being, but my family and church family fanned my flame and encouraged me into ministry.
The Church, and especially the United Methodist Church needs more gifted and called pastors. We need to keep our eyes open for people with gifts that can be used to lead God's Church today. My hope is that as our church grows we will have people who are called into full time ministry and we can encourage them in that direction. We can give them practical experience in ministry and help them get the training they need.
We can be a congregation that sparks an interest in full time ministry in people and that we can fan that spark into a flame that will burn bright for Jesus Christ.