“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
-Matthew 28:19-20

A young man was walking and walking.  Eventually, he became very tired and hungry.  He came to a house and thought to himself, “There must be plenty of food at that house”.  He knocked on the door and asked for some food.  The little old lady said, I don’t have anything to give you”.  The tired young man said, “If you won’t give me something to eat, will you give me a stone?”  The old lady told him that he could not eat a stone.  Nevertheless, the young man insisted that he could make stone soup.  He picked up a stone and asked her to put it in a pot of boiling water.  As it was cooking, he said it would cook faster with some onions.  So, the lady added some onions.  It smelled good.  The young man said it would smell better with some carrots.  Later came some beef bones, salt, pepper, and barley.  Now you know how to make stone soup.

So, what might be the correlation between stone soup and the church?  Envision the church as a pot where you make the soup.  The ingredients come from you!  Yes, the church grows because YOU and the other members pour your gifts and talents into the church. Imagine the church as a pot of water with a stone bubbling in it.  Nothing happens unless we bring what God has given to us and put it into the pot we call “the church”.  Like stone soup, the church doesn’t go anywhere unless you offer what “you” have to the church.

You might think your talents are equivalent to an onion or a stone.  Don’t let Satan deceive you. I invite you, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to use your talent and pour into the pot called “the church”.  As you and others witness things happening, it will be far more significant than making stone soup.  Let me just give you some examples; you may be good at cleaning, washing windows, caring for Communion ware, or maybe as a leader or maintenance.  The list could certainly go on.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His disciples (to include you and me) that the Holy Spirit would come upon them.  Think for a moment of those 12 disciples whom Jesus commissioned to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations”.  What a difference those 12 men made, and so can you.