Fresh Mannaby Pastor Tim BurtThirty-nine years ago, when Renee and I started the Small Group ministry at our church, the Lord spoke something to my heart. He spoke it to me like a father giving his son godly advice. At that time, I had been laying out a master plan for our small group system at church. I had spent six months seeking God, praying, and thinking about it. My model was unique from what other churches had been doing then. There were no models like it to pattern it after. Most churches followed cell group systems, which was the trend in the 1980's. We had gone that route years earlier but didn't feel it was the best fit for our church. Instead, we prayed, asking God to help us shape a small group system more compatible with our culture and goals.The time was drawing near to launch the vision of our new small group system, and I had been praying about the leadership I would have to raise up for it. In my morning devotional time, as I was reading my Bible, my eyes fell on Zechariah 4:10 (NLT): "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..." I felt these words from the Lord impressed upon my heart. He said, You are not desperate! That's all He said but when those words were spoken, I knew in my heart what He was conveying to me. He did not want me to get ahead of myself just to achieve goals and hurt my efforts by raising up people into leadership that weren't prepared for it. The Lord was telling me, You are not desperate concerning your leadership so don’t act like it. Pray for me to give you the cream of the crop for leadership and over time, you will see that I will gave you exactly that. And the Lord did exactly that. Over the next few years, He gave me an amazing group of people that learned and grew and matured and were faithful. They became the leaders that served under me—many of them for the next 30 plus years. Many of them are still going strong today!The words of the Lord through Zechariah, literally changed my approach to everything and since then, has guided me through all my efforts in everything I've attempted over the years. God's instructions created great faith, patience, and confidence that what He was leading me to do, would bear great fruit if I would work hard and trust in His amazing grace and then start small, work hard and steady, learn from mistakes, and bear fruit!I learned that starting small gives you an opportunity to learn what you are doing, adjust your path and efforts as they need tweaking, and help you work through the mistakes everyone makes when attempting something new for the first time. In the small beginnings, there are fewer people to hurt or see you make those mistakes. That in itself is a grace from God!God had taught me at an earlier time in my life that He would equip me to do the things He wanted me to do. Hebrews 13:20 (NLT) says, “And now, may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus... equip you with all you need for doing His will.” Over time, I knew that this did not just pertain to ministry, but to every area of my life. No matter what I had need of, God would equip me for the things He called me to do. I would seek Him for His will and direction for my life, and for the equipping I needed. And from that point, if I ever felt anxious and less than confident about what I was attempting, I would remember that the Lord promised to equip me as I practiced small beginnings, and remembered those words from the Lord, I am not desperate!The following were some of my small beginnings:
- We started our Small Groups with about a dozen groups that grew to over 300 groups in it's peak.
- The Lord moved on my heart to begin running (which I hated in High School.) I obeyed Him and He brought an article across my path about how to become a good runner that changed my life. I began to run longer and longer distances and ended up running long distance runs of 12 miles plus for over 23 years, completing 5 marathons (26.2 miles) along the way.
- The Lord moved on my heart to create an commercial infant changing table for public restrooms. I started slow. I was not desperate. I created it and was the first to patent it receiving three patents over time. I worked to convince corporate America they were needed in all public restrooms. Within 8 years they were in McDonald's and Sears restrooms throughout the country.
- In the year 2000, God spoke to me about putting Fresh Manna on a website to reach the lost, and to teach, instruct, and encourage Christians in their walk with the Lord. It started small and today it's reached millions and has been read in 227 countries around the world. It also created opportunities to work with missionaries that continues today. I've also reach millions every month through Twitter.
- I live on a lot with a creek going through my backyard. In 2003 God spoke to me about building a garden. I knew nothing about gardening. I simply worked it, added to it, learned what to do as I went, and now I have and absolutely beautiful, 3-time grand prize winning garden and became a Master Gardener in the process. If you asked my wife one of her most favorite things to do, she would say sit on our deck and look out at our garden. I really didn't have a clue about what I was doing when I started but I knew I was never desperate and not to despise small beginnings. Not only did it allow me to do those things, but it helped transform my approach to everything with faith and patience.
Each of these had small beginnings that started with a leading from God. God would continually remind me that I was never desperate. As long as I put Him first place in my life, and sought Him continuously through prayer and His Word for His direction and guidance, I knew I would bear great fruit. It was His promise. Yet let me say boldly, with out Him I can do nothing and I mean it. I've had my share of failures when I tried things in my own strength! Shame on me! But because of His promises, I walk by faith, knowing that through Him, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and it all begins with small beginnings, steadfastness, and faith! And this is something you can do also!
Hebrews 6:12 (NIV) "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
In His love,Pastor Tim Burt
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