Throughout my 32 years of ministry, I have paused each year to ask myself, “What is my role in the building of the kin-dom of God? What is being required of me? What is God asking me to do?” Amazingly, the basic answer remains the same year after year: Venice, always and in all ways you are called to plant seeds.
Sometimes these are tangible seeds. I have planted carrot, beet, basil, tomato, pepper, cilantro, watermelon, eggplant, parsley and more to provide physical nourishment in the designing of God’s kingdom.
Yet often the seeds are silent. Sitting with someone in the midst of grief or trauma is a seed. So is praying in my head. More often than not, the seeds I plant are spoken or written – notes that encourage, sermons that challenge, workshops to inspire, articles penned to reach deep within. All of these are planted in hopes that tiny seeds will grow into large branches in God’s kin-dom – the spiritual, faith-filled scaffolding for God’s children.
This message is excerpted from “The seed power on our doorsteps” by Venice Williams in the January/February 2022 Gather magazine.
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