Eager to Serve

by Ray Galea

For 31 years, Ray Galea pastored Multicultural Bible Ministry, a thriving church in Sydney’s western suburbs. Raising up and developing leaders is key to what God is doing there, with hundreds of people taking their next step in gospel ministry at MBM. In Eager to Serve, we read of the shared experiences of Ray and his team, guided by the book of Philippians. Ray teaches us what God says in Philippians about the nature of Christian ministry and partnership in the gospel, pausing along the way with the stories of real people in gospel service.

Eager to Serve is perfect for anyone considering giving themselves to the world of full-time ministry. Ray sticks close to God’s word, examining life through its lens, and paints an excellent portrait of the highs and lows of ministry life. This is a resource that will help many decide if vocational gospel work is also for them.

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Ray Galea is an Anglican minister who leads the pastoral team at St Alban's Multicultural Bible Ministry at Rooty Hill in western Sydney. His special brief is to work cross-culturally among second-generation Mediterranean and Middle Eastern people in the region.

Ray grew up as a member of a devout Roman Catholic family, and played an active role as a boy in his local parish church. Prior to training for the ministry, Ray worked as a social worker in Wollongong for three years where he specialized in marriage and family counselling. He is a graduate from Moore Theological College. He is married to Sandy and they have has three children: James, Amy and Madeleine. He has recently authored the book Nothing in My Hand I Bring (Matthias Media, 2008) which has become a focus of interest in the lead-up to Pope Benedict's visit to Sydney in July for Catholic World Youth Day.

Reviews

[Ned Pratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A confusing book with helpful insights. Eager to serve was an odd read, my wife and I were gifted it as an encouragement to continue serving in our day to day lives but realised fairly quickly the book seemed to focus more on the MTS program.

The more we read the more it felt like Ray was trying to get readers to do MTS and put aside lay ministry. Ray makes great points about how people should serve but uses examples from Philippians to only encourage vocational ministry rather than pointing to the fact Paul calls all Christians to serve whole heartedly in the passages sighted.

While there is great merit to encouraging vocational ministry and helping people think through whether they are called to it, it seems disingenuous to title a book 'Eager to serve' whilst ignoring God's instruction to his people to serve in all of life. That includes working in secular work places where you are one Christian witness amidst any number of unbelieving people. That includes reading the bible and praying with friends even though you aren't getting paid to do so. It even includes being married and having kids.

I gave this book a 3/5 not because I object to any particular sentence (even though the wording of one or two are odd) but because it is an insufficient call to serve. Anyone who reads this book and doesn't go into vocational ministry would reasonably feel less than one who did purely because this book repeatedly celebrates the idea that 'I can't serve Jesus enough without giving up my job or doing full time ministry'. This is not good. Your whole life is service. It doesn't always need to be an explicit conversation spelling out John 3:16 but we are called to live entirely for God no matter our occupation.

Anyway this ended up being longer than I thought it'd be. I think I would only recommend this book if someone wanted very badly to hear the most pro MTS stance you may ever hear.

[Tim Goldsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aimed at people who are considering stepping into gospel ministry, "Eager to Serve" covers Ray's story of stepping into full time ministry as he started off MBM (originally Maltese Bible Ministry and now Multicultural Bible Ministry, a large & thriving church network in the West of Sydney). The book looks at a number of big questions one might have when considering ministry, finishing each chapter with the story of an MBM member.
Of course, I've been a full-time gospel worker for almost 20 years now, but I was still encouraged, being reminded that I'm investing in something that lasts.
A great book to give anyone thinking about becoming a gospel worker, or even just people who might lean into doing stuff with their church.

[Nate Xing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little book that showed me what a heart transformed by the gospel looks like. Loved the real stories, and the honesty about the ups and downs of Christian ministry (and the Christian life).
Worth reading for anyone who is looking for a bit of encouragement, or a bit of courage in taking that next step in serving Jesus with everything.

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good read, very thought provoking and challenging the underlying motivations and emotions around ministry.

[Jeff Ke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am convinced you get more out of rereads than first reads for Christian books haha. I felt like I got a lot more out of this short little book on my reread.

There were moments that this book really challenged me and helped me to consider where my priorities and hope lay in life. Ray writes in a way that is both quite accessible, but also helps you do some deep digging in yourself. I especially loved Ray's repeated catchphrases "What's good for the gospel was good for the apostle" and "the gospel is the only lifeline thrown out to humanity". They really did stick in my mind even when I wasn't reading the book.

I did think, however, that the book was a little disjointed in some ways. It seemed to be an ad-hoc selection of different topics broadly related to vocational ministry. I wished Ray had spent a little bit more time explaining why vocational ministry is a good conviction to hold for committed Christians. And it wasn't clear why Philippians was the letter Ray chose to commentate on in this book...other than because it talks about topics the book touches on.

[Tom Creek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book! Ben Pfahlert says in the blurb that it’s one of the best books he’s read, and I can see why. Super helpful to guide thinking about ministry.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise, powerful, and touching book which interweaves an analysis of gospel-focused ministry in Philippians with personal stories of those who have taken steps to serve. I was left a little confused by the introduction over the discussion of kingdom and non-kingdom work, or "work in the Lord" and "work of the Lord". However, it is made clear that both can be done for God. The rest of the book hones in on what it looks to be single-minded for God, knowing that "the gospel is the only lifeline thrown out to humanity", and urging the reader through the use of other's stories to consider the next step in their ministry. As someone who has just begun their ministry apprenticeship journey, I found this a great reminder of gospel motivation to hold onto Jesus, and a challenge to trust in him alone. Would recommend this for a Christian at any stage in their walk

[Rohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapter 2, 4 & 5 are excellent. The stories added were great too. Even though I heard the original talks, this book was "worth" reading. It reminded me that God's got this, the gospel is the only lifeline to humanity, that generosity should be painful.

Thanks Ray Galea!

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the inclusion of stories about how different people found their way into ministry.

[Talicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to think about, looks through all of the different stages and thought processes of deciding whether to go into ministry

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a very Bible centred book as he guides us through Philippians, and I found the real life testimonies encouraging. He had a great focus on the urgency and importance of the gospel and supporting that with our time, prayers and financial generosity.

I was hoping this book would talk about who’s fit for full time ministry vs supporting others in it while at the same time still living sacrificially for the gospel. But instead he mainly focused on challenging everyone to consider gospel ministry and what gospel ministry looks like/entails (guarding the gospel, sacrificial etc). It’s still very helpful but didn’t clearly address the main thing that I thought it would - the blurb says “This is a resource that will help many decide if vocational gospel work is also for them”. Still worth the read but doesn’t explicitly answer that question, it does address anxiety as a gospel worker which was helpful. Solid 3.5/5

[Lydia Rufus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really helpful book in thinking through different aspects of gospel ministry, with a strong call toward it.
My favourite bits were the true stories of Christians peppered throughout the book.
Nice that the author is Aussie and in a very similar current context.

[Daniel Pass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book by Ray. Read all his other titles and sat under his biblical teaching. Knew all of the personal testimonies in the book. They were indeed godly examples. Opposite of anxiety is prayer is a nice principle from Phillipians. Short and easy to read.

[Amelie Salas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a sobering encouragement. Galea expounds biblical wisdom, which has made me seriously consider my future and how I can get involved more in gospel ministry.

[Tom Pountain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often struggle with sermons-become-books but these sound like great sermons at least! May have been better as some straight exegesis of Philippians or freed to get into more detail of ministry life, but still a good handling of both.