Doing Church With A Heart To Serve

Doing Church With A Heart To Serve

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” – 1 Peter 4:10

How do you serve others?

Most churches have service events of some kind. Some have a few ongoing service opportunities. However, what if service was something built into the very DNA of the church? What if, instead of occasionally stopping our regular routine to serve others, serving others WAS our regular routine?

This was the basic question of a book I read, “Barefoot Church” by Brandon Hatmaker. Brandon pointed out that far too often serving others in the church is more about those who are doing the serving than those who are being served. However, the Bible is full of references to serving others. Jesus Christ, himself, said:

…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28

Jesus Came to Serve Us
Jesus came to serve us, the broken, sinful, rebellious people that we are, even to the point of dying on the cross that we might be forgiven and saved. He didn’t require that do anything for this great blessing. It was solely Jesus acting in grace and compassion, giving us the ultimate gift.

Through faith in Jesus, we are not only saved but also brought to life. This new life in Jesus is not like our old life. Through the power of God we, now, can love and serve others. We do not do this to earn anything before God, but rather as a response to what God has already done for us.

How can you serve someone today?

How can you serve in a way that asks nothing from the person you are serving, but simply shows love to them because Jesus loved us and Jesus loves them? I encourage you to look for a way to make serving others a part of your regular life. Why not start, today?

Serving with Faith Lutheran Church
At Faith Lutheran Church, we want serving others to be a part of the DNA of the church. One way we are doing this is through Growth Groups. Growth Groups within the church are able to find specific areas of service which they can be passionate about, be it mentoring kids, helping the homeless, visiting the elderly, caring for the sick, or whatever you feel passionate about. These small groups can then engage in their specific type of service on a regular basis.

Another way we do this is through church-wide service opportunities. The pandemic made it difficult to serve others for a while, but with life returning to normal, we will be getting back to having service projects and outreach activities as a regular part of church life. I hope you’ll be a part of it.

Dear Jesus,

You came to serve us, though You are God of all and we did not deserve it. Help me to serve others with the same humility and compassion You have shown me.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt