Mark 10:43
“You are to lead by a different model.
If you want to be the greatest one,
then live as one called to serve others.”
We are called to be a body of believers assembled, not just gathered, for the greater good of the Kingdom. Serving and being in community are parts of each of our lives' callings. We encourage you to serve where your gifts and passions will be best utilized. However, we recognize there are seasons of obedience and stretching where the Lord will ask you to serve where the greatest need is or in an area you have never served in before. Please prayerfully consider where He would have you commit to serving in this season.
Why Do We Serve?
When We Serve all four of our Pursuits are Evident
We experience Transformational Discipleship. The simplest way to follow Jesus is by doing what He did. In Matthew 20:28, Jesus tells us He came to serve, not be served. By being obedient to follow Jesus in this way, we get to know Him on a new leverl as we experience firsthand His love for others. We begin to look more like Him. We transform more into His image from one degree of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).
We are drawn into Kingdom Community. Meeting new people can be challenging and even intimidating. Going to someone else's House for a group might be overwhelming, but what better place to meet new friends than in the Lord's House? As you serve alongside people, they become the people you talk to in the lobby, who pray for you, you sit next to in-service, and who might be part of the group you find. And John 17, Jesus, prayed for God to protect us so we would be one as He and the Father are one. This oneness is best experienced in and through participation in the church by serving and loving one another well.
We can Pursue the Presence of God and experience his power firsthand. In John 2:1-11, Jesus performs his first miracle by turning the water into wine. Other than Mary, only the servers at the wedding witnessed this miracle. The attendees received the benefit of the new wine, and the wedding party saved face because of the miracle, but the servers had the first opportunity to witness Jesus power. Serving gives us a front row seat to his great work in the lives of others, and that naturally produces faith in us.
When we operate in Sacrificial Mission, we get to live our identity as Christ's followers, and the Romans 12 mandate on our lives to be Living Sacrifices. Jesus didn't just serve the strangers and masses. He served those closest to him, He served his own community. We have each been given a gift to build God's house and our church community.