Serve Humbly In Love

Do you remember the first opportunity you had to serve in a ministry or church setting?  Something that really stands out in terms of how God can use you to help others and advance His Kingdom work? 

For me, it was my junior year in college.  I had not been walking with God in my first two years of school, but He finally broke through my selfish and independent spirit and captured my heart.  It’s a long story and I promise to tell you another day. 

So, God had changed my heart and my Bible study leader challenged me to step up and serve in ministry.  He said that God did not save me just for myself, but He changed me so that I could help others. I was at a place where I didn’t think God could use me with all the mistakes that I had made. 

It seemed like my leader sensed my insecurity, and he gave me an easy job.  He wanted me to set-up the chairs in the student union for our weekly meeting.  I remember being so excited that I was not even one bit discouraged when I found out how big of a job it was to stack, move, then unstack 150 chairs.  All I could think about was that I was finally making a difference with my life, and I was so proud to be serving Jesus in this way.  It didn’t occur to me that I was probably the low man on the pole of volunteers to get this menial job.  It sounds silly, but the pure joy of that service opportunity still fills my heart with peace to this day.

"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." - Galatians 5:13

What about you?  Do you understand that God has called you into a relationship with Him and part of that calling is so you can serve others?  Have you experienced the joy of serving in ministry?  If not, or if it has been a while, I would encourage you to step out in faith and start using your gifts and talents to serve others. 

Now I know it is a bit harder to volunteer in the local church today because of the coronavirus.  But there are still many opportunities to volunteer even if the ministry setting has changed a bit.  For example, we desperately want to restart our ministry to children, but at the moment we do not have enough volunteers to do it safely.  In this setting, you could be a helper, a teacher, or even a cleaner who follows kids around and sanitizes what they touch.  If you like a sense of authority you could even be a monitor who enforces the mask-wearing and social distancing rules☺  Just think about it because there is nothing more fulfilling in life than living for others.

Please be in prayer for us as we continue to grow and expand our in-person church services and programs.  I know that many of you cannot attend or serve for legitimate health concerns.  I totally get it and support your decision to engage with us online.  But if you can attend in person, would you pray about serving in some capacity?  We have many other opportunities we would love to talk with you about.

Thanks for being a part of the Chapel family.  May God give you peace and joy as you serve others.

Take care and be safe.

Derek