In last week’s ACoC Alert, we asked everyone to update their Servant Profile for 2024. It reminded me of 1 Peter 4:10-11, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
We want to update the servant profiles to better align our current congregation with opportunities to serve in various ministries within the congregation and across our community. Serving others isn’t glamorous and sometimes even requires us to give up more enjoyable endeavors for the sake of others. And yet that is what God has in mind for His people.
Service to others will bless us and the community around us, whether as a teacher, volunteering to help with immigrant families, coat drives, or helping with communion. It can be as simple as assisting with communion preparation or teaching Bible classes for a quarter. Service is a great way to put aside our focus on self and notice how we are connected, even indebted, to others. When we start seeing the genuine needs of our congregation and our community, we are guided away from self and service to others.
None of us became the people we are alone, but by the sacrifice, time, and investment of many others from our very beginnings of life. And that doesn’t take into account what Christ has done for us. Serving others highlights bonds that tie us together, while reflecting God’s love. This is where we experience God’s grace. It points people to Christ. Jesus was the model of the grace. His example calls us to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21).
Please take time to fill out the servant profile by selecting the blue link above, clicking the button below, or going to the church website. It only takes a few minutes to complete.
When called to serve, do so with love and with the strength that God provides.
– Keith