How Will You Serve?

Serving churches are growing churches, and serving Christians are growing Christians. It’s just that simple. God has placed His people within the church to serve one another (Hebrews 10:24-25) and He has graciously equipped His people for a ministry of service (Ephesians 2:10).

Something happens when folks in the church begin to serve. Ministries catch fire. Excitement fills the air. Guests are impressed. Members are encouraged. Christ is glorified. Show me a church that is connecting people in ministry, and where people are using their spiritual gifts — I’ll show you a church that God is blessing.

Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

It’s been said that we are never more like Jesus than when we serve other people. Think about it. Jesus came to die, He came to teach, but He also came to serve. Well, we can’t die like Jesus died (Romans 5:8). We can’t teach like Jesus taught (Luke 4:16-21). But we can serve like Jesus served!

In one of my favorite passages of Scripture, John 13, Jesus took a towel and a basin and simply served. He loved people. He washed feet. (And just to connect the dots – it was a picture pointing to His ultimate act of service through His death on the cross for our sins; cf. Phil. 2:6-9; 1 Peter 2:24) If the Savior of the world can stoop to such a simple, menial task of washing feet — so can you and I. We can serve like Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, we would do well to cultivate a culture of service in our local church. Can you catch that vision — of a church populated with servant leaders where regular service is a normal part of everyday life? This is not a mechanical, duty roster, work schedule, committee only paradigm — but a culture of all hands on deck, leveraging our unique spiritual gifts towards a common mission and vision. It’s a culture where we have strategically placed people in their lanes of service for their ultimate good and pleasure, optimal service potential, and the very best advancement of the local church ministry. Can you see it? Let’s press into creating and cultivating a culture of service wider than a committee or a team, but a culture that finds its way into the fiber of every person in our fellowship. You might not be able to do everything, but everybody can do something.

So how will you serve?

Find the need you cannot ignore.

Yep, it’s there and you see it. Others may not, but you do. Pay attention to that. Don’t look elsewhere. Focus on the burden God has pressed on your heart. There’s a reason you gravitate that direction.

Tap the desire you cannot shake.

You lay awake thinking about it. Oh, how awesome it’d be if you had the chance to live it out?! Wow, to really lead a Bible study. What a great thing it would be to go on a mission trip! VBS is coming up and you love kids! Or… you just have to extend your extraverted self with the welcome team! Let me encourage you — lean in and pursue your desire to serve.

Use the ability you cannot hide.

God has blessed you with a spiritual gift. He has wired you for a specific type of ministry. Spend some time thinking and asking others where they’ve seen God use you to bless His church. It’s an exciting thing to use your gifting to serve the risen Christ.

Find the common denominator of these three points and you’ll be well on your way to discovering where God would have you serve in the local church.

For further help, go to coatsbaptist.com/serve to fill out a serve survey. Someone will contact you about using your gifts to serve the body of Christ.

And don’t forget our February prayer emphasis: Service. We are praying God would spur us on to a culture of service throughout our fellowship. Check out our monthly prayer card for a few prayer helps. We’d love for you to pray along with us.