Finding ministries to serve

Community or fellowship is further enhanced by working together for a common purpose or goal. In the New Testament, such fellowship was sometimes expressed through financial contributions to brethren in need, or enabling preachers to tell the good news of Jesus. Working together necessarily creates community. When churches have projects, works, or ministries that allow them to work side by side in spreading the love of Jesus to others, they are building community. A church might participate in the Angel Food Ministry program or volunteer at local food banks or soup kitchens to help feed the hungry in their community. Habitat for Humanity allows churches to help in building houses for those who can’t afford them. There are a number of ways of getting involved to help the elderly, whether it is singing in nursing homes, participating in Meals on Wheels, or just finding odd jobs to help the elderly who still live at home. The Celebrate Recovery program is another way to reach out to those in your area with hurts, habits, or hang-ups. Every church should at least appoint deacons or someone to explore various types of community involvement in their area that the body of Christ might get involved in to foster opportunities for work that actually builds community in the body.

Everything discussed thus far has a common thread: sharing. Community is about sharing our lives together in and with Jesus. Until we see ourselves as Jesus’ community expressing Him in all our actions, we will never grow into His fullness as churches. We are extensions and instruments of Jesus. We are the body of Christ. This commonality in identity and purpose causes us to share a life together – the Jesus life.

Sharing is enhanced by creating opportunities for Christians to share. We share our thoughts about our Lord. We share His working in our lives. We share our testimonies of His power and presence in us. We share our expressions of joy to Him. We share our hearts. We share our failures through confession of sin. We share our thankfulness for answered prayer. We share our hopes and dreams in the context of His promises and coming. We share our money, time, energy, and gifts for His sake.

Comments

  1. Ryan ConnorApril 6, 2010 at 4:56 PM

    Terry, thanks again for a great, thought-provoking post!

    What do you believe the role of leadership might be relative to members of the body finding a place to serve in the ministry of the church?

    ReplyDelete
  2. TerryApril 7, 2010 at 1:25 PM

    Leaders are to oversee the flock and to build them up (help them to grow spiritually). Part of overseeing and spiritually guiding people involves training, encouraging, and providing opportunities to exercise their spiritual gifts. Some spiritual gifts are directly related to serving ministries. In order to help direct such gifted members to practice their gifts in the local community, leaders need an awareness of community needs and programs that are in place to meet those needs. Hopefully some leaders will easily and naturally direct others to do what they themselves are already doing. At least they should be able to point people in the right direction and put them in contact with someone who can help them exercise their gifts.

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