We opened our new two month study on service and missions by taking a look at our divine call to serve God for His purposes, not ours. How did the lesson impact you, and what kind of service commitment has God called you to do? Respond by commenting to this blog post, and prepare to be greatly encouraged!
Also, if you missed the lesson or want to chew on it more, the PowerPoint, handout/worksheet, and Francis Chan balance beam video are all posted below after the jump:
The Lesson
The Handout/Worksheet
Francis Chan Balance Beam Video
8 comments:
Great message last night, Travis. I've been reading through the gospel accounts lately and I read in Mark chapter 7 this morning the account of the Pharisees and scribes questioning Jesus on why His disciples failed to follow in the traditions of the elders by washing their hands before eating. Jesus called them hypocrites and said they honored Him with their lips but their hearts were far away from Him. It reminded me of your reference to 1 John 3:16-18 last night which says we have to show love, not just speak it.
This week I'm going to focus on random acts of kindness toward strangers. I feel like I serve the body of believers pretty faithfully, but don't do such a great job toward strangers. Random acts of kindness are a great way to show love rather than just speaking it (which is probably not a good idea anyway with strangers!). Hopefully I'll have some good responses to post about here.
We had a good discussion today using the homework questions as a guide. There are definitely some ways we can serve our family better, and we're working to put some tangible goals in place. One thing we're going to focus on is guarding our quality time together as a couple. Daisy needs some quality time with walks too, since she's a valued family member.
To better serve the lost and believers outside our normal circle of friends, we are going to invite our neighbors over to dinner. We know them in passing, but we need to invite them into our homes to build more meaningful relationships with them. For our lost neighbors, we will be praying that we will have witnessing opportunities that grow from those dinners.
Kevin & Sandy Jordan
Great message about serving. I hope to be meditating on some of the verses this week.
Jake wants our family to volunteer at the food pantry on a Friday he has off from work. I love this idea, and we want Natalie to participate. We are striving to find opportunities where our children can serve alongside us.
One thing the Lord has put on my heart recently is to offer water to all those that come to our house during the day. Garbage collectors, neighbors, ect. I've purchased the water bottles, and have them cold in the fridge... now I just need to pass them out! I am hoping to maybe put some labels on them... like a God love you or something.
I'm loving the timing of this series. Don't know why or what specifically, but it feels like our class is gearing up for something big. Anyone else sense that?
I'm praying for clarity in the specific opportunities for Lynds and me to serve, as well as our class as a whole.
One thing I would like to see as a component of this series is how to discern God's will vs our own thoughts. I have found that it comes easier the more one on one time I spend with the Lord, but sometimes I still can't tell. Huge topic I know, just a thought.
Looking forward to the rest of this series!
Lisa and I have been talking about two things: hospitality and giving.
We're going to invite some friends and some neighbors over for dinner to get to know them better. It's always great to strengthen existing relationships and cultivate new ones. Our Lord will provide the timing and the words for sharing His Good News if we are obedient to having folks over.
As far as giving, she and I discussed ways to trim our budget to give more. Our Lord has blessed us with a stable job/income and we feel he's asking us to trust Him even more with what we've been given.
Thank you, Travis & Marvin, for the new focus on service!
Erin and I feel called by God to do two things:
1.) Serve at the Faith Center/Food Pantry. We don't yet know in what capacity, but we're probably looking at once a month to start. We will also be donating a lot of things there as well.
2.) Our neighborhood is filled with widows, and we are going to organize a widow outreach in our neighborhood to make sure their needs are being met. Even if they have family that look out for them from time to time, we will at the very least let them know they are loved by Christ and by us. We hope to get other neighbors involved in this (we know several families around our age that live in the neighborhood).
Great ideas, guys! Stephen and I were talking and we feel that we need to do some rearranging in our lives so that we can free up time to serve. We didn't decide on anything specific, just that we need new perspectives. A perspective that isn't selfishly focused on our family and ourselves. But on the world around us. Not just every once and a while, but a new way of life. Still talking about what that looks like for our family. Definitely want to reach out to our neighbors, help at the faith center and get rid of a lot of the clutter in our lives that is distracting us from our purpose. Can't wait for HA and worship tonight!!
We have really been challenged lately to seek out to serve and not be so focused on our selfishness. I have to be honest that during our day-to-day life, it sometimes seems so difficult to get out of our routine and volunteer. I know that Satan definitely has a way of whispering in my ear "you're too busy to do much more; you are hardly keeping up with your own things- laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc." I believe that God will provide the time, energy, and strength if we are serving in a way He is calling us and not just adding more "to-do's."
Ryan and I are starting to volunteer at the Casa El Buen Samaritano Clinic which is a free medical clinic in southwest Houston. They treat patients below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines and without any insurance. Their mission is to medical treat their physical illnesses and hear the gospel presentation and have the opportunity to speak with someone. We are excited about this ministry and the lives God is continuing to transform! We will be on a rotation to volunteer once a month in the evening and our first date is October 28. Keep this wonderful ministry in your prayers!
Ryan & Melissa Shearer
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