Talks

This week Andy talked about the Practice of Serving as an essential part of being spiritually rooted. He underlined the fact that his message was NOT a recruitment drive for new volunteers, but rather recognising that part of the process that God uses to develop our maturity in becoming more like Jesus (especially more loving) is formed and developed in us as we serve our family, our church and our wider world.
Using insights from John Mark Comer, Andy highlighted four key themes of serving:
Love - Serving is fundamentally an expression of God’s love through us to others, motivated not by obligation or a desire for recognition, but fuelled by our own gratitude for God’s love and the way that Jesus laid down his life for us.
Hiddenness - Hidden acts of service test and purify our motives.  We don’t serve for public approval or affirmation.
Availability challenges us to be “interruptible” and willing to prioritise others’ needs.
Kinship calls us to step beyond our comfort zones and build relationships with those outside our usual circles, especially with people who are not like us. (Challenging)
Whilst this talk was about “serving” being a vehicle that God uses to form us to become more like Jesus, Andy concluded that there are many additional benefits: For example serving others can be: Fun, Enjoyable, Fulfilling, Purposeful, Enriching, Encouraging (for us and others), gives us new experiences, gives a sense of belonging, taking responsibility, meeting people and building community!
Let’s consider the ways we currently serve, check our hearts and our motivation and ask Jesus to help us to use our serving to help us become more and more like Him!
If you would like to find ways of serving within the church, please contact one of our team leaders and they will be happy to have a conversation with you. (See website for more details.)