When we serve each other in love, we find the fulfillment and purpose that God has designed us for.
Reasons to Serve:
Serving kills our selfish nature.Serving helps us find and live in our passions.
Serving is investing in the spiritual growth of others.
Serving has tangible physical and mental health benefits.
We can study and know about God, but if we want to experience the abundant and life changing love of God in tangible ways, we have to move beyond knowledge and into an intimate relationship with God. It's impossible to have an intimate relationship with God without prayer. Prayer is communicating with God, sharing with Him what is going on in our lives, and learning to listen as God speaks and guides us closer toward Him.
Everyone desires community where they can belong and be known. Belonging meets our need to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and when we are known by others we feel valued and cared for. God gave us these desires for belonging and being known because he designed us to live in relationship with others and with Him.
Our desire is to be a church where everyone can be known. Part of how we achieve this is through serving together (more on that in 2 weeks) and by being in life groups.
Following Jesus and attending a church can feel complicated, but our relationship with God doesn't have to be complex. We're starting this year by focusing on simple things everyone can do to follow Jesus.
In Part 1, we began by talking about how Everyone Can Grow. God desires to lead us on a journey that takes us closer to him. This journey always involves spiritual growth.
When it comes to spiritual growth, speed and progress, matter more than distance and position.
Let's face the truth. Christians have a reputation for being friendly just so we can invite someone to church or talk about faith. Yes, it is part of our faith to share our faith, but we could do this in a way that doesn't cause fear or anxiety. It starts with building a real friendship and being the kind of person that can talk about faith without getting defensive or dismissive.
In our world today, the topic of politics is not going away anytime soon, and the conversations about politics are getting less tolerant and more inflammatory. But the New Testament presents a different perspective on politics, one where people encountering the message of Jesus is vastly more important than creating laws or gaining control of society.
Politics can't save the world, only Jesus can.
Often people think that Christianity is patriarchal, and old-fashioned in its views on gender and leadership in the church. But as we learned on Sunday, the teachings of scripture are constantly and consistently moving toward equality in church leadership.
Under the New Covenant that Jesus Christ began, leadership and authority in the church is determined by spiritual gifts, not gender.
You can practice everything we’ve talked about so far to help you lessen your worry, anxiety and stress. But sometimes that’s not enough. What if a large part of the problem with your stress is the source and frequency of the information pouring into your life. Has the rise of social media and 24/7 communication made it easier to be at peace, or more difficult? And what can you do about it?
