{"id":32032,"date":"2022-09-10T15:53:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-serves\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:53:33","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:53:33","slug":"3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-serves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-serves\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Cultivate a Congregation That Serves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-full wp-image-97749\">Kat Yukawa photo &#8211; Unsplash<\/div>\n<p><em>By Lynn H. Pryor<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What does a mature disciple of Christ look like? Over the past decade Lifeway Research has delved into this with thousands of pastors and church leaders. <\/em><em>Culling through the data, we discovered that strong discipleship ministries and practices could be put in eight categories. We call these eight categories the signposts along the discipleship pathway. One sign of growing disciples is that they serve God and others.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The latest findings show&nbsp;few Protestant churchgoers say they strongly agree they are personally taking actions that indicate a life of service to God and others.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Serving others is a good thing. Even those with no connection to the Christian faith will tell you that. Even if they don\u2019t know it\u2019s a biblical principle, people will teach their children it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Multiple studies even validate this:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-size:21px\">\n<li>Those who volunteer are 42% more likely to be happy.<\/li>\n<li>Those who give to charity are 43% more likely to be happy.<\/li>\n<li>Those who put the needs of others before their own experienced a \u201cwarm glow.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The varied studies share something in common: The focus is on feeling good about ourselves. We serve in order to be happy.<\/p>\n<p>Is that why Jesus served? Jesus certainly didn\u2019t need a boost to His self-esteem. He served because He loves. He had compassion on the people and sought to meet their needs (Matthew 9:36). He told His disciples, \u201cFor even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many\u201d (Mark 10:45).<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<p>The goal of a maturing disciple is to become more like Jesus. Jesus loves others, and we are to love others. Jesus served others, and we are to serve others.<\/p>\n<p>Our service to Christ and others is carried out in three ways:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Use your spiritual gift.<\/strong> The Holy Spirit has gifted every believer with at least one spiritual gift. We don\u2019t all have the same gifts, but corporately, all the gifts are present in the church. Those gifts are for serving the needs of the church. \u201cJust as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others\u201d (1 Pet. 4:10).<\/p>\n<p>Many people are eager to take a spiritual gifts inventory so they can know where to serve. Frankly, that\u2019s not necessary. Just step in and serve. As we get involved, we find our hearts drawn to certain forms of service more than others. That\u2019s an indication of where your giftedness lies. Embrace that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Share your finances and resources.<\/strong> Maturing disciples understand they are only managers of their finances and physical resources. God owns it all. We don\u2019t hoard money and possessions, but we are to willing share what we can to serve and meet the needs of others.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Seize the moment<\/strong>. We can\u2019t meet every need, but when an opportunity is right in front of us to serve someone else, we take it. Much of our service is structured and planned\u2014giving regularly and working weekly in a specific ministry\u2014but there is a spontaneous side to serving as well.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u03c84d653b5adc9df79bf8feb3eaa349-content\">See also&nbsp; What Sparks Evangelical Generosity? Discipleship<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>We have unplanned \u201cintersections\u201d with people every day, and maturing disciples are sensitive to the Spirit\u2019s nudge to step in and help.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Ways the Church Can Cultivate a Congregation that Serves<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>1. Publicize ministry opportunities. <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>For many church members, serving means singing, preaching, or teaching. Those are valid ways to serve, but they aren\u2019t the only ways.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t make a specific announcement such as: \u201cWe need two people to help with the youth group.\u201d If you do, you might end up with volunteers who aren\u2019t a good fit.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, offer a ministry fair. Give each ministry outlet in the church a table and display area. Let church members mill around and learn of ministries they may not be familiar with. People who can\u2019t sing, teach, or preach will discover other service opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, as individuals express interest in an area, you can counsel, encourage, and train them as needed to serve in that area.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>2. Model service.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The best training for service doesn\u2019t come from a manual; it comes from observing.<\/p>\n<p>As a church leader, you can\u2019t be deeply involved in every ministry around the church, and the church family already sees you as a servant. But you can strengthen the service of others by letting them walk along side you as you serve in the ways you\u2019re gifted.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if you\u2019re gifted in administration, encourage others with the same gifting. Let them see how your administrative work is both service to others and to Christ.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>3. Encourage mentoring.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ask others serving in different ministry areas to find someone they see as a good candidate for the same area of service. Challenge them to serve as mentors, helping others see their own potential. They can train them and bolster their skills.<\/p>\n<p>An obvious example is for every Bible study leader to adopt another person and show them the ropes of leading a group. The leader not only gains someone to help with the group, but when the church needs to launch a new group, a servant is trained and ready to step in.<\/p>\n<p>Serving others can be hard. It can often be inconvenient. And maturing disciples serve whether they experience a nice warm feeling or not. They serve because they\u2019re drawn to serve out of love\u2014love for Christ and love for those He has placed in their path.<\/p>\n<p>And better than any nice warm feeling will be to one day hear those words, \u201cWell done, good and faithful servant!\u201d (Matt. 25:21).<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019d love to hear from you. What are some ways your church is helping believers serve?<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-profile-box square gb-has-avatar gb-font-size-18 gb-block-profile gb-profile-columns\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-avatar-wrap\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-image-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-content-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Lynn Pryor<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gb-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\"><strong>@lynnpryor<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-text\">\n<p>Lynn leads Lifeway&#8217;s ongoing adult Bible study team that develops and produces\u00a0Bible Studies for Life and\u00a0MasterWork Bible study curriculums for adults.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"gb-social-links\"><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box su-box-style-default\" id=\"\" style=\"border-color:#000000;border-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color:#333333;color:#FFFFFF;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px\">Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"one-third first\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"two-thirds\">\n<h3>Horizontal Jesus Bible Study<\/h3>\n<p>Tony Evans<\/p>\n<p>  FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times?  What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation?  3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kat Yukawa photo &#8211; Unsplash By Lynn H. Pryor What does a mature disciple of Christ look like? Over the past decade Lifeway Research has delved into this with thousands of pastors and church leaders. Culling through the data, we discovered that strong discipleship ministries and practices could be put in eight categories. We call &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-ways-to-cultivate-a-congregation-that-serves\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;3 Ways to Cultivate a Congregation That Serves&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}