Three Simple Practices Part 3 | August 25, 2024

Has been leading the

last couple weeks and,

uh, last week the song

tied to chains, right?

That whole chain

connection, which

worked out perfect

with what we've

been talking about.

And somehow, I didn't

get the email this

week until this

morning that we were

gonna drop a little,

you know, transition

worship song right

into the sermon

involving Christmas,

to which I thought,

thanks Russell.

Now that's a

curve ball, bro.

What do we

do with this?

And then it hit me,

what is Christmas?

Right?

Well, Christmas,

actually, the word

comes from this

word, Christ, mass,

that over the years

got blended to be

Christmas and Christ

Mass quite literally

means a Jesus worship

service, which

is what Christmas

originally was.

And then it

reminded me.

Huh A Jesus

worship service.

Now, there's a

tie into one of

our three simple

priority practices,

right, of the early

church, because for

generations, the

church has been doing

these three things

that are priority

practices of the

body of Christ,

from generation

to generation

to generation.

One of which

is the Sunday

Worship Gathering.

You might call

it Christ Mass.

Nice job, Russell.

Good segue.

The Jesus

worship service.

Right?

Since Jesus rose

on that Sunday, the

first day of the

week, the church has

gathered to celebrate

who he is and what

he has done, right?

And they worship,

they express praise,

and they share

together, and they

commune together.

And they gather

together and our

culture's been

pushing away

against that, right?

But there is this

coming with, that's

part of that together

picture, right?

That we move from

where we are to not

be isolated and alone,

but we come with,

and then we talked

about this second

link in the chain

all the way back to

the early church.

This second s.

That represents

small group

discipleship, right?

That the church

met in each other's

homes and they

spent time together.

And if you want to

get real serious

about small groups,

the Bible says

they met daily in

each other's homes.

We've been looking

for some hosts to

do the daily small

group at your house.

So far, we've just

got weekly volunteers,

but if you're one of

those daily people

come talk to me.

Right?

Uh, no.

That's not happening

in my house either,

just so you know.

But the church met

together on a regular

basis in smaller

groups where it

was safe to ask a

clarifying question.

You know, I mean

we, you might do

that here while I'm

preaching and be

like, Andy, what are

you talking about?

I get that and I get

that look in your face

sometimes, but it's

not easy to maybe ask

it in this question

or in this place.

Right.

It's a lot easier to

do that in a smaller

group and to spend

time praying together.

We have to all pray

for Olivia, and that

was a beautiful thing

to do as the church.

I.

But it's also neat

in smaller groups to

be able to sh to stop

and pray for lots

of different needs

that maybe don't get

shared in the big

corporate expression.

Right?

And we meet together

'cause we share

something in common.

We're disciples

of Jesus, right?

Followers of Jesus.

This word

discipleship's.

Cool.

Reminds me of a

plug I wanna make

really quick.

I never do this, but

go see the forge.

Oh, it's so good.

Susie texted me

and you know, I get

texts from Susie.

Susie every

once in a while.

You know, this is a

good movie, but she's

smart enough not to

send me to a movie

all the time, like

she probably wants to.

Right?

We went hung out with

Brenda and some of

the crew yesterday,

the Harpers.

Oh my goodness.

That's a powerful

film and really

encouraging.

In fact, I'm gonna

make you this money

back guarantee.

If you go see this

movie and you're

not encouraged,

I will fund your

miserable trip.

Okay?

So you come find

me and you say,

Andy, I didn't think

that was any good.

And it was a miserable

experience for me.

And I will talk to

Jamie and see if I can

get you reimbursed.

Okay.

But check it out.

Plus we get a chance

to send a message

to Hollywood, right?

That this is the

kind of quality stuff

that we wanna see.

But it, if you

go, you're gonna

be encouraged.

I'm encouraged.

I'm still

encouraged about it.

It was really cool.

So today, the last s

in the chain link, I

mean, let's be honest,

there's a lot more

than just these three

little pieces of chain

that connect us to the

early church, right?

But the ones we're

focusing on, on

these three simple.

Priority practice

is the early church.

Today's S is Susie

Alexander's birthday.

What the heck?

Wow.

Wow.

I dunno how that

got in there.

No, that is not Happy

birthday, Susie.

But, uh, yeah,

nicely played.

How much did

that cost?

Did you give like 12%

in your tithe and get

a birthday message?

Is that how

that works?

I like that.

Let's do that.

Alright, so today's

s is this, and some

of you have guessed

it, it's this.

The church met

together regularly

on Sundays.

They met in small

group and gathered

and encouraged

disciple fellowship,

all kinds of cool

stuff, and they were

involved in serving.

I give yourself a

pound in the back if

you got that SI know

some of you have come

up with some other

stuff like scripture.

Scripture's a part

of that all the time,

just so you know,

fits in everywhere.

But not just

serving, they

served one another.

The early church

was very committed

to this idea of

serving one another.

That they were called

as part of this family

of God, the body

of Christ to serve

the body of Christ

and their family,

the family of God.

The beautiful picture

that Renee painted

for us as the body

of Christ, right?

The church scripture

says this in Galatians

five 13, you, my

brothers and sisters

were called to be

free, but do not

use your freedom to

indulge the flesh,

the sinful nature,

rather, what's it say?

Serve one another.

Humbly in love serve

one another in love

service that's wrapped

in this beautiful

package called love.

Maybe not always

feeling like I love

you, so I want to help

serve, but choosing

to love sometimes

even because serving

one another, well,

what does it do?

The entire law is

fulfilled in keeping

this one command.

Love your neighbor

as yourself.

Jesus said the

greatest commandment,

love the Lord your

God with all your

heart, mind, soul,

and strength, and

love your neighbor

as yourself.

The second right,

the church recognized

that it's already

assumed here, that

you're loving the Lord

your God, with all

your heart, mind, and

soul and strength.

So what's left?

That we ought to

be agents of love,

that we ought to be

serving one another in

love that that's the

picture of the church

of Jesus Christ.

There's a defining

characteristic

serving one another.

This word serve is

not an uncommon word

for us in our culture.

I mean, some of us

know things like

tennis, right?

Uh, now I think

we would say

pickleball is the

predominant racket

sport in our world.

Yes.

Oh, careful, careful.

I did have to ask

Brian to make sure.

Uh, 'cause, 'cause

here's the big debate

amongst theologians.

Tennis has always

been considered

the earliest

sport in history.

Biblical

history, right?

Because in the Bible

it talks about Joseph,

the code of many

colors guy, right?

And it says very

clearly that he served

in Pharaoh's court.

So we've thought

all along, it's been

tennis, but maybe

pickleball isn't

actually that new.

You know what

I'm saying?

I appreciate you not

groan in too much.

Good job.

So we have sports

where we, some of you

just now getting that,

that's brutal, right?

Like, oh my gosh, I.

I am sorry.

I, I'm not sorry.

Volleyball, we

serve, we, we,

we, we use this

word serve, right?

In fact, sometimes,

not so much

since Covid, but

there's servers

in restaurants.

You know, we're used

to that picture of

people serving in a

restaurant and, and

doing some things.

I actually was

thinking about this

and, uh, I think

the clearest picture

of how our culture

understands this idea

of serving comes from

something called.

The self-serve ice

cream machine, right?

Or even worse now,

something we call the

self-checkout lane.

Oh my gosh.

Self-service checkout

the number of people

who ha, raise your

hand if you love

self-service checkout

where nobody helps you

with your groceries.

Okay, cool.

That's cool.

Well, it's a

very interesting

sociological look at

where we're at, right?

As a society, we,

we, we get service,

but we're really big

into this idea of.

Self serving.

Right.

And I would challenge

us to think that as

we talk about the

idea of serving, we

have a really hard

time serving without

self being a big part

of the equation in

what we're willing

to do this morning.

I wanna ask you

this question and

have you wrestle

with this 'cause?

'cause I have, and

it's not a fun one.

It's this.

Who are you serving?

Who are you serving?

I don't like this

question a lot because

there's an implication

that I ought to be

serving, and if I'm

not serving, then

there's a sense of

sort of like maybe I'm

not doing something

I should be doing.

So it's not a real

fun question, but I

think it's a really

important one if

you're gonna claim

to be a follower

of Jesus Christ.

We go back to,

uh, Roman 6 22.

Here it says this, now

that you have been set

free from sin and have

become slaves to God,

the benefit you reap

leads to eternal life.

There's a big

picture answer to

the question, who

are you serving?

Scripture would say,

it's not a complicated

big picture question.

You're either choosing

to serve righteousness

to serve God, or maybe

you're choosing self

and and sin, right?

And it's pictured here

in this description.

Very simply one

or the other.

Not a lot of gray

area in between.

There's sin that

you're enslaved

to or there's God.

Who do you serve?

This word slave is

an interesting one.

Uh, 'cause he gets

used a lot in the

New Testament.

To kind of be

interchangeable with

some other scriptures.

But here it's a very

strong picture of,

of slavery, right?

And bondage the word

here in the Greek, the

root word of dolos has

this image of bond,

servant and slave.

But you're

stuck, right?

You're in bondage.

Maybe because of

the choices in your

life, you had to make

yourself an indentured

servant or a bond

servant to someone.

And the scripture

is really, really

clear, right?

That those of us.

Who are apart from

Christ are trapped in

this bondage to sin.

The Bible's crazy

clear on it, right

that all mankind is

guilty of sin because

of Adam and Eve's

rebellion and the

consequences of being

born into a human race

filled with sin, but

also because of our

own personal choices.

God gave us simple

things like His

10 Commandments.

Don't cheat, don't

steal, right?

Don't dishonor

your parents.

Dang it.

I was doing great

till that one.

You know what I mean?

Every one of us has

broken God's commands.

And find ourselves

guilty before him.

And trapped Scripture

says into this

bondage of sin.

But because of what

God has done, he's

given us opportunity

to be well, a Bond

servant to him.

And I think Bond

servant works here

because the next

verse talks about

this idea of being

free from sin with

the imagery of wages.

That the wages of sin,

what we have earned.

Is eternal death

and the consequence,

but the gift of

God, the free gift

of God is eternal

life through Jesus

Christ, our Lord.

So there's this

imagery that we're

either serving

the devil or we're

serving the Lord and

there's not a lot

of room in between.

And a very important

answer to this big

question is, which one

of those two camps do

you find yourself in?

Are you serving

the Lord or are

you serving?

Yourself and the

sinful nature and the

flesh, all of these

things, if you're not

serving God, there's

just one other bucket

that everything

else falls into.

You're like,

well, I'm sort of

like in between.

I'm sort of

riding the fence.

I don't think

that works

biblically 'cause.

See, we're either

enslaved and in

bond service to

sin or to the Lord.

And if you're a

follower of Jesus

Christ, here's a real

hardcore reality.

We are servants

of Jesus Christ.

Yeah, we are servants

of Jesus Christ.

The early church

understood it well,

could it be because

a lot of the culture

of the early church

was bond servants

and slaves who came

to faith in Jesus

Christ in big areas

around the Roman

Empire, and they could

totally get it and

made sense to 'em.

Like, Hey, I'm in

slavery already.

I understand.

But boy, how much

better to be free

from sin and death

and alive to Christ.

And that's the cool

thing, because slavery

to God, bond service

to God isn't some

kind of punishment.

It's life and

it's hope and

it's opportunity.

'cause he is

good, right?

His burden is light,

his yoke, it's easy.

It's not, not easy

to live out, but it's

gentle and it's good

and we can trust him.

Jesus calls us

to be servants.

Who do you serve?

Are you a servant?

Most of us don't

want to be servants.

Most of us want

to have servants.

I get that.

I would like to

have somebody else

clean my room.

That'll be great.

That's why I

got married.

I just wanna say

that's getting more

trouble than IRDM.

Right.

Trust me.

Trust me.

Jamie will never

clean our room again.

And it was

probably time.

Jamie, can we sit

on the couch and

just have a moment?

Just us.

Uh, anyways,

moving on.

Jesus.

Was a servant, right?

Mark says this in,

in the gospel, mark

for Jesus says, for

even the son of man

did not come to be

served, but to serve

and give his life

as a ransom, right?

Why did he come?

He came to serve.

That's why he came

to serve and to

lay down his life.

Here's one of our

problems we get

into in modern

day and American

church culture.

I mean, Jesus was a

servant, but I don't

know if I'm supposed

to be or have to be.

You know what I mean?

Like he set me free

so I don't have to

really be a servant.

Now, he was a servant.

He took care of me,

and now I'm just

here living the

good life, right?

Except that's not

what he calls us to.

He calls us to die

to ourself and to

serve one another,

to serve him, and

serving one another

is serving him.

That's what he's

called us to do.

And we're like, ah.

In fact, he goes on

to say it here, right?

He's, he's

talking about in

the Washington

Disciples feet.

He says, now that I

the Lord, your teacher

have washed your feet,

you also should wash

the feet of another.

I've set you

an example that

you should.

What do as I have

done, this is

what Jesus said,

you should wash

each other's feet.

That's metaphorical.

Though, if somebody

beside you needs

a good foot wash,

you could offer

God's called us to

serve each other.

And I don't mean like

one of his hopes and

dreams for us is that

we might be people

who serve one another.

That's what we think

of called sometimes

like That's a

beautiful thought,

beautiful pipe dream.

Jesus.

No, it's a command

of his directly

to his followers.

Serve one another,

serve one another.

And then very truly,

I say to you as he

wraps that up, no

servant is greater

than his master.

Be very careful

that we don't make

ourselves kings while

Jesus is willing to

be a servant, right?

I use this phrase

all the time, and it

probably drives you

nuts, but remember

the phrase, serving

others does not

lead to greatness.

Serving others does

not lead to greatness.

Serving others

is greatness.

Jesus defines

greatness by our

willingness to serve

John the Baptist.

He says, no one,

no one born a a

woman is like him,

not even anybody.

Wow.

And yet, the one

who is least in

the kingdom is, is

greater than John.

That's what Jesus

said, right?

Servant.

We are servants

of Jesus Christ.

I wanna make a, uh,

I mean, sometimes

my brain is real

complicated.

It's really deep

and complex.

Just not usually.

So I wanna make

a simply profound

statement to you.

Are you ready?

I don't want you

to miss this.

This is important.

Servants serve.

It's good.

Right?

That's legit.

Yeah.

It even makes

sense, right?

It's, I'd love to say

that, you know, I had

deeper thoughts than

this this week, but

I don't think I did

servants serve, but

it's a pretty profound

reality because what

defines a servant?

It's their service.

It's not just

something they do,

it's who they are.

And Jesus doesn't

call us to do tasks.

He calls us to

be something.

He doesn't say,

do service work.

He says, be a servant

and servants serve.

It's what they do.

And if we're

gonna claim to be

servants of Jesus

Christ, then what

should we be doing

serving one another?

Right.

Serving one another.

And if we're not

serving one another,

I think it's fair to

say, are you really

following Christ or

are you just doing

your own thing?

Are you just serving

yourself and you can

go to church and that

can be self-serving.

You can make better

business connections.

You can see

hotter girls.

I mean, there's a lot

of things you can do

going to church that

are all about you

and not about what

does it look like to

roll up my sleeves?

And to serve one

another, right?

This word servants,

as I mentioned

earlier, gets

translated in this

bond servant slave

image and doulas.

But there's also

another word that

gets used as we think

about serving in

the New Testament.

And it's this Greek

root word, uh, DEOs.

And what's cool is

Greek order, don't

roll your eyes.

DEOs.

Was that close?

That's pretty close.

Yes.

Listen, if you ever

become a preacher,

don't let people

from the Middle

East stay, like sit

in your services.

It's very

awkward, right?

Very awkward.

Every time I drop a

Greek word, everybody

in Greek horse

family's like, dad,

did he do it right?

And I'm like, did

I do it right?

Right.

Like I just

don't know.

So Indiana Greek is

a tough deal, right?

But DEOs is an

interesting word

and it's a different

word that gets used.

Let's go back to

that Galatians

verse real quick.

This whole like,

love your neighbor

as yourself, right?

To serve one another,

humbly in love.

This word serve here

is not the duos kind

of slave bond servant

image to one another.

We're not bond

servants and slaves

to one another.

It's actually this

word diakonos.

And what's cool about

it, it means this.

It means minister

to, to minister,

to check out this

cool picture of what

Jesus calls us to do.

He calls us to

minister to.

One another in this

service to minister

to one another.

Think about that

for a second.

God hasn't just

called you to do

menial tasks for

one another to show

up and do something

random that might

be helpful or not.

Or fill a role in

youth ministry or

children's ministry

or be a greeter.

Help with the

coffee bar.

Come cut down trees

and help with lawn

care at the church.

Like what you're

really doing

biblically, you're

not just serving

or helping.

Because we, we

kind of make that

a menial concept

in our culture.

You're doing

ministry, you are

called to minister

to one another.

When you go help

someone who's in

need, when you show up

and you do something

with the children

or the kids or the

teens or adults or a

small group thing, or

you're helping do some

stuff with like the

clothing giveaway and

you're meeting other

family, you're not

just serving, I'm just

serving at my church.

Let's lose that word.

You are doing

this diano thing.

You are.

Ministering to others.

You are a minister.

And here's one of

the problems with

this word we get

into in the Greek.

This diano reminds us

of this word, deacon.

And it's actually

where we get the

word deacon outta

the Greek, and we'll

see this official

office of the church,

deacons minister.

Well, what's a deacon?

Well, some churches

still use the

terminology.

Do they use it right?

I don't know.

There's some different

words in the church

back in the days

here of Paul and

the apostles, that

they use different

offices of the

church to carry out

certain ministries.

And here's

the problem.

We think that

means, oh, we pay

someone to do that.

Gotcha.

So I would like to

be on the board and

help build a budget

so I can pay someone

else to do ministry

to one another so I

don't have to, and I

can justify it with

Anos 'cause it's a

deacon thing, right?

Here's the problem,

pastors, you're not a

CEO nor a celebrity.

This idea of Corporate

America church does

not work at all, nor

is it biblical at all.

And when your church

becomes such an

organization that it

loses the organism

that is supposed to be

the living, breathing

body of Christ,

then we got trouble.

And man, we live

in this culture

where everybody is

paying somebody to

do ministry instead

of being biblically

obedient to God's

mandate for his people

to serve one another.

Lemme show you

what I mean.

One Peter four 10

says, each of you

should use whatever

gift you have

received to DEOs.

Others.

This is not written

to the deacons.

This isn't written

to some fancy role

in the church.

This is written

to everybody

in the church.

God has given you

talents and abilities

and passions and

uniqueness, and

God has called you

to minister in his

church serving others.

We should probably

drop it and make

it an M ministering

to one another.

You are supposed

to be doing that.

What's my job

as a pastor?

Well, in America, my

job as a pastor is to

minister to everyone.

To preach on a Sunday

and for you to watch.

That's not biblical,

really at all.

I mean, maybe some

of what I'm doing, I

should be ministering.

'cause not that I'm a

pastor, but that I'm

a follower of Jesus

Christ and a disciple

of his, and I'm called

to minister to others.

I should be doing that

whether I am at White

Rock or whether I am

at McDonald's, right?

And they may need it

worse at McDonald's.

That's why I'm

gonna go there

and check it out.

But we're called

to minister, right?

And sometimes we make

this, we make this

excuse that because

I'm not gifted enough

to do this or that

God doesn't expect

me to minister.

Well, that's not true.

Yeah, every, every

single person here

has a gift and

talent and ability.

The Holy Spirit in the

life of the believer

gives us different

abilities and and

gifts, and he speaks

and breathes life into

us, and we're supposed

to minister to the

people around us.

Followers of Jesus

Christ, serve.

Right?

Who are you serving?

It's a big question

about are you

serving God?

Are you serving

yourself?

But there's also

a littler question

here too, right?

Who are you serving?

Who are you

ministering to?

Because you're

supposed to,

I'm supposed to

look around the

room real quick.

Just wanna make

sure you see

everybody Good.

Everybody here.

Nobody's exempt

from this.

I just want you to

know that if you

see somebody, you're

like, I don't think

they're supposed to.

I,

let me think about

that real quick.

I don't know.

Maybe a couple

of you, but No,

I'm just kidding.

No, not at all.

Right?

We're all supposed,

what about teenagers?

Are they supposed

to minister?

Well.

Can we just talk

about that a minute

ago, Olivia, right,

and Timothy like set

an example for the

believers in faith and

speech and conduct.

Teenagers.

You're supposed to

be doing ministry.

Nah man, we just

get ministered too.

Nah, I'm supposed to

be doing ministry.

Listen man, I

already did my time.

I'm a grandma or a

grandpa now and I

helped with the kids.

I am out.

Right.

I feel that I

have a teenager.

We haven't changed

diapers in a long

time at my house.

I'm not planning on

doing that ever again.

Just kidding.

I probably will

have to help.

Right?

We're not exempt.

Anywhere on the

spectrum are we exempt

from ministering

to one another?

That's the call.

And the problem is,

is you and I live

in a culture that

has taught us to be

self-serving, to do

what we want and to

just excuse ministry

as some profession

and not have any

responsibility to

the call to serve

others around us.

Who are you serving?

Who are you

ministering to?

'cause we're supposed

to be doing that.

We did a cool thing

launching some youth

ministry stuff two

weeks ago, and we

did a cool thing

with some small group

stuff last week.

And today right after

church, there's a

cool opportunity to

explore what's going

on in the kids' wing

with preteens and a

couple of elementary

windows classes and

some really little

Sunday school junior.

Crazy fun, and even

nursery stuff, loving

on little babies

so that Clinton can

have some friends.

Come on people.

Right?

Thank you, Renee.

But God has called us

to serve one another.

In love and it can be

hard sometimes 'cause

you don't always feel

like serving and you

don't really want to.

And that's that whole

love picture, right?

We're we have to

stay connected to

Jesus, the source

of love that we

might serve others.

And love is a

choice, not just

some crazy feeling.

I don't feel like

loving my spouse.

That'll happen.

Sure.

But that doesn't

mean I choose and

I'll love my spouse.

Man, Jesus helped

Jamie not choose to

not love me, right?

'cause I give her a

couple opportunities

a day, right?

We choose love and

we choose to serve.

The church of Jesus

Christ is called to

gather on a regular

basis, to worship him,

to share together,

to encourage one

another, to exalt

his name, to commune

with him, to commune

with one another,

and to proclaim

the truth, and to

speak the scripture

and the words of

life to the people.

And to one another.

God's called

us to that.

He's called us to

meet regularly in a

smaller picture of

what it looks like

to be a source of

encouragement and

fellowship and support

and accountability

and challenge to

one another, to

walk faithfully

with Jesus Christ.

That's important,

and he has absolutely

called us to be

men and women

and teenagers

who serve Jesus.

I don't know where

you stand with him

in the big picture.

Maybe you're busy

serving yourself and

not him, and you don't

really know or care.

But I challenge

you, this is a

defining question

for your life.

'cause you either

serve the kingdom

of darkness or the

kingdom of light,

and the world's gonna

tell you that serving

yourself is sort

of this gray area.

That's okay.

And scripture warns

you over and over

again, serve the Lord

with all your heart.

Everything you got.

But I think maybe

even more important

question for us,

especially if we've

made the decision

to know where we

stand, is who are

we ministering to?

And man, I challenge

you to wrestle

with that question.

I challenge you to ask

the Lord, Lord, who

am I ministering to?

And maybe you could

even ask this really

miserable question.

Who do you want

me to minister to?

Because the people

that you're sitting

next to, the body of

Christ, the family

of God, that we

are called to love

and serve, there

are needs, there

are struggles,

there are hurts,

there are pains.

And maybe you live

in this victim world

where you think, ah,

finally a message

about people serving

me, let's go.

No, there isn't

anybody, no matter

what your situation

is, who can't

also look to the

needs of others.

And find ways to

communicate, love and

hope and service to

the body of Christ.

Three chain links

to connect us.

Three, very simple,

profound, and serious,

and really important

practices that the

church of Jesus

Christ has done for

thousands of years.

We didn't invent

them in America.

We didn't create

small groups.

We didn't create

service projects,

and we didn't create

some Sunday morning

worship experience.

This is what the

church does, and this

is how we continue

to stay connected

and impactful in

the world around us.

So I hope you take

heart with that.

Every time you see

those crazy little

things, you're

reminded, and man,

I'd encourage you

talk to the Lord.

Lord, who can

I minister to?

Who should I be

ministering to?

Help me see it.

Father, thank you

for these challenging

thoughts over these

last few weeks as

we've explored this

connection we have

to being your people

for millennia.

Thank you for the

truth of your word.

Thank you for

the conviction

of your word.

None of us love

that at all.

It's hard sometimes,

and Lord, as you

examine us, you

know how selfish

we are as a people.

You know how

selfish I can be?

Geez.

And yet you love us

and you call us to

walk in obedience to

serving one another.

Father, I pray

that you would

help us examine our

hearts, that you

would speak to us

powerfully through

your Holy Spirit,

convict us of

areas that were

consumed with self

illuminate, shine

some light in areas.

Where maybe we can

be effective in doing

some ministry to the

church around us.

We wanna resemble a

whole lot better what

it looks like to be

your people than what

this selfish culture

around us looks like.

So help us love

one another well

in serving and

administering to

each other and let

those ripple effects.

Spread way outside

the church walls to

minister to people in

our community, in our

nation, in our world.

We love you Lord,

and we thank you.

Please guide and

direct us as we

just try to take a

step of obedience

in this area.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.