Happy Memorial Day weekend. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to stop and remember those serving in the armed forces who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Yesterday this was posted by posted by the wife of an active duty servicemen. I think she said it better than I could have, so I’m going to share her words.
“My kids have asked if superheroes are real? My response is that the ones on TV are not BUT the men and women who put on a uniform everyday are superheroes. They kiss and hug their families and walk out the door to not only protect their own family but all families in the United States. A person willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for a complete stranger is a superhero. These superheroes miss out on a lot of their own family events to keep America's freedoms. My family has had a superhero in it for over 17 years. I am thankful every time he returns.”
Please pray for the friends and families that live daily with the reminder of the ultimate sacrifice that many have paid.
Over the weekend my children were riding their bicycles and I noticed that one of them was riding low and they were having a difficult time making good use of their energy. I pumped a little extra air into the tires and the difference was substantial.
I have a question. How many of you are coffee people? Especially in the morning to get you going? Have you ever had to settle for decaf, or maybe half caf? What was that like? How about this? Have you ever had a situation where your car was not running quite right, but you had to drive it anyway? Maybe the engine was misfiring, or the transmission was not shifting correctly, perhaps you had to drive on a spare tire, or maybe your headlights weren’t working correctly.
Whatever the issue, I’m guessing that your experience was frustrating as your vehicle failed to meet your normal expectations and its full capability.
We have been working our way through Romans and Jon has been unpacking each chapter to help us be refreshed and to become a refreshing church. A few weeks ago, we discussed how God’s Kingdom is intended for everyone. Last week we explored what it means to be a church that offers true belonging as we dug into Romans chapter 12. Today we are going to jump back into Romans 12 and explore how God’s Kingdom is intended for everyone, but we can’t accommodate that if we don’t all step up and use our gifts to serve the body.
Romans 12:4-8 says, " 4For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."
Paul is giving the believers a clear message and is calling them to action. As a member of the body they have a critical role to play. Paul gives a few specific examples of gifts and calls each member to action. He expects each member to participate as a member of the body. He is calling them to invest their time, their talents, and the treasure in the body of Christ which, in turn, unlocks the full potential of the body and the work that Christ called them to do. Each of the gifts was critical.
What if none of them were to teach? What if none showed encouragement? What if none served anyone else? What if none gave generously? They would have been an uneducated, discouraged, ununified, and unfunded group of people.
I’m sure they would have had good reasons for not investing their time, talents, and treasures. They may have had other obligations or priorities. They may have believed that because their talent was not as visible or prominent as someone else’s that it was less important or significant. Perhaps some didn’t know what their talent or contribution was to be. Maybe some had other things going on that were also important and so they couldn’t take time to be present and invest. The results would have left the body operating with diminished results like a bicycle with flat tires, or a car that has mechanical problems, or coffee that has no caffeine.
I wonder what the church today would look like if all believers invested their gifts and talents. What is the Kingdom missing because we, for one reason or another, are choosing not to invest our time, our talents, and our resources?
What if Lakeside became a culture where every person chose to not be a consumer of church, but rather to be investors in the Kingdom?
What might God do through the body here at Lakeside if all the parts of the body were working for, serving, and investing their talents and relationships within the body?
Investing in God’s Kingdom
Paul hits on a couple of things here. Invest your gifts, and invest in relationships. He is saying to the church in Rome, invest what God has given you! Invest in the people God has given you. Paul makes it clear that all hands-on deck is needed because each set of hands make a different and needed contribution. No passive participants permitted.
He was instructing a No Consumer policy for the early church. Paul is laying out some specifics here in the second half of chapter 12 for how we should treat one another. He is giving instructions here for how to be the investing church.
I believe that the same instructions apply to us today. Invest what God has given you into the Kingdom, the body of Christ, with your gifts and in relationships. The advancement of the church is dependent upon each member making the choice to invest. What might it look like to invest? What can you do to go to take your commitment to serving the body to a deeper level?
Increase regularity of attendance
Get off the sidelines and onto the team (WTL; Pathway) Commit to the team Move from spectator to participant
Engage in group life. Join a group or class
Invest what God has given you back into the body (Time; Gifts/Talents/ Treasure)
Lead a team or group
To help spur your thinking I want to explore some ways that you can invest here at Lakeside. In your bulletin there is an insert with some of the ways that you could invest your time and talents here at Lakeside.
Some Ways to Invest in Serving at Lakeside:
Campus Maintenance Exterior Opportunities
- Snow removal/Mowing/ Trimming/Landscaping and Flowerbeds
- Fire pit maintenance
- Sand volleyball court maintenance
- Campus Maintenance Interior Opportunities
- Replace damaged ceiling tiles
- Installation of shelves and other similar projects
- Carpet care/Spot cleaning
- Wall maintenance (touch up painting, hole repair)
- Window repair/Window cleaning/ Light fixture cleaning
- Misc. small repair projects
- I.T. Support Team
- Help with hardware and software
- Chair Team
- Set up or tear down chairs to enable ministry
Creative Arts
- Musician (keys, bass, guitar (acoustic or electric), drums, violin)
- Vocalist (background, lead, or choir)
- Production team
- Technical (audio, computer, video)
- Stage design (carpentry, aesthetics, design)
- Digital media (Graphic Design, videography)
First Impressions/Guest Care
- Guest care (greeter, usher, communion prep, section hosts)
- Parking lot team (help direct guests to available spots)
- Safety team (Officers and trained observers keeping Lakeside safe)
- 1st Response team (doctors, nurses, those trained for emergency situations)
- Hospitality
- Coffee bar
- Meal preparation (funerals/special events)
Kids
- Early Childhood toy cleaning/sanitizing
- Elementary (teachers, kid’s groups leaders, assistants, kid’s worship)
- Early childhood (nursery, 2’s/Pre-K teacher, assistants, Team Leader)
Students
- Junior High and High School (group leaders, teachers, event planners, hospitality)
Adults
- Teach a class or lead a study
- Lead a group
- Host a group
Men and Women’s Ministries
- Outdoors Ministry (Piggin Outdoors, Wild Game Night, etc.)
- Men In Action (assisting with minor home repair and moving)
- Plan women’s events (Ladies Brunch, Progressive Dinner, etc.)
- Special Events (Cook & Cruise/Trivia Night/Journey to the Cross)
- Planning/setup & tear down/kitchen worker/grill team
Pastoral
- Cancer care team (coming alongside those dealing with cancer)
- Hospital visit (praying with those in the hospital)
- Meal train (take meals to families)
If you go to our website and click on the “Teams” button on the home page, you can indicate interest in one of these areas. We would also love to talk with you face to face, on the phone, or via email to help get you plugged into investing here at Lakeside. You can talk with any of our staff and we will get you connected with the right person to help you invest here at Lakeside.
So, how and where might you take the next step into investing into the Body?
It is less effective and inefficient for the church, the body of Christ, to operate with unutilized or misaligned parts.
If every part of the body of Christ were to passionately invest their efforts in the health and success of the body, the results would look like steroid use. It would appear unnatural and would be very noticeable.
Investing in God’s Mission
In Mark 12:31, Jesus gave us the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. He said that is second in importance only to loving God with your entire being. The later part of these instruction from Paul in chapter 12 seem to be more focused on what it looks like to love those outside of the Church, so in the context of Jesus instructions, they are important to pay attention to.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
As Christians, the way that we live, our conduct, and our attitude have a direct impact on how those around us see God. Who is your neighbor? How might you love them? In what relationships do you need to begin to live like these passages instruct? Where can you live this out more fully?
What does it look like for us to live this out? These can be difficult words to live out! But when we do the world takes notice. If you are not living in a way that causes the others to stop and wonder why you do the things that you do then you are probably not following Paul’s instructions here as to how we should live.
We believe that the Gospel is for everyone, and that we need to find ways to share that news. There are many ways that you can show love to those who don’t know God. In the insert you can see a few of the ways that you might invest through existing opportunities. God may have something more specific in mind for you.
I want to leave you with three stories of how three different people have chosen to invest their time, gifts, talents, and resources into helping connect people to God. Nathan and Kacie Jones are leaving for Honduras tomorrow for a week. Nathan is a physician here in Springfield. Their team is taking medications and He we be seeing and treating dozens of people while in Honduras. The team will be bringing healing to both physical needs and Spiritual needs for the week.
Ralli Mottar and his wife Judy are another couple who are intentional with what they have been given. Ralli, formally a full time officer, and former member of and FBI cyber taskforce, felt the need for and a call to talk about God in places that God doesn’t get talked about. Ralli and Judy built a shooting range where law enforcement and others can train for self-defense and practice shooting their firearms. Ralli’s goal is to bring people in and treat them like family. Ralli is intentional about bringing up the things of God and the truth that exists as he interacts with and trains the members. They invite the people that they interact with to attend church and learn more about God. Ralli and Judy are investing something that they have a passion for into God’s mission.
One final story. Watch this video. Hollis felt compelled to help foster kids through the James project. She took a passion for art and used it to raise money to buy beds for these children in transition.
If each one of us were to invest in God’s Kingdom and God’s Mission simply by using what we already have been blessed with the results would be staggering, inspiring, and miraculous.
Will you choose to invest your time, your gifts, and your talents? Will you help turn the body of Christ here at Lakeside into a well-tuned machine? I believe that God has some really exciting things in store for us, and there is no better time to invest than now!