Our church is launching an incredible opportunity June 12–19 for c|Lifers here and around the world to intentionally serve others. We believe that if those who call c|Life home will take a moment to look around, they will see both physical and spiritual needs abound. As we open our eyes, God will reveal endless opportunities to step into the lives of others with a helping hand and, more importantly, a message of eternal hope. At the end of the day, the goal is to encourage those who are in Christ and to lead the lost to Jesus.

Serving others is not just a good thing to do for your conscience. It is so much more than a benevolent act that leaves you with a good feeling or sense of accomplishment. When you and I serve others, we are imitating Jesus in a real and tangible way. I would go so far as to suggest that we are never more like Christ than when we are laying aside our own interests to serve the interests of others.

We don’t have to look further than the cross to see the sacrificial, servant-mindedness of Jesus. There are other places that often get overlooked. Jesus was serving others when he performed his first miracle of turning ordinary water into extraordinary wine at a wedding. The wedding’s host could have been punished legally for running out of wine, but Jesus stepped in and served this man in a redemptive way. Jesus was serving his disciples when he knelt and washed their feet. He served the hungry by feeding them. He served the sick by healing them. Jesus served others consistently. He modeled in tangible ways what it looks like to step into other people’s lives and bring hope.

I trust that you will prayerfully consider serving with us June 12–19 during SERVE week. The hope is that this special time set aside for emphasis will be a catalyst that thrusts thousands of people into a lifestyle of daily, intentional, gospel-motivated service of others. The hope is that this initiative would help us develop a genuine care for others and be more sensitive to and aware of opportunities that are all around us. The hope is that we would see a need and then meet that need in Jesus’ name.

Here are a few reasons you may not be keen on stepping into this opportunity and a solution for each one:

  1. You don’t really have a desire in your heart to serve others.
    SOLUTION: Pray that God would change your heart and make you more like Jesus.
  2. You don’t really have time to serve other people.
    SOLUTION: Drop some stuff that is on your personal calendar. If you are too busy to serve others, you are too busy.
  3. You don’t know where to start or who to serve.
    SOLUTION: Pray that God would give you eyes to see opportunities and the courage to act on them regardless of how big or small the opportunity may seem.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
— Mark 10:42–45