Just Start Serving

Some books teach to discover your spiritual gifts and then start serving. I say start serving to discover your spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts assessments and tools have their place, but not the place you probably think. I believe the spiritual gift assessment tools are helpful on the back end more than the front end. Let me explain. I believe you start serving and THEN, only after you are already serving, you should take a spiritual gifts assessment to help you further understand how God made you and how that should influence where you belong serving in the church family.

Too often, people are needed NOW to help and serve, but they can’t because their waiting six months for the results of their assessment to come back. Or people start using the excuse “I don’t what gifts I have” as an excuse to never start serving.

Here’s where you should begin. FIND WHERE YOU ARE NEEDED! If you don’t know where you are needed, just ask your pastor. He or she will help you become aware of the available areas of service. Don’t assume that because you aren’t aware of any areas of service that they don’t exist. Go ahead and ask. I assure you that they do! Then, once you are serving where you are needed you can begin thinking about your sweet spot. You could think of your sweet spot as that role you ideally would like to play and your secondary role could be thought of as that spot that just needs filling and your willing to do because you are a part of the family. In a real family, no one wants to take out the trash or do the laundry - but these are still important things that need to get done.

Believe and Belong

God wants us to believe: in Jesus. But he also wants us to belong: to a church family. The focus of this blog is on “belonging”.

Rick Warren writes: There are many analogies for a Christian disconnected from a church: a football player without a team; a soldier without a platoon; a tuba player without an orchestra; a sheep without a flock. But the most understandable (and biblical) picture is that of a child without a family. First Timothy 3:15 (NCV) refers to the church as “...the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.” God does not want his children growing up in isolation from each other, so he created a spiritual family on earth for us. Paul reminded us in Ephesians 2:19 (LB): “You are members of God’s very own family...and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” A Christian without a church family is an orphan.

Additionally, several biblical metaphors help us to understand that God’s purpose for every believer is to belong to a church family. First, the Bible refers to a Christian as a sheep (I Peter 5:2-3). A sheep belongs to a flock. And a flock is led by a shepherd. Second, the Bible refers to a Christian as a part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:14-21). Each part of our body is dependent on the other parts and cannot exist on their own. And the body is led by the head. Last, the Bible refers to believers as children of God (John 1:12-13). Children belong to a family. And a family is led by parents.

The point here is that just as sheep belong in a flock, just as each part of the body belongs to the whole, just as each child belongs in a family, so each Christian belongs in a church family. Just as sheep are led by a shepherd, just as the body is led by the head, just as a family is led by parents, so Christians are to be loved and led by the pastors of the church.

Imagine a charcoal fire on your grill. If you remove a single piece of charcoal and separate it from the rest of the charcoals it will soon die out. That’s how it is for a Christian who separates himself from his/her church family. He/she will soon die out.

Why does God want you to belong so badly? Because of all the benefits! Check this out:

We were created for five basic purposes and the local church helps you fulfill each of these purposes:

1. Worship: describes God’s purpose that we bring him pleasure. The local church gives you a weekly opportunity to refocus on God. That’s worship.
2. Fellowship: describes God’s purpose that we “belong” to a church family. The local church helps you connect with other believers. That’s fellowship.
3. Discipleship: describes God’s purpose that we grow spiritually. The local church helps you cultivate your relationship with God. That’s discipleship.
4. Ministry: describes God’s purpose that we use our talents in service in the context of the local church. The local church gives you an opportunity to contribute with your life. That’s ministry.
5. Evangelism: describes God’s purpose that we share his good news: there is peace with God through Jesus. The local church helps you communicate God’s love to others. That’s evangelism.

Next Steps

At New Day Church we end each message with “Next Steps”, several specific things people can begin doing to apply the message to their lives. Why do we do this?

Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-27, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Jesus’ brother basically says the same thing in James 1:22 warning us to not just listen to God’s Word, but instead to go one step further by putting it into practice.

We develop Christlikeness as we learn AND APPLY God’s Word to our every day lives. We do not grow spiritually by increasing our KNOWLEDGE of God’s Word, but by increasing the parts of God’s Word that we PUT INTO PRACTICE in our lives.

By giving “Next Steps” we make it that much easier to honor what Jesus said in Matthew 7 and what James reiterates in James 1.

Secular Music in Church?

I was recently asked a great question by one of our regular attenders at NDC about why we play secular music before and after service. What a good question! Let’s answer it.

In Acts 17 Paul is speaking with the unchurched Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. This lands him a speaking engagement with the Council of Philosophers. Paul begins his sermon with a reference to something in their culture; an altar to a pagan idol, with the inscription “To an Unknown God” written on it. Then, during his message, he quotes one of their pagan poets, to illustrate his point.

Paul is a missionary. And he uses culture to teach spiritual truths to unchurched people. At New Day Church, we consider ourselves missionaries to one of the biggest mission fields in the world - the United States of America. And we are all for following the biblical example of using culture to communicate spiritual truths to the unchurched.

Here’s an example...One week I was speaking on forgiveness and how bitterness will only eat away at you. So that week we played “Apologize” by One Republic before service started.

Here’s another example...In a series we recently did called 30 DAY TO LIVE we played the audio of an Eminem song called “Lose Yourself” and then quoted the chorus which talked about having only one shot and one chance at life and how you can’t miss your opportunity. This was done during the message, just like Paul did.

While we do play secular music before and after service, we DO NOT play music containing a message that is contrary to the gospel. We have found that unchurched guests are set at ease when they arrive and hear something familiar, something they can relate to. This then opens them up to hearing what we have to say about Jesus. Also, by using something they understand from culture to explain spiritual truths, people with no (or very little) Bible background can learn about Jesus.