Team Effort

You don’t have to go very far in the Bible to find the phrase serve the Lord; it’s repeated more than 80 times.  When Jesus was challenged by the devil, he responded to him this way:

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”  Luke 4:8 (NIV)

In today’s world, we are challenged by the devil every day (1 John 5:19).  Our mission is to stand strong against the devil in worship and service to God.  We start by following what Jesus identified as the greatest commandments:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.   And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV)

We demonstrate our love for God by how much time we spend with Him studying His Word, in prayer, and in worship.  And we serve God by serving others with the love that He provides.  It is in these moments that we feel the overwhelming joy God provides to those who are obedient to Him. Time spent in worship and service to God is a true believer’s most cherished experience.

Serving God with a few friends or your church small group provides opportunities to greatly expand the possibilities and effectiveness of your service.  What follows is a small list of some of the many ways you might consider serving God in a team effort.  My prayer is that you will use this list to inspire your service to God and that you will expand this list to include all of your own special talents and resources.

Serving God by serving others in a team effort expands your power and helps build deep relationships.  May you be greatly blessed in your efforts!

Seek the will of God through group Bible study.

Pray for each other and those around you.

Make sack lunches and pass them out to the homeless.

Designate at least one day a month to serving others as a group.

Work together cleaning up someone’s yard.

Work together painting someone’s house.

Work together helping someone move.

Work together cleaning someone’s house.

Ask your church for a work project you can do together.

Have a group garage sale and give the money to a good cause.

Sign up to work as a team at a homeless shelter.

Brainstorm ways to use the talents of your group members helping others.

Work together to organize a childcare night at church to give parents a night out

Have a bake sale and give the money to a good cause.

Cook and serve a thank you meal to the church staff.

Cook and serve meals to the homeless once a month.

Create a community garden.

Adopt a highway near your church.

Put together a free carwash.

Organize a class to teach computer skills to the elderly.

Work together to clean up a public space that has been neglected

Host an animal adoption event.

Find out what local nursing home residents need and help them.

Contact Habitat for Humanity to see how you can support them in your community.

Participate together in a blood drive.

Help maintain a trail at a nature center, park, or wilderness area.

Spread the word that your group is ready to serve when many hands are needed.

Take a group of nursing home seniors on an outing.

Pass out fast-food gift cards to the homeless.

Set up a booth of some kind at a local festival or fair.

Pass out free flowers at a local cemetery.

Pass out cold bottles of water on a hot day.

Work together with a small group from another church on a community service project.

Serving God One-on-One

Serving God with The Whole Body of your church

All scripture references are linked to Bible Gateway so that you can read each verse in context.  Bible Gateway allows you to change the verse to your favorite translation and compare it side-by-side with multiple translations.  In addition, you can select to hear an audio version of any verse by clicking on the speaker icon.  Keep the Bible Gateway App on your phone so that you can visit the Word of God at any time during your day.

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