How Members Can Serve the Church on Sunday Morning

The Church is a wonderful place where each member is a participant in the life of the church.  Sometimes we can view Sunday morning as only for a few people to serve the body while the rest warm pews as spectators.  This is unhealthy and ultimately leads to a mentality akin to talent judge Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent.  We assume it's our job to critique and judge.  Rather than participating in the work and becoming part of the solution, we can step back with a spectator mentality (at best) or a critic mentality.

Church gatherings are for the church to minister to one another.  There is a lot of time given to corporate worship as we participate in singing to our Lord with one voice.  There is a lot of time given to hearing the Word, and prayerfully searching out our hearts during the sermon.  But is that all?  What if you are not preaching or leading worship?  Is there still ministry for you?  Absolutely!  In fact some of the best ministry happens in a one-on-one context before/after the service.  Here is some advice from 9Marks on how the church body can serve the church on a Sunday morning.

Before the Service

• Read the passage in advance
• Pray for the gathering
• Greet newcomers (act like you are the host)
• Think strategically about who you should sit with
• Arrive Early

During the Service

• Sing with gusto (even if you can’t sing)
• Help with logistics (if there’s a problem, help fix it)
• Don’t be distracted
• Listen carefully
• Be aware of your facial expressions (you may affect others and discourage preachers)

After the Service

• Connect newcomers with others
• Get newcomers information
• Start a conversation about the sermon
• Ask someone how they became a Christian
• Stay late

Drink

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 

 John 7:37–39

Yesterday's post was about the type of water that our souls need to drink from.  Following on from that, I want to bring your attention to a solitary word - drink.  This verb is a present active imperative which basically is a command to be continually drinking.  Some may think that if you take one drink, then all thirst goes away.  What is missed with this perspective is the fact that the life God gives is not something that we can have independent of him.  "Drink" carries with it the idea of continually drinking.  When we cease drinking, thirst arises and we are faced with a choice.  Do I drink of the water that Jesus gives, or do I go to some other well?

We were meant to be sustained by his life giving water.  The beauty is, we do not have to travel to find it.  Jesus says that the water will flow as a river from our very heart.  Life giving, life sustaining water is always at hand for the person in whom is God's Spirit.

As we continually drink of him, thirst will not need quenching because we will remain in a place where we are satisfied.  We can then say as the Psalmist said in Psalm 87:7, "All my springs are in you." 

Are you thirsty?

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  

John 7:37–39

Are you thirsty?  Then Jesus is speaking to you.  Jesus says, "if anyone thirsts."  That is an open invitation to all who have thirst.  Thirst is the natural result of a lack of water that satisfies.  Our being feels parched, and we begin to long for a satisfying drink.  Everywhere a person goes, he can find wells promising water.  I was recently in India, where I was constantly warned, "don't drink the water!"  The water many of the Indians were drinking looked refreshing.  The temperature was searing and the humidity in some places was through the roof. It was so bad that I would pull out my camera and as soon as the lens cap came off, the lens would steam over!  In those conditions, I was often thirsty.  I saw other people drinking the water and was tempted to do so myself. Fortunately, I knew something about that water.  I knew that the water they were drinking may appear to quench my thirst momentarily, but would result in violent illness in my body.

Humanity seems to pursue many things to quench their thirst and it can be very tempting to pursue the same water sources.  What we often do not notice is the violent illness that results from it.  No, I am not talking about physical illness, but a spiritual sickness called sin.  Sin is to pursue anyone or anything to do what only God himself can do - satisfy our souls' deepest thirst.  That thirst drives us to quenching, but where do we go for quenching? Do we drink of the polluted well of success (finding security in being the best at something, thus not needing God)? Do we drink of the broken cistern of money (the illusion that monetary means will buy your happiness)? Do we drink of the stagnant swamp of so-called "love" (expecting some human relationship to bear the burden of godhood)? 

When thirst hits, where do you turn for quenching?  A contaminated source of water?  Or do you turn to the pure refreshing source, God Himself as Spirit indwelling you and satisfying your soul's greatest longings?  Jesus extends to each of us an invitation.  "Are you thirsty? Come to me for soul-satisfying drink."

The Drifters

We are all prone to wander from the life that is in God alone.  Here is a clip from last Sunday's message on John 17:1-5


The Drifters from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.
In John 17:1-5 we learn that eternal life is knowing God. We easily drift from being in that place where we are knowing God and begin to seek life in something else. By nature we are drifters.

India Update from JP Dao

JP Dao's India Update from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.

Jesus Well

Jesus Well from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.

Taking a look at one of the Jesus wells that provides a basic staple of physical life to people in the name of Jesus: Water!

Learning to Read

Learning to Read from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.
Learning to read for the first time, these women who are prodominately Hindus are being shown the love of Jesus as they learn how to read.

Bible College in Mumbai

Mumbai Bible College from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.
Three months ago, this Bible college was attacked by a local village. They were attacked because the men were being trained to be sent out as missionaries for Jesus. Here I am at the Bible college where all of these 'to-be' missionaries will be persecuted violently for their faith at some point and time and yet they still go eagerly!

Bringing Hope to the Slums

Bridge of Hope in the slums from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.
Amongst hopelessness in the slums where a family may make about £400 per annum, sit schools such as this one offering the hope Jesus gives to children by both showing and speaking the Gospel.

Overlooking the slum in Mumbai

Mumbai Slum from Calvary Leatherhead on Vimeo.
This is one of the slums we visited. If you saw the film "Slum Dog", this is where the beginning was filmed. I was personally humbled seeing the Bridge of Hope school here. Seeing young children that love Jesus and are content with what little they have brought my eyes to tears.

Mumbai Slums

Yesterday morning we arrived here in Mumbai.  We drove from the airport back to the hotel.  I knew we were going to be in India, so I thought to myself, "Yeah, I'm going to be slumming it."  Entering into the hotel it was about what I expected (what we back home would call a slum).  We dropped off our luggage (in the hopes that it would still be there when we returned), then we went to get some lunch at an Indian restaurant (surprise! the curry puts what we have back in England to shame).  We then arrived in the slum.

I was greatly humbled!  The conditions in the slums are inhuman.  A family will live in a tiny room with a hole in the wall for a window. There is no toilet, only public toilets down the road.  Some of the slum rooms have a water pipe, but when the rainy season comes (which just ended), the sewage overflows and then contaminates the drinking water.

After returning from the slum to our hotel, it seemed like the Taj Mahal!!! What luxury we live in back home.  We westerners are exceedingly rich and a short visit to a slum like this will reveal that reality.