May Discipleship Challenge- Acts of Service

The Challenge

Service is a way of offering resources, time, treasure, influence, and expertise for the care, protection, justice, and nurture of others. Serving others reflects the helping, caring, and sharing of God’s love in the world. Acts of service give hands to the second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Practice: Try One of the Following

• PICK & SERVE Every morning this month pick one person such as your spouse, colleague, neighbor, or friend and ask, “What can I do for you today?” Then do it. Talk to God about what this is like for you. What do you see about yourself? What do you learn about the nature of God’s compassion for others?

• BE A WORKER BEE Sign on to set up or take down an event at church, at your workplace, for your family, etc. This part of event planning is the least sought after. Then think about what it is like for you to do a simple task that doesn’t require your specific skills or expertise. What does this teach you about acts of service?

• GROW FOR OTHERS If you’re planting a garden this spring, set aside a section as an upcoming opportunity to be a blessing to the community. Then stay tuned for how Union asks you to share your bounty during harvest time.

• JOIN A TEAM Join a committee at church with a focus on serving others, such as the new Mentorship and Care Committee. If regular attendance at a committee is challenging, you can still find ways to support their efforts through specific acts of service.

When and Why

Sometimes the world teaches us that the goal is to work ourselves to a place in life where

we can be served more than serve. As the saying goes, “It’s good to be queen (or king)!” But God teaches us through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that we are to be a blessing to others and that we are called to serve. The Christian discipline of service is the way the world discovers the love of God. We are the way God blesses the earth.

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families”

Isaiah 58: 6-7, The Message