Post Introduction- Our goal for this study is to continue to further our students' understanding of the different aspects of worship and teach them about the importance of serving in the church and the community, regardless of age or ability.
The Lesson
(15-20 mins depending on conversation)
Tonight we’ll be talking about giving and serving. I initially thought about doing separate weeks for these, but I know that at this point in your lives a lot of you don’t have jobs so you don’t have your own money to give. It’s important to understand that while tithing and giving offerings is a crucial part of your relationship with God, it’s not the only way to honor Him with giving. We can honor God by giving our time and talents or things that we have that may benefit others.
Proverbs 3:9 “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.”
What would this look like for you guys? For your parents or those of you with jobs it’s giving the tithe, or 10%, of the money earned before putting it towards anything else. But if you don’t have money, we could view it as making time for God intentionally. This can mean spending time with Him in quiet time or making time to serve others or the church. Sometimes, it can be hard to view serving others as serving God. But, we could view the life of Jesus as a perfect example of the importance of serving others.
Mark 10:45 “ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
If we think about the way Jesus served others it's easy to feel inadequate. Just because we can’t perform incredible and unbelievable miracles, does not mean that we don’t have anything to offer others, though.
1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Ask These Questions:
What gifts has God given you that you can share with others?
Are you actively sharing this gift?
If not, why?
Do you enjoy serving others?
We don’t need to serve others just for the sake of saying that we served if we don’t want to do it. Doing things with the right heart and intentions is a large part of giving our time and talents as an act of worship rather than obligation.
Are you actively sharing this gift?
If not, why?
Do you enjoy serving others?
We don’t need to serve others just for the sake of saying that we served if we don’t want to do it. Doing things with the right heart and intentions is a large part of giving our time and talents as an act of worship rather than obligation.
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
God doesn’t want us to be grumpy givers, He wants us to give cheerfully because we desire to do so. We don't just need to be cutting up and having fun though, either. God also expects us to be hard-working and all in when we serve.
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”
While it is true that there are some things you don’t want to do until you start doing them, God doesn’t want us to do things halfway or with a bad attitude. I love that our pastor has the standard set for our church that people can say no to things that they don’t want to do. But, it’s important to remember that we should be serving somewhere because it’s a great way to bring more people to God and to worship Him. Have you ever done something that you initially did not want to, but you felt good about it afterwards? What about something you did want to do? It feels really great to serve, doesn't it!?
Proverbs 11:25 “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
Giving makes you feel good. We need to be giving God 100% of whatever He has gifted us with, whether it’s serving with it in the church, sharing it with others outside of the church, or even using it as an avenue to share God. There are some skills that are not necessarily useful in a traditional ministry aspect, but there are people that we are around when we use those skills that we can love on and show God to with our words or actions.
This Week's Challenge:
Think of something that you enjoy doing or have a talent for in a different way. Try to think of how your words or actions in that activity can be honoring to God and show Him to others.
Put it into Action:
Our students used this Sunday as an opportunity to serve in the church. We made a weekend of it and spent Saturday afternoon fellowshipping while making muffins and eating tacos! On Sunday morning our students served the muffins before service and greeted at both doors. Not only did this get them involved and serving in the church, but it also gave some of our other hard-working volunteers a break!
This Week's Challenge:
Think of something that you enjoy doing or have a talent for in a different way. Try to think of how your words or actions in that activity can be honoring to God and show Him to others.
Put it into Action:
Our students used this Sunday as an opportunity to serve in the church. We made a weekend of it and spent Saturday afternoon fellowshipping while making muffins and eating tacos! On Sunday morning our students served the muffins before service and greeted at both doors. Not only did this get them involved and serving in the church, but it also gave some of our other hard-working volunteers a break!
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