Thank you so much for volunteering this week! We believe in the church. We believe God’s kingdom is advanced through the church. We believe the Gospel invades the hearts and minds of our neighbors because of the church. And, we believe that this work is accomplished by all of us working together.

       The Kingdom does not advance, and the Gospel doesn’t change lives, solely because the pastor gave a great sermon or because the praise team performed a powerful song. We believe (and both studies and Scripture back this up) that every little detail, every smile, every welcome, every clean area and on time helper, opens the door to the Good News about Jesus Christ. The door to hearts are opened in the parking lot, not 40 min into the service.

       So thank you for being a part of that process. I have a passage of Scripture here that I think sums up this idea that all of our contributions advance God’s kingdom and every part of the church is vital to the mission of Jesus.

       Romans 12:3-8, “3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”