An Ode to Volunteer
” …. But that misses out the vital middles stage – that those who are declared to be in the right, to be God’s people, are the renewed humans, the people God had in mind when creating his image-bearing creatures in the first place, the people who now, in the present age have a decisive role to play in the coming to birth of the new creation….”
– NT Wright, Into the Heart of Romans pg. 16
” All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. THEREFORE, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” Paul, 2 Corinthians 5: 18-20
Serving is hard. Serving is counterintuitive. Serving is putting others before ourselves. Serving is thinking differently than we typically would. Serving is not always the hot thing to do. Serving doesn’t always lead to a sexy outcome. Serving doesn’t also bring about all the accolades that we might be searching for.
However, serving may not be the things listed above, it is something that we are called to do. Even if we are not serving in a role or on a serve team or at an event. Serving is what we are called to do always.
Rich Villodas, a pastor in New York, said this about Jesus ” Jesus went towards all….”. He was making reference to how Jesus continually found himself around people serving them however was needed. Whether it was teaching, clearing out a temple, healing, relieving from a demon, recovering the sick, waking the dead or drowning a herd of pigs after putting demons in them. Jesus was always serving, wherever he was with whoever was around.
Every week, we have the chance to serve others when we open the doors for worship services on Sunday’s. I know, serving does not only have to happen on Sundays, but there is a lot of opportunity on Sundays to serve others. Some that do are consistent and others not so much. But whether you are there every Sunday or once a month, you are an ambassador of Jesus to those you are serving. You cannot change that fact.
For those that serve, we thank you! For those that will serve, we thank you! For those that have not yet served…..think about it.
Here is one guests story about their encounter on a Sunday morning:
From:
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at 1:29 PM
To: Lead Pastor <leadpastor@harvester.cc>
Subject: Recent Visit
Nikomas Perez,
I was happy to attend Harvester this past Sunday with my son on the way to his hockey game. My interest
was piqued at your invite to the Living Room. I enjoyed meeting you and wanted to share how I came about
coming to Harvester. My home church is Oak Bridge but when I cannot attend I love to seek out other similar
Christian Churches just enjoy the service and see how well they welcome visitors.
I had been to Harvester for an event but not a service when I decided to attend on a cold snowy
day in January. It would have been easy to stay in bed, the roads were bad and I wasn’t even sure the
church would be open since some churches were canceling due to the weather. I had to make the trip
to Wentzville anyway so if being early was the only negative I decided to forge ahead. The Harvester
Facilities team had cleared the lot and salted the steps, kudos to them for a job well done. I walked
in as a familiar looking gentleman held the door open and greeted me with a smile. Wearing a hat with
a jacket I didn’t get a great look at who it was but once inside I had to turn back and see who the
familiar face was. Sure enough I recognized Kim Forney! Kim had attended Oak Bridge and knowing
he had chosen Harvester as his home church I knew I had picked the right church to attend.
Everyone from the parking lot to my seat was cheerful, friendly, and willing to provide any information
that I needed. Knowing a little about the operation of a church, I had to send a note of praise to your
team and all the wonderful volunteers at Harvester. As I mentioned earlier, I brought my son with me
on Sunday and holding open the same door and greeting me with a smile was Kim. Please double his
salary!
Thank you Harvester for reflecting Jesus in such an excellent and authentic way!
Sincerely,
Again, serving is not always the easiest thing to do. But when you do, you make a difference in other people’s lives.
If you need help, let us know. We would love to help get you plugged in to a serve team!