Satisfaction

and Serving
1. I love Jesus, but am not sure how to start serving - where should I start? It is a great thing to want to start serving the Lord Jesus. The Gospel drives us (or it should) to emulate the attitude of Christ, and he came not to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45). From here, Id suggest a couple of things 1) Just start doing things to serve as you see the need. 2) Ask yourself the question: what are the gifts or abilities that God has given me? 3) Talk to your Growth Group leader and ask for their advice. 4) Talk to your church ministers and ask for their help in finding appropriate ways to serve theyd love to help you. 2. What mix of serving should I do between church and uni ministries? There is no right answer to this question. The opportunities to serve are endless, and not just limited to church and uni. However, there is something biblical about making sure that you are serving in the body of Christ (i.e. your local church) that you are committed to as a starting point. Being at uni is a unique time of life. You may not feel like it, but you will have more disposable time on your hands than you ever will in the future. Rather than frittering all the time away in cafes with your friends, wed certainly encourage you to avail yourself of the many excellent ministries that are designed to equip you for the future and for now. The other comment worth making is that while places like university can have many Christians, many local churches struggle to have gifted and godly people available to serve. The difference that just one can make can be enormous in developing a new area of ministry that can be sustained in the long term. 3. How do you know God is real? This is an excellent question thank you for asking it. Ultimately we know that God is real because he came into the world in the form of Jesus Christ. It was recognized as such a significant time that the eyewitnesses to Jesus life and ministry recorded many of the things that happened, and in Gods sovereignty, these accounts have been preserved for thousands of years. The Bible also testifies to the reality that one can know something his creation of the world. Astronauts often comment on the beauty space, acknowledging that it could be no mere accident. A Creator involved. And, even from our perspective, the heavens declare the sky proclaims the work of His hands (Psalm 22:1). about God through of the world from must have been glory of God, and the

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4. If you know someone who wants to serve, but is held back by other peoples negative views of serving, how would you encourage them? It is sad to hear that some Christians have negative views of serving. It would be interesting to explore if these people are aware of their impact on others! How the evil one must be enjoying himself. To the person who wishes to serve, I would encourage them to be more mature than the others they are being impacted by and even make a goal to allow the impact of the Gospel to speak through their life and model to others. Start small, and see the joy and satisfaction that comes as a result. And then move to even bigger things. All the time, be encouraged that taking this path is emulating the model of Christ, who gave his life to serve us. 5. What is serving defined as; is it evangelism in the world, or good deeds? In the Bible, serving and worshipping are interchangeable terms, arising from the same underlying Greek term. Serving encapsulates evangelism, good deeds, and also working to the benefit of brothers and sisters in Christ. The heart that is changed by Jesus takes genuine joy in being so involved, because the mind is changed to long for the things that God longs for, and to have his priorities. 6. How do we discern that a ministry we are serving in is beyond our gifting? And does this mean we should discontinue or try and stick it out? This is an excellent question, which I will try to answer in a way that provides a general framework. Some ministries are hard work while I may have been too narrow to focus on the state of one aspect of Jesus will in my talk, I was grappling for the idea that Jesus ministry to go to the cross could not have been easy. Nonetheless, he did it in order to serve. Some ministries today are a bit like this just plain hard yakka. But this does not necessarily mean that they should be stopped. Some people only hear the Gospel because of the dedication and great sacrifice of missionaries who take to them the Word of God at enormous cost. Indeed, Eastern Africa is now seeing the Gospel thrive because of British missionaries who removed themselves from the comfort of England to go into a culture where they knew life expectancy was significantly lower. They did it for the Gospel. So, sometimes it is hard yakka, yet one should stick with it. Perhaps crche is one such example in our context. Other times, however, it is true that particular ministry areas are beyond our gifting. I would encourage you to ask your friends who are serving with you for honest feedback, as well as the leaders of the ministry area in which you are serving. If you stop serving in one area, my advice is to make sure you start in another. Otherwise, the world tends to crowd in and take over. 7. Who would be best to talk to if you feel you are becoming dissatisfied in serving? First, talk to God. He cares for everything, and is in control over all things. Second, Id have an honest conversation with the leaders of the ministry and your church ministers who know you. They are in a great position to help you work through

the myriad of possible courses, develop a plan of action with you, and care for you. The heart that is changed by Jesus takes genuine joy in being so involved, because the mind is changed to long for the things that God longs for, and to have his priorities. 8. How do you have a healthy balance between serving and being served? This is a good, but difficult question to answer. Everyone is different. Everyone is at a different point of Christian maturity, and everyone had different abilities and capacities. In general terms, for most, I would encourage all to be regular at church and in a Growth Group. These are places where, among other things, you are served by being fed through the Word of God. And then, choose an area of church life in which to serve (and I dont mean just reading the Bible at church once a quarter). If you are at uni, where you have more disposable time, you may be able to do more make the most of the time while you have it. The other comment here is that life circumstances vary from time to time. Sometimes things get tough, and one should allow others in the church community to serve them. It is helpful to all concerned. 9. How should we respond when people praise us for our service? There are a couple of things that I have found helpful. The first is to slightly change the topic to the content of your contribution for example, what was it that you liked? Most of the time, this directs praise to God for what he has done. The other is simply to thank the person, and move on without lingering on the praise. It is true that sometimes we would benefit from being more honest about the God given gifts that we have. 10. How do we make sure we are serving please God rather than out of selfish desires? What is the best way of avoiding doing the right thing for the wrong motives? In a sinful world, and this side of heaven, mixed motives are a reality. The important thing is that Christ is preached (Philippians 1:18). At the same time, all should be striving to make their motives more pure. The best way to do this is to continue to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). Get yourself into the Word of God through church, Growth Group and personal Bible reading. This helps you change your heart and mind to be more like Christ, and serve with even better motives. I would discourage one from stopping serving if motives are not right. Rather, change how you serve to take yourself out of the situation of personal praise do more behind the scenes things, for example. 11. How do we strike a balance between serving God sacrificially without compromising ourselves (e.g. health, burnout, damaging relationships)? Again, this varies in its details because we are each different. However, one general principle is to make sure you have a day off. This is the way that God has made us to be, and at the same time the refreshment we gain from a day off is a foretaste of heaven. Then, by trial and error, work out a healthy balance such that youre physical and emotional health is good, as are your family relationships. All of this must be balanced, in my view, with the fact that the times are urgent!