For it is by grace you have been saved, through
faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God --
9 not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do.
Ephesians
2:8-10
Many people come to Grace tired, burned out or abused from an experience
serving in a local church. This is never God’s intention.
It is our sense that this often results from a vision for service
that is rooted in legalism, guilt or with advancement of the organization.
We believe that God has given a different vision for service in
the Scripture.
We believe that the Father has called and equipped every believer
to serve, and that it is central to every believer’s growth
in the Gospel to be involved in grace-based service in the Body
of Christ. That said, we give every person at Grace our blessing
to sit, wait or not be involved until their heart is ready. Most
of us have needed time “on the sidelines” to sort out
our motivations, heal from past wounds or be renewed by the grace
of the Gospel. We offer this same freedom to everyone who walks
through our doors.
That said, Why serve at Grace Community Church?
Primary Reasons For Service
To See God Grow Our Heart
We believe that there is no better place for God to grow
our hearts in Gospel dependence, repentance and hope than in those
places of grace empowered service.
A New Vision Of Service: Grace Directed
We believe that the Scriptures teach that the Father has given to
each believer a God-given Passion, Spiritual Gifts for service and
a Personal Style of relating to the world. We have a specific system
for helping people identify these in their own life. Appropriate
service then grows out of these expressions of God’s work
, rather than the needs of the program. This is a different way
of serving than many have ever experienced in the local church.
Secondary Reasons For Service
There are at least two other additional reasons for serving here
at Grace.
Make Connections/ Find Community
Serving together with others can be a helpful way to get to know
people as more than just a face in the crowd on Sunday morning.
Support the Vision
Let’s be honest. As a ministry grows there are plenty tasks
that simply need to be done. With a right heart, it can be appropriate
to simply pitch in and help get some of these things done because
we “support the vision” of Grace and God’s work
here.
Why Not To Serve
While perhaps common in churches – and even at Grace –
we believe that the following reason are not valid reasons to pursue
service. Indeed, they may be indicators
For Self Fulfillment
Simply put, our service is about God – His Kingdom, His glory,
His people – and not about us. When we serve with the goal
of fulfillment of self interests, we start off down a path that
leads to the wrong place. Certainly, there is the Gospel paradox
of finding incredible joy, security and fulfillment through surrender
to Christ, (Matthew 10:39 and others), but this fulfillment is the
result of Gospel surrender, not the pursuit of self-fulfillment.
To Build the “Kingdom for God”
We believe that God is building His Kingdom, and while He may use
us in His work, it is His plan and His power at work, and not ours.
We do not need to “do great things for God” or “rescue
the lost from a Christless eternity.” While containing a kernel
of truth, perspectives like this too often become manipulative,
driven and dysfunctional.
To Earn God’s Salvation, Approval or Blessing
As the Scriptures so plainly teach, this has all been settled and
completed at the cross. Once we are grasped by God’s grace,
we will serve from God’s blessing, not for it.
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