“COMMUNITY”
Community - a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
What does community mean to you? I think of community as the people around you that have talents, flaws, unique characteristics, differences, similarities, love you, hate you, common interests…etc and would call themselves your neighbors in the big picture of the demographic you occupy. Jesus had a unique community surrounding Him and He engaged in the communities he traveled to but a common theme was that He chose to serve those in each community in some form or fashion.
How are you serving in your community? Some people say “well we serve in our local church”. Although I think that is a great thing and commend you for actually giving back instead of being a selfish bump-on-a-log receiver only, I think it’s important to reach further beyond the walls of the “comfort zone”. I know many people who have extreme talents and treasures but yet they keep it to themselves and don’t share their blessings with the community that surrounds them. For many people, they would never think of you as a servant if they’ve never witnessed it at your local church. There are a lot of people that refuse to go to church because they’ve never seen a reason to be like you because they’ve never seen you in an act of service (or putting your money where your mouth is).
I challenge you today. Find creative ways to serve in your community. The volunteer opportunities are endless and there is always a need for a helping hand if you look hard enough. Figure out what your talents are and try to utilize them to the fullest extent to enhance the community around you and share what you’ve been blessed with. What’s even better is when you get the opportunity to do something you love anyways in a volunteer capacity and have the opportunity to impact those around you with your witness through the relational ministry opportunities that open up as you invest into those around you. Get out of your bubble, make a difference, explore your own community and do your part to create a place where people want to call home! You just might have an opportunity to tell them about Jesus…
Give us some feedback of how you serve in the community…