Session 5 • Family • Activation
Serving is a way for us to offer our time, resources, gifts, influence and expertise for the care, protection, justice and wellbeing of others, based on the invitation of Jesus to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Martin Luther King said:
“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.”
Spend some time reflecting on how you are currently giving yourself in service to others. Invite God to speak to you about how he sees you as you respond to his invitation to love others as yourself. Do you have any desires to serve in a way that you are not currently doing? Is God giving you any particular invitation?
At Oaks Church, there are many different ways to serve. Part of the fun of discovering your spiritual gifts and unpacking your desires for service is to find a way of serving in the family of Jesus that is the right fit for you. As Frederich Buechner said:
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Below you’ll find many different ways to serve in our church family, with some suggestions for the gifts/abilities that would be most necessary or helpful in that role.
Hospitality, teaching, wisdom, exhortation, leadership, giving, pastor/shepherd, service
Hospitality, evangelism, administration, exhortation, pastor/shepherd, discernment, service
Musical ability - voice/instrument, leadership, prophecy, discernment, faith
Mercy, healing, discernment, wisdom, teaching, prophecy, knowledge, faith, exhortation
Pastor/shepherding, hospitality, teaching, wisdom, administration, faith, exhortation
Sound engineering ability, creative/visual ability, administration, service
Giving, mercy, service
If you have spent time exploring your spiritual gifts and prayerfully reflecting on your desires to serve and would now like to talk with a pastor about your next steps, please reach out.