Service is showing God's love to others by meeting their needs and healing their hurts in the name of Jesus. We believe that the church is to minister to all kinds of needs: spiritual, emotional, relational, and physical. Every time you reach out in love to someone else, you are ministering to them and serving God.
Below, you’ll find a table with some beginner, intermediate, and advanced next steps to help you grow in your service. While you may need to challenge yourself to step up to the task, you also need to be realistic in your expectations, otherwise you might become discouraged and give up.
So consider starting off with a crawl step—a target you can easily hit in the next thirty days. Then you can move on to a walk step—a tangible goal that will stretch you over the next sixty to ninety days. Finally, choose a run step—something that will require a leap of faith, but through the power of the Holy Spirit will bring you to a whole new level of spiritual maturity.
When you have selected the step(s) you want to take, we encourage you to share your decision with a trusted friend who can help you stay the course by praying for you and holding you accountable. Don’t try to do this alone. Isolation can lead to procrastination. But a loving friend can encourage you if you’re feeling discouraged and help you up if you fall down.
Below those next steps, you’ll find some resources like books, studies, and bonus suggestions to help you dig deeper.
| GROWTH AREA | CRAWL | WALK | RUN |
|---|---|---|---|
| I regularly use my time to serve God. | See your family and/or | ||
| job as a ministry | Give one hour to | ||
| serve at your church on a Sunday morning. | Commit to serve in | ||
| a ministry at church | |||
| that may require | |||
| more time. | |||
| I am currently serving God with the gifts and passions He has given me. | Volunteer at your | ||
| church. | Commit to serve in | ||
| some kind of ministry. | Lead a ministry. | ||
| I regularly reflect on how my life can have an impact for the Kingdom of God. | List five ways your life can impact the Kingdom. Seek a pastor if you need help. | Take the gifts assessment and discover your SHAPE for ministry. | Commit to serve within a ministry that best expresses your SHAPE for one year. |
| I often think about ways to use my God-given gifts and abilities to please God. | Take the gifts assessment and discover your SHAPE for ministry. | Meet with your pastor to discover where your spiritual gifts and abilities can best be utilized in your church. | Start a new ministry in or through your church to serve others based on the gifts and abilities God has given you. |
| I enjoy meeting the needs of others without expecting anything in return. | Discuss with a friend five practical ways you can meet needs around you. | Pick one practical way to meet a need and do it. | Serve at the your church on a weekly basis helping out the staff. |
| Those closest to me would say my life is a reflection of giving more than receiving. | Serve at your church during the weekday helping out the staff. | Take on a volunteer project at your church. | Take on a leadership role within a ministry that best expresses your SHAPE. |
| I see my painful experiences as opportunities to minister to others. | Write out how Christ has healed or used a painful experience in your life for God’s glory. | Share with a friend or your small group how Christ has healed or used this painful experience for God’s glory. | Share this painful experience with your pastor to see if you can use it to help others in your church. |