MARK 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
TO PONDER
This will be the last time I do a daily verse devotion for LifeWay, at least as a LifeWay staff member. 2025 was my 36th year serving in ministry and in that time, I have seen and heard it all (hyperbole). I have had Joy, I have had pain, and I have been frustrated. I have thought about walking away in disgust as people who call themselves church have given excuses why they couldn’t serve; why they left a church community because they were offended/not being fed/not getting anything out of worship or were "too busy" or "too selfish" (that last one was maybe me summing it all up).
Church is not just a place or building we go to and meet in, and it's not about what we get out of it. It's not about the pastor, our entertainment, our wants and needs. Church is who we become together as the body of Christ, the role we fill, who we serve, what we give, what we can do to help others encounter Jesus.
Since this will be my last LifeWay daily verse let me be blunt: where do you serve? What’s your role? How do you help others? Or, are you just there to meet your religious obligation of attendance, to be fed, to be cared for by the Pastor, to get instead of give?
If “even the Son of Man” (Jesus), God with skin on, the King of Kings, the creator and sustainer of the universe came to serve and laid down his life for others, becaming a servant of all, can we really just reply with, "I have no time/interest/calling/care to serve others"?
My time with LifeWay has been a time of blessing, a time of growing, a time of learning and at times - one of frustration, but most of all it has been a time of community building and when you are a church planter community is important and so I will be forever grateful to all at LifeWay.
And to finish this post I would like to challenge you all with the statement that you are all called to lay down your life for others. You are all called to servanthood within His body, the Church. You are all called to practice unreasonable hospitality and you are all called to share His grace to everyone you meet. Grow the church.
PRAYER:Father God I thank you for your church, the people you have called to be your children, the people who have been given the call to reflect your love and grace to a world who need it. I ask you to raise up a church that gives itself in service to others, in the name of our saviour Jesus. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.