Going Beyond to Sacrificially Serve
At Oakhill Baptist Church, we offer numerous opportunities for those who follow Jesus to serve both inside the church and in the Evansville community. My hope in sharing this article is to encourage you to consider how you might contribute your time, talents, and resources to serve beyond our walls on one of the missional opportunities we offer at Oakhill.
You can get involved by signing up to participate in various ministries that could include: volunteering and mentoring through our school partnerships, assisting at the Food Pantry, or joining one of our international short-term mission trips. This coming year, evangelism training will be offered along with opportunities for us to share the gospel in our community on a grill-walk. Most importantly, we can Go Beyond by simply recognizing the need to evangelize people and invite them to church in each of our spheres of influence, personally and boldly.
As we reflect on these opportunities, it’s important to ask ourselves: “In light of being ransomed, redeemed, and restored to God, how am I serving His church, His people, and His Kingdom?” Jesus exemplified this servanthood for us throughout His earthly ministry, demonstrating that, He, Jesus, “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8). In the Gospel of Mark 10:45, we are reminded that: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Saying this, it is important for us to know what it looks like to serve sacrificially and be on mission in our everyday lives, and we can see our purpose and responsibility as Christ followers in the gospels.
Regardless of the roles we take on in the church and Go Beyond serving on God’s mission, we must be clear about our purpose. That serving in or outside the walls of the church is not about glorifying ourselves or merely doing good deeds. We are each called to Go Beyond missionally because the King of Kings and Lord of Lords set the example for us by becoming a humble servant Himself. Through this finished act of Christ on the cross, we are brought into His family for eternity, and in this one verse (Mk 10:45), Jesus reveals both the humility of His earthly mission and the magnitude of His redemptive work. And the reality is that once we come into His saving grace, we should have an overwhelming desire to go and tell about how this happened from the rooftops to whomever and wherever they will hear it.
Hearing this, I hope that it challenges you to consider where it is that you might Go Beyond to serve in the spirit of Christ. That might look like going down the street to tell your neighbor the good news of Jesus in the gospel or carting a box of food out to a car at the Food Pantry. Wherever God has given you the opportunity to serve, the urgency of the gospel is real, and people are dying every day unrepentant and unbelieving. It is our responsibility to Go Beyond ourselves and the walls of this church and proclaim the gospel to others so they know that Jesus gave “His life as a ransom” (Mk 10:45), and they too can have this same mercy and grace that, without merit, was freely given to us.
If you would like to learn more about how you can Go Beyond, outside the walls missionally, please do not hesitate to call or email.
