It is my prayer that every Christian recognizes the importance of serving God through the way we serve others.  There are few things, if any, that are as emotionally exhilarating, and draining, as the task of serving others.  Having worked in a variety of ministry settings, including various roles within Christian camp ministry, I understand the excitement that often comes with the beginning of a new ministry or ministry season.  I also understand the weariness than can develop when our focus begins to drift away from the ministry of serving and onto ourselves.

This is day five in the sixth week of devotions from the book, “Serving God: Devotions for Active Worship”.  This devotional book is laid out in thirteen weeks of daily devotions with each week wrapped around an aspect of how we can serve others.  Each of these devotions are designed to help a person spend time with God to see how serving others is an act of worship.

Serving God:
Faith That Unites

“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.“
Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)

Who is your best friend?  Do you agree on everything?  What keeps your friendship intact even when you have differing opinions?  How does having a common set of beliefs help unite a group of unique individuals?  What are your core beliefs that you would never consider giving up?  How does identifying those core beliefs help create greater unity with people who may differ in a lot of “non-core” areas?

As I  travel the country and visit a variety of churches, I see a lot of church splits.  Some have parted ways and set up their own “house of worship” across the street or down the block.  There are even more that meet in the same building; the split is between groups that simply won’t talk with each other.  God’s desire is that our faith in Him, the foundation of our relationship with Jesus, would unite us as brothers and sisters in Christ.  It is this faith that unites which allows us to serve when the non-essentials of our faith may not align with all the practices of those we serve.

As you pray, ask God to bring you into greater unity with other believers through your shared faith.  Pray that your faith in Christ would be a bridge to those you serve rather than a wall.

In prayer,

Tom