If your church closed its doors today, would your community know it? Honestly, think about it. Where is our impact or our presence, more importantly? Do we offer enough value to the town we live in to make it a important part of our community? If our town isn't effected by the loss of our ministry, we aren't doing it well enough. We have to start giving to the people that need Gods love, until it hurts. Simply saying we need to give sounds so vague, but it is in everything, that we should give of ourselves.

We need to give of our talents and skills to the community to serve them. This means if you are good at fixing cars, you find someone that can't afford to have their car fixed and fix it for them! The cool part about this is, it doesn't have to be a friend of yours or someone from the church. You will be growing Gods kingdom through your abilities to serve others outside of the church. Maybe you're skilled in carpentry or managing finances. Maybe you are a good listener and simply give your ear to those who need it. What unique ability do you have that can impact your community and grow your church?

We need to give of our money and possessions to the community to serve them. Keep in mind, I don't simply mean start writing checks to people or giving your car away, but rather to be aware of the needs that people have. What better way to show Gods love to someone than giving of yourself in their time of need. Maybe you have a refrigerator or major kitchen appliance you no longer need and can give to a family who doesn't have one. Maybe someone is having a hard month financially and you offer to pay for some gas or buy basic household necessities like laundry detergent or toilet paper. Maybe a single mom needs diapers and you decide to supply them for a couple months. What does this sort of selfless serving show people? What does this tell them about the Jesus you have in your life? What finances or things do you have that can impact your community and grow your church?

Don't forget the church. We need to give of ourselves and our money to the church so it can grow and impact the community through our ability to serve them. The church will grow and impact many, as you give of your time and money to build it. I just recently started tithing and giving 10% of my wages every week and let me be the first to tell you, it isn't easy. In probably one of the lowest points of my life financially, I lost my job and am collecting unemployment, I decided that it was too big of a risk not to give back to God. It's not my money in the first place, I only have because he gives it to me and to accept this makes it all the easier to give it away to others. Since giving my money back to God, I have have been blessed both emotionally and financially. I feel good about myself knowing that I don't have to be chained to my income and since then, I've got more work to make more money and I have even bought a house, only by Gods doing. What can you do in your church both financially and personally to build it and become valuable to your community?

We need to give of our hearts to the community to serve them. We need to realize that this movie we call our lives, does not star us. The greatest things you can do in your life, are that of which we do for others. We have to stop being selfish and thinking it's all about us, our church, our building, our money and get back to the basics of serving those who need it. When is the last time you heard someone in need and walked away. I'm sure it's more often than you care to think about, I know it is for me. We need to stop trying to get comfortable and suffering more for the betterment of the people that God is trying to reach. It is not us that needs people to be saved! There isn't a tally sheet somewhere that is keeping track of the people we have led to the Lord, because it isn't us doing it! God needs to reach people and we need to open ourselves up to the people Christ wants us to be, so he can do just that; reach people! It's time to start being the follower Jesus intended us to be and give back to our community and the people in it. If your church closed its doors today, would your community know it?

Lets make sure they do.

My mind tends to go to amazing places at night. When I lay in bed and stare into my room that used to look different lit, everything settles and my thoughts become louder than they have been all day. I began to think about where I am at and how different it would be if I had never taken that chance or that risk. How incredible, that my choices have brought me to this moment right now. I feel lonely here, but not alone. Once my thoughts have gotten past talking to myself, they move to those I love and how I miss them. Some of them are many hours away and others are simply downstairs, however none are close enough to remove the loneliness. There is only one person left to go to and far too often the last one I check on. Realizing that he's the only one that truly makes me feel valuable I began to wish I was done here.

I know my role in this world is far from finished and the plans for me he repeats over and over making the possibilities seem endless. As much as I yearn to be “home”, I realize there are people that feel the same way I do. They feel that same loneliness and yearning, but have no idea where to fill that void. In that I understand why I feel selfish in wanting to be done here. I know that there are people out there that take these same feelings and without knowing there is a father that cares for them, act violently and may even decide to end it all themselves.

I have something so great that I can't pack my bags and prepare for home without making sure that everyone knows what I know. How selfish are we that we go to church with the intention of using what we learn only to benefit ourselves? In fact, how selfish are we, to just go to church? I understand now, that God removes that loneliness from me so I have the confidence to reach into someones life and show them how God can remove it from theirs. How egotistical to think God is here to serve me and make me feel good! How did we turn into feel good fanatics? Is that why you became a Christian; to feel good? After what I have done in my life I deserve nothing! The self-centered mindset has run rampant through the Christian world and it has to stop.

Think about it, who does Christian music serve? Who are we serving when we wear our Christian T-Shirts or go to our Christian bookstore? Don't get me wrong, those things are all great and useful, but when they become the epicenter of what our relationship with God is, we've moved past the simple joy of having those things in our life and instead built our lives around them. My point is, a good Christian song or a T-shirt never saved anyone. We need to move past thinking, that as long as people know what I believe we've done our part. No one cares what you believe, but they do care about how you show Christs love through your serving. We need to get out there and sacrifice of ourselves more than just what we wear or what we listen to. We need to truly care for those who need us, because the only way God reaches into people's lives, is if we do.