Our gratitude always leads us to worship and service. The holiday season is meant to elevate our memory of God’s goodness. As we remember that which we’re thankful for – all that He has done and all of the love He has continually shown us – the natural response is to “give back.” To serve. To love. Our sacrifice is to offer ourselves to serve others and show them the same unfailing love and wonderful deeds of God. We pray that we can all serve with “greatness” this season as we share the hope of Christ!
As you read these verses, think about the things in your life that you are the most grateful for:
“Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.” – Psalm 107:21-22
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” – Romans 12:1
“The greatest among you will be your servant.” – Matthew 23:11
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This week we are inviting you to be a part of the Hope Project this holiday season. Grab one of the Hope Project Guides at church this weekend (or download one here) and begin to look over the ways that you can engage serving and giving in November and December.
The first section, “Love Your Community” gives you the chance to see some of the larger needs of our community and city partners. Each of these requests help further the ministry of a partner and enables them to love their community well AND don’t forget to grab a tag from the lobby at Montrose or Ghent and bring the item back to the church by December 8th.
The next section, “Love the World” allows you to fulfill needs for our global partners. You and your life group can support an item needed for ministry in Haiti, Mazatlan, or buy bibles for Chad. You can also show love to one of our missionaries in a tangible way through a care package. Each of our missionaries are away from their families over the holidays and knowing that they are loved and remembered is so special.
The last section invites you to give your time over the holidays. We offer ways to serve with our city partners and love your neighbors to get you started, but we also love when families get creative about sharing the love of Jesus! The last page of the magazine is a bingo game for any student up to 5th grade to use to have fun with the serving opportunities. This is meant for families to do together and can be turned in for prizes to Power Kids.
Let’s all work to make space this holiday season to share Jesus and watch him show up in fun ways!
For more information and to access all the links to contribute or sign up for the Hope Project events/items you can visit the Hope Project page.