Why Serve

Discovering your gifts and channeling those gifts to serve the Lord is very important.

One of the first lessons we must learn as a growing Christian is that we are saved to serve. In contrast to the popular values in today's me-centered culture, we are not saved merely to satisfy ourselves or simply given a fire escape from hell. Our sovereign God needs absolutely nothing from us to complete His plan for this world, He likes to give us the honor, the grace and the power while we serve Him. Ministry gifts are the grace and power given to us to serve one another so that the whole body of Christ is built up and grows towards “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). Serving is surely a way of nurturing ourselves, too.

Since the ministry gifts are gifts of God's grace, we can take no credit for them. Yet each and every believer in the body of Christ is given a gift (Eph 4:7). Not acknowledging a gift from God Almighty is not a sign of humility but rather of a sign of ingratitude. For this reason, we need to be careful not to downplay God's gifts of grace in our lives.

Identifying your ministry gifts is an important part of your continued maturing in Christ. By using your Spirit-given gifts to minister to others, you contribute to building the body of Christ and glorifying God. There are many well-developed gifts inventory on paper or in the web that can help you discern what your gifts, personalities, passions, and ministry interests are.

People often are not even aware of their gifts until they get out and do ministry. For this reason, PLUG IN has connected with many SCBC ministry teams, departments and boards to enlist their serving opportunities and profiles for you to consider. Don't be afraid of knocking at these doors. Leaders in these ministries will welcome you, receive you and even allow you to fail gracefully for they know that you are testing out your gifts and abilities. Don't be even afraid of making mistakes or failing the task. Sometimes the best lessons in ministry come from failure than success.

All in all, “PLUG IN” is a good channel to help you discover yourself and experience the dynamics of this local body. But most importantly, it enables you to come into a realization of the grace and power from the treasure in your jar of clay (2 Cor 4:9). May God be glorified in your service to Him.

Shirley Yung
Pastor for Christian Education & Children's Ministry