A pastor friend of mine tells the story of how he was standing in the lobby of the church and a first-time attender approached him and asked, “What time does the service start?” He said that he had been asked that question countless times, but this time, for some reason, he felt compelled to give a different answer. He told the person, “The service starts at 12 noon.”
You can imagine the confused look he received, so he went on to say, “Worship, fellowship and preaching from the Bible begins at !0:30, but the service starts when we walk out those doors.”
He said he even put a sign up at the exit to the church parking lot that read, ”Welcome to your Mission Field.”
Of course, I realize that a lot of service happens at the church on Sunday, but his point was, most of the people who need Jesus are not in our churches on Sunday mornings. They are outside those doors.
At the risk of oversimplifying things, our church services should be a launching pad for our individual service to those with whom we work, go to school with and spend time with. It should compel us to go into our mission fields and tell what God has done for us. The strength and encouragement we receive is to be shared with those outside the walls of our churches.
After 30 years of ministry in the local church, I can confidently say that the overwhelming majority of the people who visited the church were invited by someone or served by someone. They saw what real service looks like in the life of someone they knew and responded to it. That is exactly what God has called all believers to do. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says,
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us;
It’s hard to be an ambassador from the comfy confines of our churches. We have to go out and we have to serve.
At Wichita Falls Faith Mission, we have many people from the local churches who take this to heart. They take the message they have heard and bring it to the people at our shelters. They model the love of Christ to our homeless neighbors by feeding them, giving them clothes and by just engaging them with a caring smile and word of encouragement.
If you’re looking for a place to serve, check out our website at faithmissionwf.org and click on volunteers. We would love for you to join our team.
