Rowdy Serve 2022

Inspired Bible Book: Acts 2

Hey y’all! I hope everyone is having a great spring break. This year I got to go on a service mission trip with my small group again. Last year was so filling and the Lord really used that trip to teach me to have a humble spirit. I was more than excited to go again this year to help others and worship God. We got to serve Gateway Fellowship Church in Bandera, Texas. Last year, I got to learn so much from my leaders, Annie and Markell, and watch how the Lord lives in them. This year God emphasized the importance of fellowship, love, and intentionality. The Lord was so faithful during this trip and I would love to share the things God taught me.

Good Steward of My Time

The Lord has given us the gracious gift of life and time. Being a good steward of this time is managing your time in a way that glorifies God. It is so easy to be selfish with our time, it is even encouraged in today’s culture. How can we be selfish with a gift that we did not earn, did not deserve, and do not own? So I had to ask myself, instead of using my break to sow to my flesh, how can I sow to the spirit. Going to Rowdy Serve was a great way for me to focus on others and make sure that my time is being used to glorify God. However, this also serves as a reminder that it does not stop here. How am I using my time to glorify God when I am busy, tired, in class, at church, or in the store? Every day is a gift from God, Psalms 118: 24, so we should use it to glorify Him and He should be the main priority of our time.

Power of the Tounge

This ties into being a good steward of my time but this is more specific to my interactions with people around me. James 3 talks about the importance of the tongue and how it should be tamed. Words are so important, words made the world (Genesis 1). During this trip, the Lord placed on my heart the importance of words and what I say to my friends. Does this build them up or tear them down? In addition, while I can say things that are not dishonoring, that does not mean that they are glorifying God. Are the conversations I am participating in building up Jesus or just comforting small talk? During the trip, I had many opportunities to talk to my friends and to learn more about them. So I wanted to have purposeful conversations and make sure that this time does not go unwasted. The Lord honored this and I truly left that trip learning so much about the people on the trip with me. I am so grateful because not only did I make new friends but I got to deepen existing relationships.

Actions Behind my Faith

This is something that you think would be very obvious but sometimes can be very confusing. Mostly, because this is where most Christians compromise. In James 2, the Lord tells us that faith without works is dead. Meaning, if I proclaim to know the one true God and to walk in His righteousness, then my actions should show it. When the Holy Spirit lives in you, then that should be evident. You start to bear fruit and to reflect the image of Christ to others. Mark 10:45 tells us that Christ came TO serve, so if this same God lives in me it can only be inferred that I would also serve others. I can’t just walk around saying I am a Christian but my actions do not reflect that. That is how so many people end up with church hurt. My works and actions do not earn my salvation; however, if I do not place actions behind my faith, then I must be asked if I am being genuine. Being on this trip allowed me to practice being the hands and feet of Jesus. But again even outside of a mission trip, how am I serving others in everyday life. There are so many different opportunities to serve my friends and strangers in everyday life. Being a servant is a lifestyle, not just something we do to make ourselves feel better. It is a constant humbling of self, helping of others, and uplifting of Jesus.

Importance of Love

I have always read John 10:35 and thought I understood it. However, this trip gave me the opportunity to actually see that lived out. My small group is very close, I consider these girls my sisters. I truly love each of them and there are things we do that are considered normal to me but during this trip, people spoke to us and said they were shocked to see us love each other so well. This took that verse to another level for me. Like honestly, these weren't people who did not know the Lord, they were each cultivating their own relationship with Him but they were challenged by our love. That was so crazy to me. The way we love each other shows, and if it is the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13, then it should help challenge and grow others. I got to see how some of the guys on our trip loved each other and even show that same love to us. I was challenged by that. Each day of this trip made me feel like I was currently living in the Acts 2 church. We all cared and loved each other, we were devoted to fellowship, we prayed and lifted each other, we worshiped and prayed together. It was so sweet and none of it would be possible without the love of God. There was honesty, patience, humility, and this was despite how tired, dirty, or hungry we were. If people who follow the Lord can see this love, then it can be a living testament to what God has done in our lives to people who do not know the Lord.

A constant prayer I ask is that the Lord makes me a vessel for Him and that people can clearly see Him in me. As I continue growing in the Lord I see how He has changed and transformed areas in my life and where I can continue to grow in others. This comes from not being only a hearer of His word, but a doer. I just pray that the Lord gives us the grace to continue to press forward in our faith and to move past receiving but towards giving and sharing.

Jesus loves you and He truly wants a relationship with you. If you are interested in joining a small group or learning more about Jesus, leave a comment, DM me, text or call me.

You can check out the crazy pictures we took during the trip on my Instagram! Please share how you spent your spring break with me!

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Helpful Links:

https://www.mygateway.tv/

https://chialpha.com/

https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/core-christian-beliefs/what-is-gospel.html