being a part of the church

So, our family is part of a church plant right now.

That means that we're serving a lot.

There's really no other choice in a church plant: everyone serves, or nothing happens.

And so, for the first time in my life, I find myself serving. Almost every Sunday. In more ways than I ever dreamed I would.

And you know what?

It's wonderful.

I wish I could tell everyone this. Because I didn't know it for so long. But volunteering at church is wonderful. It's the best way to be a part of everything.

I never would have volunteered to be a lay reader. But our church needed lay readers, and so I said, "I can do that."

And I've found myself reading the scriptures to the whole church.

It's amazing.

And I never would have volunteered to serve at the altar. But our church needed servers, and so I said, "I'll help, if you need me."

And it's humbling and astonishing.

And I never would have volunteered to be a part of the "kitchen ministry". But we have potlucks every week and I said, "I know how to wash dishes."

And it's so good.

This is what I want to tell everyone: jump in and serve. I know that at big churches, it feels like they don't need you.

But they do.

And I know that at small churches, it feels like there are cliques that already have everything handled.

But they don't.

There's a place for you.

And the church is there to serve. And if you need it, the church is there to serve you. And you can just come and listen and pray and be ministered to, if that is where you are, and that is what you need. No guilt, if that is where you are at.  (I have been there. Most of my life I've been there, actually. Maybe that's why I'm finding this time now such a gift)

But if you have the faintest inkling that there is a place that you want to help in, if you have the least urging that there is something that you can do . . . follow that. Volunteer. Jump in. Ask, "how can I help?"

Because the best place in church is the place of service.

I never knew. I never knew.

But now I know. And I'm realizing that serving is another form of being served. 

Because the One who meets us in our service is the Lord, and we are back in the place of receiving. 

In service, we meet Him.

And there is no greater gift.



The church belongs to the Lord.

This is life in the church:  all of us are unprepared, all of us silly, all of us unworthy . . . it’s okay, jump in anyway. 

If you’re invited, then you’re supposed to be there. Don’t worry about it any more than that. 

We’re kids, serving at the Father’s table. 

In the family, everybody helps.


Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


P.S.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the complete volume of "Let Us Keep the Feast: Living the Church Year at Home"!