Focal verse
“Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Peter 4:10).
Reflection
At our church, fourth graders are invited to learn how to serve in worship as acolytes. My daughter counted down the days until the training. During worship, she’d watch the acolytes closely. She would share with me how they bow before and after they light the candles, and where the offering plates are located. She asked why a flame is carried out of the service. Her eyes were filled with wonder at these small tasks in which she would soon take part.
The other parents and I watched the training as our kids learned and practiced with the pastor. We talked about being acolytes ourselves, and how and why we were taught to do the candle-lighting a certain way; how we had felt nervous, excited and stressed about the entire congregation watching us. Meanwhile, we couldn’t help but hear the joy and laughter from our kids.
These little things in worship (lighting candles, helping with the offering) are big things in a life of faith. When we and our children show up to worship, offering our time and gifts, we get to help others feel welcome and to share God’s light. And we get to have fun. God delights in our serving others.
Apart from volunteering as an acolyte, there are other ways to serve in worship—it’s a beautiful picture of the body of Christ when all ages step up as readers, ushers, musicians and greeters. What a gift it is to serve with joy, just as our current fourth-graders do. This month, as you attend worship as a family, watch the people who are leading. Could you offer your time in a similar way? Ask God to help you build up the life of your congregation.
Practices
- Look over the volunteer list from your worship bulletin or congregation website and pray for the people who help lead worship. Give thanks for their time and the gifts they share.
- Together, read This Is the Church by Sarah Cunningham (Sparkhouse, 2020). This update to the classic children’s rhyme is an introduction to church for a new era and teaches children that, ultimately, the church is the people.
Prayer practice
Look through your bulletin or find a hymnal to read the offertory prayer together. Print it out and hang it somewhere in your home for your family to see as they’re coming and going. Reflect on the prayer and see how God is inviting you to serve and use your gifts.
Consider this prayer from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (p. 129): “Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: ourselves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.”
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