DNA: Volunteerism

The Heart of Volunteering

Galatians 1:13–24 CSB

For you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I intensely persecuted God’s church and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who from my mother’s womb set me apart and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I could preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone. I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus. Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to get to know Cephas, and I stayed with him fifteen days. But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. I declare in the sight of God: I am not lying in what I write to you. Afterward, I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I remained personally unknown to the Judean churches that are in Christ. They simply kept hearing, “He who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.

THE JOURNEY OF THE BELIEVER

We see in scripture that there is a journey for every believer:

Encounter - Jesus is revealed to them (Salvation/baptism)

Formation - Jesus transforms thems/Renewed by the mind (Beliefs, sanctification, s become more like Jesus in character, thinking, and living.)

Mission - Joining God's work in the world by making disciples, serving others, and sharing the good news of Jesus.

Lets Look at Pauls life:

He encounters Jesus

Jesus transforms His life

Jesus send Paul on a specific mission.

Other People:

Moses: (Exodus 3–4; Exodus 19–34)

Encounter: Moses was running away from his past after murdering someone. He meet God in a burning bush.

Formation: God spends years preparing him to lead (education and experience as a sheppard)

Mission: Leading the Israelites out of Egypt

Abraham (Genesis 12–22)

Encounter:God calls Abraham to leave his homeland.

Formation: Through years of waiting, testing, and trusting God's promises, Abraham's faith is deepened.

Mission: Abraham becomes the channel through whom God blesses the nations.

Mary, mother of Jesus (Luke 1–2)

Encounter: Young girl, Angel Grabriel announces Gods call on her life that she will bare Son.

Formation: Mary learns to trust God through suffering, patience, humiliation and obedience.

Mission: Be the mother of Jesus who would save the world one day.

Lydia (Acts 16)

Encounter:The Lord opens her heart to respond to Paul's message.

Formation: She grows as a disciple and leader in the early church.

Mission: Her home becomes a base for ministry and the church in Philippi

The Boy with 2 fish and 3 loaves John 6:1-14

Encounter: The boy encounters Jesus through the crowd gathered around Him.

Formation: He responds with trust and surrender, offering what little he has into Jesus' hands.

Mission: His small act becomes part of Jesus' miraculous feeding of thousands.

MAIN POINT: GOD IS MOVING THROUGH TIME AND HISTORY AND INVITING YOU AND ME TO JOIN IN HIS PLAN.

PAULS CV - Born For This!

If we pull up his CV quickly we will see something about him:

· Birth name: Saul

· Roman Translation: Paul

· Birthplace: Tarsus

· Heritage: Jewish (Tribe of Benjamin)

· Citizenship: Roman by Birth

· Languages and Culture: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek

· Education: Jewish Law under Gamaliel in Jerusalem

· Early Career: Pharisee (Major in Jewish Law)

· Personality: Zealous, passionate, not a panzy pushover

Paul was the perfect person that God would use for the assignment of spreading the Good News – about Jesus:

To spread the news

Explain it using scripture

Reason for it, explain and  contextualize it to the culture He was in.

MAIN POINT: YOU WERE BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!

The Christian is the one who says here is ALL of me.

God what are you doing?

Where can I be of use?

THERE IS AN IDENTITY CHANGE

If we look at all of the letters in the New Testament of the early church, their greetings tell us something of the posture of teh church and how they posture themselves?

Romans 1:1 — “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus…”

Philippians 1:1 — “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus…”

Titus 1:1 — “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ…”

James 1:1 — “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”

2 Peter 1:1 — “Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ…”

Jude 1:1 — “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James…”

MAIN POINT: THE CHRISTIANS IDENTITY IS TO BE A SERVANT. - NOT FORCED, BUT WILLINGLY.

SERVANTS / VOLUNTEERISM (PAGE 73)

Definition: One who enters into any service or undertakes anything of his own free will. New Webster Disctionary

READ PAGE 73 OF THE DNA MANUAL

“The Apostle Paul would perhaps be left speechless if he was to return to the Modern Church Age and encounter the enormous energies expended by spiritual leaders in cajoling reluctant spectators off their “blessed assurances” and into action. To the ear of the Early Church Christian such a tale of a needed diet of coercion (forced) to mobilise the church would sound sheer blasphemy.

They signed up for martyrdom! With joy they laid down their very lives. When Jesus said they would be “witnesses” – they knew exactly what He meant because He used the word martyr.

But in 2000 years of ensuing Church History and with the rise of the modern world we have ended up (in many parts of Christendom) with a self-absorbed, self-indulgent spoilt adolescent church that is weak in impact and obese from a diet of petty pursuits, superficiality, individualism and spectatorism.”

REFERENCE MY MUSLIM NEIGHBOUR

3 PILLARS OF VOLUNTEERING:

Serving: An act of worship with whatever is in your hands. (Time, Talent and Tressures)

Sacrifice: Laying down your life and treating others as better than yourself. Your life is actually not your own.

Generosity: Contrary to our modern culture of look after number 1, amass all the resources you can - generosity is a lifestyle of giving.

We live in a consumer culture! Any Netflix documentary today will tell you the same thing.

THE GREAT COMMISSION AND THE POWER OF EVERYBODY

The power of the Church truly is the power of everybody, as men and women, young and old, offer their gifts to work out God’s redemptive plan. PG 75

It is impossible for a small group of people to accomplish the ridculously immense task of the Great Commissin Matthew 28:18–20

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

GOD IS WORKING IN:

Centurion

Gauteng

South Africa

Africa

World

Will you join his work?

What do you have to offer? More than you probably think.

• You have the gifts and talents with which you were born. (Sing, musical) /Strong guys when I moved

• The passions that inspire you. (Music, arts) / Decor DIY Dylan

• The blessings of education. (Management, Education, Theology) / People helping me with my finances and event budgets

• The skills you’ve honed as you’ve worked at home or in the marketplace. (Paino, Guitar, Canva, Afrikaans) / Johan helping me process decision

• The life experiences that have matured you. (Education - Serving at the school) / Eldership (Thula)

• The pain that has deepened you. (Family, poverty. Father passed away, independant quickly. Work with youth development) / Businesses, Divorce , Deaths etc

• The love of neighbour that spills from God’s heart into yours.

Church is a “community of blessing”.

HOW DO YOU DO THIS?

Just Jump In

STORY: MY MOM WHEN I JOINED HIGHWAY CHURCH - DONT BE A BENCH WARMER

The key is to look at:

● Discovering

● Developing and

● Deploying your spiritual gift as a process.

2. Look honestly at your schedule and the time-frame for the serving opportunity.

Is your schedule full of meaningless things?

Are you overcommitted.

Whats the season of life you are in? Capacity?

3. Alignment

Yourself: Do the things that God has created you to do. (Eg. gifting, passion etc)

Community: Do the work that God has called this community to do. (Ministries, gatherings, sowing, hosting etc)

4. Healthy Self-care:

Many faithful servants get sidelined by a simple problem: too much serving.

We need to recognise the difference between self-denial and self-destruction.

Self-denial is about denying sin, self-deception, and selfishness. It’s about denying whatever God asks us to deny, either through commands in the Bible or through the more personalised direction of the Holy Spirit.

Self–destruction, on the other hand, is about denying authentic feelings, legitimate needs, healthy activities, and life–giving relationships that God never asked us to give up.

Self-preservation (when distorted) is about protecting comfort, image, control, or emotional safety in ways that resist obedience to God. It can look like avoiding hard obedience, avoiding sacrifice, or staying in what feels safe rather than stepping into what is faithful. In this sense, self-preservation becomes a subtle form of disobedience where the goal shifts from glorifying God to protecting the self.

SUSTAINED SERVANTHOOD FLOWS FROM SPIRITUAL FULLNESS

Sincere, energised servant-hood must flow from an ongoing, daily experience of God’s presence and love.

Spiritual disciplines like solitude, silence, meditation on Scripture, journalling, and prayer keep us grounded, not just in the intellectual truth of God’s love, but in the experiential reality of it.

YOU WERE MADE TO SERVE!!!!!

What’s Next?

Discovery: Start the journey of discovering your gifting:

Complete the following for next week:

Appendix 1: Passion Assessment

Appendix 2: Spiritual Gift Assessment

Appendix 3: Personal Style Assessment

Get Connected:

Life Group

Ministry

Elder