“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone… For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:4-6; 12)
It’s truly amazing how different each individual in the body of Christ can be, yet at the same time, we are still deeply united via our union with Jesus and our mission to make him known.
One of the beautiful realities about our differences in the church is that we all serve in a variety of ways while reaching a variety of people, whether in our families, our work, or our local community. The Lord has blessed us all with different spheres of influence, personalities, talents, and abilities to be able to share the love and truth of Christ with others. It’s truly amazing how different each individual in the body of Christ can be, yet at the same time, we are still deeply united via our union with Jesus and our mission to make him known.
This article aims to be a celebration of that beauty through my personal reflections as a long-time staff member at Heritage.
Ironically enough, the day I sat down to begin writing this article marked my seven year anniversary of working at Heritage Baptist Church. Over my time being employed at HBC, I have held a variety of roles. I have had the opportunity to serve as Student Ministries Assistant, Outreach Coordinator, Interim Connections Assistant, Executive Assistant (working with adults, teens, and kids), and Communications Assistant. In all of these roles, I have seen one thing in common: overall, the body of believers serving at Heritage truly love the Lord and are united in their service to make disciples of Jesus Christ by living the gospel life well.
I remember one of the first events I helped with was setting up hot chocolate stations at the Lynchburg Christmas parade. I was so blessed to see such a variety of people eager to help. From spending hours making gallons of hot chocolate to handing it out to strangers on the street in order to engage with the community and open doors to share Christ, a variety of people serving in a vast variety of ways occurred. This is just one of the many times I’ve seen my church function so beautifully.
When I think back on other memories I have of serving with the church, I can envision joy on each other’s faces as we served together. I remember a plethora of people working so hard to make our first VBS in years, which occurred right after a global pandemic. That VBS was a huge success in sharing Christ with lots of kids. Some volunteers served with the kids, some prepared crafts, some greeted parents, and some spent weeks turning the Worship Center into a waterfall! Everyone used their talents and abilities to help effectively communicate the love of Christ and the message of the gospel to the hundreds of kids who attended that week. That was another beautiful display of the body of Christ functioning as God intended it to!
Have you ever considered the many faithful individuals serving behind the scenes at Heritage who help to keep regular ministries going strong? There are individuals who regularly help with office tasks, cleaning kitchens, fixing broken things around campus, preparing meals for events, and the list goes on. I’ve also seen Discipleship Communities rally around members who are going through a rough time and need meals, lawn work, and more. The culture of my DC has always been to bear each other’s burdens, lift one another up in prayer, and rejoice together during times of celebration and praise as 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 describes.
“Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (1 Cor. 12:27).”
When each member in the church uses their talents and abilities in service for the Lord, the mission the church has to share the gospel will inevitably go forth in a wonderful way!
This verse gives a simple yet profound explanation for how the church is to function. For the human body to work properly and feel its best, each part needs to be functioning in accordance to how it was designed. When each part is doing its job properly, a human body can do many wonderful things! This is similar to the body of Christ. When each member in the church uses their talents and abilities in service for the Lord, the mission the church has to share the gospel will inevitably go forth in a wonderful way! My hope is that we may continue to celebrate one another in our church body and encourage one another to use our abilities to work together in making disciples of Jesus Christ in our church and around the world.
