Go. Serve. Love. Give.

It is hard to believe that we have hit the end of the first quarter for 2014.  How can we be 25% through the year?  Even harder (for me) to believe is that we are 1 month away from celebrating Into the Field's 6th birthday.  A lot has happened in these past six years.  A lot of lives have been touched and changed, and hopefully a lot people have seen Jesus.

In reflecting back over what has gone well (and some things that maybe didn't go the way we'd have liked), one thing remains clear.  We seek to continue to live our mission of serving the servants around the corner and around the world.  Simplistically this means that we GO, SERVE, LOVE, and GIVE.

Why do you GO?  Easy.  Check out what it has to say:

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 10:14-15

What about this SERVE thing?

"Serve The Lord your God."

Deuteronomy 10:25

 

"serve with all your heart"

Joshua 22:5

 

"Serve whole heartedly as if serving The Lord not people."

Ephesians 6:7

 

"the Son of man did not come to be seed but to serve"

Matthew 20:27

 

"Serve one another humbly in love"

Galatians 5:13

Well, LOVE just makes sense, right?  There are SO many reasons, but here is a biggie:

"And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:27

And GIVE?  Throughout the Bible we are presented of examples, over and over, of God giving to us.  So much more than we deserve.  He gives us: food, land, life, hope, a future, mercy, grace, strength, HIS SON.  Every. Single. Need.  And more.  I think our giving needs to start as David says:

 "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."

Psalm 9:1

 

And then put that into action as in the 2nd part of Luke 12:48

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

Luke 12:48b

There are going to be some subtle and not so subtle changes showing up in the life and ministry of Into the Field.  Our hearts desire is that they will not only follow the directive to GO, SERVE, LOVE, and GIVE, but will also encourage others to do the same.