"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
John 14:26 (NKJV)
Everything we do is to HELP people Know Jesus, Find Community and Discover Purpose. The key is that we exist to HELP! Our services are not about trying to get people to do something for us, our services exist to help and serve people. Our Connect Groups, Teams and Next Step is not about trying to get people to do something for us, these building blocks are our way of helping and serving to build the lives of people! The Church is made up of people and if each one of us is active in being helpers and disciples then we can reach the world. The Church exists to HELP.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be filled with “helps”. This doesn’t mean that we do things on behalf of others, instead we come alongside them and help them to achieve change. We want to preserve the dignity of others and enable them to do it themselves. For example, we have entrepreneur clubs where we teach people business skills and how to deal with banks. This enables them to start and run their own businesses, providing for others along the way.
The spiritual gift of “helps” is often seen as not glamorous and not sought-after. But to have “The Helper” living within us, this gift is at the core of God’s Kingdom. Though it seems ordinary we are not in church to be helped, but to help others. The desire for miracles and healings is good, unless the motivation is not to help people but to do great things, yourself.
We follow the example of Jesus, who noticed the wedding running out of wine, the deranged man with demons and the hungry crowd. His help was supernatural but His motivation was to help. We should be asking ourselves “How can I help?” when we see a need around us. How we approach people in our everyday lives should be from a posture to serve, not to take.
The greatest help we can give people is to find eternal life with Jesus. When we ask the question, “How can I help God?” we see His priorities:
- To build the church
- To reach the world with His salvation
- To make disciples of all nations.
When we stay on track with God’s priorities, He will enable us. Let’s be known as a Church that is here to help, to serve and make a difference in our city. We don’t just give to the poor, but we develop people to move beyond their problems and help others.
Some further thoughts:
2 Timothy 2:21 speaks of being “useful for the master”. The parable of the talents show us that God would rather equip the useful. Let’s be “useful” meaning we are ready and attentive when the opportunity to help someone comes up. People are more important than the task you’re doing: stop and help them.
Proverbs 30:28 speaks of lizards and spiders (not very liked creatures) who are tolerated nonetheless because they are useful, even in the palace. They are embraced because they get rid of pesky little problems. Can we say the same of ourselves?
Ephesians 4:28 encourages us to labour hard at our jobs so that we have something to give. If we are lazy or “useless” consumers, we can’t be generous.
1 Chronicles 12:1 speaks of those mighty men of David who were “helpers in the war”. As Christians and members of a church, we are at war with the world’s values. Don’t underestimate this and choose to be partners in the war: we are here to HELP.
SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
- How do we approach people in our everyday lives? People we know and strangers we encounter?
- How can we be helpful to the people around us?
- How can we help people with practical needs and practical aspects of life?
- How can we help those around us move toward God?
