I have loved our sermon series “None of Your Business and Other Words of Grace.” First, because saying, “None of your business,” is fun to say, but also because the tag line reminds us that these words are a big relief off our shoulders. The business of our salvation is not ours; it is God’s. We do not, and did not bear that burden, Jesus Christ did.

It was timely that we just wrapped up this sermon series as we observed Labor Day weekend. We celebrate the dignity of American workers on this holiday and appreciate all of the good work that contributes to all the facets of our society. It is my belief that anyone who can rest on this day, should, because it is a day of rest from our labors so to speak. Thank you to everyone who continued to work despite the holiday.

This brings me to my real topic for this blog post: service. Through Christ, we are freed from the pressure of requirements to earn our salvation through works or merits and are called to conduct our lives as a response to that grace. A requirement and a call are two very different things. A requirement is something imposed upon us; a call is a summons that we can choose or avoid.

Family Ministry chooses to heed the call to service. We hope to cultivate generous hearts of service in all our students. We invite you into the great work our preschool and elementary families are doing! God is indeed good, and living in his grace, we are inspired to share that blessing with others.

In the Fall, we will have a few service projects in progress. At the end of September, we will hand out bags for our Loaves and Fishes drive. Please take one, fill it up, and bring it back! This food goes to many food banks across Charlotte, and the need is great.

To assist in our Loaves and Fishes Drive, our middle school and high school youth will be participating in the “Hunger Games” where they will search and find food to contribute to this collection. It will be a competition! We will see how much food we can collect.

We will also help raise funds and awareness for the CROP Walk during October. Our preschool and upper youth will have the opportunity to walk for the cause to reduce hunger. If you see our youth raising funds, please encourage them in their efforts!

We do not have to do this; the beauty is that we get to do this. We are freed to labor not for ourselves, but for others, to the glory of God.