“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.”
- Romans 12:1 (MSG)

This weekend at Champions Centre, we’re launching a full-on volunteer campaign for our annual Team Church Conference. We’ve been talking about the value of volunteers and the incredible impact they make in our world. Amazing things happen when we “take our everyday lives and place them before God!”

We love God’s House - and we love it when people are committed to serving with passion! And, there’s a place for everyone when it comes to serving. When we hear the word “volunteer,” we could list many ways others benefit from our work, but sometimes we forget all the ways our own lives are blessed when we give of our time and talents.

Here are a few (ok, more than a few...but worth reading) ways that our lives are blessed when we choose to be volunteers:

1. Being a volunteer offers you a way to serve the Lord where you are planted (Deuteronomy 11:13).

2. When you’re involved in a ministry, you are helping your church advance God’s Kingdom in the earth as His ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20).

3. Ministry involvement is the way you press toward the mark of your high calling, becoming the servant God designed you to be (Philippians 3:14).

4. Your faith is made visible and alive through your works of ministry (James 2:17, 18). Anyone can attend church, but involvement brings life and shows others what faith means to you.

5. Your own feelings of self worth are strengthened when you’re involved in a ministry team (Matthew 25:21, 23). Just as with any activity, as you begin to excel, your self-worth starts to grow.

6. Ministry involvement will challenge you to self improvement and spiritual maturity. God must do something in you before He can do something through you.

7. When you’re involved as a volunteer, you feel like a part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12). God understands our need to feel a sense of belonging and by being part of a team, you fulfill this need while also making a difference in others’ lives.

8. Ministry offers a way to serve others (Galatians 5:13). Not only do you serve God while you’re volunteering, but being part of ministry allows you to help others live successful Christian lives.

9. Your ministry efforts will be rewarded in eternity (Romans 2:6, 7). Serving in ministry where God has planted you causes a life of rewards in the present, as well as in eternity.

10. Ministry provides a place for you to work with other believers to achieve a common goal (1 Corinthians 12:18-20). When we work together, we can achieve anything. Through working together with other volunteers, you’ll also become friends with people with common goals and interests.

11. Involvement in ministry moves you beyond the place of hearing into the place of doing the “good works, which God predestined for us,” (Ephesians 2:10). Hearing God’s Word is important, but to do good works, we must get out of our seats.

12. People who stay committed to a ministry team are less likely to drift out of fellowship with God and other believers. If you want to live up to your potential, stay committed by serving God in a ministry team with passion.

So, what about you? How has volunteering blessed your life? We'd love to know...