Every year, we highlight a variety of opportunities for serving during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our great Ministry Partners always provide us with quite the list, and our great Watermark members always fill up hundreds of spots with serving!
But the goal of all this serving isn’t – or shouldn’t be – simply “checking the box” during a season that inspires selfless acts. Instead, it’s the chance for us to stretch ourselves, to let God grow our hearts, to impact our families or our community groups, and to consider ways we can serve others in the year to come.
With that in mind, we’ve got two challenges for this holiday season.
The first churchwide challenge we’re issuing is to choose at least one GIVING opportunity and at least one GOING opportunity.
Why? Sometimes it’s tempting simply to do the easiest thing possible. For some, that’s donating online or preparing an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. For others, it’s easiest (and most fun) to go with friends to a service project (especially if someone else plans it!). So what if you took an additional step this year?
This challenge thwarts the “easy” mindset. It encourages everyone to take the extra step of both giving to others and going to serve, of investing both our time and our “treasure.”
Fortunately, our Holiday Serve site is organized by “Give” and “Go” categories! Of course, some will find their own opportunities, too – you may GIVE a Thanksgiving meal to someone you’re in relationship with, and you might GO serve the teachers of your kids’ school! That might just make for the best service of all!
If you’re already planning to serve, consider ways you might “expand” that impact. We’ve prepared a guide for Operation Christmas Child along those lines, but these four possibilities can apply to most projects: