Faith Practices: Serving Others
Service is mentioned frequently in the Bible as a discipline of Jesus’ followers. Old and New Testament scriptures alike ask God’s people to serve as God’s servants by caring and serving one another, particularly those who are unable to care for themselves.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons,
loving your neighbor as yourself?
— The Baptismal Covenant, BCP p. 305
Watch
LEGO The Good Samaritan by Jurassic Brick Productions
2 minutes
Biblical Justice by BibleProject
6 minutes
Story Table: Hospitality by Fuller Studio
4 minutes
Proverbs 3:27-31
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it” — when you have it with you. Do not plan harm against your neighbor who lives trustingly beside you. Do not quarrel with anyone without cause, when no harm has been done to you. Do not envy the violent and do not choose any of their ways.
Read
Scripture
Try reading Matthew 25:34-40 from a few different Bible translations or ask different family members to read it aloud to hear God’s Word in different ways today.
Articles
These two articles explore both the thought and practice of generosity and serving others. See if they inspire you, and share with others.
How to Actually Be More Generous Next Year by Mallory Cruz (Relevant Magazine)
Unlimited Liability: A Movement Towards Generosity by Lacy Finn Borgo (Renovaré)
Websites
These websites offer examples of ministries of service in the Episcopal church, to inspire and encourage.
“I go to meet Jesus, not be Jesus...the posture of meeting Christ in others [rather than being their savior] can help us to honor those who are on the margins...it’s a posture of humility.”
— Lacy Finn Borgo
Pray
Prayer of Teresa of Avila
Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours, no feet but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which to look out Christ’s compassion to to the world.
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
yours are the hands with which he is to bless people now.
A Great Litany Novena for the End of Injustice
From Earth and Altar magazine, this litany “allow[s the reader] to devote nine days to our Lord, [and also] gives order and consistency to prayer, in times of great anxiety, like the time in which we find ourselves.”
Day of Service Faith at Home Guide
This sheet guides individuals, families, and small groups through a service activity, with faith in action through service, reflection and prayer.
Prayer for the Poor and Neglected, BCP p. 826
Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pray
Prayer before worship:
O Almighty God, who pours out on all who desire it the
spirit of grace and of supplication: Deliver us, when we draw near to you, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind, that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer after worship:
Grant, we beseech you, Almighty God, that the words which we have heard this day with our outward ears, may, through your grace, be so grafted inwardly in our hearts, that they may bring forth in us the fruit of good living, to the honor and praise of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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The Formation team in the Diocese of New Jersey is here to help, celebrate, share, and partner with you in this ministry. Reach out today!