{"id":382,"date":"2010-11-20T20:11:56","date_gmt":"2010-11-21T01:11:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=382"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:28:47","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:28:47","slug":"the-beauty-of-serving-jesus-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/the-beauty-of-serving-jesus-together\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beauty of Serving Jesus Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Great View<\/h2>\n

My office window looks out over the south parking lot of our church.\u00a0 Admittedly, that may not be quite as picturesque as a shimmering ocean or a towering mountain range.\u00a0 But where I sit today, what I see is even more beautiful than anything nature has to offer.<\/p>\n

God’s People Serving Together<\/h2>\n

This is the time of year when our church family comes together to set up the Living Nativity, a series of 12 full size sets depicting various aspects of the Christmas story.\u00a0 This is the 20th anniversary of the Lafayette Living Nativity<\/a>.\u00a0 An estimated 150,000 have gone through the Nativity in that period of time.\u00a0 What a marvelous way to share the good news of Jesus Christ at Christmastime.<\/p>\n

\"Men
Church members assemble part of the Bethlehem scene for the Lafayette Living Nativity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ordinary People Doing Ordinary Things<\/h2>\n

The past few days, men and women have been working outside my window doing pre-setup. \u00a0I have rejoiced as I have looked up from my desk from time to time to see men and women joyfully serving Christ, and\u00a0I had the privilege of joining the team this morning for the full set up day. Some of the people serving have been involved in the Living Nativity for all 20 years.\u00a0 They are towers of faithfulness, the kind of people where Christ’s grace, mercy, and strength are deliciously evident.\u00a0 There are also men and women who are brand new to our church.\u00a0 Some have just recently become followers of Christ.\u00a0 Others were connected to our church through some crisis in their life.\u00a0 Watching such a diverse group of people serve together is a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n

Just Like Their Lord<\/h2>\n

The Living Nativity celebrates and proclaims the good news that God loved the world and sent His only Son to be our Savior.\u00a0 Every person who\u00a0repents and believes can have a personal relationship with God because of the finished work of Christ on the cross.\u00a0 But the Nativity reminds us that Jesus did not come as a powerful king in the eyes of the world.\u00a0 He came as a humble servant, a lamb, who would some day die for the sins of man.<\/p>\n

Jesus would later teach his followers, Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many<\/em> (Matthew 20:26-28).<\/p>\n

That is why the view from my window is so beautiful today.\u00a0 Men and women, who have been marvelously transformed by the saving work of Christ are now serving Jesus together.\u00a0 People from all walks of life.\u00a0 Young and old.\u00a0 Long time Christians and individuals\u00a0brand new to the faith.\u00a0 Having a great time setting up a series of scenes that proclaims the greatest story ever told.\u00a0 Beautiful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Great View My office window looks out over the south parking lot of our church.\u00a0 Admittedly, that may not be quite as picturesque as a shimmering ocean or a towering mountain range.\u00a0 But where I sit today, what I see is even more beautiful than anything nature has to offer. God’s People Serving Together… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Beauty of Serving Jesus Together - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/the-beauty-of-serving-jesus-together\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Beauty of Serving Jesus Together - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Great View My office window looks out over the south parking lot of our church.\u00a0 Admittedly, that may not be quite as picturesque as a shimmering ocean or a towering mountain range.\u00a0 But where I sit today, what I see is even more beautiful than anything nature has to offer. 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