The Invitation: To Serve

09/23/21

We have so many choices in life, don’t we? There are a gazillion brands of toothpaste, cereal, and even toilet paper to choose from! Grocery stores keep expanding and big box stores get bigger as our choices increase.

We also choose how we spend our time. Whether we spend it on worthwhile ventures or mindlessly scrolling through social media, we all have a choice to make. Even if you don’t make a choice, you are making a choice - you are choosing to do nothing!

But there’s only one choice that will have eternal impact. Only one choice of lasting value. One choice that is needful. That’s the choice to serve the Lord.

14 “Now therefore revere the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:14-15, NRSV

Joshua made a choice, not only for himself but for his family – we will serve the Lord. A bold declaration made in earnestness and commitment of heart. Joshua served the Lord until the day he died. The people also made a choice to serve the Lord and they did so. But twelve judges and generations later, not so. In fact, the end of the book of Judges records the consequences of distraction:

“In those days there was no king in Israel;

all the people did what was right in their own eyes.”

Judges 21:25, NRSV

What happened? Distraction! This Sunday we continue the sermon series, The Invitation, by looking at The Invitation to Serve. What does it mean to faithfully serve God amid the distractions of life? To register for worship, you can sign up at: https://rsvp.church/r/gVufUAP4 . You can also join us online at 10:00am. For online worship go to www.umcgt.org.

September is our month of service. I encourage you to think about the ways in which you can give yourself in service to the Lord through the ministries of Green Trails Church. Then after you’ve thought about it – act on it! You can find our service opportunities on the website. The biggest one is here, September 25 – Feed the 5000! We weren’t able to do it last year, but this year it is being organized by one of our youth, Gavin Hughes! If you haven’t signed up yet, please go to the website and sign up for a shift. Remember, we will be blessing thousands of families with a simple gesture of a few hours! Can we do it? Yes we can!

Our hearts are saddened at the passing of Mr. Robert (Bob) Williams, former member of Green Trails. We hold his wife, Rev. Michele Sue, and daughter, Michelle, in prayer. Services are as follows:

Visitation: Wednesday, September 29th from 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Layne Renaissance Chapel

7302 W. Florissant Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63136

Thursday, September 30th at St. Andrew UMC

3975 N. Highway 67, Florissant, MO 63034

Visitation from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m

Celebration of Life Service from 11 a.m. to 12:p.m

Interment at Jefferson Barracks with Honor Guard

As we enter the fall season, the leaves are turning beautiful colors and the weather is getting crisper. May we, too, enter a new season spiritually, focused even more on serving our great God!

Blessings,

Pastor Linda