BY AMBER J. CRAFT
Special to the Telegraph
Cross Church’s second annual “Serve Day” descended upon Starke on Sunday, October 13th, with approximately 150 eager members spreading throughout the community seeking clean-up and service opportunities to make a difference through acts of service.
The members gathered at Cross Church for a short service and prayer before dispersing to various duties. The central theme echoed in the message was that Jesus came to serve others, not to be served. Therefore, the congregation was encouraged to enter the world and serve as Jesus did.
Connecting with seniors
This is W.D. Beck’s second year volunteering at Windsor Health and Rehabilitation Center with Cross Church. He believes it’s essential to always make people feel like they matter and are not forgotten.
“We feel that we are not saved to be served, but to serve like Jesus did. So, we want to touch people, especially in places like this, because a lot of them don’t even have visitors. A lot of them have families that could be living far away. We want them to feel the love and know that they’re appreciated and worth something,” Beck said.
With tensions rising in the country due to stressors like election politics, weather disasters, and other conflicts, Beck feels it’s important to acknowledge the pain others are going through right now, especially our eldest citizens.
“People are hurting,” he said. “We know that people are suffering right now. Well, these guys suffer daily, every week, every month, every year, and we just want to reach out and touch them. We just want to come and let them know that somebody is out there thinking about them. We want them to know they have not been forgotten.”
Beck explained that there’s also a surprising benefit when serving others.
“When you’re doing something that the Lord has called you to do,” he explained, “you feel like you’re fulfilling not only his purpose, but he’s fulfilling a purpose in your life because we need this as much as they need that.”
Beck added that it isn’t just the seniors that are affected. The children also benefit from seeing firsthand what a life of service can teach.
“Look at these little kids,” he said. “They’re learning something that they won’t be taught anywhere else. And so yeah, we feel that purpose, and we want them to know that.”
Free Car Wash
Cross Church’s “The Way” youth group members coordinated a free car wash at DLP Bank in Starke. Participants showed energy flagging down passing cars to entice them to pull in and get a vehicle bath.
Luke Stucky, 18, has been involved for the past couple of years with Cross Church volunteering on the worship team, the production team, and leads a middle school small group of boys.
Stucky said he’s drawn to serve in his church, particularly on Serve Day because he likes to give back to the community and make a difference.
“One of our key values is to go out and make a difference,” he said. “And so, we like to dedicate this day to just going out in our community and serving all over the town in as many ways as we can.”
Service for Stucky started young.
“God intervened in my life at a young age,” he recalled, “and I just want to be more like him every day. And he loves people, and so he calls us to love our neighbors. So that’s the best way I can do it.”
Stucky said the biggest draw of being part of a church community is the love and support given without judgment.
“It’s just the way that we love on each other and the way that we hold each other accountable, but to a level where we’re not going to harp on you,” he explained. “Because we all make mistakes and we’re not perfect, and God knows that, and he loves us anyway. But just being able to have that small group of people who love you with all your mistakes and all your problems that you have going on, but they still accept you with open arms and point you towards where you need to go.”
Rainbow Center Clean-up
David Burnett was in charge of power washing the Rainbow Center building. He emphasized the importance of serving within a supportive congregation.
“The biggest thing is community,” he said. “I mean, all through everything, through the Bible, even when Jesus sent the disciples out, he sent them out two-by-two to be together, not be separated amongst everybody.”
Burnett recognized that the larger the community, the more chance there is to connect with others similar to oneself. From those connections, a shared rapport is born.
“Even with a church of 400 plus [people] every week, there’s still so many people you meet. I mean, I’ve been going there since it started, and there’s still people every week that continue to meet new people.”
When asked what personal benefits he receives from serving, Burnett responded, “It’s freeing for me. It’s being able to get out and do something for somebody else and not expect anything out the other end.”
Delivering Cookies to First Responders
Melissa Reddish, Brittany Bradley, Mallory Parkinson, Teegan Bradley, and their team stopped for a second before delivering cookies to the Starke Fire Department, the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, HCA Florida Starke Emergency, and other first responder organizations to give a reason why Serve Day was important to them.
“It’s just to show the love of Jesus Christ to others, and just show them that maybe in their darkest times, that they can reach out to the Lord,” Parkinson said.
Service 365
Justin Durrance, Executive Pastor of Cross Church, encouraged members to remember that service can happen every day of the year over and above Serve Day.
“That’s where we really encourage our small groups to see where there’s a need and to meet them. Not just on this day, but any day, just to be out in the community.”
Durrance also shared that the church’s approach to meeting new people is to connect first.
“Rather than just bombarding people with Jesus and the Gospel,” he suggested, “let’s first build a relationship through acts of service or kindness, and then we can share the Gospel with them.”
After the Service Day activities, volunteers met back at Cross Church for lunch and fellowship time.
The sentiment stated repeatedly on this day was that anyone is welcome to join the Serve Day events or attend any weekly service.
“We see lots of different people with different backgrounds that are coming. Some who have rough backgrounds, some who have some church hurt. Maybe they weren’t treated well in the past. And they’re coming, and they’re seeing something different, which is what we want,” Durrance said. “We’re seeing younger people come. We’re seeing some with just varying backgrounds and stories, but they’re able to come find community and hear the Gospel. And you know, that’s what we want.”
