I know that the word "church" isn't an action verb.

But neither is the word "Facebook," and we use it like it is.

"I'll Facebook you later today"

"What's your name? GreatI'll Facebook you!"

Neither is the word "Google," but we verb it up, too.

"I have no idea what the population of Idaho is, so I'll Google it."

So can you give me a little leeway? Because today, I "churched." By that, I mean I WAS the Church. I didn't attend a mass. Or give my tithes. Or sit in a pew. I didn't hand out welcome bulletins or greet new visitors.

I was "the Church" in action verb form.

Today, I was a part of a mobilizing of people from Grace Community Church who worked to make a difference here in Clarksville. We called it Operation Serve, and this is the 6th year we've done this. We worked in partnership with the city of Clarksville to send out over 1200 volunteers.

Some of us remodeled houses.

Some landscaped.

Some played with special needs children.

Others worked on projects with non-profits.

Did we serve because it's the cool thing to do? Nope.

Did we serve because that's what we were told we had to do? Nope.

We served because that's what the Church does. The Church serves because we follow the lead of our Savior who served us. Our Savior who is in the business of making old things new again, righting wrongs, and healing the broken.

We served expecting nothing in return. We didn't have a string attached to our hammers that said, "We will help if you _____." We don't serve so that we can get something in return. We serve because that's what we were created to do. That's who we are and how we love.

We serve because we've been served. We love because we've been loved. We give because we've been given much.

Tomorrow, millions will gather to worship. They'll "go to church." And while that's an important part of being a follower of Christ, we want to remind the world that we, the Church, don't simply exist to gather in our own little huddles. The Church is here to make a difference in our community. To leave things better than we found it.

Today we put our faith on display.

But someone will say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. - James 2:18

As appearing in The Leaf Chronicle