Have a photographer or videographer quickly put together a slide or video presentation of the day’s service projects and show it as part of your service.
Hear testimonies from those who served and were served—a key element of your celebration service. Keep them brief and meaningful, allowing many people the opportunity to share.
Provide an overview of your church’s new or ongoing ventures in Faith in Action ministry. This may be the time for officially unveiling plans for community outreach, announcing a new service program, introducing ministry partners or corporately affirming the church’s mission of outreach.
Celebrate how God has been working through other community servants besides your church. Give special recognition to leaders or agencies in the community that were helpful in carrying out your service project. If your Faith in Action project involved collaboration with a nonprofit, you might want to take up a special offering to bless this ministry, in addition to collecting your regular tithes.
Include a time of prayer for the ongoing fruit of your church’s Faith in Action project in the church, the community and around the world, and a special prayer of dedication for outreach ministry leaders. Offer a reception after your service, with snacks (what’s a party without food?), possibly a resource table and displays related to your church’s ministry and those of other agencies serving the community and world.
Consider ways to make your celebration inclusive + invitational:
Affirm children’s Faith in Action by including a kid-friendly song, story, testimony or activity in the celebration. Ask the youth group to help plan a portion of the service or reception.
Invite contacts from the community who are connected with your Faith in Action projects: school
principals, staff, nonprofit agencies, public officials, volunteers—whether or not they are Christian. In fact, invite them especially if they are not Christian! What a great witness this celebration can be.
Invite contacts from the broader body of Christ—denominational officials, ministerial association members, other churches in the neighborhood—to celebrate along with you. This may even plant the seeds for future cooperative, multi-site Faith in Action projects.
Suggested Worship Songs/Hymns
“Majestic” – Lincoln Brewster (Integrity’s Praise! Music)
“Blessed Be Your Name” – Billy Goot, Eddie Espinoza + Matt Redmond (Thankyou Music) “Forever” – David Ruis (Mercy/Vineyard)
“How Great Is Our God” – Chris Tomlin, Jessie Reeves + Ed Cash (worshiptogether.com songs)
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Outline + Summary: WeekFour
Theme: PartyTitle: You’ve Got to Fight for Your Right to Party Text: Luke 10:17–23
Summary
This message is meant to be delivered after your church has participated in churchwide service projects. The text for this sermon is based on the testimony of the disciples sharing their ministry/service experiences with Jesus—and Jesus’ response to them. It is a “testimony-inspired” message. Do the same for your church. Have people share their service experiences with the church. Then help them—like Jesus did with his disciples in Luke 10:17–20—understand the eternal, kingdom impact their faith in action made.
Outline
IntroductionHave you ever been part of something that you were a bit apprehensive about, but then it turned out to exceed all your expectations?
We recently challenged people to put their faith into action, and they took the challenge. We are going to start today’s message with hearing about some of our people’s experiences.
Faith in action brings us joy.
Exposition of Luke 10:17–20.
The disciples were pumped. They discovered that even the demons would submit to them when they evoked Jesus’ authority.
Wherever the disciples were preaching, healing, serving and casting out demons, Jesus saw Satan falling. Give at least a half-dozen examples from your congregants of when Jesus sees Satan fall like lightning because of what they do.
The disciples had the power to transform the spiritual dimension of the world. Even greater reason to celebrate. Names written in heaven. We’re on God’s team.
Illustration: In the movie “Miracle,” based on the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team, Coach Herb Brooks puts his team through a grueling workout. He drills them again and again because he wants them to learn that who they play for is more important than individual glory.
Our small acts of compassion are in reaction to Christ’s redemptive actions at the cross.
Faith in Action brings God joy (Luke 10:21–23).
Illustration: “Laughing Jesus” painting—If you had to find a place in scripture to place those pictures, you would put them here.
Jesus’ joy makes him break into a prayer of praise. He praises God for two things:
“... because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Even a little child can know God’s love and experience the joy of imitating what he sees Christ do.
“... No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Jesus praises God for making the Son of God the source of that revelation.
Conclusion
You took a chance to put your faith into action, to strike a blow against Satan and to be a living witness to the continuing work and love of Jesus. It was one act. Now make it a habit.