Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader Podcast. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy, life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Hey everyone, this is Scott Kim, the Cyclisher Pastor and Co-host of the Life Group Leader Podcast. Today we're speaking with our Community Center Pastor, Mireu, and we're talking about why it's important to serve as a group, how it's serving impacts not only those who we serve, but us as well, and practical tips on how to get your group back into serving together.
So let's dive in. Oh, Leader Podcast, this is Sam. This is Scott. And today's podcast is sponsored by the Mariners Thrift Store.
Come on down. An honest plug, I found some incredible things at the Mariners Thrift Store. I have this mirror right here that you can't see, but it's beautiful. My wife and I are expecting in January and we got a killer stroller.
So the reason we're bringing this up is because we have a very special guest on the podcast today. We have Mireu Mokuni. It was our Community Center Pastor. Mireu, it's so awesome having you here today.
Can you just share a little bit about yourself or those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, a little bit about your role and your family background if you'd like to share? Yeah, that's awesome. If I could get that clip and just play for myself every morning, just as an intro into my day, I feel like it would up my belief in myself a lot more. So thank you.
We will hype you up loudly, gladly every day. That is an incredibly generous introduction. Like I said, Mireu, I get to serve as a Community Center Pastor. I just have a passion for synchords, people really walk in obedience and what God's desire is for their lives, no matter where they're in their journey and what God is doing.
The fact that they would be a part of our community, be a part of our church is extremely special. And the huge part of what God has called people to do is to serve, particularly with our outreach initiatives and really participate in what God is doing throughout our community to change the world. Yeah. That's so good.
And yeah, we're excited to talk about this topic on the table today. And that's how to reignite a passion for serving. And you know, the context is serving with our groups. So we have Life Group leaders listening in on this.
And a lot of them are probably thinking, man, it's been a while since my group has served. And I felt that at times. And I feel like my wife and I are Life Group leaders. And there have been seasons where we haven't served together.
And I feel it. I've felt it before. Like, man, it's such a beautiful thing to serve alongside our group. So some groups, if they're listening, some leaders and they're thinking, man, it's been a while since we've served.
Can you just share why we serve in the first place and what the heart posture should be for serving? Yeah, great question. First of all, man, I like to read this out there. Good job.
You're doing such a hard work. I'm really discipling God's people being a part of it and on top of it participating in the discipleship yourself and really opening up and being that example of vulnerability for your group is really, really powerful. So kudos to all of you out there. And we see you.
We see the hard work you put in. Why how to read the passion? I think one of the ways to do it is just see what's out there. Begin having the conversation with your group.
If at all, honestly, I think back to a lot of our campaign season messages, they're also good. So if you just go look up any of the secret messages, just want to sit down and process it with your group. You want to, Matthew 25 is always my go to, checking and seeing what that story of what the Lord says in terms of how he separates it from the sheep. It's a very, very inspirational expression of what it means to respond to the grace that God has given us through serving and engaging with those who would be living on the margins of society.
It's such a powerful passage reminding us how God, I mean, Jesus himself cleverly comes to us disguised as a poor with an opportunity to respond to him because of the grace that he has given us. So really it's not, there's a lot of stuff up there on why you should say, but I would love for to encourage you as a light group leader to find out within your groups what's the story of God's desire for your lives and how would you want to participate in the activities we have for you at Mariners and as he writes that story for you. So I had a routine group recently who, four of them were individuals who had been through the foster system in one shape, former size. And everybody was totally, totally glued into all their stories because it was both educational for the group and extremely inspirational to see what God had done to care for these wonderful individuals as they had gone through a journey in one shape almost connecting with the foster system.
It was no brainer for us when the opportunity to serve came up when we were deciding where to go and we jumped into foster serving and that was just such a phenomenal and powerful time for a lot of the individuals in our group. Another group it just, like I, you know, granted I'm biased, come inside the community center, what we got to experience with those individuals is something only God could do. And opening up to see what stories there are in your group is also a good way to help you decipher and determine what it looks like to actually participate in that. Questions right there.
I also want to talk about the hard posture. Like what does it look like for you to show up ready to serve? How do I, you know, step into this space and being able to do so? See, with the way God has given us this opportunity to serve, I will think about the fact that a lot of ink has been put in terms of what we should be doing to change the world.
And a lot of good stuff has been written out there. There's all sorts of philosophies and sometimes it's so hard to determine what's, how do we decipher what that is? But we always go back to the Bible because as Christians that's really our chat GPT, our cheat sheet. That's exactly how we get to, how we get to, how we get to do this.
And I think about, now this is a term, you know, a very churchy term, but I'll expound on it. I think about Jesus' expression of what it looked like to save the world. He did this thing that's known as incarnational ministry. All right, what that basically means is that he incarnated himself.
He became man, all right, to engage with us. And when we think about what does it look like to serve with the people around us, relationship is what we learn from how Jesus did it. The fact that he, as we told in scripture, put off all that was according to him as a son of God, but instead became humble servant and came to earth as man to walk with us, all right? I'm not pulling a couple of verses there, but the idea that he would leave his deity version of himself to become the individual that I walked this earth as a man is a really powerful, is a really powerful thing.
Because now that that happened, when he looks at us in the eye and says, I know what you're going through. I know it's real because he experienced it. And so when we have that as our foundation for what we get to do as individuals as Christians, and then he tells us, go and love your neighbors as you have loved yourself, we get to turn around and do what he did for us to our neighbors. Our neighbors show up in desolate and destitute situations.
We think about the quartet of the vulnerable, you know, and this would be the poor, the orphaned, the widow, and the foreigner. And these individuals show up at our church all the time. And so we get to respond to their situations with love, with care, and relationship. And I don't need you to be an expert in, for example, making sport talk.
I'm really destroying up as you are and seeing what God does through you and your availability is the most important thing. That was a lot. This is so helpful. It really is helpful.
And I think this is something that all the group members in the life group can benefit from as well, hearing the heart, the why that Jesus came to serve us. And we are to do likewise. And so, yeah, thank you for sharing the heart of it all. And understanding that, we love it when individuals and families serve through local outreach, in our community.
But what would you say are the benefits of a life group serving together? I know in the rooted groups we've had our services and they're powerful, but as Sam was sharing, sometimes continuing that rhythm is a bit challenging as a life group. And so what would you say are some benefits and the impact of serving together as a life group? Yeah.
I'd say there's like a couple of layers to it. The first thing I would say is, as a life group, you are a body. And the Lord has assembled this group of individuals who have been able to walk together. But when you get to step out of the regular rhythm of caring for one another, hearing each other, studying scripture together, and be able to put all that growth into activity, into action, you begin to see a really beautiful picture of what God is doing in each and every one of you.
I promise you, there are gifts and talents that you haven't seen in your fellow life group members because you haven't gotten the opportunity to serve. And when you get to step into that, you begin to see, oh my goodness, this person is really good with, oh my goodness, this other person is really phenomenal at. And it's just another way we get to build each other up as a body because you get to affirm that. You get to explore these other aspects of it.
Also you get to give each other the encouragement to step out, encourage to do so. Because there are some moments where, you know, and I recognize there are some times where we may find ourselves really hesitant to step into some of the activities that we get to do here at Marianas. But if you know your fellow life group leaders are with you, you're more likely to engage with it and then you were previously. And there is that essence of stepping into, in faith as you get to serve one another.
And I mean, you know, I truly think a life group that serves together, continues to grow together. It's such a special thing when we see each other participating in the work of the larger body of the church as we explore what God has for us as the body of a life group. With that essence and that picture of what God is doing continues to really stretch and increase our faith and our, you know, dependence and connectedness with the Lord. It's really powerful.
Yeah. So I'll give you one. But I want to put that out of there as one way in which I think so. Ray, so many nuggets today.
What comes to mind is everything that you've talked about enhances not only develops not only our relationship with God but with others too. It's vertical and it's horizontal and we want to see those spiritual gifts come out that we've all been given by the Holy Spirit. We get to witness that when we serve as a group. And you know, I'm just thinking about the practical tips and the encouragement that we can give our life group leaders that want to start serving again.
What's one small act that they can do this month? Whether it's a conversation with their group, whether it's, you know, assigning a serve champion. What do you think our life group leaders could do to move in that direction? That's a great question.
I think reopening the discussion is important. I think it's a necessary aspect of being able to get on the same page and begin to walk that journey and see what story God's writing. If you think you know somebody in your group who might be a good person to assign, you know, go ahead and and and might them as a serve champion. Give them that unique mantle of leadership to champion your group and find the right space for you guys to jump into.
There is a life group leader email that goes out every month, right? Yeah, you guys get to send it out every month. It's such a powerful expression of what God is doing at our church and opportunities for you to step in there. You always have outreach opportunities for you to jump into.
Ask if anybody, you know, maybe somebody heard something about a prison ministry activity or a lighthouse community centers event or a community center sorting party. Like any of those, it may have been laid on somebody's hearts and they've just never had the opportunity to put it out there. And as when you open the discussion, when you begin to create that space for God's, you know, the spiritual guide, you're going to see that progress work through. And as a life group leader, I just want to encourage you, maybe you're the one who's just championing this and you're like, okay, my people are really, really excited too.
I'm just sitting and getting to the word, connect with one another and enjoy it. Keep at it. It's, I truly believe in what God has called us to do as a church. And so people may not see it in the moment, but once you get out there and you engage, it's going to become crystal clear.
So don't stop. Don't stop no matter what the response is. Just keep going and graciously invite your group into it to encourage. Yeah.
That's great. But leaders, assigned search champions. Yes. That's a huge thing.
Just that rhythm of serving one's per session. That's like every two, three months, continuing that rhythm. It's not like what Maria is saying. It's not checking off a list, but really this is God's desire for us to go from our heart to our hands and serve those that God has placed in our community.
And so yeah, I want to encourage you to do that. But we also want to talk about some next steps for this coming fall as we look at the seek the good campaign. So could you share a little bit more about that and how life groups can participate? Yes.
Yes. The good has grown to become our local outreach campaign that allows for our church to step into really that aspect of changing the world, especially in our local context. And as life groups, especially for the life groups that have been launched this last year, if this is your first time experiencing it, my goodness, you are in for the role of post-war life. It's going to be such a phenomenal time.
Feel free to ask other life groups that are participating. I know the Lord has worked in so many of them. But every, if not all, ministries are going to have an opportunity for individuals to step into it. So I want to thank you for the data.
I think August will be announcing some of the dates to consider. And we will be able to make sure that you get connected and have a space to jump into. And so if you have one of those groups that needs concrete details, August, look out for all the information that's going to be coming out during that time. But the campaign will run throughout our fall season here at Manus Church.
So I think all the way up to Christmas, through Thanksgiving and the fall season, it's just going to be a phenomenal time. We're going to see God and each spirit to really, really engage our community in the way that he wants us to. So good, Mario. It's been a pleasure having you, brother.
What do you mind just praying over our life group leaders and encouraging them and the members of their group to just consider serving and adding that as a regular rhythm? But also putting on their hearts, the fruits that will come out of it. Would you mind doing that for us? I would love to.
I would love to. Have any father. Look at these wonderful life group leaders who want nothing more than to faithfully and intentionally and carefully disciple your people. Father, as they have stepped into this call to become disciple makers, may your spirit continue to strengthen their hearts.
Slow up on them the wisdom that only comes from you, reminding them, Father, that it is not them who transform, but it is you who transforms. I'm caring for them, Father, that as they care for their group, that they too can experience your care, not just in the group, but directly from you. Make it tangible in their spaces. That they may see the transformation that you are doing in the lives of those around them, but they may also be encouraged.
Because Father, we know that you don't need us, but you have chosen to use us. And these life group leaders step into this space in obedience knowing full well that without you and Father, they cannot do what you have called them to do. So Father, bless them and all of them as they faithfully put in the work and to see your people grow and connect to you. Amen.
Thank you, leaders. Until next time. Peace.