Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever, Amen (Revelation 1:5-6).

Serving God through the church is one of our greatest blessings and we should learn to be grateful for the opportunity to serve. We should be grateful for the opportunity to be asked to help another person by giving them a ride to worship services, taking someone to the grocery store, or going to visit them while they are sick. We should be grateful for those opportunities. We should be grateful for the opportunities we have to preach, sing, pray, serve the Lord’s Supper, teach a Bible class, take care of little ones in the nursery, and read Scriptures publicly for the church. These things are tremendous honors.

We should count service to the Lord’s church as a great privilege because of those brothers and sisters who made it possible. Every one of us stand on a great heritage of faith from previous generations who make it possible for us to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). Hebrews 12:1 reminds us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Our precious memories remind us of those precious saints who taught us the way by their example and by their words. When we serve God through the church, we rightfully honor their memory. “Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spoke unto you the word of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

Most importantly, we should count serving in the church as a privilege because Jesus makes our service possible. If Jesus had not built His church, we would have no church in which to render service (Matthew 16:18). We must also remember that in order to build the church, it was necessary for Jesus to purchase it with his own blood (Acts 20:28). When we were washed with that blood (Rev. 7:14; Titus 3:4-6), we became a new creation “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Furthermore, we are thankful for opportunities to serve because God does not forget our service to Him and to His people (Hebrews 6:10).

Let us always be thankful that we have the opportunity to serve God by serving His people. “For as touching the ministering of the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: for I know your readiness” (2 Corinthians 9:2).