On Saturday, September 3^rd, for the first time, our demolition team gathered at our new location off of 50^th and F in Omaha. Candlewood members of all ages gathered to serve in whatever way they could – ripping up tile, taking down the lowered ceiling, and landscaping. Some of the older guys gave the college students wisdom on how to do a job well. Children helped take out debris to the dumpster. We all poured some sweat to continue to form our future church home.

It’s amazing to think that people are going to come to know Jesus in the near future at the very place that Levi, Bill, and I were digging up tile. People will be brought to tears in the spot where Matt and Logan were cutting wires. A child might hear about Christ for the first time in the area where there is currently a garage where the Kane boys were carrying tile out in heavy trashcans.

Many times, it blows my mind to see how service projects can change our perspective. When our church body works on the building, it is an opportunity to serve not just Christ and the church, but everyone else that is going to step foot in the door in the future. We are a part of something bigger than ourselves, and it is so easy to overlook.

“Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?”  –1 Corinthians 12:15-17 (NIV)

Looking at this verse, it reminds me of the several ways that we can impact God’s kingdom. We all have different spiritual gifts and use them accordingly. Some of us are great evangelists and have seen many people come to Christ. Others of us are great at building relationships and having deep compassion and care for others.

Ripping up tile and cutting down wiring doesn’t always seem like a lot. However, without that part of the body, we would be unable to do some of the latter things. Being a part of the remodeling is another function of the body of Christ. God is using us to create a place that people will worship him. Isn’t that amazing?

This is the same way that Zerubbabel and Israelites built the second temple. This is the same way that Nehemiah and the Israelites built the wall in 52 days. We can all do the same thing by serving in areas like with our demolition team, lighting team, carpentry, media, and in so many other ways.

Do you want to be a part of our Building Together Campaign? There are several ways to get involved such as praying or joining one of the service teams. There is a lot of work to do as we work to get the building ready, but we can be amazed, as we pray, that we are not alone in this work.

“…they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” – Nehemiah 6:16