Anticipating What's To Come
niceSERVE is one of my favorite things to do as a part of Summit— I love having a chance to serve the local community with our whole church. Since Summit is such a large church, meeting at multiple locations at multiple times across Orlando, this is such a great opportunity for all who call Summit our church home to come together at our campuses and serve our communities!
I remember my first niceSERVE a few years back and the anticipation of getting to serve at a local organization. I was nervous about meeting new people, not being a good enough volunteer, messing up on my project... But I was also excited to meet new people, get my hands dirty, learn about an organization— the positives definitely outweighed the negatives!
“It’s a lot easier to do things that please ourselves or that make us happy, but Jesus calls us to much more— to love others well...”
I look forward to participating in niceSERVE every time it comes around because there’s something about serving others that takes away the focus on self. In our culture, and probably just human nature, we’re so self-driven that it can be hard to do things for others sometimes. It’s a lot easier to do things that please ourselves or that make us happy, but Jesus calls us to much more— to love others well, which means sacrificing our time, energy, and money to give to others. It’s a very hard thing, but I often feel God uses the people and the organization that I’m serving to bless me more than I am probably blessing them.
One of the organizations I’ve always loved serving alongside is Orlando Children’s Church(OCC). The time and effort that everyone puts in there every Saturday for the last 14 years is incredible! OCC reaches children living on the fringes of poverty through no fault of their own, powerless to meet their own needs, with a message of hope and life for these kids. Every Saturday, the folks of OCC drive vans into Orlando’s inner-city and bring kids to church. There is so much selflessness in giving every Saturday morning to serving children all across central Florida, teaching them the Gospel, and providing them with a warm breakfast. I enjoy helping out there because it’s such a joy to be able to have a positive impact on children’s lives and to be able to talk, listen, and engage in these kids’ lives.
It’s really rewarding knowing that you’ve spent a Saturday morning helping those in need— you almost forget how hard it was to wake up early and are glad that you did! I encourage everyone at Summit to participate in niceSERVE this year and be the hands and feet of Jesus through serving our local community.
niceSERVE is so soon! Join us.
Bobby Braun is a Herndon partner that has served on our First Impressions Team, participated in several niceSERVE events, and has even headed to Africa with Summit!