The Impact of Impact Month
Author: Abi Oxley-Derrick
November 04, 2021
October was a big month around The Creek! For the first time, we dedicated and set aside an entire month to focus on serving. One of the core values that is foundational to our church is this idea of being Set in Motion, meaning that once we’re saved and engaged in the community of the church, it cannot stop there. We stressed the importance of being active in serving our church body, our community, and our world, and from that we saw some incredible fruit. Seeing the growth of our church family, and seeing people from all different ages and walks of life engage in serving here, near, and far has been beautiful, and I want to share some highlights of Impact Month.
We started the month with simply introducing the idea of why God calls us to serve and be active as believers. We were reminded that we’re not called to be warm bodies, sitting in the same chair every week, mundanely going through the routine of church, but rather believers who are applying what we’re being taught, and growing in our faith through service to those around us. A sweet friend said it beautifully this weekend as she was serving her community, “what is the point of even going to church if I’m not going to be out in the world, applying what I’m being taught?” When we become stagnant as believers, we inevitably squelch the work that God wants to do through us! The first weekend of October we saw our church body engage in a Mobile Food Pantry. This wasn’t new to us, as we’ve been putting these on since the pandemic hit, but still an incredible start to a month centered around serving those in our community.
That weekend, Pastor Judd reminded us that as believers in the house, sometimes we have responsibilities. I love the analogy he used that when you’re a part of a family, living in a home, there are things you just gotta do and things that just have to get done. In my home, if I never take out the trash or do the dishes, it piles up and becomes a terrible place to live. This idea rings true in the church as well. When we become a part of a church family, living and engaging with the body, we have a responsibility to “take out the trash,” whether that means helping on the parking team, running lights and lyrics for worship, or teaching the little believers of Jesus what it means to follow him. It’s all important, and we’re all called to serve within the house.
For the next two weeks, we had what we call our In-Reach and Out-Reach expos! This was an awesome opportunity to tangibly see the ministries within the church that all work together to make kingdom growth happen each week, as well as see all of the ministries that we as a church support outside of the four walls of the building. It was a beautiful thing seeing all of the connections the Lord was making in people, and watching people answer the stirring in their hearts was so exciting. It was a really powerful weekend seeing where things like giving, volunteer hours, and the support of our church body ends up.
To close out an incredible month, we had our first Serve Weekend since 2019, and WOW! What an amazing weekend! We had over 300 people out at 12 projects over the course of the weekend, and over 650 volunteer hours poured back into the community. We saw projects of all kinds, from organizing clothes for foster families, to giving blood, to handing out candy to thousands of kids on Halloween with Boo Bashes and Trunk-or-Treats. The Creek family was spread out over the metroplex showing the community what it looks like to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! As we were thinking back on the weekend and celebrating what the Lord did, Judd reminded us that one of the most exciting things about weekends and months like this one is that we will never truly know the impact that has been made on this side of eternity. We will never truly understand how an act as simple as raking leaves, passing out candy, or organizing items can have an eternal, kingdom impact, and that is so exciting.
So, as we close out Impact Month and we celebrate all that God has done through His church, I want to challenge you to not let the momentum of being Set in Motion fizzle out. Continue to be a selfless engager in your community, continue to apply what you’re learning in service, and continue to make an impact to those around you! You never know what the Lord can do with a simple act of obedience!
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