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Last March, on a flight out of Phoenix to Sacramento, I was practicing my "Adventure Christian Church stump speech" before some Southwest passengers. After the passengers' applause subsided and they took their seats, a gentleman from Modesto asked me, "What are you going to do for Sacramento?" Now, I was stumped.

I thought to myself, "Starting a church is serving Sacramento! Isn't it?" No, he wanted to know how Sacramento was going to benefit by Adventure whether residents attended services or not! Hmmmmmm.

That was a question I would ponder over the next few months. In that same period, I would be working hard to find a place for us to hold services. My ideal location was Natomas Middle School because of its large parking lot and close proximity to the interstate.

I made my first call to Natomas Middle School last October, but because of the hectic nature of a school office, I was having trouble getting anyone's attention. I called the Principal over and over again, and he was too busy to see me. I called the secretary over and over again. She was too busy to see me.

And that question "How will you serve Sacramento?" kept echoing in my ear. I felt like God was trying to get me to answer that question. He was also asking another question: "Will you serve that school even if they don't let you meet there?"

Finally, I got Mrs. Plano to concede: "Can I please have 5 minutes of your time today?"

"Sure," she said.

So I went right over, praying that God would direct my conversation. Five minutes is not quite enough time to grovel sufficiently, but I would give it a try.

"Hello, Mrs. Plano, how are you?"

"Busy" she said.

My precious few minutes were interrupted repeatedly. It was obvious that there was more here to do than any one Secretary could do. And then, the words came: "Mrs. Plano, do you have a program where volunteers can help fill the staffing shortage here?" (Don Brewster, the Servant Leader of Compassion at our mother church in Roseville had given me this idea earlier, but I had set it on the back burner of my mind.)

She looked at me funny. "No," she said. "Can you do that for us?"

"Sure," I said. (What in the world was I committing to? I must be crazy!)

"Can I get you a cup of coffee?" she said. "Don't leave!! I'll be right back."

And there it was—God's answer to what we, as a church, would do for Sacramento. And yes, even if Natomas Middle School never allowed us to meet there, we would still serve their campus with a volunteer program.

Over the next few weeks, Mrs. Plano made a list of all the possible ways we could help: receptionist, yard duty, cross walk, and bus traffic. She came up with 50 hours per week of volunteer work. And the better news is that as of this writing, we have about 70% of that time filled—and Adventure Christian Church of North Natomas has only met 3 times! I should add-- in Natomas Middle School.

So the question is asked of all believers: "How does your community benefit from your local church body even if they never set foot inside your corporate worship service?" Jesus didn't move into Jerusalem, build a nice building and say "Everyone come hear what I have to say." Instead Jesus walked around, hung out with the people who had need, healed the sick and fed the hungry. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 10:45).

So, how is God asking your church to serve, or will you just have a service?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

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