Serve ebook

In this warm, pastoral book, Steve Robinson provides us with a resource that is biblically rich and deeply relatable for why serving one another is vital to being a healthy church. Read it to remember how Jesus has meaningfully included us in his work. But even more than that, read it to remember the glory and beauty and example of the God whom we are serving.

This little gem reflects the cheerful and humble servant-heartedness of its author… and his Servant-Saviour! Here is encouraging, wholesome, down-to-earth biblical wisdom for serving God and his church with a smile as the people God has created us to be, with the gifts God has entrusted to us, in the circumstances God has placed us in.

I was so strengthened by this book. Steve Robinson gets right to the heart of many barriers church members face when we don’t know where or how to serve, or when our passion to serve runs dry. This book is chock-full of Scripture, wisdom, and helpful stories. It’s motivating rather than guilt-inducing, uplifting rather than overwhelming. Read it with your friends from church and be encouraged and equipped to start serving—or keep serving—
together!

In this world of swagger, Jesus calls us not to be served but to serve—him, one another, and the whole world. That happens beautifully as we come together in churches with our Lord’s servant heart. Thank you, Steve, for writing this book and inspiring all of us to give our hearts away!

Steve points us to a critical and often underdeveloped element of life in the body of Christ: service to one another. Serving, as he points out, is an essential and inescapable part of the Christian life. Where has God placed you? How has he made you? What opportunities are in front of you? Live in light of your King, and lovingly serve him by serving those around you.

Drawing on 20 years of church leadership experience, Steve teaches us how and why we should serve in the church, motivates us to follow the example of Jesus from a heart of love for him, and encourages us to persevere in service. Study questions make this short book ideal to read and discuss in small groups. Every church will be strengthened if they read this stirring challenge.

One of the wonderful privileges of belonging to God’s family is that we get to serve him by serving one another. But it doesn’t always feel like a privilege. It’s easy to lose our sense of purpose and motivation, and become weary and discouraged. In this delightful book, Steve reminds us of the ‘who’ and ‘why’ of our serving. This book left me humbled by my Saviour’s example, grateful for opportunities to reflect his servant heart and determined to joyfully follow his example.

This little book is simple, clear, warm and practical. It’s definitely worth a few pounds of anybody’s money.

Serve is a gift to Christ’s church. It calls us into joyful and costly labours driven by a hope-filled and realistic vision of the church. If you are wondering whether you can serve your church family, what this might look like or how to go about it, you will find much wisdom and warmth here. There is a great joy in serving alongside Jesus, in the hard times as well as the easy. Steve knows this personally and his book invites us to this sort of Christlike ministry.

Oftentimes, the idea of serving in our local churches comes from a posture of obligation rather than a response to the gospel. This book makes a compelling argument for a gospel-driven heart of serving others with compassion in Jesus’ name. Inspiring, impassioned and thoughtful, Serve will provoke discussions and prompt change, bringing about gospel-centered results for many years.

Wise, clear and fortifying, here is a book that proves we can serve Christ and his church with love and joy even through the tough times. Steve Robinson shows how the gospel enables us to serve wholeheartedly, whatever our situation, even in our weaknesses and failures. Read and be encouraged!

I can’t think of anyone better suited to write a book on this subject! I have had the privilege of watching this brother lovingly serve his family and his church through some of the toughest seasons imaginable and he has done so humbly, faithfully and in ways that modelled dependence on and devotion to Jesus. I pray that what’s written in these pages will encourage and inspire you to serve the Son of Man who didn’t come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for you.

Consumerism used to be one vice among many—yet today it’s one of the most widely-agreed-upon foundations for the good life. We desperately need a more compelling vision. With pastoral warmth and biblical wisdom, Steve Robinson calls us back to the beauty of being conformed into the image of the one who came not to be served but to serve. I’m confident this book will help equip many to give their lives away for the glory of God and the good of others.

Steve Robinson has written a very helpful book. With humility, humour and pastoral insight he reminds us who we serve, why we serve and how we serve. Church leaders and church members alike will benefit enormously from careful meditation on this book. And churches who integrate these principles into their rhythms and posture will be attractive and authentic witnesses to the Servant King who sends us into the world he loves as his ambassadors.