Growing Through Serving Others

April 29, 2026 / by Pastor Walt Baertsch

One of the joys of Growing in Christ is to know that God has given us the incredible opportunity to serve others without any expectation of anything in return.

Serving others is one of the signs that we are believers. The apostle Paul exhorts us “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” (Philippians 2:3–4, NLT)

Spring is a season of transitions within the youth ministries. As we welcome new Junior Highers into the fold, one of the first trips we go on is Mission to Michigan. On this trip we sleep in tents in a field, deal with bugs, use pit toilets, work hard, get dirty, and we learn community, service, hard work, and we have lots of fun.

This trip is far from what most people would call “comfortable,” but it is one of the most memorable trips ever, and graduates look back fondly on those trips as pivotal to their growth as believers. It is when they solidified in their mind and heart that the Christian life isn’t about “me,” but it is all about Christ.

When we think of “church” we should think of the body of believers who serve others before serving themselves. Over the centuries, that has been the hallmark of the church. Christians were the ones who cared for and served others even at great cost to themselves, even to the point of death.

Fortunately, at least for now, we have the opportunity to “Work willingly at whatever [we] do, as though [we] were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:23, NLT) without fear of prison or death. But sometimes, maybe it’s too easy to sit back and think about our own comfort instead of getting involved in serving others.

Talk to one of the staff members to find out where you can get involved in serving in the church, the community, and the world. Maybe consider getting outside of your comfort zone where you can learn to trust God even more.

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” (1 Peter 4:10, NLT)

Pastor Walt serves in Youth and Young Adult Ministry at East White Oak. Prior to coming to Illinois, Walt served as the Senior Pastor at Northwest Baptist Church in Denver. He holds a Masters Degree in Global Leadership from Fuller Seminary. Walt is married to Penny, and they have two adult children.