A place of SERVICE
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22: 36-40
Grammar. Oh no, not a grammar lesson! “You shall love the Lord … your neighbor …” The “shall love” in these verses is a Future Active Indicative Verb (gk. Agapēseis). What does that mean? Well, an active verb indicates the subject of the sentence is the one performing the action. In this case the “you” – or more to the point, each of us. And an indicative mood is one that makes a statement of fact, the verb is actually happening. The greatest commandments are that each of us actually lives a life of loving God and others.
Service. But how do we love them? Serving them is one significant way. This month we celebrate Magnolia as a place of service – a place where we in fact serve God and our neighbors. We do that through serving Him, our family, and our community.
Serving Him. “Fear the Lord your God, serve him only” (Deuteronomy 6:13). Ultimately, all service, love, begins with God. His love for us, and our love for Him. Doing “good” deeds, even sacrificial ones, ultimately mean nothing if we are not doing it for His glory – rather than our own. Start each of your times of service with a prayer to Him, giving the service over to His glory.
Serving Family. Serving our church family is a special gift. Every week many people give their time, effort, and love to serve us. One area to emphasize is our Children’s and Youth staff. These people serve families every week. Each one is proven by time and training, as well as vetting through official background checks. Take a moment to give thanks for them and all they do!
Serving Community. Of course, every month we do various community presence projects, from food pantries, our LEO lounge to specific service events. However, our big yearly event comes up in September – Labor of Love. Working with other churches, organizations, and city departments, we have teams out in our community – serving. Use this time to ask the Lord how you can help serve our community.
Join us this month as we continue to serve others:
Labor of Love 2026. This is our yearly city-wide day-of-service. We have jobs with all levels of activity. Some of the projects are: Set up and Logistics for the event, Care Basket packing, MBC Site Cleanup, Yard clean up for a Senior, and Magnolia High Garden Picnic Tables. To see the full list and sign up, go to the www.iloveanaheim.org website. If you have any questions, stop by the community presence table.
Pantry. Twice a month we host a walk-up pantry. There are about a dozen volunteers that provide both physical as well as spiritual assistance to around 100 families in our community. If you want to help distribute, pray, or contribute to the pantry, see Dustin in the courtyard or drop us a note on a connection point.
LEO Lounge. We provide a safe and secure place for our local police team to not only relax, but also to catch up with paperwork or just grab a snack. This requires a small group of dedicated folks to clean and service the room. If you can contribute snacks, drinks, or other items, we appreciate it. Contact Wendy or Heather after church or drop us a note on a connection point.
For questions, comments, or prayer requests, you can always send us a note by clicking here