The Pipeline, Part 2: Start by Serving | Nick Bethea

Most people think serving is what you do before real leadership starts. They're wrong. 

In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael sit down with Nick Bethea — Cross Church's Pastor of Growth and Leader Development — to talk about why serving isn't a stepping stone. It's THE thing. 

Nick unpacks why leadership is service, service is obedience, and obedience leads to godliness — and what it actually looks like to use the gift God gave you right where you are. Whether you've been waiting for the right role, the right season, or the right moment, this episode is your nudge. The church can't be who she's called to be without you.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

If leadership is service and service is obedience and obedience leads to godliness, then at the end of the day, I want to be a leader who serves. And a leader who serves doesn't mean that it all looks one type of way. Obviously, it doesn't mean that you're a stage presence. It doesn't mean that you have the greatest voice in the world, but it means that you use the gift that God has given you at the moment of salvation to advance his kingdom.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Welcome to the Rise Leadership Podcast, where we're equipping and inspiring the Crosschurch leader. Whether you're a dream team volunteer, a seminary resident, or a staff member at Crosschurch, this podcast is designed to help you grow spiritually, lead with confidence, and make a Christ-centered impact in every area of your life. Each episode aims to guide you to rise in your calling and empower those around you. And now, here's today's episode.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Welcome back to the Rise Leadership Podcast. I'm Jeremy Dixon. Joined as always by my co-host, The Fresh Prince to my DJ Jazzy J, Phil McMichael. What is up, Frock Turk? Oh, what in the world? We got a new little recording device here, and I've been waiting for Phil's face for me to give that to him.

SPEAKER_04 1:10

We should have had video for this. That was amazing. Rise listening audience, we wish you could be here with us in the studio today, but we are really, really thankful you're listening. It is great to be with you. And so you're the DJ, Jazzy, you know. Yeah, yeah. Okay. That's great. I love it. What do you know about them? Uh, I mean, plenty. There, we watched Aladdin the other day. Um, and you know, I like uh I like Will Smith.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Um anyway, let's go. Hey, we're in the middle of a four-part series called The Pipeline, all about how leadership develop development actually works inside a local church. And last episode was Ryan Blackwell. He took us back to just the beginning, how really a new era of leadership development across church got started. You know, what gap existed? What did he see? And then really what our church did to build something intentional. And if you haven't heard that one, you need to go back and listen to it. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

Today we move to part two of this series. And here's the question that we want to start with. What if the most important leadership decision that you can make might be the simplest one? Not a big title, not a big role. It's the simple decision to just show up and serve.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

That's right. That's really exactly what we're going to be talking about today. And I think it's going to be really crucial for you and your walk with the Lord, but also your serving journey. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 2:32

Nick Bethay is our guest today. Nick Bethay has been on our staff at Cross Church since 2015, over a decade now. He has served with us as our Fayetteville kids pastor. He served with us as our Fayetteville campus pastor, and now he is our pastor of growth and leader development. That title tells you exactly what his world is. It's helping our people to grow and leading the development of Cross Church leaders. He's been right in the middle of everything that we've been doing in regards to building our pipeline here at Cross Church. In addition to this, and maybe the most important parts of his life, Nick is married to Jordan. They have three incredible kids. Shout out to Kaya and Devin and Brooklyn. And if you want to know where his heart for developing people comes from, he'll tell you that it goes back to a youth event when he was 13 years old. Someone at that time began to invest in him, and he's been doing that for others ever since. Nick Bethay, we are so glad to have you on the podcast today.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Yeah, guys, appreciate it. Really honored. I think this might be the most listened to podcast in the world. Yeah, no doubt. And I don't even know if specifically this podcast. This might be the low most the least listened to of the entire podcast, but I'm grateful.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Come on. Hey, you know, we start off uh a lot of these episodes the same way, but we want to start with a hot seat question. But before we get to that, I just want to say the reason that we wanted Nick Bethe on this thing is a lot of reasons. Um, you just heard his new role that he's been running in, but what he's been doing the last 10 years at our church. Um, but this is the guy, like if you're uh listening to this and you're like, man, we have a pep rally coming up, or we have uh a corporate event, and we just need like somebody to get us fired up and rallied. Like, this is the guy. Nick Bethe is your guy, man. You need to hit him up because he'll get you fired up. And I think that that's exactly what we're looking for today. But let's start with a little hot seat question. Me and Phil kind of talked through this, and I really feel like Phil needs to bring this question to you today. All right, Deal.

SPEAKER_04 4:25

Yeah, I agree with everything you just said and just describing Nick's character. Um, but you know, when we first started to interview you over 10 years ago, we didn't know any of that. Um, we had just the Lord had brought you into our path, really just through his providence. But I want you to think back to that initial Zoom interview that we had with you, myself, our pastor, Dr. Nick Floyd. And as you remember that, I want you to tell us what you remember about your personal appearance in that interview. And then tell us also um what you imagined our first impression might have been of you on that day.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

I'd like to provide some context to what I believe you're alluding to. Uh to be clear, this wasn't our first interview. This wasn't the first time we had talked, but it was definitely one time that we had talked. So the context is I was in Brooklyn, New York, working with church planners, and I had a meeting with two of the church planners this morning, and uh at a I think it might have been around 11 a.m. that I had to to meet with Nick and Phil, and I believe it was someone else as well. And uh I was wearing what I would typically wear on a day when I was there in a hot New York City day. I remember wrapping that meeting up and I literally ran blocks to get back.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Should we know what was what would you typically wear on these days? I'm gonna get there.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Um it's uh I'm just trying to paint the picture of running. I was running back to where we stayed at a place called the David Dean House on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn.

SPEAKER_04 5:58

How far of a run was that that day?

SPEAKER_02 6:00

Oh, I mean, uh that many blocks in New York would have been a half mile. Yeah. And I get back and I went, and what you don't know is I went to the kitchen of this house and I like wiped myself down because I was sweating so bad. So I sit in front of this camera and I I'm 21 years old. I just graduated college. I'm not smart. I recently talked about that when I preached this last Sunday, is I haven't been smart my whole life. And um, I think the first time I noticed what I was wearing was when I saw myself in the Zoom camera, but I was wearing a Mr. Miyagi t-shirt. Yeah. Claudi Kid. It was awesome. It was a great shirt. Yeah. Uh but as I reflect back on it now, it's probably not the best choice. And uh yeah, I probably wouldn't do that again today. Yeah, but I wouldn't have hired myself either. So I don't know what you guys were thinking. But yeah, I was wearing a Mr. Miyagi shirt. It was a great shirt. I probably should get another one.

SPEAKER_04 6:48

Who, by the way, was an incredible leader, brilliant in leadership. Yeah, it just was a foreshadowing, you know, of just you're like our Mr. Miyagi, you're the guy who takes people with potential, untapped potential, and you bring them to championship level um talent and and experiences. And that's I just think maybe we should have seen it that time and we didn't. All we could think of was he really just showed up sweaty in a Mr. Miyagi t-shirt for this video.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

And we're gonna hire him. I did, and still, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:22

Well, praise the Lord that it all worked out for me.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Amen to that.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Praise the Lord, amen to that. Oh man, Nick, hey, let's start here. I think um, you know, most people who are new to a church or even new to faith, um, or even people who've been around for years, they they sometimes don't think of serving as real leadership. You know, like they just don't think of it that way. They think of it as, you know, I don't know, it's just setting up chairs, it's handy bulletins, it's uh just those entry-level things that you do before you get to the real stuff. I think some people can kind of think like that. What's what's wrong with that picture as we just kind of get started in this conversation today?

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Yeah, that's a really great question, Jeremy. I like the way you framed it. Um, there's a couple of things that come to mind when you ask that question. The first thing that comes to mind is this um there's a phrase that's like I've been working through recently and to try to figure out what this means for me and what it means for the people that I'm getting the opportunity to lead. And the phrase is this that leadership is service, and service is obedience, and obedience leads to godliness.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

That's good.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

And one of the things that I felt like God impressed on my heart years and years ago is that like my main goal was to look more like Jesus. Ultimately, everything that I do, everything that I am and who I am, I just want to look more like Jesus. I want to have the characteristics and traits of Jesus. And if leadership is service and service is obedience, and obedience leads to godliness, then at the end of the day, I want to be a leader who serves. And a leader who serves doesn't mean that um it all looks one type of way. Obviously, it doesn't mean that you're a stage presence. It doesn't mean that you have the greatest voice in the world, but it means that you use the gift that God has given you at the moment of salvation to advance his kingdom. So some of the greatest servants I've ever seen are the people who on Thursday mornings come and put the seat back, uh, the seatback team that we have that come and put the connection cards in there because somebody's gonna fill out that connection card to let us know it was their first time there, or they may have given their lives to Jesus, or they put a prayer request in that we get to pray for. And that's like monumental. Yeah. And those are the things that aren't ever seen, but they're the things that matter. It also reminds me, you know, we just had the NBA finals finish, and I'm a big basketball fan, as I know my guy Phil here here is as well. But go Knicks. You you never speaking of the Knicks, Jalen Brunson can't win the championship by himself. He's great, he's a great scorer, but you have to have an eight-man rotation uh to be able to win an NBA championship, and everybody matters, and everybody playing their role matters. And it's even it's that's one thing for a basketball game, but it's way more important when we're talking about the kingdom of God. Yeah. And when people realize that they've been gifted, I don't know what that is, but they all have been. The Bible's clear on that. They've been gifted and they use that gift, they're gonna look more like Jesus. And as they look more like Jesus, I believe that'll multiply out from the people that they're around, and you get a really beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

That's good.

SPEAKER_04 10:08

Yeah, I love that. Leadership is service, service is obedience, obedience leads to godliness. I think we want to get to that last phrase in just a few minutes about obedience leading to godliness. But before we jump into that, I think a lot of people see the dream team here at Carst Church as the starting line. Like we know that here at Cars Church, we we want everyone to go through the growth track. Yeah, the growth track helps us set you up and we help you to find the place where God has positioned you in your gifts and your your desires to serve. And but a lot of our people think, all right, that's the first step. And then if we do that really well, then we get to lead. Okay. Maybe we lead later, but this helps us to earn the right to lead. Uh, is that how you see it? And how do you how do you think about that process?

SPEAKER_02 10:57

Yeah, I I understand where that thinking can come from. But if we're gonna speak specifically about our an opportunity through growth track, which we say here at Cross Church is the next step for every person, right? Like that's the next step that you're gonna take. Um, I'd really view that more as a launching pad and an opportunity to to get into aligned with somewhere that your gifts really align up with. Uh, so that's our heart and our opp our goal with something like a growth track is to really align you with your gifts with a place of service. So that, you know, you never want to be somewhere. I never want someone, Jeremy, you're a campus pastor. You don't want anyone to go wherever we need them to go. We want them to go and to be placed in somewhere that's going to align with the gifts God has given them. That's right. So that they can utilize those gifts for the kingdom, not to be some warm body in a role just to say that they're doing something, because we don't want that checkbox type mentality to their Christian walk. We really want them to walk in obedience to what God has called them to do. Uh and growth track we just view as an opportunity for us, as a process. Uh, I heard Ryan talk about this on the last uh podcast, that we don't want anybody slipping through the cracks. We don't want people who have been gifted in these amazing ways, no matter what they are. Maybe they have the best smile in the world and they need to be a greeter uh to slip through the cracks. We want to give them an opportunity to utilize their their gifts to advance the kingdom and specifically here through Cross Church. So I don't view growth track as is kind of in that light as what you brought up, Phil, but I do view it as a light of getting us uh an opportunity as a staff to line people up with their gifts so that they can serve the kingdom best here at Cross Church.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Right before we move into the next thing, I want to I wanna maybe throw this out. Okay. What percentage of our membership at Cross Church or tenders would we hope serve? Yeah. 100%. Exactly. And and I don't know if we have a number that we could come up with of how many we would need to operate. Yeah. But I think that's an important little shift that maybe the listener needs today of like our hope is a hundred percent. Yeah. And that means that um if we only needed 40% to operate, but it it's much bigger than that. Like people underestimate what serving really is at its core.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

Yeah, it's not that's a great word, Jeremy, because it's not about what the church needs, it's it's not what we want from you. Yeah, it's an opportunity for you to walk in obedience to what God has called you to do so that you can look more like Jesus and pursue godliness in your life. It's less about what does the church need from me. Yeah, uh that's not what this is. Yeah, right. This is all about what God can do in your life.

SPEAKER_04 13:23

Yeah, I don't know how to to come up with a percentage for what we need to to operate to get things done, but I do know this if God has constructed his church with this plan of every person has a gift, yeah, every person has a spiritual gift, and in his theology, every person should be using their personal, their spiritual gift for the building up of the saints, yeah, then here's what I know. We will never reach our potential as a church for who we want to be internally or externally, as long as there are people who are not using their gifts and are not serving. And so for the for the listener who's not serving, um, I would just say um the church is not who she can be as long as you are not serving. The church needs you using your gift. And even if you don't know where that could be, I I just want you to trust God's word that you're, you know, if you read through First Corinthians 12 or you read through Ephesians 2 or you read through any of the passages talk about the body of Christ, um, this church and and and wherever you may worship, if it's not here, we are not who we need to be as long as there are people who are not serving.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Yeah. We kind of um frame this up all the time, Nick, on this podcast is if you're listening to a leadership podcast, the chances are you want to grow. Yeah, the chances are you are leading something or you hope to lead something. And uh I think that's where when this topic kind of comes to mind, it's really Mark chapter 10, verses 43 through 45, that really just comes to mind about really we could call it like the theology of serving. That's whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So when it comes to serving, when it comes to that kind of person who has a maybe desire to lead, how does this verse and and the example that Jesus set, how does how should that shape what we think about serving?

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Yes, great question. It's really where that phrase that I started with came from. Yeah, that obedience and godliness type phrase. But I think it it comes down to this phrase, and I want to say this in such a like a gentle yet truthful way, is that at the end of the day, while I do believe that serving the kingdom and using the gifts uh that God has given you uh will help you to look more like Jesus, serving him and serving his church, it's just not about you. So, you know, we're not serving to get something back, we're not giving so that we can receive. We're giving because God's done the ultimate thing for us in giving us his son, Jesus, to die on a cross for our sins and raising from the dead three days later so that we can have salvation. Like we've been given everything and beyond what we could ever ask, think, or imagine. So now we are here to serve to advance the kingdom and to let people know about what he has done for us and for them as well. And again, for some people, it's holding a door. For some people, it's putting connection cards into a chair. For some people, it's prof it's singing on a stage, it's preaching, it's whatever the different things may be. Yeah. And I think it's a good mindset to remember like we're serving not to, you know, check some sort of box like we talked about. We're serving not because we think it's the right thing to do or that we should do it and we're good, God will like us more, you know, whatever it may be that these, you know, misconceptions are. We're serving because Christ has served us in the most amazing way, in the ultimate way. Uh so I think simply and plainly put, it's just it's really not about us in that regard. It's all about glorifying Him.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

I think also when it comes to serving, one of the other ways it's kind of like undervalued is I think we separate it from discipleship. Yeah. Right? Like, so it's like you got you got discipleship over here. What does that look like? I wish we had Luke Humphrey on the podcast to give a definition. Or you know who else has a great definition of discipleship? And it's like canned and it's long and it's impressive, is Chris Deich. Oh, I bet. Ask Chris Deich. Go up to him, whoever's listening at Pinnacle Hills, go up and say, What's your definition of discipleship? And it's it's uh it's it's pretty impressive. But people people separate what really uh serving is in discipleship. Talk talk about that.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Yeah, it is the same thing. My leadership development philosophy and strategy is my discipleship strategy. Though those it's the same thing. I don't think you those things can be separated, but uh, can I tell a story? Yeah, yeah. So all of it for me derives from uh being 13 years old and having somebody say yes to me. So I wasn't raised in the church necessarily, but around 12 years old, uh entered into a church. I'm gonna tell you a very condensed version of my story. And I walked into this gym and there was a man named there named Wes Patterson. And I walk into this gym, Wes is in that gym. Uh he's a pseudo pastor of this small church in South Carolina, and um he just believes God clearly told him to say yes to me to invest his life into me. And that's what he did. So if I needed to be at Wes's house with his family, I was there if it was four days a week, whatever it may be. Um if I had to ask him some question because I just didn't know, he was always there to answer that question. But he would do things and teach me things and eventually lead me to Jesus to show me um, you know, godly fatherhood and uh godly being being a godly husband and how he's making decisions and doing things like this and honestly giving me opportunities to lead as a 13-year-old who knew nothing and was a punk 13-year-old that I never thought definitely should have never been given, in my opinion. Um, and he invested his life into me. And I said yes to Jesus because I ultimately I believe because Wes said yes to the Holy Spirit's prompting in his life to invest his life into me. Um, so I meet Jesus to begin walking with the Lord and uh getting these opportunities to serve within that student ministry, and it's all because somebody showed me an example of what that looked like and I could follow that example, right? So as I as you think through philosophy and strategy when it comes to um discipleship, when it comes to leadership development, when it comes to service, I think it's all about pouring yourself out and saying yes to Jesus ultimately over and over again every day that you wake up. I read this morning uh in a devotion about needing the fresh anointing every day of Jesus. Like I need it every day, I need the fresh manna every single day. Um and I think it's it goes it translates into I need to say yes to Jesus every day and whatever he's called me to do and however he's called me to serve him. And I don't know what that looks like for every person. I don't know what even that looks like for me every single day. But if I'll say yes to Jesus today, I believe I'll be the husband that I've been called to be to Jordan. I'll be the dad I'm called to be to Kaya Devin in Brooklyn, and I'll whatever I've been called to be at this church, uh I'll be it.

SPEAKER_04 19:53

We're gonna get practical about how you can get involved in a dream team in in just a second. Before we do that, can you talk practically? I know you I know it looks different for you drawing close to the Lord daily, but you said that you need God's anointing every day. You needed it today. What did you do today to try to sit under his anointing?

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Yeah. Well, I I have to be intentional because I have a two-year-old in my house. So that's part of it. But uh a little bit of Jordan and I's story is we adopted our oldest two kids, Kai and Devin, almost nine years ago, and we kind of made a commitment to one another then uh that we were gonna put practices in our life that were gonna help us to be the best versions of us that we could be for them. And that's where it all began. So about nine years ago, we started waking up at 5 30 in the morning uh every day, seven days a week, so that we could practically uh get in front of um the day and get in front of all of them. So at 5 30 in the morning, we wake up and it's quiet in our house at 5 30 in the morning. That's about the only time that it is, and we spend time with the Lord. And today I woke up, I began by praying. Um, before I roll out of bed, I try to spend time with Jesus in that way. I I don't want to look at my phone, I don't want to do those types of things, but I'm on a plan right now and I have accountability with three different people about what I'm reading every day, what I'm praying, uh what the Lord is doing in my life. And I'm a big proponent of doing that at the beginning of the day to get prepared for the battle that's going to be set before me. Um, so those are some of the practical things that I do. Try to start early. I'm making sure that I'm in the word and that I'm in prayer, and honestly, that as I go throughout my day, that I'm willing to be open to what God would ever, whatever he would want to do in my own life uh throughout the day. So I it's like an as you go type of faith that I try to pursue.

SPEAKER_04 21:35

It reminds me of Proverbs chapter three, where in the middle of chapter three, the Bible says, In all my ways I will acknowledge you, or in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. And so I think for you and for me and probably Jeremy, I mean, that's that's a rhythm that we try to get in, where in the mornings early we rise up and we try to spend time with him because we want to be close to him. And we we know we need his favor and his wisdom and his anointing for the day. But also throughout the day, we're trying to pause and we're trying to find moments with him to just refocus and re-re connect with him because we need him in every moment of every day. And I think that's for all of us. That's it doesn't matter what your job is, what your position is. If you're a stay-at-home mom, you need to be close to him every moment of the day. If you're an you know an astronaut in space, you know, whatever you're whatever you're doing today, um, I think that's a great habit for us to get into. How do we reset our focus on the Lord throughout the day?

SPEAKER_01 22:38

That's good. So again, we're kind of going back to the heart of it. Um, even Jesus modeling it, it wasn't just a serving wasn't a phase that he went through. It wasn't like, I'm gonna do this to then one day be the greatest leader that's ever existed, right? He was just serving, he was loving people, he was washed people's feet. So now let's get practical. Okay. So somebody listening right now who has thought about getting involved but hasn't done it yet. Where do they start?

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Yeah. Well, I mean, we we talked about it earlier, is the next step for every person, the easiest next steps to go on a growth track. It's gonna be an opportunity for you to learn more about our church. It's gonna be an opportunity to have the gospel shared. I think that's something that people miss a lot about what growth track is, is that we're gonna explicitly share the gospel and make sure that we're aligned theologically, but it's also a great opportunity to hear the heart of different ministries and get an opportunity to see the different opportunities. A lot of time when somebody walks into the church, they see the things that are in front of them as the opportunities. Like there's a kids' ministry there, there's people at a door, there are people on stage, and they think, well, I don't really like kids, I don't really want to interact with people at a door, and I can't sing on a stage. Yeah, there must not be a place for me here. And I just wanted to tell you that that's not correct. Like that's not the place to be and the thing to do and the way to think about things. Uh, so I think that's a great next step for people, and it's a great first step for people, but it's not the only step. Is I would just encourage people to be bold and talking to the people that they see that are currently serving, being bold to go to next steps areas at all of our campuses and talk to somebody about what it looks like. We just have an open arm towards inviting people into the conversation of what it looks like to jump in and serving and making sure that it's the right fit for that person. And not only is it the right fit for that person, but it's a way that that person can look more like Jesus. It's a way that that person can advance the kingdom of God. Um, so I believe that there's many different ways to do it. Obviously, growth track is something that's in front of us, that's a process that a system we've put into place to help people take their next step. So we don't want to go apart from that, but you just got to be bold enough to talk to somebody.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Yeah. So obviously, if you're not at Cross Church, you might not fully know what growth track is. But it's it's our version of yes, it's a um membership kind of class. Sure. But really, it's much bigger than that, like you said. It's it's learn about what it what who are we as a church, but also what do we want for you, not from you? And it's the launching pad into all these other areas. 100%. And so I'll just say, you know, whether it's um growth track here at our church or you're a different church and you're like, how do I get involved? Our church doesn't have anything like that. I promise you, if you go up to somebody who's on staff or somebody who looks like they're serving on a Sunday morning, you say, Hey, I'm interested in that too, they're gonna jump on that because that's like part again, not just because there's needs, but because it's discipleship in your life. So I just want to encourage you with that.

SPEAKER_04 25:19

Yeah. So for the person again, for the person at Cross Church who maybe they are the person you just described, where they're looking and they see a bunch of jobs, but none of those jobs are something they feel comfortable doing. What's what's the step they take this week?

SPEAKER_02 25:34

Yeah, I think it's what Jeremy just said. I think it's going up to somebody that's on staff. They're always down front at the end of the stage, that's at Cross Church, they're always at the next steps areas, and just saying, hey, this is who I am. I've been coming to church here for X amount of time. I want to jump in. Yeah. And then they're gonna help you take the next steps and see what that looks like for you.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

And that that may be uncomfortable for you as the listener, but I would just encourage you. You know, there was there was a movie a long time where uh the guy said, just g get 30 seconds of courage. 30 seconds of courage. I would encourage you, just pray, God, give me 30 seconds of courage to go talk to someone about something I'm uncomfortable with. And if you'll do that, we'll do the rest. And we will do everything we can to help you to find a place where you can plug in and serve using your gift set where you're where you're growing closer to the Lord and where you're using it to serve the church.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

Yeah. And I also like, you know, if if we're doing it like you said, Nick, and it's it's it is equivalent to discipleship, and it's not necessarily about just filling holes and that, and we don't want somebody to just always just fill a hole, right? I think about some great dream team just stories off the top of my head of I know there's some guys who are like, I can't do much, but I can walk around the church looking for cobwebs that's right and deal with that and pull some weeds just when I see it. I know somebody else who honestly when I think about just dream teamers across the board who have served and helped me the most. It's a lady named Lynn Carter, yep, who she had a background of uh can actually I don't even know how to describe what she does because it's way above my head, but it's like it's it's data, it's building websites. She was a you know a CEO of this this back end kind of company, and she's helped us tremendously. And that was never something that was even on the card at Growth Track, yeah, right. Like there's so many different things that uh however God has given you gifts, we want you to use those. Yeah. And that might not be um on just those top kind of five check boxes, but we want to work with you of finding exactly what it is that God's made you to do and then serve your local church.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

Yeah, I think about my family who's always been a part of smaller churches, and my grandfather would show up every Monday morning to count money. Sure. And my mom would make deliveries to the, you know, to the post office. And and so you if you're not at Cross Church and you're at a church where it's smaller and you're like, well, they again, I think the even our enemy and sometimes our doubts can convince us there's not a need for me. Yeah. And I would just the point of this episode is um there is a need for you, and it's the way God set up his church. And so we or your home church, we are committed to helping you to find a place to use those gifts.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

Amen. That's right. All right, so let's talk about kind of as we kind of get closer to the close here, what serving does for you. Yeah, right? It's something we want for you, not from you. So, what does it do for the person who's serving?

SPEAKER_02 28:30

Yeah, well, let me tell a story to answer that question. So there's a man in our church that you guys know and a lot of people know, named Daryl. And Daryl, every single Sunday, prays over every square foot of the campus that he's at. For so long at Fayetteville right now, he's doing it at Highway 62, and every Sunday praying over whoever's preaching that Sunday. And I recently talked to Daryl about that and just tell him, I said, Man, thank you so much for doing that. It means a lot to us, it means a lot to the person that's preaching, but it also is encouraging for people to get to see you walk and pray and touch every seat that you pray over before a Sunday morning. And he said, Well, that's great, but it's more about what God is doing in and through him in those moments. And honestly, to I'm gonna pivot a little bit off the question. Yeah, if you are ever stuck in a place or in a time and you think I I'm not equipped or fit to serve in this area because I don't have this gift or talent, you can pray.

SPEAKER_01 29:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

And one of the men that's impacted me and impacted many of the people in our church, more than anybody that I know of, is this man I'm referring to who prays every single Sunday over our preacher, yes, but just prays over the seats and prays over the areas that people are going to be are going to hear the gospel. And I think that's a big thing. And his response was even it's more about what God's doing in and through him while he's doing that than it is about the impact that it's making on us as well. I think that's a big story of it. Another one, if I can, is a man in our church named Stan. And Stan, uh, you nobody may know about Stan, but Stans behind a camera most Sundays, uh, keeping up with whoever's on stage that and following them on cameras. But more so than that, Stan has a gift as a handyman. And he has a gift as a handyman of knowing a lot of people are handymen and had a heart to serve the widows in our church. So Stan every month leads these men to go clean yards and make repairs uh for some of the widows in our church. And that's not a ministry that gets shouted out from a stage. It's not a thing that, you know, takes somebody who can speak eloquently from a stage. It's somebody who has a gift of being able to use their hands and are blessing widows. Again, something that we're called to do in scripture uh and to take care of them. And he's doing it. And if you see when somebody is walking in their gifting and they're calling, and you look at the smile and the joy that's on their face, there's your answer. No doubt. And every one of us, like Jeremy's looking at me right now, Phil's looking at me right now, we know who I'm talking about, and you see the joy in that person's face as they are serving. Yeah, that that that's the beauty. That's what it means for the person.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

Yeah, I'm smiling because I just saw I'm a part of the group text. Yeah. And when there's a need, he sends it out, and somebody's just like, hey, we need a handrail for this lady. Yeah. And in 30 seconds, somebody texts back, got it, I'll do it tonight. Yep. And what a what a story of the presence, you know.

SPEAKER_04 31:12

Wow. Romans 8.28, a lot of times we think of that verse in regards to bad circumstances in our lives. Um, Romans 8.28 says that we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. And as you guys are talking about the joy that our people have when they're serving others, it's it's just a reminder to me that God's working in those moments for his glory. Yeah, he's also working for their good. And that's why we find so much enjoyment in it when we find ourselves in the right place of serving. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Love it. Anything else you think about the listener today? So wherever they are in their journey of serving or leading, and what do they think about serving? What would you kind of leave with them today?

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Yeah, you know, we've talked a lot about um like maybe the barrier that may be in front of you or taking that step of service. We've talked about what may be getting in the way of uh maybe it's a courage thing or a courage issue or whatever it may be. Um, I would just encourage you to put your yes on the table and say yes to taking a step of obedience towards serving the kingdom and towards serving the church. You're not committing 10 years of your life to something. You're committing to saying yes to something, to be obedient to what God has called you to do in your life. God has not called anybody to sit on the sidelines. He has not called anybody to sit on their hands, he's not called anybody to be silent in their faith. He's called on people to be active in their faith and to walk in obedience to what uh they have been gifted and talented to do. Uh so say yes. That yes, again, is not committing you to a 10-year contract, but it's committing you to obedience. And again, obedience is gonna lead to godliness, and ultimately that's what we're here to do. Yeah, uh, and that's what we're here for. So if you're listening right now and you're in a place where you're trying to think, what should I take this step? Put your yes on the table and take the step and trust that we as the pastors and ministers of the church are gonna help get you in a place that's gonna help you execute the gifts that have and use the God, the gifts that God has given you in your life. Um, and I promise, like I promise, yeah, you won't regret it.

SPEAKER_04 33:18

Yeah, that's so good. Nick, we're so grateful for you. You know, Mark 10, 45 says that for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And I think it's always good for us to set our mind on that scripture because the greatest leaver leader who ever lived defined his entire mission around serving. Not really as a phase or a season when it was comfortable or um easy for him. It wasn't his first step, it was the thing. And if that's true, then serving isn't beneath any of us, and is exactly where we need to try to find ourselves every day.

SPEAKER_01 33:58

It's good. Leadership is service, service is obedience, obedience leads to godliness. And I just even want to like end on this too, is I think there's a cost of waiting. There's a cost of waiting. So even if right now you're inspired, maybe right now, 30 seconds of courage, send a text to your pastor or to smogger bleeder, to somebody that you know at the church, say, Hey, I want to talk about serving. Um, because there's a cost of waiting another six months to get involved. So whatever it is, uh, whether it's the next growth track, crosschurch.com slash growth track, look at that, sign up today, register, and uh get involved. I think that you won't regret, just like what you said, Nick. You won't regret serving, you won't regret getting involved. And what God does in you is gonna be incredible. So if you're listening to this podcast today, uh share it with somebody who needs to. So maybe as you're listening, you know, you're locked in and you're serving wherever you um attend and wherever you worship, but you know somebody's just missing out on the joy of serving the Lord in their church. Send this to them today, and uh, we'll see you on episode number three, our next episode talking about the pipeline with real leaders, real stories. So we're gonna be talking to some people who are actually doing it, and they get to hear what they're seeing and how God is changing them right then and there. But we love you, Cross Church.

SPEAKER_04 35:13

Nick Bethay, thanks again. We love you, we love your family, um, Car Church family and Rise listening audience. We love you. Keep serving, and we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

Thanks for listening to the Rise Leadership Podcast. If you found today's episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with others in your ministry or community. Let's equip and inspire more leaders together. We'll see you next time on the Rise Leadership Podcast.