Serve: chattanooga 2022 RECAP

Serve: Chattanooga is our middle school mission trip. It’s made up of completed 6-8th grade students and a handful of adult leaders who spend a week of their summer serving right here in Chattanooga, TN. This year we partnered with three of Signal Pres’ Community Ministry Partners who are doing incredible work in the Chattanooga area – Project 52, Widows Harvest, and Hope for the Inner City.

Another huge thing worth celebrating is that we got to stay away for the first time in three years! Even though we were serving in our own backyard we spent the week at Hope for the Inner City living together as one big family on mission!

In the evenings we gathered for worship and programming. We played games and had some fun and silly moments, but we really used that time to study Romans 12 which talks about presenting our body as a living sacrifice to God which is our spiritual worship. We really wanted to drive home the truth that all of life is an expression of worship. And when we make worship our purpose it …

keeps the burden of performance and the temptation of earning God’s approval out AND

keeps us from separating or compartmentalizing different parts of our life from other parts of our life.

Because if you are a living sacrifice, you are that wherever you are – home, school, on a sports team, out with friends, or on a mission trip.

Alongside Romans 12 we also memorized the New City Catechism question and answer 34 which teaches us that even though we are redeemed by grace alone, through Christ alone we still do good works and obey God’s word because Christ renews us by his Spirit so that our lives may show love and gratitude to God and so that by our godly behavior others may be won to Christ.

There is just no way to overstate what a remarkable week we had together and all the good that came from it. But we hope the pictures and video below help to tell and show that story! We are deeply grateful to God and our church family for supporting us and sending us out in mission so that we can show our literal neighbors in Chattanooga, TN that we are for them!

Enjoy a snapshot of our week together!