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With Gifts and Talents to Share

11Apr

You’ll often hear us say at Bent Tree - we exist to experience and share the love of Jesus, and we do that by Worshipping Together, Being Known, and Making a Difference.

We exist to experience and share the love of Jesus

As I’ve pondered that mission and strategy and talked with others, we can sometimes divide it out to conclude that we experience the love of Jesus when we worship together and we share the love of Jesus when we are in making a differencebeing known is a combo. However, what I’ve found as I’ve reflected on my experiences and those of my family is that, while it is true we experience the love of Jesus through worship, some of the most powerful moments when we’ve experienced the love of Jesus were in places and spaces we describe as making a difference through serving.

Sometimes it’s been in an environment that was suited to our giftings, or the burdens the Lord has laid on our hearts. For us that has been sharing the gospel here and around the world and caring for children and families in need. Other times it’s been in situations completely outside our comfort zone where we knew there was a need to be met and we were convinced that God was inviting us to be the hands and feet of Jesus, so we took a step of faith - trusting that he would equip us for what he called us into. For us that was hopping into serving with our special needs ministry on Thursday nights for support group. We had no idea what we were doing, but Carol and the team trained us up and equipped us and we had the absolute best time.

It’s in those moments of making a difference alongside our children when they were younger and even now as adults - watching them embrace a life of abiding in Jesus and trusting him to be the one really making the difference - that we are all so thankful to  just get to be a part of it.

The Lord is so good like that. To give us gifts and talents to share. To give us burdens that break our hearts like they break his heart and to equip us when we step into something that we have no idea what we’re doing but we’re going to trust him to provide every step of the way.

Many are making a difference and have stepped into serving, and I hope you experience the love of Jesus while you are serving!

We are a place that equips the saints to serve, and it takes hundreds of difference makers each week for Sunday morning to happen all over our campus and hundreds more difference makers to make ministry happen the rest of the week. We’re so thankful for you!!

If you are new to Bent Tree, or you’ve been in a season of rest and haven’t stepped into serving in a while, but are beginning to feel like you’re ready to prayerfully discern what God might have in store for you - to find the ways you could make a difference, we would LOVE to connect with you!

To see all of the serving opportunities we have available, please visit benttree.org/serve. To connect with a pastor, please email !

Make A Difference

Posted by Michelle Henderson

On staff since 2016
Michelle served as Early Childhood Pastor and Family Pastor and is now the Pastor of Ministries. She’s passionate about discipleship and creating environments for people to experience and share the extraordinary love of Jesus.

About Michelle

Michelle and her husband, Shawn, grew up at Bent Tree and were married in 1993. They have two adult daughters and added a beloved son in 2023 when their youngest daughter married. Michelle’s roots and love of Bent Tree run deep as this has been the place for her discipleship journey from when she was a young child and many of her extended family call Bent Tree their church home. Michelle is thankful for a front-row seat to the grace of God in the life of our church as we experience and share the love of Jesus.

Her prayer is for Bent Tree to be a community where every image bearer would understand how loved and valued they are by the living God and walk this journey of life abiding in the spirit, bearing fruit, as Christ lives his life through us.

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