Training Toward Practical Love

Key Passages: Psalm 19:1-6; Proverbs 1:1-7; Romans 1:18-21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Key Idea: Training toward practical love by learning from Scripture and Creation fine-tunes what we enjoy and already know how to do so we can share with one another and our neighbors, developing a culture of service in which members are honest about their own needs and generous in their care for others.


Studying the Bible is good; more than that, studying the Bible is necessary. It is also insufficient. Our actions and words must live out in practical love. If our training is from the Bible alone, we will struggle to apply Scripture well. The Bible is God's self-revelation in human language. It points us to the Messiah, God with us, and calls all who trust him to live boldly as they follow and worship with holy fear. Creation is God's self-revelation in the products and processes of nature. It reflects his rule and care by refracting his glory in its many colors and pointing all with eyes to see to his power and deity. Everything humans make and know outside the Bible is part of creation. So, baking cupcakes, helping someone with algebra, changing an oil filter, building cabinets, or organizing a work team are all opportunities to serve God.

Learning from Scripture and Creation trains us to take what we enjoy and already know how to do and equips us to share with others. It aligns our service with Jesus and his ways, whether we are gathered together or dispersed into daily life. Learning theology alongside lessons from nature and regular life sharpens our skills and knowledge. We learn to serve regular people in regular and extraordinary ways. We work together to develop a culture that loves first, focuses on God's glory, and lives as this particular family of faith that shows love in our work together. We help our brothers and sisters uncover their skills and knowledge and ponder how these gifts might mature the church toward Christlikeness and share grace and love with others.

Learning from Scripture and Creation fine-tunes spiritual gifts and ministry assignments for greater skill and broader service. Fine-tuning our abilities and knowledge prepares us to serve at a moment's notice. It helps us see that every skill and all knowledge can channel God's goodness through us to others. We begin to serve the people around us rather than simply performing duties. We prepare ourselves for practical love and service on Sunday and in daily life.

Learning from Scripture and Creation prepares a culture of service for action. Preparing a culture of service maintains programs and systems that move members toward God’s mission. It creates a safe place where we can be honest about our needs and generous with our care.  It encourages us to work toward excellence as an offering of worship. It requires ministry and administrative structures that fit needs and equip members to serve. It emphasizes simplicity and impact.

Let’s make sure our discipleship activities train believers at the intersection of Scripture and regular life so we can better live as God’s children every day. Let’s be the sort of Christians who see a need, figure out how we can help, and train to do so more effectively. Let’s help each other recognize our God-given skills and knowledge, remembering that Jesus showed us what practical love looks like: it touches souls and meets real needs in tangible ways.


Who writes Academy? Laura has an MDiv in Christian Education, a ThM in Systematic Theology, and a PhD in Educational Studies. She also serves TFB as a guitarist (primarily) and singer in TFB's worship band. Jeff has a Certificate in Biblical and Theological Studies and is currently working on an MA in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. He also serves as kitchen lead for TFB's Family Dinner and as TFB’s bookkeeper.

Training Together to Serve Well

By Laura Springer with Jeff Barnhart

Key Passages: Ephesians 4:7-16; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Key Idea: Service training that equips the church toward maturity in Christ, God-honoring culture, and service excellence develops capacities to serve well, forms a culture of truth and love, and teaches believers to value Jesus, siblings, and others.

We are surrounded by many needs and supplied with much knowledge and skill, yet fitting all this together can be tough. Sometimes, we group needs into categories to the neglect of specifics. Other times, we put ministry in the church-stuff box and forget about regular life. Both situations can hinder effective service. This is where practical training comes in. Figuring out how the truth of Scripture puts on shoes and heads out to serve helps the church to live love like Jesus. Serving and learning alongside one another strengthens family connections that honor God by prioritizing truth and love. Training while we serve others exposes gaps and highlights strengths, and working on both moves us toward service excellence.

Train as a community to become increasingly Christlike. As Paul teaches in Ephesians 4, Christians who are equipped for ministry work together to mature the church toward unity and Christlikeness. Unity binds us to Christ and one another. It forms us as one family of brothers and sisters who actively love one another. Unity lives out the fact of oneness in Christ through life together in harmonious, mutual understanding. Even more, Christlikeness sinks us deep in God’s truth, strengthening us against the deceptions of false spirituality and developing in us the capacity and desire to act upon God’s truth in love with boldness. 

Train as a community to develop a culture of truth and love. When truth and love are at the heart of our community, we naturally proclaim Jesus through love-based actions and tend our hearts to the needs of others. Our life together remains centered on Jesus, and we design our events, practices, and structures to glorify him. He becomes the measure of our quality and the goal of our work. We confirm him as our one Head and most significant influence. We commit ourselves to being honest about our weaknesses and failures, giving Jesus all the glory while never downplaying our participation in his work. We become a people grounded in God’s Word and living it out in acts of love toward others. 

Train as a community to develop the abilities we already have. We need not search for particular skills. We must not wait for our hearts to be moved to serve. We must serve. Let us train while we serve with the abilities we have, becoming ever more committed to excellent service that loves others through actions and words. Let us make the needs of others more important than how we prefer to use our knowledge and skills. Let us train to speak, live, and hear the truth more clearly and deeply. Let us train to be open about hard things without blurting them out in harmful ways. Let us train to help, share, and work alongside others for their good and God’s glory. Let us train so that our thoughts, actions, and affections align with God as we work from love.  

The eternal value of Jesus, our Christian siblings, and others requires the best from us, so let us train to learn what is best and how to carry it out. Serving with our best puts people before tasks. It develops capacities and fits those capacities to the needs of others because we love people as we love God. Giving our best grounds our service in truth from both scripture and creation and fits that service to the practical needs in the everyday lives of regular people. So, let us continue to know God and others more deeply, understand contexts and cultures more broadly, and train as servants steadfastly on this side of heaven.

Who writes Academy? Laura has an MDiv in Christian Education, a ThM in Systematic Theology, and a PhD in Educational Studies. She also serves TFB as a guitarist (primarily) and singer in TFB's worship band. Jeff has a Certificate in Biblical and Theological Studies and is currently working on an MA in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care. He also serves as kitchen lead for TFB's Family Dinner and as TFB’s bookkeeper.