Anthony Richardson attends home church on Sunday at DaySpring Baptist Church in NE G'ville
Serving others with love was the message delivered by ministers at DaySpring Baptist Church on Sunday.
Doing so is an important requirement in being a follower of Jesus Christ, the ministers told parishioners attending the church's quarterly community outreach service on Sunday at the church at 1945 NE Eighth Ave.
The theme of the service was "Demonstrating the Sacrificial Love of God Through Serving Others.
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“It is good to be in the house of the Lord one more time,” said Minister AzzuDee Johnson. “We surrender our minds to your mind and our hearts to your heart.”
Minister Sebrenah Phillips gave the invocation prayer.
“Thank you for touching us with your fingers of love,” Phillips said. “You brought so many things to fruition and we’re looking forward to many things that will come to pass.”
Deacons of the church sang hymns and afterwards Deacon Michael Perkins read scripture from Romans 12:1, which reads: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship (New International Version).”
Heather Mann read the service’s theme scripture, Galatians 5:13, which reads: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
The first speaker during the service was Minister Jane Barclay.
“It’s easy to serve purpose, but it’s hard to serve people,” Barclay said. “But you can’t serve purpose without serving the people.”
Barclay said that to love is to serve and one must do so unselfishly.
“Serving is seeing a need and taking care of the need without an announcement,” Barclay said. “We’re called to serve and it’s not pretty. We serve because it is what God called us to do.”
The second speaker was Minister Annette Burkett, who spoke about how her experience as a waitress helped her develop the skills she needed to be a servant for God.
“I began to love it (waitressing) because it helped me learn how to serve all people,” Burkett said. “Be a servant and love it. Don’t think about it, just do it. Don’t look for rewards. Do it from the heart. This is what he requires us to do.”
The Rev. Dr. Marie Herring gave the final remarks and recognized church member Anthony Richardson and his family.
Richardson was selected by the Indianapolis Colts as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Richardson was a star quarterback at Eastside High School before graduating in 2020 and going on to play quarterback at the University of Florida.
Herring asked Richardson and his family to come in front of the pulpit for prayer at the end of the service.
Herring thanked LaShawnda Cleare, Richardson’s mother, for her hard work in raising her two sons.
“This church is the foundation of everything,” Cleare said. “My pastor has kept us grounded.”
Herring then gave words of encouragement to Richardson, his brother Corey Carter and Ferrell Cleare, his stepfather.
Richardson said he is grateful he and his family has a strong home church at DaySpring.
“The support I have here — I appreciate it so much when I come back,” Richardson said. “I am extremely thankful for them. I appreciate all of your support and my journey is just getting started.”
Herring prayed over the family for health, wisdom and discernment.
“Money is good, but peace is better,” Herring said. “We pray for God to put the right people around you. We thank you for the wisdom of God over their lives. We pray they have the spirit of discernment so they can know who’s for them and who isn’t. We pray for them to have a spirit of humility, which they have exemplified.”
The church will host a community reception for Richardson at DaySpring at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.