Sunday, August 10, 2025 - 9am Contemporary Service, Guest Speaker Mahendra Singh
A study guide · August 10, 2025 · Mahindra Singh
In one paragraph
Mahindra Singh, who leads Crossroads Ministries in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, brought this message from John 13, the account of Jesus washing His disciples' feet. He drew from over thirty years of hands-on ministry work to describe what he called the essence of authentic ministry. The through-line was simple: genuine ministry flows from a servant's heart, not from impressive works or titles....
Read together
- John 13:1-3 Read aloud as the main scripture passage, introducing Jesus washing the disciples' feet
- John 13:4-7 Continued reading describing Jesus rising, taking a towel, and washing the disciples' feet
- John 13:12-17 Read aloud, Jesus asking if they understood what he had done and giving the command to wash one another's feet
- John 3:16 Cited as the basis for the Crossroads saying of loving people until they ask why
- John 3:17 Cited alongside John 3:16 to show God did not come to condemn the world
- Romans 5:8 Quoted to show God demonstrated his love toward us while we were yet sinners
Talk about it
- Mahindra said it is easy to love ministry but not love God. What do you think that looks like in practice, and have you ever caught yourself there?
- He described Jesus washing the disciples' feet as a picture of everything Jesus is, saying that all of His ministry is about reaching down beneath. What does that kind of downward movement look like in the ordinary rhythms of your week?
- Mahindra said ministry cannot always be arranged ahead of time because it depends on the opportunity that comes your way. Can you think of a moment when an unplanned opportunity to serve or share showed up? How did you respond, and what made it easy or hard to walk into it?
- The women in the thousand-block project had, as Mahindra put it, absolutely nothing except their love for God and their neighbors, and yet they built eighteen houses. What does their example say to us about what we think we need before we can serve?
- Mahindra closed by saying at Crossroads they love people until those people ask them why. What would it look like for this group, or this church, to practice that kind of love in Jackson?