Energy springs from willingness. Ask children to do something they don’t want to do, like clean their rooms, and nothing happens! But tell them you’re off to McDonald’s and they’re like streaked lightning, sitting in the car even before you finish the sentence.

Rebekah lived a beautiful life of servanthood. She never dreamed how her serving heart would open the greatest doors of her life, but she discovered that serving opens doors of destiny.

Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels.
(Gen. 24:18-20 NIV)

Rebekah doesn’t complain that she has just been down at the well to get water for herself. She offers to get the man some water but she also offers to water his camels, even though the well was deep (around 50 steps would have descended to the water).

A camel can drink 25 gallons of water in one sitting. Ten camels make for the possibility of 250 gallons. Even if Rebekah had managed to carry five gallons up the steps each time, it could have taken her as many as 50 trips up and down the steps. Notwithstanding the effort required, she is keen! Unbeknown to Rebekah, this man, Eliezer, has just prayed that the woman who offers not just to satisfy his request for water but also to water his camels would be the woman destined for his master Abraham’s son, Isaac.

Serving is an issue of the heart. Rebekah wanted to bless the man. She had no idea that there would be any reward for her efforts. Money can easily steal the heart. Once we receive money for what we once did freely from the heart, our willingness and enthusiasm can be compromised. In 1 Peter 5:2, Peter calls on us to serve the Lord with our hearts, not for money. Serving is its own pleasure. It is not motivated by any other reward.

Energy springs from willingness. Ask children to do something they don’t want to do, like clean their rooms, and nothing happens! They become like sloths—cute but slow. But tell them you’re off to McDonald’s and they’re like streaked lightning, sitting in the car even before you finish the sentence. We are energized when our will is engaged. Fatigue follows the unwilling. We are tired when we’re doing what we don’t want to do. If we’d always rather be elsewhere, we’ll never enjoy where we are right now. If we’d rather be doing something else, we won’t have the energy or focus for what we’re doing right now. Aligning our will and our action is basic to successful living.

The willing heart is:

• Impelled rather than compelled. Motivation comes from within rather than from some external pressure outside us. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing; that’s why we recommend it daily.” (Zig Ziglar)
• Agreeable, not disagreeable. We all think of the other point of view in a conversation, but we decide to focus on points of agreement rather than the points we disagree with. How painful is it when you’re trying to hold a pleasant conversation with a disagreeable person? It’s just hard work. The willing heart finds ways to agree and flow with people.
• Executing, not excusing. The willing heart finds reasons to do, rather than reasons not to do. People with excuses reveal an unwilling attitude. Billy Sunday defined an excuse as “the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.” The person who is good at excuses is usually not good at anything else.

Phil Pringle

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Phil and Chris Pringle came to Sydney in 1980 from New Zealand to start a church with a passion for Jesus and a desire to see this world won for Christ. Just 12 people attended the very first service on Easter Sunday at Dee Why Surf Club. With that service, C3 Church and the C3 Global movement as we now know was birthed.

Numbers grew as the venue changed while connect groups blossomed through fun dinner parties and hangouts. Phil had a vision of creating a contemporary church, which included creating modern, relevant worship music and recorded sermons that truly resonated with a crowd of people that hadn't felt connected to church prior. Week by week, the altar call would be filled with people wanting to meet and experience Christ. The vision was growing.

Expanding to a Brookvale warehouse, Phil and Chris sent much loved friends and fellow church builders overseas to plant C3 Churches abroad, fighting for years to see a patch of paddocks transformed into the state-of-the-art venue that now exists at Oxford Falls. Today, C3 Oxford Falls has grown to a congregation of thousands and C3 Sydney has expanded to C3 Silverwater, C3 Rozelle and C3 Penrith, with further extension services at Avalon, Bankstown, Manly, Merrylands, Mosman and Wahroonga all continuing to move towards a local vision: Sydney, A City For Christ.

Phil is the President of C3 College, a ministry training college developing leaders and ministers for the church today with over 5000 graduates. Each week, C3TV broadcasts church services to thousands throughout the world, under Phil's leadership.

In his meetings, Phil has seen powerful moves of God, with the glory of God filling the atmosphere. As a result, many have been saved and lives totally changed. Chris is known for her responsiveness to the Holy Spirit, cheeky demeanor and life-giving messages.

Phil and Chris are parents to Rebekah (married to Matt), Dan (married to Leah) and Joe (married to Christine), and grandparents to Sonny, Finn, Rooney Bea and Goldie Jean.