- We have talked about GROWING UP IN GIVING and GROWING UP
IN PRAISE. Today I want to talk about GROWING UP IN SERVING.
What do you think… do mature believers FIND, JOIN, or maybe CREATE a
place to serve in their local churches? Did and does Jesus serve the
church? Did Paul serve in the church? Did Peter, James, John, and
millions/billions of others serve in their local churches? Do mature
Christ followers that you know serve? Of course they do. So, do
you serve? Let’s talk today about GROWING UP IN SERVING.
- One day two disciples came to Jesus and made an interesting, yet
common request.
-
Mark
10:35-37 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him.
"Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask."
"What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. They replied, "Let
one of us SIT at your right and the other at your left in your
glory."
- Does that sound like many Christians today? “Jesus, I want you to do
for me whatever I ask.” Many believers today, want to have a
great victorious kingdom lifestyle. They want Jesus to do for
them and place them in a position of victory, but they only want to
come and SIT. They say, “I don’t want to really
do anything Lord. I just want you to do whatever I ask while I
SIT.”
- Jesus told James and John that they did not understand how the
kingdom and a successful life worked. He asked them if they could
drink his cup and experience his baptism (v38). Jesus went on to
tell them exactly what he meant.
-
Mark
10:45 For EVEN the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but TO SERVE, and TO GIVE his life as a ransom for
many.
- In other words, if EVEN Jesus, the King of kings came to
SERVE and GIVE, certainly they were expected to and we
are expected to serve and give.
- From that conversation and from the confusion of the other disciples
to the request of James and John, Jesus took the opportunity to
teach about serving.
-
Mark
10:42-43 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those
who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and
their high officials exercise authority over them. NOT SO WITH
YOU. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be
your servant
- The person serving, matured and came to the highest level possible.
The more a person served, the higher the level of life that person
went. Jesus connected serving with going on to maturity and having a
great life.
-
Mark
10:44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant
of all.
- The believer going on to maturity finds, joins, or maybe creates a
place to serve. It is truly the people that serve that make the
kingdom and the world work.
-
General
Eisenhower once rebuked one of his own Generals for referring to a
soldier as "just a Private." Eisenhower reminded the General that
the Army could function better without its Generals than it could
without its Privates. Eisenhower said, “If this war is won, it will
be won by Privates.”
People who served, not those who wanted to SIT and tell everyone how
to do things, won World War II. If we are going to win the war for
our children, families, and loved ones, it will be by our serving,
not by our SITTING.
- Jesus said that if they, his disciples, wanted to elevate in life
and mature in the kingdom, they must serve. So I ask, WHAT DO YOU
DO FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD? WHAT IS YOUR MINISTRY RIGHT NOW, TODAY?
WHAT CAN THE LORD COUNT ON YOU DOING?
-
WHY DOES GOD WANT AND EXPECT US TO SERVE? I need to
mention that there are rewards for what we do.
-
Ephesians 6:7-8 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the
Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will REWARD
EVERYONE FOR WHATEVER GOOD HE DOES, whether he is slave or free.
-
EVERYONE – no exceptions, will be rewarded for what he or she
does. Jesus told his disciples they would receive 100-fold reward in
their lifetime for their service. There are rewards for serving, but
I have never actually heard anyone who served say they were doing it
for rewards. So, why have people served for two thousand years in
local churches? Why is it that every Sunday morning people begin
coming in here, two hours before the service begins, to prepare? The
answer – bottom line – is to reach people and save souls – change
eternity and direct history.
-
THERE IS AN ACCUMULATIVE INVESTMENT IN SERVING. What I
mean is that there is a principle that works throughout life. We
achieve (accumulate) far better results over a period of time than
by spending a lot of time all at once. For example, if we go to the
gym and work out three times a week, thirty minutes each time for
two years, the accumulative results are far superior to working out
all day at the gym one or two entire days. In fact, there is little
if any results when attempting to do it all at one time. It is over
a series of months and years that we will actually see the desired
results. Proper and improper eating habits are accumulative. If we
“pig out” every day, then over a period of weeks and months, we see
the accumulation of “pigging out.” Not eating anything one or two
days will NOT correct the accumulation of what “pigging out” over a
year accomplished. Another example is if we will spend the
appropriate accumulative daily time with our spouses and children,
it will accumulate great and positive results. If we do not spend
the correct time, we cannot fix it with one “romantic” trip, or one
entire weekend with the children. It is THE ACCUMULATIVE
INVESTMENT that brings the results. Good financial habits are
also accumulative. It is by watching our spending habits, day after
day, that we accumulate and develop good finances. We cannot fix bad
finances by not spending anything for one or two days or months.
- You are probably asking, “What has that got to do with serving?”
Here is my point. We save souls by the Accumulative Investment, not
by a one-time investment. I hope that we all take care of our bodies
by getting accumulative exercise, but do you know that one day that
body will pass away and be placed in a coffin or cremated into
ashes? I hope you eat properly every day so that you will accumulate
health and live a long healthy life, but do you know that your body
is already dying? I hope you are spending the necessary time with
your spouse and children and are accumulating great and positive
results for your family, but you and they will one day pass away. I
hope that you have great finances and have planned for your future
by accumulating a healthy savings and good spending habits, but one
day we will leave all that here. THE TRUTH IS, LIKE IT OR NOT, THE
ONLY OPPORTUNITY THAT I HAVE TO MAKE AN ETERNAL CONTRIBUTION WITH MY
LIFE AND MY TIME IS TO SERVE IN WHAT GOD IS DOING THROUGH THE LOCAL
CHURCH. The absolute best investment that I can make with my life
and time is the investment that I give week after week, month after
month, and year after year to the eternal purpose of the church –
reaching and helping people – changing eternity and directing
history.
-
Paul
Bradshaw interviewed Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven
Life. Warren said: “People ask me, What is the purpose of
life? And I respond as follows - in a nutshell, life is
preparation for eternity. We were not made to last on earth
forever, because eventually, God wants us to be with Him in
Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be
the end of my body - but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100
years on earth, but I am going to spend "forever" in
eternity. This is the warm-up act, the dress rehearsal. God
wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in
eternity.”
- My point is that we serve to reach people and by so doing, we are
laying up treasures in heaven and by so doing, changing and
directing history.
-
Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- The primary way we lay up treasure in heaven is by serving. Is Life
Gate a treasure to you? Is church a treasure to you? Where are our
treasures?
- For the past twenty plus years, Judy and I have invested (laid up
treasures in heaven) into life after life by serving. We look at
those lives now and we say, “Wow!” We see successful people. Every
person [bar none] into whom we invested and who applied the
teachings of the Word of God is successful. Today, we are watching
people experience successful families. We see happy people living
their dreams and we say, “Wow! We invested into those lives.” The
kingdom advanced during our watch and eternal things happened
because we made THE ACCUMULATIVE INVESTMENT by serving for
all these years.
- Let’s take a minute and erase those investments that we made. Say
Judy and I refused to serve. We slept late on Sundays, went to the
lake, stayed home and watched TV on Wednesdays, did not subject our
children to church, etc. What could have happened? Where might those
lives that we invested into be today? Do you see what I mean? Let’s
expand that. What if there were no praise teams, no sound persons,
or video people? What if there were no greeters, no nursery workers,
or Sunday school teachers? Lives would never have been eternally
affected and altered by the kingdom of God. MY POINT IS THAT THE
COURSE OF HISTORY AND ETERNITY FOR THE LIVES OF PEOPLE DEPEND ON OUR
LAYING UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN BY SERVING. I believe that we have
changed, or at least directed, history and eternity by our serving.
-
Matthew 4:23-25 And Jesus WENT ABOUT ALL GALILEE, teaching
in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the
people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought
unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and
torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those
which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and HE HEALED
THEM. And there followed him GREAT MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE FROM
GALILEE, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea,
and from beyond Jordan.
- Jesus served people by going ABOUT ALL GALILEE and creating
IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS for them to enjoy. By doing this,
multitudes of people came. Here is my point. I honestly do
not know of a church anywhere that has a larger percentage of
volunteers for the church service itself than here at Life Gate. I
want to take this opportunity to tell you how much that is
appreciated and that you ARE laying up treasures in heaven. You DO
create IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS that direct history and
eternity for people that come to Life Gate.
- However, to mature, we need to see that Jesus WENT ABOUT ALL
GALILEE serving. We all have our own Galilee in which there are
multitudes of people. Your Galilee is your family and your friends.
It’s your work, and where you go about. Whom do we serve in
your Galilee? What IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS do you
personally make out there for people? Whom do you have over for
supper and talk with about the things of God? Who is it that you
take out for a meal, or go to the hospital to visit and pray? Whom
do you give a steady supply of CD’s or audio tapes? In whom do you
invest? Whom do you serve? You know sick people, diseased and
tormented people, and lunatics, don’t you? There are multitudes in
your Galilee. They are in the Galilees of us all.
- I continue to believe, that we have the potential to create the
greatest IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS that this region
has ever seen. I will believe until I die that a church can exist
that will draw multitudes, encourage them to get up on Sunday
morning, dress their children, drive to church, and put themselves
into environments that will change their eternities and direct their
histories. It will take BOTH going about our Galilees and creating
the IRRESISTIBLE ENVIRONMENTS in the local church.
- I want to end with a powerful illustration about Jesus serving and
see where we individually align in our maturity level.
-
John
13:1 It was just before the Passover Feast. JESUS KNEW THAT THE
TIME HAD COME for him to leave this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world, HE NOW SHOWED THEM
THE FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE.
- It was the Lord’s “last supper” – the Passover meal. Jesus knew
that the time had come. It was the last hours of his earthly
life. In twenty-four hours, he would be physically dead and his body
in a tomb. What would you do with your last twenty-four hours –
spend time with a loved one, take a trip, go shopping, mow the lawn,
clean the house…? It is an interesting question. Do you know what
Jesus did?
-
John
13:4-5 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and
wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a
basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with
the towel that was wrapped around him.
-
Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. One
of the very last acts Jesus did was serve. That is how important
serving is to Jesus. Verse 1 said, HE NOW SHOWED THEM THE FULL
EXTENT OF HIS LOVE. We actually love people by finding, joining,
or creating a place to serve them. Jesus was not too busy, or too
educated, or too spiritual, or too wealthy. He simply loved people.
-
Mature Christians love people, so
they serve. I encourage you to take off your daily garments and your
Sunday garments and put on a servant’s towel. Serve some people.
Let’s go on to maturity and GROW UP IN SERVING. Let’s stand
and pray. I need to ask you how you intend to respond to this
lesson. If you are not involved in some ministry here and this is
your home church, then you need to be involved. Secondly, are you
serving those in your Galilee? I encourage you to go about your
Galilee and lay up treasures in heaven by serving. What maturity
level do you want to acquire? Let’s GROW UP!
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Tychicus: A Faithful Servant, Ed Taylor
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The Asian Connection,
Amit Bhatia, http://www.southasianconnection.com/blogs/18/Interview-with-Rick-Warren-by-Paul-Bradshaw
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