Stronger together (Part 5)

Serve One Another

Humor

God is talking to one of his angels and says, “Do you know what I have just done? I have just created a 24-hour period of alternating light and darkness on Earth. Isn’t that good?”

The angel says, “Yes, but what will you do now?”

God says, “I think I’ll call it a day.”

Ask and You Shall Receive

Pastor Larson and his council president, Sven Johnson ended up in a heated argument over a seemingly minor worship detail.

“I suggest we go home and pray to God to grant us peaceful hearts,” said Pastor Larson as Sven stormed past him into the churchyard.

After worship the next Sunday morning, Sven greeted Pastor Larson warmly. “I took your advice,” he said. “I went home and said a prayer.”

“Great!” said Pastor Larson. “So did I! I prayed that God would grant us both peaceful hearts and a fresh start.”

“That’s not what I prayed,” said Sven. “I asked God to help me put up with you.”

Spare Parts

The keynote speaker was in such a hurry to get to the venue that when he arrived and sat down at the head table, he suddenly realized that had forgotten his dentures.

Turning to the man next to him, he whispered, “I forgot my teeth!”

The man said, “No problem.” With that he reached into his briefcase and pulled out a pair of dentures. “Try these,” he said. The speaker tried them. “Too loose,” he said.

The man dug around in his briefcase again. “Here, try these.”

The speaker tried them and responded. “Too tight.”

The man didn’t seem taken aback at all. He dug around in his briefcase again. “Here. I have this pair. Give them a try.”

The speaker smiled. “They fit perfectly.” He ate his meal and gave his speech without any further troubles.

After the event concluded, the speaker went over to thank his benefactor and return the spare parts.

“I want to thank you for coming to my rescue. Where is your office? I’ve been looking for a good dentist.”

“Oh, I’m not a dentist,” the man replied. “I’m the local funeral director.”

we are continuing our Stronger together series.

today we are dealing with the “serve One Another”

before we begin I want to thank eveyone who took last weeks message to heart,

it brought me joy to see so many people praying for each other after last weeks service.

let’s keep that going.

Oct 20th prophesy.

Freedom to serve

Galatians 5:13 NASB95

13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Servant is Greatest

John 13:1–17 NASB95

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4 got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 “For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 “Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

People walked around on mud/dirt/dusty roads in nothing but leather sandals

their feet were gaurenteed to get dirty.

It was customary that the host would provide a servant to wash the feet of their guests.

Washing of the feet was the job of the lowest servant. often young girls would take on this roll

Mark 10:35–45 NASB95

35 James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 They said to Him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40 “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 “But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus was demonstrating to his disciples the He was the greatest servant, when He washed their feet

He then turned it back on them and told them they had to be servants of each other.

John 13:14 NASB95

14 “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

The highest calling in Life is to be a servant.

I know this goes against everything the world purposes

The world see the greatest as the one with the most servants

and the elite use this thinking to control as many people as possible.

But Jesus flips this thinking on its head

Jesus says the servant is the greatest.

Just like Jesus said

Acts 20:35 NASB95

35 “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Better to give than receive?

You and I understand that. but its a hard pill for the world to swallow.

The servant is greater than the master is a equaling difficult belief to wrap you head around

but that’s how it works in the Kingdom.

Maintaining yourself

The question I have had over the last little while is

How to I keep strong in serving others

You see as a pastor my primary calling is to serve other

over the last few years more people have needed help than ever before

Our abilty to help them has been greatly restricted

I’ve descibed it as being chained up on the side of the pool watching people drown

Now that those restrictions have been removed

And the need is still great, I’ve got to be honest

I’ve discovered I don’t have the same energy I once had

Last spring, Shirley and I had a chance to be treated to a refreshing retreat hosted by Billy Graham ministries

I spoke about this before so I won’t go into to much detail

but It opened my eyes to some things I need to do, to keep myself able to keep serving and I hope you find these things useful

so you can continue to serve without being brought down by your service

I’ve been asking God what I’m missing

Reading the Bible, praying, worshipping, serving others

used to provide my all I needed to endlessly serve

I’ve been serving in this church for almost 3 decades, I’d like to make it at least few decades more.

What I’d like to share with you is what I’ve been hearing from God in reply to my question

Being one who serves is apart of what it means to be a Christ-follower.

God wants us to, through the empowerment of His Holy Spirit, follow His command from Isaiah 1:17

Isaiah 1:17 NASB95

17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

How do we do that without growing weary?

1. Stimulate one another into service

Not only are we to be people who serve one another

We are called to encourage one another also to serve

Hebrews 10:24–25 NASB95

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

It’s our job as a body of believers to be connected to one another, loving one another, and spurring each other on to do the good work that God has for us!

Being part of community is imperitive in building yourself up so you can serve one Another

How do we do this?

Well besides making our gatheringa together on Sunday a priority

Also making time to be with others thoughout the week

When God puts someone on you heart that He’s calling you to serve, enlist someone to go with you to help

this person you enlist doesn’t even have to be a beleiver yet.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 NASB95

9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. 10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.

I know this to be somthing I need to get better at.

Pastoring a small church has forced me to do alot of thing alone by myself.

I get pretty good at it if I do say myself.

When I see on the box its a 2 person lift. I take that as a challenge

When I move a full size fridge from the upstairs conference room out to my vehicle for disposal

I didn’t even think of enlisting help… until I was half way down the flight of stairs…by that time it was too late

I’m realizing I have to enlist more help

we need more servant minded people.

and I know many of you are already doing this

I want to thank you and encourage you to keep it going.

Its imperitive we all learn to serve One another and the people who aren’t yet in His kingdom

2. Practice regular gratitude

Psalm 118:29 NASB95

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

If we don’t want to get bogged down in feelings of wondering when we will get the applause we think we deserve in our relationships

then we have to daily resolve to focus on minds on what we have to be thankful for.

A thankful heart is a joyful one!  

Psalm 100:2 NASB95

2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.

encourages us to serve God with gladness!  

A key to serving well is serving with a grateful and joyful heart.

3. Serve people as if you are serving God

Matthew 25:40 NASB95

40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

When you serve, you are actually doing an act of Worship

4. Serve in His Rest

God pauses on the seventh day to rest.

He made rest apart of his 10 Commandments.  

He instructs the Israelites to let their fields rest on the 7th year.  

Rest is something we are commanded to do throughout the Bible and yet most of us don’t think of our hurried lives as sinful ones.

Busyness is actually prized.

When talking to friends we nearly brag about our HUGE workloads, overscheduled kids, and disconnected marriages.

Rhythms of rest in our lives are essential to being ones who serve God and others with the fruits of the Spirit.  

Tired people are not patient, kind, self-controlled, joyful, and so on.  

They are short, rude, in a hurry, and overwhelmed.

interaction with border agent

If we want to be capable of “serving others with love” then we have to take God’s commandment to take a Sabbath seriously.

5. Serve using your Spiritual gifts

1 Corinthians 12 lists out a set of Spiritual Gifts that all people have.

We each have been gifted with unique passions, talents, knowledge, wisdom, and so on.

The unique nooks and crannies of who we are have a purpose, and that purpose according to Paul is to serve others and the body of Christ.

We are so much more effective in our service when we are serving by doing something we already love and are equipped to do.

For me, I could do deliverence all day and not feel taxed because thats where I get energized

For others, organization gets them jazzed! For another music is their life’s passion.

Whatever your situation, bring what you love doing into it.  

This isn’t selfish, this is God’s design.

When we serve others with our God-given talents, our service feels a little more like you just doing what you love and a lot less like draining yourself.  

If you aren’t sure what your talents or passions are, then take some time to reflect on what gets you most excited in life.  

Ask those who know you best when you shine the brightest.  

That’s most likely where your spiritual gifts lie.

Conclusion

The greatest among us are the nes who know how to serve and serve

Service is a nessecity of the a Kingdom Mindset

but we can grown weary in serving other if we don’t do it right with right motives

To prevent from growing weary

We need to serve in community, and not try to do it all alone

We need to focus on gratitute, and not focus on what’s lacking

We need to serve people as though we are serving God, because we are

We need to rest, busyness is the devils way of keeping us distracted

We need to serve using our Spiritual gifts, by partnering with God we find his yoke is easy and his burden is light

Let’s pray