Faithful Service 11 19 00

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Faithful Service –NV 8/3/03 AM

OS: After church on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, "Mom, I've decided I'm going to be a minister when I grow up. "That's okay with us," the mother said, "But what made you decide to be a minister?" "Well," the boy replied, "I'll have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit still and listen. What motivates you to service?

I.       The only lasting motivation for service is to serve because we want to please Jesus.

A.      We want to please Him out of a deep sense of Gratitude.

                  1.            Gratitude that I am saved. That God knows me and still loves me.

                  2.            I want to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”

B.      In heaven we will probably say, “Why didn’t I serve Him more.”

II.    Not all service is pleasing to God.

A.      Just because we are serving the Lord doesn’t mean that what we are doing is pleasing to Him.

B.      Hebrews 11 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

                  1.            Does this apply to service? Yes!

                  2.            If I am not serving in faith then I am not pleasing God.

                  3.            Romans 14:23 …everything that does not come from faith is sin.

C.      If I am not serving in faith, then my service can even become sin.

III. Therefore, I want to know what it means to be a faithful servant.

A.      What does it mean to serve in faith?

TS] In Hebrews 11 we have example after example of people who served God in faith. These were faithful servants. Thus, from their example we can determine what it means to serve in faith and be pleasing to God.

Serving in faith means…

I.       Believing when I don’t see it. (11:1)

A.       Faith = Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

                  1.            Visualizing the future in advance.

                  2.            World = “seeing is believing” / God’s servant = “Believing is seeing.”

B.        We talk about vision as a church - Faith related to vision.

                  1.            What do you see in the future for Northview?

                  2.            I see a church built on purpose – bringing people from the community into an environment where they can be drawn into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.

                  3.            I see a church that serves and ministers to the community as the body of Christ should.

                  4.            I see a day care provided with love, and a youth work that really helps young people grow spiritually.

                  5.            I see a future that is far beyond what other churches of Christ have ever accomplished.

                  6.            Imagine this – One campus where you involve your family in every area of life. Church, daycare, school, athletics, (esp. football and baseball – no soccer). Then on that same campus you live after retirement and serve daily as God gives you strength. And you watch your children find their mate there and get married there, and raise their children going to church there, and school, etc.

C.       Great accomplishments and great service comes from authentic faith.

                  1.            It starts with vision. Not resources, not money, not even people! It starts with vision.

                  2.            Nothing great has ever been accomplished that didn’t first live in the heart of a dreamer.

D.       Dream Big Dreams for God!

                  1.            The size of your dream determines the size of your God!

                  2.            The size of your dream reveals the size of your faith!

                  3.            The service that pleases God most is the service that believes before it sees.

Serving in faith means…

II.    Obeying when I don’t understand it.

A.       Hebrews 11 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

                  1.            How much did Abraham understand? (where?, How long?, How will I know when I get there?) All Abraham understood was the ‘go’ part and that was enough for this man of faith.

                  2.            You cannot serve in faith without taking risks!

                  3.            If you are serving without risks how can you be serving in faith?

B.        The Bible is filled with examples of faithful obedience even when there was no understanding. (other than God is able)

                  1.            Gideon – 300 men against 135,000. (450 to 1) And God says, “here are your weapons = torch, trumpet, clay pot.” Make sense?

                  2.            Moses – Speak to the rock…

                  3.            David – a little boy against a great giant.

C.       Proverbs 3 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

III. Persisting when I don’t feel like it.

A.       Hebrews 11 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

                   1.            Another translation, “It was by faith that Moses left Egypt and was not afraid of the king’s anger. He held onto his purpose like a man who could see the invisible.”

                  2.            Only as we see the invisible can we accomplish the impossible!

B.        The key to persistence is to keep your eyes fixed on God!

                  1.            “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”

                  2.            When it looks impossible you look at God and God has always been in the business of making all possible.

                  3.            Ill - The superintendent of our Christian school asked a volunteer to send a fax. Later in the day he was talking to the person he had wanted to receive the fax. "Did you get the fax?" the superintendent asked. "Yes," replied his friend, "but I didn't need 15 copies!" The superintendent went to the volunteer to find out what happened. "I kept sending it," she said, "but it kept coming back out!" EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE.

C.       Persistence demands the proper perspective. It’s all in how you look at something – perspective.

                  1.            Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he’ll sit in a boat all day.

                  2.            We will be persistent at something – our own agenda or God’s agenda – one or the other.

Seeing what God has for us to accomplish, being obedient to His calling, and persistent enough to get the job done.

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