What Now Week 5 - Serve
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Opening Story - Mom’s aren’t known for sitting.
Opening Story - Mom’s aren’t known for sitting.
When we had kids…Kayla lost the opportunity to simply sit..
She will finish the dishes…one of the kids will come say mom I’m hungry
We will lay down for bed…one of the kids calls out…mom
This is generational…when we go to my mom’s house…She is always cooking…baking…getting drinks...
My grandma did the same thing.
Mom’s are so passionate about the people in their home that they trade in a life of sitting for a life of serving.
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The Church is not a place to sit!
The Church is not a place to sit!
We have done a disservice as the body of Christ...
We have created a paradigm wherein we view the church as a place to come and sit.
We associate Christianity with chairs...
Sunday becomes a day wherein we “observe our faith.”
THIS IS NOT THE LIFESTYLE THAT JESUS MODELED FOR US...
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Jesus modeled a lifestyle of Holy Spirit inspired verbs
Jesus modeled a lifestyle of Holy Spirit inspired verbs
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
As Jesus is giving us a glimpse into the purpose of the Holy Spirit….you will notice that the outcome of his arrival is marked by verbs…
The Holy Spirit is mentioned by Jesus as an entity that incites action!
Jesus says when the Holy Spirit moves upon someone they are...
Anointed to preach
Sent to heal
Sent to proclaim
Sent to give recovery
Sent to set at liberty
Sent to proclaim that NOW IS THE TIME!
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I know we make much of sitting and observing in the body of Christ…but as I look through the book of Acts and I find
Spirit-filled speakers
Spirit-filled servers
Spirit-filled stirrers
Spirit-filled singers
What I don’t find frequently in the New Testament is Spirit-filled sitters….
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Called to more than salvation
Called to more than salvation
Many of us know we are called to salvation
We have asked forgiveness of our sins and desire to walk in a freedom from the wickedness of our world
Today I want to remind us that we are not only called to salvation…we are called to serve.
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You have a purpose
You have a purpose
Something that I need to make known to every person in this room is that you are not an accident…YOU HAVE A PURPOSE.
In the Christian experience we often refer to purpose through a synonym called “calling.”
SPOILER ALERT…The reason we push you towards serving is because we want you to discover your calling.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
This text opens with a conversation that is worth having with every person who has made Jesus the Lord of your life… ”consider your calling”
You have been chosen by God to be used as a choice servant in His plan to reach the world…
But before you get too excited or big headed about that fact…let’s read further in the text to see what the qualifying characteristics of this calling are.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
Wise: Had any skills
Powerful: Physically fit
Noble: Important by birth
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One of the greatest prerequisites according to Paul of being called and fit for service in the kingdom is being someone who…
Lacks skill, Isn’t impressive physically, And has no real merit based on the family they were born into!
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The God who will win with scrubs
The God who will win with scrubs
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
I’ve got you on emotional roller coaster today…
We need to have a healthy awareness of our inadequacy and insufficiency Because in spite of how little we bring to the table…
GOD HAS CHOSEN US!
This is a pretty “baller” move by God.
Anybody can look at the group playing pickup and identify the best players and try to win with them. God looks at who is available and says give me the worst and least productive and watch what I can do!
My lack is the most efficient canvas upon which he can show his glory.
The overly evident fact of my insufficiency removes every chance that the productivity my life produces could be mistaken for anything but the work of an almighty God!
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God can bring something from nothing and turn our somethings to nothing
God can bring something from nothing and turn our somethings to nothing
and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
Some of you have been faced with the frustrating realization that your Sunday morning high got hit with a Sunday afternoon reality.
You prayed for freedom and still found temptation
You prayed for provision and still found lack
You prayed for fulfillment and still felt somewhat empty.
I am submitting to you that part of the reason your reality may not have changed fully is because you are only walking in one half of your faith journey.
Salvation is the entry point... Service is the next step.
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It is within the context of believers considering their calling and submitting themselves to God that they are presented with the opportunity to experience the fulfillment of a higher reality.
things that are not....are
Levels of freedom
Salvation of our kids
Provision in areas of lack
Healing in levels of sickness
things that are…are brought to be not.
Areas of addiction
Areas of sickness
Areas of patterned failure.
The kingdom gives those of us who are walking in service of the king permission to believe for what doesn’t exist yet.
I can trust in God’s Word over and about me…even if it isn’t reality yet.
GOD CALLS THINGS INTO REALITY THAT DON’T EXIST AND HE CALLS THINGS INTO NOTHINGNESS THAT ARE CURRENTLY REAL!
We see this pattern in scripture.
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The Mighty man…who hides in fear
The Mighty man…who hides in fear
In the Old Testament he is looking for someone to deliver his people Israel from the bondage of the Midianites.
The nation was fearful and so God needed someone who was brave to lead them out of their bondage.
As He is searching throughout the land…he finds his man…
Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Gideon is found threshing wheat…
Threshing wheat is a task that would commonly be done in an open field.
The farmer would throw the wheat into the air and let the wind do the work to separate the wheat from the chaff.
GIDEON IS DOING THE WORK OF THE FIELD IN THE CONFINES OF A SHED!
he is too scared to do what He needs to in the open.
He is making life harder on himself because He is living in fear.
Sometimes the hardships we face in life are not so much because of an attack of the enemy but because we are too scared to fully surrender to what God has called us to.
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Our God calls us by our future…not our present
Our God calls us by our future…not our present
God finds Gideon doing the work of the field in the shed…but he doesn’t confront him based on the idiocy of his present.
God speaks to the potential of the future rather than the problems of his present!
No matter where you’ve been living your life…
God calls us by our future not our past or our present
Maybe you’ve been squandering the gift God has given you in illegitimate places.
God isn’t here to condemn you…He’s here to call you into your actual purpose.
You can read on down Gideon’s story to find out that he gives God all the reasons that He isn’t qualified…
BUT GOD STILL USES HIM TO BRING ABOUT ILLOGICAL VICTORIES!
TR: Why is this the MO of God?
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My barriers minimize my boasting
My barriers minimize my boasting
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
God has chosen us…
the ones who aren’t skilled…
the one’s who aren’t impressive…
the ones who don’t have pedigree…
When the unskilled do skillful things HE gets the glory
When the unimpressive bring about impact…HE gets the glory
When those who have no pedigree experience promotion…HE gets the glory.
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God does have a plan…but how do I find out what it is?
God does have a plan…but how do I find out what it is?
Maybe you are here and you’re thinking that maybe God does have a plan for you…
Maybe God does have an ultimate purpose to bring some amazing things to pass…
BUT HOW DO I FIND IT?
Our purpose is most often revealed while we operate in the posture of serving.
Often the call to reach the nations comes through the door of scrubbing toilets.
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Big things come in small pieces...
Big things come in small pieces...
We live in a culture that is all about the BIG STUFF.
Massive following
Accomplish something that changes the world.
This posture leaves us feeling inadequate and insignificant when we are doing anything that doesn’t meet the metrics of the Big boys.
I was 26 years old before I ever attended a church of more than 150 people much less served in one.
My first position in ministry that had a title was completely volunteer for the first year and half…. Until they brought me on full time…
$150 a week
I wasn’t compensated with a paycheck…I was compensated with my purpose.
We don’t encourage you to serve because it takes volunteers to make Sunday’s happen…We encourage you to serve because it takes serving to make your purpose happen.
I have no doubt that there are many in this room who have the capacity to lead…but in the kingdom lessening is the formula of increase!
The lower I kneel…the higher I can be elevated.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
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Serving is how I found my calling.
The open door that led to planting a church…was making a loop
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In closing…You can start serving today…WE HAVE SERVE 101. (Digital…sign up in the back by the exit.)