Service | Holy Spirit Week 3

What does service mean?

Service or serving just means you’re doing something for somebody else. So if you work in a restaurant as a waiter or waitress, you “serve” the customers that go to that restaurant to eat. The point of service there is to give the customers a good experience in hopes they tip well and return to the restaurant.

When talking about service in relation to the Holy Spirit, it’s a bit different. We’re talking about doing something for someone else without expecting anything in return.

Why is it important?

Service shows who/what you follow

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Ok, before we look at this more, a quick illustration

**have students pat their heads and rub their stomachs, then switch to rub their head and pat their stomach. Then hold pointer fingers out and rotate hands in opposite directions**

That’s obviously a silly example, and some of you are shockingly good at those things, but multitasking only works for so long. When you multitask, meaning you do multiple things at once, you’re really just switching back and forth between things in really small increments, so you might be working on your homework for a couple minutes, then grab a bite of your dinner, then text your friend back, you’re not really doing multiple things at once, you’re just doing one thing at a time for a really short time.

Your service is similar. You can’t serve multiple masters. Here Jesus is highlighting that your service, your focus, can only be on one thing. It’s like trying to multitask, you might be able to do it for a little bit, but it quickly becomes clear that it’s not really sustainable to be jumping back and forth. Eventually trying to serve God, and serve people or money or how you look, eventually they will conflict with each other and you’ll be forced to choose the one you REALLY want to serve.

(Podcast?) These verses comes right after Jesus talks about how to give, how to pray and how to fast. (looking at people’s attachments to money/stuff, time/focus, food/comfort - Matthew 6:33

What does my service look like?

So what does service look like in real life? Jesus has some very aggressive statements about the Pharisees and how they led.

Matthew 23:5–6 CSB

They do everything to be seen by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,

Does anyone know what a phylactery is? Basically it was a small scroll that would be tied to their forehead or over their heart, and the purpose of it was to remind them of the Law of God who they served.

The problem with the pharisees wasn’t that they had the place of honor, or that they had big Bibles strapped to their foreheads, the problem was their heart. The problem was they were doing all these things to be seen by people. They weren’t doing it in service to God.

1 Peter 4:10–11 (CSB)

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything.

When we serve, we should be doing it to serve others. If God has given us the desire, ability, and opportunity to serve in whatever capacity, we need to serve WELL and serve from the strength that God provides through His Holy Spirit.

Opportunities to serve

Before we wrap up, I want to highlight some areas that you can get involved here at StudentLife and Life Church Buffalo if you’re looking to serve. Would Danielle, Ashlee, Olivia, and Trevor come up here?

As they make their way up here, I want to clarify that pretty much anything that helps others that you are purposeful in doing is service. 2 weeks ago when Pastor Jordan started the Holy Spirit series, there was some tables and chairs to reset in the lobby. Nothing major or really that hard, but I noticed that as soon as some of the leaders started resetting, a bunch of you jumped in and helped move tables and chairs to get the lobby reset. It wasn’t hard work, and it only took a couple minutes, but that was service. So as you hear about some of the teams available for you to help out in, don’t think that your service needs to be limited to these options. There’s a LOT of ways you can serve.

Events Team - Danielle

Tech Team - Trevor

Worship Team - Olivia

KidsLife - Ashlee

Awesome, thanks all for sharing. Give them a hand! They make it possible for people to experience Jesus and they do it with excellence.

If you’re interested in serving on one of those teams, talk to that team leader for more information. And if you have an idea of a way you can serve that we didn’t mention, talk to a leader and let us know your idea. We want to help YOU use your gifts to serve others and grow towards Jesus.

Let’s Pray

Small Group Questions

How would you explain service to someone?

Read 1 Peter 4:10

What do you think your gift is? What are some ways you’re able to serve at church? at school? at home? (doesn’t have to be one of the ones we talked about)

Podcast ideas:

why is it important

Ephesians 6:7 “Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people,” (we’re not really serving God, we’re literally serving other people to point them to God, but our attitude should be like we’re serving

Romans 12:6–8 “According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.”

John 13:4–5 “So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.”

John 13:12–15 “When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.”

Galatians 1:10 “For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”