Serving
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Intro:
Behaviors of followers of Jesus
So far we have covered the importance of
praying
Reading (your Bible)
getting rid of idols and sin that separates you from God
Sharing the Love and Message of Christ with Nonbelievers
Depending on God
Expecting the Miraculous
Discipling others and Growing
Supporting missions to help fulfill the great commission
Tithing- Giving God back what belongs to him
Today we talk about Serving
serving the poor and suffering with the compassion of Jesus
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Right Living
Justice
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Serving the Poor and Suffering with the Compassion of Jesus
Serving the Poor and Suffering with the Compassion of Jesus
WE READILY REMEMBER CHRIST’S COMMAND to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
But, we often limit that command to communicating the story of the gospel without including the life of the gospel.
What do I mean by that?
James gave us insight into the true meaning of living for Christ.
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James illustrated this principle when he taught concerning
the works that are to demonstrate the reality of one’s faith:
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Jesus Christ gave His life for the sins of the world,
and it is the Church’s mission to proclaim that truth.
But in order to fully communicate the spiritual truth of the Atonement,
the Church must give tangible expressions of Christ’s sacrificial love,
a love He gave evidence of throughout His earthly ministry.
One of my favorite passages describing this aspect of Christ’s love for the lost is Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
Luke records the day Jesus read this passage in the synagogue about himself (Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
We see in Jesus’ proclamation a dual reality.
The Spirit of God was working through Christ
to address the inner poverty of man
-an inescapable bondage to sin.
But as we examine the life of Christ,
we see Him reaching out to the material and physical needs of the multitudes.
He always did so in order to draw them into relationship with His Heavenly Father.
That same mission falls to the Church today.
So lets look at the different ways that we can Serve in the same way that Jesus served
Serving through the Spirit’s Anointing
Serving through the Spirit’s Anointing
Look again at this prophecy Jesus chose to publicly announce His ministry. “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me” (Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
The most effective way for us to minister to
the disenfranchised,
the poor,
the hurting,
the bruised,
the suffering,
is with and through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit understands the pain and suffering of men and women;
He understands how to bring healing to the deepest wounds of the heart.
We see this in the Spirit’s ministry through our prayers.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
What a powerful picture of the Holy Spirit’s ability to bring peace to our inner man!
When we minister under the Spirit’s anointing,
He guides us into the most effective, compassionate ministry.
Under the Spirit’s anointing,
one need never fear the church’s ministry to the poor will render it a mere social agency.
Under the Spirit’s anointing,
practical ministry always includes pathways for the truth of the gospel to be proclaimed.
Serving through the Ministry of Proclamation
Serving through the Ministry of Proclamation
Many worthwhile Christian agencies go to
the impoverished and war-torn regions of the world
with life-saving food and medicine.
There is great value to that,
but such assistance only addresses part of the problem.
If you have only touched the physical
and not dealt with the spiritual,
the very pain and hunger you have sought to alleviate
will only take hold again as soon as your relief supplies are exhausted.
It is only as the truth of the gospel comes
alongside the gift of food and medicine
and transforms lives
that a community,
a region,
a nation
can be changed.
The motivation for a church’s ministry to the poor
must always be to deal with the spiritual problem.
When people encounter the person of Jesus Christ,
the life- transforming power of the gospel,
they begin to live in a manner that effectively addresses their poverty and hunger.
Look again at Jesus’ proclamation:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news” (my emphasis).
There lies the fundamental mission of the Church.
We have the method
-the anointing of the Spirit.
We have the message
-the gospel of a redeeming Savior.
The gospel goes beyond the immediate change in one’s circumstances
that a meal or medical treatment might offer.
The gospel changes the person at the heart,
for eternity,
resulting in a completely new way of living
that delivers them from the bondage and torment of Satan.
Jesus contrasted His mission with that of Satan’s:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
The gospel we proclaim has the power in it to transform
men and women and give them that abundant life.
When you proclaim the gospel
in conjunction with your ministry to the poor,
you have taken care of the source of the problem
through the work of salvation
and the power of God’s life-giving Word.
The anointing of the Spirit has brought that about.
His ministry through you
is the vehicle that communicates and transmits.
With the gospel you give people hope,
and now they have the ability
to be delivered from the pit in which they find themselves.
You have offered healing and transformation
to the whole person and the whole problem.
Serving through the spirit’s anointing
Serving through the Ministry of Proclamation
Serving throughout the community
Serving throughout the Community
Serving throughout the Community
If this level of ministry is to become a reality,
We, the church, cannot remain within the walls of the sanctuary.
We must go outside of the church building
and minister under the anointing of the Holy Spirit
and in the Spirit’s power to touch people where they live.
The lost must experience what we have experienced
as a result of being born of the Spirit-born again.
Wherever that kind of outward focused ministry is happening today
within the church of Jesus Christ,
that church is experiencing new life and consistent growth.
That church is building a reputation in its community as a genuine messenger of truth.
People in that community who have no connection to the gospel,
no background of church life,
begin to look at those believers who are active in their community
and begin to contemplate the love of God that motivates their compassion.
When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community,
it is on the path toward death.
Again, Jesus is our example.
He did not remain aloof from sinners,
waiting for them to discover His identity as God’s Son
and come to Him in repentance.
He went into the community,
to all levels of people.
And He did so with such consistency
that He established a reputation among the self-righteous Pharisees.
And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.
When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus never apologized for the people He kept company with.
They were His reason for coming into the world.
And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Serving through the spirit’s anointing
Serving through the Ministry of Proclamation
Serving throughout the community
Serving as a Reason for Being
Serving as a Reason for Being
Serving as a Reason for Being
Jesus connected this mission of serving the poor and the outcast
with His very reason for being on earth.
It was part of His identity
as He walked among the multitudes
and taught them about the Kingdom.
Nothing has changed.
The Church’s mission today
is to reach out and touch the hurting at their point of need,
even as the gospel is being proclaimed.
Throughout the history of the Assemblies of God,
compassion ministries have remained at the forefront of the Fellowship’s mission.
Our founding fathers included this in their earliest efforts at missions outreach
this whole matter of compassion ministries.
Think of the wonderful orphanage in Egypt
established by Lillian Trasher.
Think of the community of lepers in Liberia
served so selflessly by Florence Steidel.
One of the greatest avenues for ministry to the poor the Assemblies of God enjoys today
is our work in conjunction with Convoy of Hope.
Faithfully, Convoy of Hope has given the church a vehicle
to take this gospel of the Kingdom outside the church
to identify with the poor,
and to identify with those who are so needy today.
Thanks to this consistent focus,
the Assemblies of God has had a missionary force in place around the world
able to be marshaled immediately when disaster strikes
so that we can go in and minister compassionately
with tangible evidences of Christ’s love.
We can care for the wounded,
the suffering,
the hungry,
the naked,
those who have lost everything.
That has been the story of this church,
and it is tied to the fact that a Spirit-filled body of believers
ministers with a sensitivity
one will never find in a social agency.
Some have been concerned that we could become merely a social agency.
I can tell you it has not and it will not.
We respond to the prompting of the Spirit
and with a sensitivity that is God-pleasing,
with a wisdom that is God-given,
so that we are able to maximize resources,
maximize distribution,
meet the greatest need of people,
and as a result,
maximize the spiritual harvest for the sake of the kingdom of God.
Through these many avenues of practical ministry,
scores of men, women, and children
have come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Why?
Because the church was there to minister in the compassion of Christ.
This mandate for ministry is not up for debate.
We are to do what Christ has called us to do to minister to the poor in the spirit of Jesus Christ.
He is our example.
I’m a firm believer that wherever the church will do this,
the church will reap powerful rewards.
The spirit of Christ will rest upon that church in response to their obedience.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
The church that gains a vision for the poor in its community and around the world
is doing what Christ told us to do.
Our Savior had a heart for the poor;
He had a heart for the hurting.
When we carry out His mission,
His purpose,
and His plan,
He will bless a church.
He will bless a church with resources;
He will bless a church with increased vision.
Serving through the spirit’s anointing
Serving through the Ministry of Proclamation
Serving throughout the community
Serving as a Reason for Being
Serving as a Personal Testimony
Serving as a Personal Testimony
It is one thing to talk of the mission of the church,
whether that be expressed as the Great Commission’s call to spread the gospel
or the equally relevant command to meet the practical needs of a hurting world.
But the church is nothing more than the collective identity of individual followers of Christ.
In order for the church to accomplish its mission,
its members must personalize Christ’s commands
and apply them in daily living.
Many testimonies could be given of men and women
who have been led by the Spirit to a neighbor,
to a stranger,
to a coworker.
That person’s need might not have been known publicly,
but as a result of the guidance of the Spirit
and sensitivity to the Spirit,
a follower of Christ identified that need and met it.
Look again with me at the Book of James.
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Can you honestly describe your walk of faith with your Savior
as “pure” and “faultless”?
The measure of that reality is what you are doing for
“the orphans and widows in their distress.”
As you learn to view that homeless person on the corner as “a brother or sister,”
you will pray for the Spirit’s guidance
and you will reach out as Christ’s hand extended.
In the end, such practical expressions of love
will give credibility to your testimony.
As you love and care for the needy around you,
you will discover your own times of prayer and Bible study enriched.
You will truly be loving the lost.
You will discern the voice of the Spirit with ever-growing clarity.
You will be growing in your faith and fulfilling the Great Commission.
Parable of the Life-Saving Station
Parable of the Life-Saving Station
“On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur,
there was once a crude little life-saving station.
The building was just a hut,
and there was only one boat.
But the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea,
and with no thought for themselves
went out day and night
tirelessly searching for the lost.
Some of those who were saved,
and various others in the surrounding area,
wanted to become associated with the station
and give their time and money and effort
for the support of its work.
New boats were bought and new crews trained.
The little life-saving station grew.
...
Some of the members of the life-saving
were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped.
They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided
as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.
They replaced the emergency cots with beds
and put better furniture in the enlarged building.
Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members,
and they decorated it as sort of a club.
Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions,
so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work.
The life-saving motif still prevailed in this club`s decoration,
and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.
...
About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast,
and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet and half-drowned people.
They were dirty and sick
and some had black skin
and some had yellow skin.
The beautiful new club was in chaos.
So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club
where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.
...
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership.
Most of the members wanted to stop the club`s life-saving activities
as being unpleasant
and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club.
Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose
and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station.
But they were finally voted down
and told that if they wanted to save lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters,
they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast.
So they did just that.
...
As the years went by,
the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old.
It evolved into a club,
and yet another `spin-off` life saving station was founded.
History continued to repeat itself,
and if you visit the sea coast today,
you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore.
Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters,
but most of the people drown.”
