Servant

Manuscript Template

Title:  Servant

Focus Statement:  

Function Statement:  

Tweetable Phrase:  

Main Text:  Acts 6:1-7

Supporting Text:  1 Peter 2:9 / 1 Corinthians 12:28 / 1 Peter 4:10-11 /

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  Revelation 3:14-22

Benediction:  Ephesians 4:1-4

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

Many of you know that I did not get married young.

I got married at 29; 3 weeks before my 30th birthday.

That means that I had years of living alone.

When I graduated college my parents let me stay with them for a few years to save up a down payment, and at age 25, I bought a house.

Not being the smartest person in the world, I bought a house in a 1,000 house housing development, back when houses were relatively cheap and mortgage companies would loan you anything.

All my neighbors were way older than me and had kids in middle and high school.

Needless to say I was the odd person out in the neighborhood.

And when I moved into this house, I quickly developed 1 fear.

I quickly became afraid that I was going to become a very lazy person.

I was a generation separated from my neighbors so they had no interest in being social with me.

All my friends from college had moved back to where they had grown up.

I was 25, working as an engineer, and had nothing going on in my life at the time.

I never played video games growing up, but I could very easily see myself watching TV and surfing the internet every day when I got home from work.

I was afraid that living alone in the house was going to be the catalyst to me wasting my life.

So I took drastic action

I refused to get internet at my house

And in an era before you could watch TV on your phone, I refused to get a TV.

I decided that I was intentionally going to make life as boring for myself as possible within the house that I just bought to encourage myself to get out, meet people, and have a life.

So...

Every morning I would wake up, run 8 miles around the neighborhood for exercise, take a shower, and go to work

My mission was to schedule something every night after work to ensure that I avoided the pull toward laziness

I grew up playing hockey so I joined the adult hockey league through work; but games didn’t start until midnight so that didn’t help my goal of staying away from the house after work

Since I had a master’s degree, I could teach college classes as an adjunct, so I signed up to do that 1 night per week, but that didn’t start until late, so it didn’t help with my “stay busy after work” goal

I signed up to coach hockey, which filled 2 weeknights and the weekends because I didn’t just signup to coach hockey, I signed up to coach travel hockey.

But I still had some 3 days left.

So...

I signed up to volunteer with the youth at church during the week. I volunteered with the middle school 1 night a week.

I signed up for a small group at church to fill another night per week.

I still had 1 night left to fill...

So I compromised everything I stood for and started reading.

I decided I would buy all the books that people at work and church recommended I read and dedicate 1 night per week to reading.

I now had all 5 weeknights filled and the weekends.

I had no free time and was confident that with my new social calendar I could fend off the pull toward laziness.

My fears had been appeased.

I did this for 5 years before meeting and eventually marrying Andrea.

And after we got married...things changed!!!

But, the one thing that didn’t change was the priority we gave to serving.

We both served at church with the youth

I stopped coaching hockey, but Andrea and I started co-coaching youth soccer

We joined a church plant, got on the launch team, and both dove into serving wherever they needed us

Since we were in a college PAC, we helped set up all the kids rooms / tech / etc

Putting out signs in the morning

Andrea helped with hospitality

I led the small groups and community engagement

And as we’ve aged, we’ve tried to make service a central part of our lives no matter what season we’re in.

Service has, in large part, been a Defining aspect of our marriage

It has been great for us as it

keeps us focused on God

focused on others

and gives us something that we can do together.

But, we did eventually get internet and a TV, and after having kids we did scale back the frequency of volunteering.

WE - Tension

So I ask you, what has defined your life?

Looking back, what is the one thing that has always been a consistent part of your story?

Has your past been defined by using your time to do what you want, or using your time to help other with what they need?

I didn’t serve as much as I did because I felt I was uniquely suited to fill needs.

I fell into it.

I knew that without a detailed schedule and commitments on the calendar, I could become very okay with doing nothing.

God used that fear of laziness, and steered me toward service.

As we continue our series on the book of Acts we’ve walked through many of the attributes that God placed within the early church that He is still calling us to live by today.

We started by talking about the need to WAIT FOR GOD’S TIMING before we act

We discussed how the early church didn’t act on their own but only acted after being FILLED WITH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We saw how the early church DEVOTED themselves to WORSHIPPING GOD, MINISTERING TO OTHER BELIEVERS, and EVANGELIZING THE WORLD

We were challenged with how BOLD the early church was with their faith and what that means for us today

Last week, hopefully we were inspired by the bar of HOLINESS that God has set for the church and convicted to seek that level of holiness in our lives

Today as we continue our series we’re going to look at a story in Acts 6 where the early church had some conflict and see what God can teach us about the lives He calls us to live by the way the early church resolved the issue they faced.

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

As we begin, please turn with me to [Acts 6:1: Sanctuary Bible Page # 887]

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Let's dive in.

GOD - Text - HEAD

Acts 6:1a “1a In those days when the number of disciples was increasing,

I don’t know if you have heard this before, but people put churches in 5 categories.

They say that a church is

Declining - attendance is going down (50% of churches in America)

Maintaining - attendance is staying the same (14% of churches)

Growing - attendance is increasing at a single location church (30% of churches)

Reproducing - the church is planting new churches (4% of churches)

Multiplying - the church is planting new churches that are planting new churches (2% of churches)

The church in Acts 6 was growing. They had one single location (Jerusalem and God was adding people to their number. Things felt like they were doing well.

If we’re honest, over the last year, we’ve been in this category.

Our attendance has grown and it has been great to see many of you inviting your family / friends / neighbors / co-workers.

It has been great to hear how some of you found us online

And it’s been amazing to worship with you, share Jesus with you, and get to know each and every one of you.

I don’t know what you think of when you hear these categories.

But given how many churches are declining or stuck maintaining, I ask myself:

Would I do anything different if I knew the date that Jesus is coming back?

As a church, would we do anything different?

Would we invite with more urgency?

Would we be bolder is how we invite?

Would we stop wasting so much time doing trivial things?

Would we take our sin seriously and double down on personal holiness?

If we knew the date that Jesus was coming back, I bet we would have a newfound sense of urgency in getting our lives right and telling others the Good News of Jesus.

The Acts church had that urgency.

As you read the new testament, they truly believed that Jesus could come back any day.

They all took the mission to share Jesus seriously and live the life that Jesus taught them to live faithfully.

Historians estimate that when the last disciple died in year 99 AD there was a total of 7,530 Christians

By 312 AD, 1/2 the Roman Empire was Christian.

Keep in mind at that time there was 70 million people in the Roman Empire

So many people had put their faith in Jesus that Emperor Constantine was forced to legalize Christianity and personally convert to Christianity through the Edict of Milan

In just over 200 years, the church grew from 7,530 to 35 million people

Every Christian not only knew it was their responsibility to make disciples, but they took that mission seriously.

Every Christian knew that it was their responsibility to not just invite, not just grow, but to make disciples that made disciples - multiplying the number of believers

As time passed, and Jesus hadn’t come back yet, I grieve the fact that the church has lost that initial passion.

The truth is, that as Christians...

We are called to be a multiplying church

, but to do that we need everyone.

And the church of Acts learned that lesson. Let’s see how by continuing in Acts 6:1b

Acts 6:1b “1b the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”

For a little context, in the 1st Century world, woman didn’t have standing in society, so if a woman lost her husband and didn’t have sons to take care of her, they had no way to take care of themselves (think Naomi and Ruth)

The Jewish people of that time had a system to take care of widows

The Jewish people gave each resident widow money ever week, called the quppah. It was given out every Friday and consisted of enough money for fourteen meals.

There was also a daily distribution, known as the tamhuy. It was for nonresidents and transients and consisted of food and drink, which were delivered from house to house where known needy were dwelling.

The Acts church seem to have adopted a version of this Jewish system of benevolence. Like the tamhuy it was daily, and like the quppah it was for the residents of the community.

It was a known system that worked within the Jewish culture, but because the church had both Grecian and Palestinian Jews, issues crept in when details changed.

The Grecians were Hellenists, or Jews who lived in line with the Greek culture, including speaking the language of the countries where they were born. They were considered inferior by the Hebrews, or Palestinian Jews, who made up the majority of the people within the church.

If it was intentional or not, the Greek Jewish Widows were being overlooked and consequently there was strife within the church

And the early church did what all of our first responses would have been

We find the start of that response in Acts 6:2 which reads:

Acts 6:2 “2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.”

The Acts church brought the problem to the Apostles and let them deal with it.

And the disciples did deal with it, but they didn’t agree to personally manage the food distribution.

The Apostles were the only people on the planet who

were chosen by Jesus

personally witnessed Jesus’ time on earth

and were commissioned by Jesus to witness to everything He taught and did.

The Apostles had a duty to witness to what they had seen and learned while following Jesus.

The term Apostle literally means “sent one”.

Their time would not be best spent administering daily food rations to widows.

Serving the needs of the widows was very important, but not what the Apostles were called to do.

2 Peter 1:10 “10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,”

We’re all called, by God, to do something.

Each of our callings is different and specific for the task that God created us for.

The Apostles were supposed to witness to what they saw when they were with Jesus.

Other people within the church were gifted and called to administer and serve the needs of the widows.

But, if the Apostles aren’t managing food distribution anymore, they needed to find those people who could.

And that’s what they did.

Acts 6:3–6 “3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.”

The Apostles gave the qualifications.

Anyone considered to lead the food distribution to the widows would need to a person who had proven to have:

Good reputation

Full of the Spirit

Full of Wisdom

And the church found 7 people who met the qualifications.

And if you’ll notice, the church took a huge risk to not only resolve the problem but to restore unity within the church.

All 7 chosen had Greek names

All the appointed Deacons were from the group that was being neglected (even though they were the minority within the church)

And because they found people who were gifted in management, the Apostles could focus on what they were called to (Witnessing to what they saw when Jesus was on earth, planting churches, and helping people see the Good News of what God had done)

And we see the results of this in Acts 6:7.

Acts 6:7 ESV

7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

The word of God Increased

The Apostles now had time to do what they were called, gifted, and meant to do.

And now that the Apostles focused more of their time spreading the word of God,

the Church moved from GROWING to MULTIPLYING

Even Jewish priests (the most ardent defenders of the Jewish faith who were the first to doubt and persecute Jesus) converted to Christianity

YOU - Takeaway - HEART

Isn’t this how it works in your life? When you stop doing all the things you aren’t good at, and focus only on the things you are good at and God calls you to do, success comes quicker, easier, and larger than you could imagine.

The call to serve is not just for

the early church

or people in vocational ministry

The call to serve is for everyone

1 Peter 2:9 “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

And God has equipped us each uniquely to serve in the areas that He has called us.

1 Corinthians 12:28 “28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”

For the church to thrive, we need everyone.

We all have to identify HOW God gifted us, WHERE God called us to serve, and CHOSE to use our gifts to serve others.

1 Peter 4:10 “10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

So...

How has God gifted you?

Where has God called you to serve?

Have you accepted that call, stepped forward, and offered your gifts to the church, the community, and to those people in your life who are in need?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action - HANDS

This wasn’t just a problem in the Acts church.

As the church grew and spread, the temptation to turn inward, focusing on themselves, and ignoring the needy continued to be an issue.

A church planted in Laodicea by Epaphras, a man who traveled with Paul, ran into this problem.

In a prophetic vision at the end of his life, the Apostle John was given a message of warning to 7 churches, one of which was Laodicea.

In Revelation 3:14-22 we find that letter, which reads.

Revelation 3:14–22 “14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.””

For some context.

Laodicea was famous for raven black wool and making the best designer clothes of the day.

Laodicea had a top notch medical school specializing in ophthalmology

Laodicea was a huge banking center

They were so rich that after an earthquake leveled the city in 60 AD they didn’t accept any money from Rome to rebuild, because they had enough to rebuild themselves

So when we see John write:

They were rich - it is a judgement not on how much money they have, but how they use it

They were blind and need salve to put on their eyes - it is a commentary that even though they have the best medical schools they are diseased with selfishness, blind to the needy among them

They were Naked and needed white clothes - it is an indictment they are known for black wool and fashion but they lack the purity that God calls us all to

Laodicea was rich in money, but poor in helping others.

They only served themselves.

The letter to Laodicea was the only letter written to the 7 churches of Revelation with critique but no affirmation.

They needed to do something with the wealth they had.

And they were indicted through comparison to two other churches that Epaphras also planted.

Geographically Laodicea was between two other cities; Hierapolis and Colossae

Here’s a map of the valley where all three cities were

[image: 3 cities]

Hierapolis has hot spring and that mineral rich hot water was used for healing.

[image: Hierapolis hot springs]

Andrea and I actually got to go into the hot springs, and I have to say it was very nice.

[image: Ryan and Andrea in hot springs]

Colossae on the other hand has cold water which is good for growing crops.

Colossae was at the foot of Mt Cadmus which provided cold water streams year round

[image: Colossae]

Laodicea had no source of water on it’s own.

It needed to pipe in water from either Hierapolis or Colossae.

By the time the water got to Laodicea it was lukewarm, not good for anything, healing or growing crops.

In fact, it was nasty

Even the pipes used to bring it to the city became calcified; here’s a picture

[image: Laodicea pipes]

In the letter to Laodicea in Revelation, John calls out the people, saying they are neither HOT nor COLD

Rather they are LUKEWARN, useless, ignoring the needs of the helpless.

We are warned not to be like the church of Laodicea, looking at all the blessings we have and failing to pass those blessings along to those who need them.

We are warned not to be LUKEWARM - good for nothing but serving our own selfish desires

We need to be like Hierapolis - HOT - passionate for the mission of God

We need to be like Colossae - COLD - to the ways of the world

The church is not just the 1 hour we spend together on Sunday

We put bible verses on the doors of the sanctuary to remind us that the mission we are all called to starts when we leave this room.

The early church was a group of people who

saw Jesus resurrected

knew that there was life after death

knew that belief in Jesus was the only way to be eternally saved

and passionately went around telling everyone.  

That was the church.

We need that kind of passion today, because the mission hasn't changed.

The Great Commission is still to “Go out and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Jesus still calls us to continue His mission to “seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10)

I recognize that life has seasons, 

During some seasons we can serve more than others,

I don’t serve as much as I did when I was young and single,

But we area all called to serve as God calls us to

We are all called to use our time, talents, and treasure to

serve those in need

introduce people to Jesus

and live out the calling that God has uniquely placed on our lives

So...

Where is God calling you to serve right now?

Who is God putting on your heart to offer to help, some encouragement, or share the Good News of What Jesus has done?

Are you going to obey that calling?

Or are you going to be like Laodicea, focus on the blessings you have, and remain lukewarm to those around you?

As a church I never want TheLightKC to be LUKEWARM.

I pray that we all become RED HOT for Jesus and ICE COLD to the desires of the world

I pray that we take the mission that Jesus has given us seriously, living out our unique calling to serve those in need, and spread hope to the lost.

I pray that as a church we don’t settle for the growth that we’ve experienced over the last year

I pray that we all get so passionate about what Jesus is doing that we can’t help but start to multiply.

I pray that we all follow the example in Acts and serve as God has gifted and called us to.

Movie nights

Habitat for Humanity

Running w/ World Vision

etc.

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

Ephesians 4:1–4 “1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;”

This week...

Let’s stop looking at the blessings God gives us as gifts to be used only for ourselves

Let’s stop trying to do things we were never called or gifted to do

Instead

Let’s learn from the Apostles, say “NO” to the things of this world that call for our attention, but are outside of God’s will for our lives

Let’s identify how God has uniquely gifted us and when called to do so use those gifts to serve others

Let’s regain the passion of the early church

Inviting with more urgency?

Being bolder is how we invite?

Stop wasting so much time doing trivial things?

Taking our sin seriously and doubling down on personal holiness?

Let’s be the church, that doesn’t just meet 1 hour on a Sunday morning, but lives out the mission Jesus gave us throughout the entire week

Quick reminder...

Yearly Church Meeting - Tonight at 5 PM

GenForm Discipleship training - Wednesday at 6:30 PM - Programming for all ages

If you’re new, please fill out the card in the seat back and stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

If you’d like to get more information about taking your next step of faith, fill out the card in the seat back and give it to me or turn it in to the info desk.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

How can we identify our unique gifts in order to better serve others in the church and community?

In what ways can we ensure that our service aligns with God's calling for our lives?

What practices can we implement to guard against becoming spiritually lukewarm like the church of Laodicea?

How does the example of the early church in Acts 6 inspire or challenge you in your own spiritual journey?

What is one practical way you can serve someone in need this week, following the example of the early church?

How can you apply the idea of serving others in your daily life, such as in school or with friends?

What are some barriers you face when trying to serve or help those around you?

Who is someone in your life that you could reach out to this week to offer support or help?

In what ways can you encourage others your age to be more active in serving their communities?

How can you ensure that your social activities don't lead you to become spiritually distracted or lazy?