Sermon Tone Analysis

FCF- Why don’t we serve?

Why don’t I serve?

Pride.

Self-centeredness.

Desire for comfort.

CS- Jesus lays down his life to serve us.

We serve like Jesus because we have been served by Jesus.

Heart Longing- Longing for significance?

That fuels our pride- we don’t want to do a whole bunch of work- serving others in a way that disqualifies us from the Kingdom

Faith without deeds- dead faith

Faith with self-centered deeds for our glory- pharisees

Faith working itself out in love for neighbor for the glory of God- the fruit of one who has been loved by God in the gospel- apart from deeds done in righteousness.

3 kinds of responses-

1- Earning God’s love through our works/deeds/service- self-centered- showing off prideful deeds

2- Self-centered prideful avoidance of service either through proud domineering or comfort-seeking laziness

3- Others-centered God-glorifying Humble- obscurity embracing service of others to build His Kingdom and not your own.

Intro- GOAT discussions

We are all looking to experience greatness and significance- either in our own lives- or vicariously through others- why do you think video games exist- to vicariously pursue the glory of greatness without the cost.

Jesus says to be great- we must serve.

Jesus redefines what greatness is in the upside down, reality altering Kingdom of God.

Service: Using your time, talents, treasures and spiritual gifts for the good of others and the glory of God.

3 Threats to genuine service we can find in this text:

1. Pursuit of Power

Text exposition-James and John’s request- what were they expecting- Kingdom like in their day- absolute power and authority-

Not just James and John, but the others as well- indignant- not because they are appaled at the request, but indignant because they didnt get there first

Jesus’ response- you don’t act like this- if you want to be great you must serve- if you want to be first become a slave

service definition for James and John-

Service preversion: Using others time, talents, treasures, and spiritual gifts for the good and glory of yourself.

-our temptation as individuals- you have a sphere of influence- your job, your school, your friends, your home, your neighborhood- do you exploit that position for the good of yourself at the expense of others- are you an employer- do you lord it over others

-clear examples

-the temptation is to be served

-our temptation as a church- to use our city and her resources for our benefit- take advantage of our tax-exempt status vs seeing that as a means to a greater ability to serve our city

-using this school without blessing it

-enjoying our city’s resources- restaurants, arts, businesses, for our benefit

2. Pursuit of Comfort

Text Exposition- the cost of being great- or in this case serving- are you able to drink the cup

-Oh yes- they are not- yet they will

-We avoid suffering- if you are going to be great in the Kingdom- you must take the place of service- which means embracing the cost of suffering-

-if thats the case- we just won’t

Service preversion: hoarding your time, talents, treasures and spiritual gifts for the good and glory of no one.

-our temptation as individuals- netflix, drivethru, football, movies, vacations, clean houses, no danger to ourselves or our kids, no threat of hard conversations, no sacrifice of my time or my money

-our temptation as a church- do the easy thing- worry only about us and our pretty things- our comfortable worship service- not sacrifice to build the kingdom

3. Pursuit of Pride

- the most subtle- using service, pretending we are genuine, but using it to bolster our accolades

Text exposition- Jesus says that even the son of man came to serve-

using your time, talents, treasures and spiritual gifts for the good of others and the glory of yourself.-

-our temptation as individuals- serve others within the church so that people look at us as mature

-our temptation as a church- to attempt to get the world to love us because of what we do

-Julian the Apostate- the world was won to Christ through service- but it didn’t always get the accolades- he hated them more because of it.

-It is foolish for us to seek the glory of man in this life

-Look at how I serve-

-even the son of man serves- you are first served by God before you can ever serve God or others- Acts 17:24-25

Genuine Service: Using your time, talents, treasures and spiritual gifts for the good of others and the glory of God.

How?

We can serve like Jesus because we have been served by Jesus.

What did Jesus sacrifice?

Share the gospel.

Now, its not just look at his example and emulate- thats true- but its more than that- look at what he accomplished- his service for you means you don’t have to earn God’s love- you are not saved by your service, your good deeds, your radical acts of justice and mercy, you are saved by Jesus

Now, because he has saved you, united you to himself and given you a new heart- you are free to not work for your own good or your own glory but for the good of others and the glory of God.

Applications:

-First- our attitude- humility- embracing obscurity, loving God and loving neighbor.

then- action

-specific opportunities- first- think and pray about your spheres of influence- work, play, home, neighborhood, church- how can you serve

-next- go out of your comfort zone to serve those not like you and those in our city with real needs-

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Muncie Mission

The Community Reading Project

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