Losing our Minds

Today we are going to talk about how we need to lose our minds.

Yes, that is exactly going to be what will happen.

Before we get there, let us discuss something else first.

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about?

Have you ever wondered what God thinks about?

Have you ever wondered?

I mean we surely all have wondered at some point, right?

If you haven’t, then it is worth your while to consider.

If you haven’t then don’t worry we will actually research this topic and hopefully leave here with understanding.

If the God of the universe has thoughts, then He must have a mind.

There is a difference between thoughts a mind.

Thoughts are more random.

They can have no correlation or order of thinking.

They can be independent of each other.

The mind is the personality that powers your thoughts.

The why you think, and the how you think.

God has a mind.

Therefore, how does he think?

What drives His thoughts?

God’s mind is not a mystery.

He wants us to understand His mind and know His thoughts.

He has revealed a key to understanding the basics in His word.

The more we read the bible, the more we will understand the mind and thoughts of God.

This is important in our walk.

Let’s take a look at His mind, and what that means for us.

Philippians 2:1–4 NKJV

1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

philippians 2:1-

Philippians 2:1–5 NKJV

1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

Philippians 2

Philippians 2:1–11 NKJV

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

philippians 2:1-1

Paul tells us to have to think a certain way.

The mind of Christ was others focused.

Paul is telling us that we need to think differently.

The mind of Christ preferred others more than Himself.

. To focus on certain things.

This mind,

We are to think of other people’s needs.

Our self comes second.

Our self comes second.

He does not say that we cannot look out for our interests.

We just need to also be looking out for the interests and needs of others.

You see that is the problem, is we are so self focused

You see that is the problem, is we are so self focused.

This is not our natural way of thinking.

This is pretty hard to accomplish.

This is why many times in the bible it tells us we need to crucify our self.

It is important to note that the Paul’s Greek is in the imperative tone.

Another way of putting it is that we are being commanded to think differently.

Philippians 2:5–11 NKJV

5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Paul tells us to put on this same mind which was also in Christ.

The question is: What is God’s mind and His thoughts about?

Serving was on Jesus’ mind.

What could He do?

Others were on Jesus’ mind.

He prioritizes Himself second, after others.

Jesus came second to others.

This passage has so much dense theology and discussion, it is worth studying deeper.

The bible teaches that Jesus is God.

This is a deeply theological passage called the “Kenosis Passage.”

He has all of the power in the universe.

He took on a nasty human nature, and left heaven to dwell among us.

We won’t go into all of the details.

The important/interesting part is that Paul says:

He made Himself of no reputation.

Jesus “made Himself of no reputation.”

The Greek word is “ekenosen.”

This literally means He emptied Himself

In the context of the rest of the passage it means that:

Jesus was God.

But He gave up His divine privileges.

All of His power, and ability, He left to His Father’s will.

All of this so that He could come down in a human body and follow His Father’s will.

The Greek word for bondservant is “doulos”, literally meaning slave.

That is what the

Jesus’s mid was to leave His divine privilege and not just become a servant.

He became a slave.

He became a slave by choice.

This is what our God did!

This is how awesome He is.

Imagine being the King of Kings of the universe.

Having all the power in the world, and then you become a slave.

It does not seem like the likely choice humans would choose.

This is because God thinks differently than me, and I think differently than God.

Praise the Lord that He is on the throne and not humans.

All I typically have on my mind naturally is me and not others.

I have to train myself to put others first.

It is hard to do.

It is not hard for Jesus.

It comes naturally for Him.

Jesus’ mind was always on His mission.

Matthew 20:28 NKJV

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus’ mission was to come to earth, from heaven, to serve people.

Not the typical drive you think God would have when He comes to visit His creation.

I believe we have a very similar mission.

Let’s see one of the many ways He did this.

John 13:1–17 NKJV

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” 8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

This is a famous passage, but let’s not let cliche, or familiarity take away form the power.

In just a matter of hours Jesus is about to be betrayed and then found guilty while being innocent. Then He is going to be beaten, tortured and then executed.

What would you be doing in this time?

Jesus was focused on serving others.

How did He serve, by doing what was considered one of the most lowly things to do back in that day.

He washed His disciples feet.

You can observe the surprise of the disciples, as they knew they were not worthy of such esteem.

Jesus does it with joy and without complaining.

Pay close attention to what Jesus revealed after doing this.

He said that a student is not better than their teacher, and a servant is not better than his master.

Jesus/God, the highest being in all existence, served them.

Jesus uses their claims of calling Him Teacher and Lord.

They self proclaimed His position in their life.

Jesus will not force those positions on you.

His point is that because He has done this, then they have to go and do it now.

If you think you are above serving others, then you are saying you are better than your Teacher and Lord.

You are saying that you are better than Jesus.

Think about that.

That is what He is demonstrating here.

This is revolutionary.

This is not the way we think naturally.

The question is what does this mean for us?

We are called to serve.

I believe there are two focuses or realms that we are called to serve.

Non-believers.

God’s people: the church.

I want to focus on serving in the church.

A lot of us are losing our minds.

If we are born of God, then we have been endowed with a mind like Him.

The mind to serve.

A lot of Christians are becoming less and less servants.

I believe that this is going to be the death of a lot of churches.

I believe that this is going to be the death of a lot of churches.

It is the death of a lot of churches.

Satan has convinced a lot of us to be self focused, and not others focused.

A lot of Christians serve for the wrong reasons.

A lot of Christians will only serve if it meets their agenda.

They will serve where they are comfortable.

Mark 9:35 NKJV

35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

The context of this verse:

Jesus’ disciples were arguing amongst themselves on who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God.

We aga

It is interesting how often the disciples were corrected by Jesus.

You read this and think, how can they think that way?

As a reader, we might think: How could they possibly think that?

The problem is that the disciples are all a representation of us.

We would have done and thought things very similar to them.

I have to be honest, we have to be honest that

This is a huge lesson.

It is a common practice in a lot of churches that when people desire to get involved, the leadership will put them somewhere that they did not ask to be.

The reason is to see what their heart is.

Are they a servant, with the heart of Christ, or do they have an agenda?

A lot of times we want to start out and remain in the spot light.

But Jesus thinks it is more blessed to

A lot of Christians are losing their minds.

If we are born of God, then we have been endowed with a mind like Him.

The mind to serve.

The mind of others focus, not self centeredness.

A lot of Christians are becoming less and less servants.

I believe that this is going to be the death of a lot of churches.

It is the death of a lot of churches.

Satan has convinced a lot of us to be self focused, and not others focused.

A lot of Christians serve for the wrong reasons.

A lot of Christians will only serve if it meets their agenda.

They will serve where they are comfortable.

What are some ways you can be Christ-minded and serve?

1 Peter 4:10–11 NKJV

10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

God has given us His Holy Spirit, and with that, spiritual gifts.

1 peter 4:10-11:

We need to pray and ask God to reveal these gifts.

Once we have an idea, then start using them.

Spiritual gifts are how the body of Christ function. We each should be using our gifts to edify each other and to glorify Christ.

Paul speaks of the Christian with their spiritual gift like body part and it’s function.

There are many different ministries in the church.

Men’s/ Women’s

Youth

Children’s

A.V.

Greeters

Coffee House

And many more

Are you a part of any ministry?

Pray about where the Lord wants to put you.

We all have a place in His body.

It might change in different seasons.

If we are just being stagnant then it is like:

The heart not wanting to beat.

Or your hand not wanting to grip.

Or your eyes not wanting to see.

We are also called to be general servants.

Serving in the church isn’t always as specific.

It isn’t always about MY place.

A lot of times, we can all help set up chair and tables.

Volunteer to clean the church.

We

Do the behind the scene things.

What we do, we do unto God not man.

Colossians 3:23–24 NKJV

23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

There is a huge need for people in the church to be willing to serve where the need is, and not what they consider their forte.

That is our challenge today.

Have you grown comfortable where we are at?

Maybe you haven’t ever served in the church as a Christian.

Maybe you think you have done your fair share and you are “retired.”

If we are any of these, I don’t think those are healthy mentalities as believers.

We need to be willing to be challenged.

We need to jump in and get started.

We need to never stop serving in any capacity.

Jesus served until His death.

I am not saying we can’t take breaks, or life makes seasons hard to do it.

Conclusion:

The word Christian means like-christ.

If we call ourselves Christians, then we are saying we are like Christ.

Then we should be like-minded and Christ-minded.

Ultimately our service should be fueled by love.

That is why others are on God’s mind, because He loves them.

Loving others is serving others.

I love my wife, so I try and serve her.

We are going to take communion.

While you are reflecting, I encourage you to test whose mind you have.

Is it your mind, or God’s mind.

If there is even a drop of yours, ask God to renew your mind.

So we can become more like Him.

By serving others, we will shine a light.

This will draw others in, when they see this new awesome way of thinking.