A Serving Christian (SF)

I. Your Source of service.

The cause for our service is found in Ep 2:8-10

Ephesians 2:8–10 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God is THE manufacturer AND HE CREATED Saints in Christ Jesus FOR OR TO PRODUCE good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. We see THREE things from this verse first.

A. You are the WORK of God

Psalm 100:3 NKJV

Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

B. You are not a FINISHED product.

Psalm 138:8 NKJV

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

C. You will be COMPLETED

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Philippians 2:13 NKJV

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

II. Your STYLE of service.

A. Serving out of LOVE

Ephesians 6:6 NKJV

not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,

Galatians 5:13 NKJV

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

B. Serving out of LOYALTY

Ephesians 6:7 NKJV

with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

Ephesians 5:22 NKJV

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Colossians 3:23 NKJV

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

C. Serving out of a LEGAL RESPONSE

Luke 17:7–10 NKJV

And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

III. Your ATTITUDE AND ACTS of service

A. PERSISTANCE

2 Corinthians 6:4–5 NKJV

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;

B. PLEASE GOD

Galatians 1:10 NKJV

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

C. PERFORM

1 Peter 4:10 NKJV

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

D. PRIZE

Colossians 3:23–24 NKJV

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

E. PROSPER

1 Corinthians 15:58 NKJV

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.