When we go out to a rest., or hotel, or where ever, we expect good/great service. It is often the service that draws us back –
put's the business/org. over the top above it's competition.
Great service is just as important in the local church –
we have eternity at stake
Maybe 1st time here? Dont tune out b/c you'll see what it means to be
a true Christ follower & what FOCUS* is all about. This is for everyone.
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?
Serving expresses the Heart of God
God is not out to get something from us, the very nature of God is to
give something. When U & I serve we are expressing the heart of God.
Quite often when we go to a church or begin attending.
Quite often the ? Becomes, “What does this place have for me?”
That's OK for a season, for a while.
But eventually, we need to move from, “What's in it for me?” to
“It's not about me”
When we say, “It's not about me” we are expressing the heart of God.
When we think of God and the Bible – the most popular vs. that comes
to mind for a # of reasons is Jn. 3:16,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The very heart of God is to serve
When we serve we are expressing the heart of God.
Read Matt. 20:20-28
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead,
whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
Christ followers become one with God – b/c of Christ we are now joined
with Him & His heart becomes our heart. His heart is to serve.
It is a shift we make – of how we see ourselves – it's an identity change.
“Our heart is that we have His heart”
Serving makes the church work
This is not a modern concept – if you go back to the early church,
the 1st church, 1 of the things you'll discover about that church is
that it was growing rapidly. Jesus had ascended to Heaven and the disciples who were with Him while He was on Earth, now it was their job to teach, preach, vision cast, and lead the early church. Not only were they doing
all of that, the bible tells us in Acts 6 they were also waiting tables.
They were helping to serve the food to the widows who needed to eat.
Now that's an important job that has to be done, but the Apostles found themselves out of time. They couldn't do the things God had called them
to do, designed them to do, what they were SHAPEd to do & to wait tables also.
Now I know this may surprise you, you may find this hard to believe
but the bible says the people complained – I cant imagine that.
People in the church were complaining, “Hey that was a great message
you guys taught, but you're lousy at waiting tables –
What's the deal with you guys?”
The apostles got together and had to rethink how they were going to set up
the church. This is not working let's make some changes –
Look at Acts 6 with me
“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. Brothers, 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 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
Acts 6:2-4
What a brilliant move they made, but how simple it is.
All they said was, “God has called us to preach & teach so were going to delegate ministry to the people in the church so they can take care of
the day 2 day operations. The bible says once they did that, chose those 7 individuals & gave them the opportunity to serve - the church grew rapidly, not only did it grow rapidly but people were coming to know the love and forgiveness of Christ Jesus.
W/in our Church here – as the staff gives opportunities for others in this church to serve – those serving will be on the front lines. The people
who are visiting our church for the 1st time will see the people of this church who are serving before anything else, before they hear any music, before any message is given. Barna research group study:
1st time guests make up their mind about the church in 11 minutes. WOW!
That proves the importance of being a church that is FOCUS Friendly.
A community known by Love.
Serving makes the church work – it's a tag team effort –
it's another way we partner together.
Serving leads to maturity
Let's say Matt wants to become a world class body builder –
he has the body for it, but not the desire.
He goes to the gym, puts on his gloves, stretches, gets ready and
then just sits there – looking at the weights. Matt comments, “Hmmm that weight looks heavy – Ewww that weight looks even heavier” He looks at
the guy next to him and says come on buddy you can do it – and to another
guy he gives advice on how to correct their weight lifting technique.
(do you ever see or hear something similar in the church)
A bit later we hear Matt complains that he's not getting any stronger
or toning at all. Obviously he never picked up a weight. (begin to wonder who's the dumbbell here) The problem is he never picked up a weight.
This teaches us a very important truth in life. We dont make strides
in any area of our lives just sitting there.
We've got to get busy, we've got to make an effort, we have to do a little exercise.
The same is true for us spiritually. Some folks will say, I want a deeper connection w/ God, I want to experience God, I want to have this richness
in my faith, but then just sit there. You see God will do His part, but we still have to do our part, we have to hold up our end of the bargin. We have to read our bibles, to talk to God, come to church, worship, apply what I've learned and...listen... I must serve! Serving leads to maturity.
It's a part of the puzzle, a part of the formula
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13
This speaks of a deeper relationship with God, To experience God, to have a richness in our faith. HOW? In serving
Serving leads to maturity
"A person starts to live when he can live outside himself"
Einstein Quote
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