A Successful Downward Trend - Subtitles in many languages - Click on

service in its simplest form is one person meeting the needs or serving the needs of someone else I brought an example, a letter I received last week it says dear Pastor Scott I've got to tell someone about this and it seems that well you might be the right person to hear it what a church and what a Savior I know you're aware of this activity but perhaps not from the other end the receiving end a couple of weeks ago my sweet wife was having some trouble with her heart she was getting ready to see the surgeon for a pacemaker I was reading in the Peninsula Daily newspaper in the den when I heard a clash with things rattling and rolling around across the kitchen floor surveying the source I saw that my wife was trying to get up from the floor it seems that she jammed her tailbone and maybe even fractured a vertebrae she is now confined at least for a few more weeks to resting on her back there when she's flat on her back she doesn't have any pain the doctors say that she blacked out I have been dramatically promoted to assistant cook and head caregiver it does a lot for our prayer life the word has gotten out so every two days a troop of angels as regular as the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace show up at four o'clock with food and not just any kinds of food loads their arms corn bread shrimp strawberries, garlic bread, etc. five more to go and I'm looking forward to each and every one of them my wife is watching my waistline love to the church love to the Lord meeting the needs of another person serving other people that's what our scripture passage is detailing instead of using your freedom instead use your freedom to serve one another in love and that word serve means to wait on instead use your freedom to wait on one another in love for the whole law can be summed up in this one command love your neighbor as yourself we wait on, we serve other people in love and God has given all of us the same four resources to serve others time talent treasure and touch and when it comes to our resources and serving other people with our resources I think two things are very important one serve in the area of your giftedness now I've heard people say well I'm not gifted in service so I'm not gonna serve oh no everybody gets to serve but the person who serves supreme that's the person with the spiritual gift of service whatever your giftedness is serve in that area a second thought is that we should serve not only in our giftedness but where we have abundance and it's interesting as we move on in life our resource changes a little bit, doesn't it? time uh... maybe we don't have any time right now talent maybe we have a a great opportunity to use our talent in serving others abundance of treasure abundance of touch wherever we're gifted where we have abundance that's the place that we should serve that should be the natural out pouring of our desire to love our neighbor as ourself now the Bible does give us a priority and it gives us a priority for service because they're really expanding concentric ranks we're called first and foremost to serve in the church and the reason for that is all the other concentric circles are addressed when the church is functioning the way the church was designed to function the church that John says look to the needs of fellow brothers and sisters those in the church then the next concentric circle is the family and really here the scriptures are talking about our extended family and then serving the needs of those around us in our community and then serving beyond that community which really encompasses the entire world God calls us to wait on those around us and he's gifted us for that purpose and he's given us an abundance so that we can gladly share with those around us now it doesn't matter whether it's talent time, treasure or touch serving other people is a sacrifice to serve other people is really sacrificial service I like what Dale Brunner has stated about service he's a great new testament scholar that I've had an opportunity to sit under his teachings several times and he makes this statement service of other people is taking my daily cake using it so that it will become someone else's daily bread taking my daily cake using it to provide someone else their daily bread here's how John penned it our love should not just be in words and talk it must be true love which shows itself in action think about your cake for a moment, time, talent, treasure and touch some have a basic sheet cake others have a multilayered cake some have a multi-layered cake and it's got filling between the layers frosting on the outside decorations on the frosting isn't it true we all have our daily cake yeah, some more than others more in some places than others but we have a cake when it comes to time we have a cake when it comes to talent we have a cake when it comes to treasures we have a cake when it comes to touch and the scriptures call us to take that cake and use it to love and to serve one another and we can talk all we want about service it's just lip service John is right you'll know that you believe that when you live it when it shows up in your actions sacrificial actions of service now this sacrifice needs to be a voluntary sacrifice it doesn't really do any good that kind of put a gun to somebody's head and say you're going to serve because they're not gonna like it and if they don't like it who they are serving is not in for a good experience it's a voluntary action Paul writes let your eagerness show give according to what you have not what you don't have, I love that it's not about what you don't have it's about what you do have of course I don't mean you're giving should make life easier for others and hard for yourself and where we have ease we should ease other needs actully love is sacrificial it's voluntary how do you know that your attitude of services really voluntary is really sacrificial it displays itself in an understanding that we are only stewards of what we own not the owners of what we own when it comes to our resources we're stewards or managers we don't own it God is the one who owns all of it and I've had the conversations well I worked very hard for what I have well, you have but where did you get talent and the ability the stamina to work real hard work smart God gave us the talent God gave us the ability God gave us the opportunity God is the owner of everything we're just the stewards and the managers of those resources now I'll prove it to you out of the Bible let's start with Pslam twenty four one the earth is the Lord's and everything in it including you you're created in His image then let's go on to Genesis so God created human beings he bless them He said live all over the earth and bring it under control I'm putting you in charge I love that version he made it all and then He gave it to us and he said now you manage it, you be good stewards of what I've given you then first Timothy Paul says they should give happily to those in need always be ready to share with others whatever God has given them and then the words of Jesus out of Luke here is the lesson use your worldly resources to benefit others and to make a friend to make an eternal friend we're here to take the resources time, talent, treasure and touch that God has given us and we're to stewards them towards the needs of other people and yes it's sacrificial and yes it needs to be voluntary this service will also demand an intentionality on our part see Jesus was intentional wasn't He? he was sacrificial in his service and when we are sacrificial in our voluntary service we really emulate Jesus don't we? here's what Paul said about Jesus for you know that generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ that though it was rich yet for your sake he became poor so that by his poverty you might become rich that through the giving of his life we might have life and we might impart life to others intentionality shows itself in three ways one is service will be a priority in your life if we're striving to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength then we should have great intentionality about loving our neighbor as ourselves Deuteronomy points to the importance of God being first in our service the purpose is to teach you to always put God first in your lives and when your services sacrificial we only do that because we're putting God first in our lives instead of holding on to all of our resources we're serving and sharing our resources with others service needs to be a priority number two services in inattentionality means living a more simplified life we need to make our life simpler Paul says to Timothy tell them to use their money to do good they should be rich in good works and generous to those in need always be ready to share with others that means that we need to simplify our life sometimes that is the simplicity of our check book we just need a buy a few less things because if we buy a few less things and that gives us more financial resource to meet the needs of others maybe it's an issue of our calendars we've got talent we've got touch but we don't have any time in our scheduled to use that talent or use that touch we don't have the time and so we may need to look at our schedules and carve out some time to be very intentional on our service to join up with some other people on Wednesday afternoon to do something oh I know how about Tuesday afternoon at two-thirty here at the church serving some kids some snacks it must be a priority of our checkbook and our calendar and that means we have to do a maybe a little less for ourselves so that we can do a little more for someone else and then finally service really needs to become a habit in our life Paul says since you excel in so many ways I want you to excel in this gracious act of giving giving and service are not a one shot deal it has to be a at daily priority it has to show up daily at our checkbooks and our calendars service emulates the act of Jesus Christ on our behalf Jesus understood the price of what he did and as we study Jesus in the gospels we understand that keeping God first was always his ultimate schedule it was always his ultimate objective and that love of God pointed to the sacrifice that he would make when he was with the disciples he took the bread and he broke it and he said this is my body broken for you and that he took the cups and He poured it out and he said this is my blood that I willingly shed for you now Paul tells us every time that we break the bread and drink the cup that we should remember Jesus and this table is open to anyone who would make Jesus the top priority in their life if you haven't done that you can even do that now acknowledging God's love for you acknowledging that that Christ died on the cross for your sin your imperfection that he gave his body and his blood so that you might not only serve him but serve others all the day's of your life even eternity in this service I'd ask you to pass the cup and ask you to past the bread first and share these words this is Christ body broken for you and I'd ask you to take the bread individually because it is our own individual response to Jesus Christ that really makes our service sacrificial and intentional because the Holy Spirit is so good at pointing out those opportunities identifying what resource he wants us to use in that moment with that person and then we'll pass the cup and share these words this is Christ blood shed for you and I'd ask you to hold the cup so that we can take it together because the church is the priority and out of the church are concentric circles designed to meet the needs of others in our family our community, our country in our world as we continue to worship God through the celebration of the Lord's supper I would ask those serving to come forward