Mother's Day

Welcome to this week's message from the Church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Good morning.

It is so good to have the honor of uh sharing with you today.

And uh it is a special day for Mother's Day, and I've gotten cards and texts and sweet little things, you know, and it's it's this is payback, you know, when your children are raised and then they're having children and you're a grandmother, that's the payback for all the late nights and the fevers and the scraped knees and the I hate you and the whatever else might come along the way.

Uh, you know, you you will, those of you that are in the throes of babyhood and and you're not sleeping and you're sleep deprived.

I just want you to know that this will pass faster than you know.

And uh so just hang in there.

Just just but you you just keep loving those babies.

Uh you are changing the world.

Uh you're changing the world.

And I'm gonna need a box of Kleenex.

I don't know where it is, but if there is one, I just want to go ahead and be prepared.

There we go.

Oh, he's got he's got me.

I'll just I just take all of them.

I take all of them.

That's right, that's right.

I might need them.

Um, you know, the only thing I can think of that's better than having your children say sweet things is to one day stand before the Lord and have him say to us, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

That's what we're gonna talk about today.

I really appreciated Sylvester last week and that vibrant praise, didn't he bring it to us?

And uh, I want to share with you about fulfilling service because I I know that God has a plan and a place for each one of us in the body of Christ.

And and this is how you know, this is just a quick little test to see whether this message applies to you or not.

I think it applies to all of us, but this might be a challenge to you.

If you can miss church and uh you don't have to call somebody to fill your spot, maybe you need to find a spot.

You know, I mean, I'm just saying, I'm just saying, you know, when when we when we're not gonna be here on Sunday, I have to call six people to can you do this, can you do that?

Can you do that?

You know, that that's what each one of us should be doing.

You know, we have a place of service in the house of God, and it's fulfilling.

As as Benji was leading us in worship, I couldn't help but thinking, Lord, you are so great and you are so awesome.

And what a privilege that we get to serve a holy, almighty God.

Can you imagine that God actually wants your help?

Can you imagine that?

And yet he does.

Now, I as we talk about our core values, I want to just get you to visualize something with me.

I'm a teacher that's used to a chalkboard or a whiteboard, and we've got one, but it's too far away.

But I want you to just imagine this with me, okay?

The church at Chelsea Westover and the four core values.

Can you just imagine that we talk about vibrant worship and that's our vertical relationship with God?

That's us giving praise and glory and honor to Him.

Can you imagine that?

Our vertical is the praise and worship.

And then we have that horizontal level.

That's our intimate fellowship.

That's the caring and knowing each other.

It's the eating together and the uh caring about one another's needs.

That's that horizontal.

So we've got the vertical and the horizontal.

And then we've got uh clear biblical truth, which is like the circle that glows under all of it.

It's the foundation, it's the backdrop, and it's it's it's under everything.

It's everything that we do.

It informs our worship, it informs our fellowship, it informs our service.

The word of God tells us everything we need to know for life and godliness.

So the word of God is like the big circle bubble, I guess it could be the yellow glow behind the cross.

But you know, we have this other thing.

There it is on that big poster, it says there's a new church starting at the intersection of loving God, that's our vertical worship, and loving people, that's our intimate fellowship.

You know what that intersection is?

Service.

Right there, right there.

Our worship and our fellowship intersects.

Our love of God and our love of people intersects, and that's where our service is.

It's at that intersection, it's at the point because I can say I love God.

And how are you supposed to know it?

You know, there's a lot of things about the Christian life that's invisible.

You can't see my face.

You can't see, you can't read my mind, you don't know my thoughts, you don't know whether I love God or not.

You know, maybe my words you can hear, but you can't see the inner part of me.

I can say I love God, but how do I show that I love God?

Through my service.

Now, my service, don't mistake this.

You know, my service is not how I get to God, it's not how I obtain favor with God.

I'm already highly favored.

He has loved me through the cross.

So I already have a good standing with God because he was gracious to me, not because I earned it.

So I'm not confusing that, but because of his love, I have the opportunity to serve God.

Now I've got to keep my glasses on because I can't see a thing without them.

But I want you to know that love and service are connected.

Let's, we're gonna run through a lot of scriptures today.

I know that you think that Danny goes through a pile of scriptures.

Well, I just got it from him.

I'm gonna blame it all on him.

But we're gonna we're gonna run through the scriptures.

If you've got your Bible, flip.

If not, it should be on the screen for you.

And hopefully, Jeremy, I'll be just as hard to follow as Danny is, okay?

Jeremiah, I mean Jeremiah, Deuteronomy 10, 12.

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?

That's a good thing to know, right?

Especially if we're gonna serve the Lord.

What does the Lord your God require of you?

But to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Loving God, the intersection of loving God and loving people.

What does he require?

To love him and to serve him.

Love and service are always connected.

Jesus said, and this one's not on the screen, if you love me, keep my commandments.

Mama, that's a good verse.

If children, you know, this is what you say to your children, if you love me, obey me.

This is how a child shows its love for mom.

But this is how we show our love to God.

We love him and we serve him.

1 John 3 18 says, My children, let us not love in word or in tongue.

I love the love use.

But the strength is, but in deed and in truth.

Now, in our family, we're we're very expressive.

I guess you've probably figured that out by now.

And so, you know, when we talk to each other on the phone, we have this thing that has developed over time, and we don't mean to do it, but we laugh about it because we don't just hang up the phone and say bye.

It's like love you bye.

Love you by.

It's a new word.

Love you by.

I don't know how love you by.

I guess it's three syllables.

Love you by.

But you know, you can say that you love me, but show me.

That's what Mother's Day is all about.

So, kids, show your mama.

Um, loving Jesus is the only way, the only way you can see that is by how I love people.

And so I need his love to flow out of me.

Now, it's easy to love God.

Okay, now some of you are gonna say, Well, I'm not sure about that.

Well, I can tell you that it's easier to love God than it is to love people.

Now, let me tell you why.

God has never disappointed me, he's always perfect.

I don't always understand him.

Okay, sometimes I'm like, God, what are you doing?

You know, I really don't know why you're putting me through this.

And there's a lot of people in the scripture that didn't necessarily understand what he was doing, but God's love is never to be questioned.

And his character, oh my goodness, usually, well not usually, every time, if there's a problem between me and God, I'm the one who's out of shape.

I'm the one who needs to move.

He's the lighthouse, and I'm the ship who better move before I get, you know, uh go up on the rocks.

And so he's the one who's right.

God is easy to love because he's so good.

He's also perfect in every way.

I love my sweet husband.

I love my children, I love you guys.

I hope you love me.

I want you to know that I am not perfect and I will let you down, and I will fail you, and it won't be easy for you to love me sometimes.

Sometimes you go, she gets on my last nerve.

You know, and it will be all you can do to put up with me.

But when we love God, then out of obedience to Him, we serve others.

So we we understand that love and service are very much connected.

There's a passage, a story that Jesus told.

It's in Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And it's right around that same passage where Jesus was saying that the greatest commandment is that you love God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and then that you love your neighbors yourself.

And so let's just turn to that story for just a minute.

Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Uh, Jeremy, I need to um you to turn the mic off for just a second.

Thank you.

When I get the sniffles, it just won't, you know, go away.

When Danny and I got married, uh, something made me cry.

Can you imagine that?

Something made me cry in the ceremony.

And I just kind of sniffed through the whole rest of the ceremony because, you know, I did have a handkerchief, but it was one of those pretty lacy ones that I wasn't about to use.

So, anyway, Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

And he said to him, What's written in the law?

What is your reading of it?

And he answered and he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

And he said to him, You've answered rightly, do this and you will live.

But he, wanting to justify himself, understand his motive.

He's like, Hmm, I'm not sure I want to do that.

Um, let me limit this.

You know, the loving God I can get away with because nobody will really know.

But the loving my neighbor, let's make sure I can control this somehow.

Who is my neighbor?

Then Jesus answered and said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

Now, by chance a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Now you know, this is this is a sad story of a priest.

Likewise a Levite, one of God's chosen crowd, when he arrived at the place, he came and looked and passed by on the other side.

They they just didn't want to get involved.

But a certain Samaritan, the enemies of the Jews, the ones that they hated, the ones who were despised because they were the half-breeds.

But the certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, uh came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.

And then I want you to notice on the screen that I have underlined most of the verbs.

I want you to see what he did.

He went to him.

He didn't cross on the other side of the street.

He went to him, he bandaged his wounds, he poured on the oil and wine, that's the medicine, and he set him on his own animal.

Now, if you put somebody, a passenger, on your horse or donkey, what does that make you do?

You walk.

So he he set him on his animal, brought him to an inn, and I'm sure they didn't have one on every corner.

So they traveled and he took took him to an inn and he took care of him.

And on the next day when he departed, he took out two Deneri and gave them to the inn keeper.

He gave his money.

So look at all the things he did.

He went to him, he bandaged him, he he gave him medicine, he set him on his horse, he brought him to an inn, he took care of him, and he paid his bill.

And then Jesus said, Which of these three do you think was a neighbor?

And he said, He who showed mercy on him.

He said, Go and do likewise.

Jesus said, I didn't want you to tell them you love them.

I want you to show them that you love them.

I want you to show them.

And how do we show our love?

We can say we love God, but how do we show it?

We show it by our service.

So, what is the role of the servant?

Now, I have to tell you today, this is not an American message.

Okay?

I just want you to know this is cross-cultural.

This is gonna go across the grain of our 4th of July, patriotic, I'm an American because we prize independence, achievement, being your own boss.

Because the Bible was written in the culture of slavery.

Okay, so we got to talk about this.

And I need you to understand, I'm not saying we should have slaves, I'm just saying this is not an American message.

This isn't a human rights speech.

This is gonna be, wait a minute, I don't want that.

Some of you are gonna say, Are you kidding?

I just got out of that.

But let's talk about it just a little bit and see what the Bible has to say about the role of a servant.

Because the role of a servant is not to have a labor union, the role of a servant is not to have employee rights.

The role of a servant may be a little different than you have in mind.

Let's just read it.

Now, right in the middle of Ephesians 6, which is a Mother's Day passage, we have a description of a servant, and that's what we're gonna focus on.

In Ephesians 6, it starts out children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Now I'm gonna stop there and just chase a rabbit.

One of the best pieces of advice I got when my children were toddlers is I had an older woman, Ma Allwine, and she told me, she said, if you want people to like your children, everybody wants their children to be liked.

If you want people to like your children, make them mind.

Nobody likes a brat.

Amen.

Quote unquote.

That's exactly what she told me.

And and it's biblical.

When you make your children mind, when you make your children obey you, you are doing them a favor.

You are helping them.

You are not helping them by making them self-centered and thinking that they're the vortex of the universe, okay?

They are not.

And so, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.

And you fathers, don't provoke your children to wrath.

Okay, don't don't be harsh with them, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Bond servants, start at verse 5.

This is the this is the core of it.

Bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

According to the flesh means in this human life, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart as to Christ, not with eye service as men pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is slave or free.

Now, let's let's look at this word bond servant or servant.

This is the definition.

A servant is to be a slave to figuratively or literally.

Okay?

You might be a slave to chocolate, you know.

I mean, I don't, you know, but figuratively or literally, voluntarily or involuntarily.

A servant can be bought or hired or born into the house.

The servant was not a free man, he was subject to the will and command of his master.

Now there's four different ways.

Now, here's your little Bible study.

Okay, it's in a little box, and you can take some little notes.

Four different ways that the word servant is used in the Bible, because there's lots of different ways.

The first one, uh, in Genesis 18, 3, Abraham said to the angels that came to visit him, he says, Pass not away from thee, um, from me, um, from thy servant.

And so, as a hospitable host, he he called himself, I am your servant.

So it was a form of courtesy, it was a form of appreciation and honor.

You're my honored guest.

How can I serve you?

And so it wasn't a slave kind of relationship, but it was just good manners, you know.

How can I serve you?

And so that was how Abraham used it, and it's used lots of times.

This word for service is used 750 times in the Old Testament.

God's leaders used it to describe themselves and their relationship to God.

Moses, over and over and over.

I can't tell you how many times Moses, because I quit counting.

90.

There, I wrote it down.

90 times Moses is referred to as God's servant.

Okay, so it's often used to describe leaders.

It could be Moses.

Joshua was referred to as God's servant.

Samuel was referred to as God Samuel.

Remember when he was a little child?

And Eli told him he kept hearing voices calling him in the night, and he said, What you need, I, Eli?

And he said, I didn't call you.

Yes, you did.

Okay, goes back to bed.

Here's, you know, Samuel.

Okay, goes Eli.

Eli says, I think God's trying to talk to you.

Here's what you say: speak, Lord, for your servant heareth.

And so Samuel was the servant of the Lord.

That was the very beginning of his relationship, that he was the Lord's servant.

In the New Testament, the writers often call them Christ's servants.

Paul said, I am a servant of Jesus Christ.

That's how they start their letters.

You know, like on the address, like, you know, I wrote a card to my mom and I put her name and her address.

Well, when they wrote letters in the New Testament, they would say, Paul, a servant of Christ.

I'm writing to you in this church.

And he was, you know, in his salutation, he would say, Me, the servant of Christ.

James, the servant of Christ.

That's important.

You know why?

Because James was the brother of Christ.

James was the younger brother, the actual physical brother, Mary and Joseph, were his fathers, where Jesus, only Mary was his mother.

But, you know, his brother didn't say, James, the brother of Jesus.

I mean, I probably would have hung my hat on that one.

But he said, James, the servant of Christ.

Peter called himself the same thing.

Jude.

And we know how humble Peter was, right?

But Peter, when he wrote his letter, said Peter, the servant of Christ, Jude.

Many New Testament Christians, they were called servants, you know, and I greet you, and the servants that are in their house.

So the Christians who serve the Lord were called his servants.

The third use of this word are the slaves who were bought or hired to work for their master.

Now, if you read in the Old Testament, how many of you are reading through the Bible, doing that?

You know, this is about time for a good checkup because you might have to catch up a little bit.

You start in January and you're doing great.

February, you're doing great.

March, you start going, ooh, I got to catch up.

Well, this might be your catch up time because it is May.

But as we're working through the scriptures, you know, we read all that stuff.

And there were some passages that dealt with slaves.

Can you imagine that?

But if you got into debt, you would sell yourself.

It's how you had money.

You didn't have anything else to sell.

You sold yourself.

But it was for a short period of time.

It was like, I'm going to sell you my services for six years.

Okay?

But you didn't get a contract that had all your duties spelled out.

You kind of had to do whatever they asked you to.

But there were slaves who were bought or hired to work, and they didn't have vacation.

They didn't have a list of rights.

You know, they were just a servant.

They were completely at the disposal of their master.

But the fourth use, there's another kind of servant.

And this one is really special.

I want you to turn to Deuteronomy 15, and we're going to look at this one.

Deuteronomy 15, 12 through 17.

And if your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee and serve thee six years, then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free.

It was the year of Jubilee.

And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him go away empty.

Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of your floor and out of your wine press, of that wherewith the Lord your God has blessed thee, you shall give to him.

And you shall remember that you were a bondman, you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God redeemed thee.

Therefore I command thee this thing today.

A little different from our American version of slavery, okay, a little different.

And then he says, But and if it shall be that he say to thee, I will not go.

Because he loves thee.

You know, it was possible for you to buy a slave, and they become such a part of your house that when it was the year of Jubilee and it was time for them to go out and be on their own, and you're gonna furnish them a start, you know, and they're gonna they're going, I don't want to leave.

I love you, I love your family, I want to serve in your house.

This is a good place.

I like my life, I like you.

Please don't make me go.

I told you it was an un American.

Then you were to take him, take an ice pick, and all.

I hope it was an ice pick.

This is the first ear piercing in the Bible.

You were to take his the servant and you put him to the doorpost and You take this tool and you ram it through his ear, and he wears an earring that is a forever mark that he is your beloved slave.

He is a slave by choice.

He's a slave who has chosen to give up his rights to serve the master.

Now, when we get to the New Testament, and all these people call themselves servants and slaves and bondservants, you know what they're saying?

I am the love slave of Jesus.

I have chosen to give up my rights, to serve him, to please him, to follow him.

I am completely at my master's bidding.

What he tells me to say, I'll say.

What he tells me to do, I'll do.

Where he tells me to go, I'll go.

What he tells me to, I am his and I belong to him, and I surrender my rights.

I am a love slave.

Take me to the doorpost.

Mark me.

I want to be marked.

Now, I have to tell that this role isn't always one that we submit to.

Sometimes we struggle with it.

Let's go back to Ephesians 6 and look at it just a little bit more closely.

This is what they mean by bondservant.

I felt like I needed to give you the context.

This is the love slave.

Be obedient.

Now he's describing a slave master relationship because in the church in the New Testament, there were people who really were slaves.

You had the masters and the slaves.

And what happened is they came to the church and everybody was on the same level.

The rich, the poor, the bond, the free, male, female.

Come to the church and it's all the same.

Jew, Gentile.

Okay?

So at the cross and in the church, there's this mix, you know, that all those things.

So you could be sitting in fellowship in church, and here's the master and here's the slave.

And he's saying, let me just tell you how your relationship ought to be.

So he's talking on a human level because these this was their reality.

And he tells them, which I don't have here, but he tells them in 1 Corinthians 7, however you were saved, be content to serve there.

If you were saved as a free man, be free.

If you were saved as a slave, then serve the Lord and serve your master.

And if God gives you the opportunity to get free, do so.

But do whatever, you know, if you were married, serve the Lord in your marriage.

If you're single, serve the Lord in your singleness.

He's saying, however you got saved, serve the Lord in that.

Be content with your situation.

But he says, these bondservants, servants, servants, bondservants, that love slave, be obedient.

That means obedient.

It's not really hard, it's not a hard Greek word.

It means obey.

It means do what they say to your masters.

Now the word for master is kurios.

It means Lord, master, and owner.

And it's the same word that we honor Jesus with because he is our Lord and our master and our honor.

And we're to do it with fear and trembling.

In 2 Corinthians 5, I don't think I put this one on the presentation, but it says that we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

You know, there's going to be a reckoning day, there's going to be an accounting day.

I don't know if at your work you might have an annual assessment where you have to, you know, go through this process and they check off this list and did you do this and did you do that?

And they give you a review.

And if you do well, you might get a raise.

And if you did bad, you might get let go.

I mean, you know, you just have all well, more than that kind of review, you're going to have a judgment seat for all of eternity, for all of your life, and you're going to stand before the Lord for how you served him.

Now, Matthew 25, and we're not going there today, but you can write it down and go look at it.

Matthew 25 tells us that there's different kinds of servants.

There's the kind that gets the good and faithful servant.

Enter into the joy of the Lord.

You have made me happy.

You have been good and faithful, and that's awesome.

But there's another servant, and he calls him evil, lazy, and wicked, and good for nothing.

That I really don't ever want to stand before the Lord in judgment and have him say, You wicked, lazy servant.

But there's more than one kind.

But we are to serve our masters in sincerity of heart.

The sincerity of heart, Colossians, which is a same passage, a parallel passage, uses the phrase singleness of heart.

And that maybe defines this word a little bit better because it means with simplicity and generosity.

It's hard to do too many things at one time.

If you have too many bosses, and I'll just say this for the women, okay?

As we try to serve our families and serve our husbands, when we work outside the home, we have a little more conflict because we have a boss at work and we have a boss at home.

Okay, our husbands is the head of our homes.

We have we got multiple bosses.

That causes conflict.

It just does.

Have you anybody felt the tension?

Am I the only one who felt that tension?

No?

Okay.

If I'm telling the truth, you can say amen.

Okay, I'm telling the truth.

It can cause it's not always easy because it's hard to have more than one set.

And that's what he means about simplicity and sincerity of heart with that focus.

Lord, I serve you.

And and while our lives might demand that we have multiple authorities on multiple levels, we need to get it real straight who we really serve.

Who's number one?

Who's the priority?

And who is it?

Who's the Lord that's yes?

As we serve the Lord Jesus, he's the first one.

Because if he tells me to quit my job, I quit my job.

If he tells me to serve my master, I'll do it well.

Can I tell you something?

When you find out that God is your boss, then it relieves a lot of pressure.

Because that means that my boss at work, that imperfect boss at work and my sweet but imperfect husband, you know, I don't have to worry about them because he deals with them.

I just deal with him.

And if I just keep myself straight with him, he'll work out all the rest.

Now, sometimes it doesn't mean I'm always going to get my way.

Don't, you know.

Sometimes I'm going to have to go along with things I don't like.

And there are parts of my responsibilities, you know, I'm teaching online.

I know y'all think I don't ever do anything, but I really, I've sit in front of the computer, you know, and I'm teaching online.

But I there are sometimes they'll send down some policy and they'll say, I need you to fill out this, and I need, and I'm going, I don't want to do that.

I don't have time to do that.

I'm busy doing this.

You know what?

God gave me that job.

And as unto the Lord, I submit to all those little things that I have to do because I'm doing it as unto the Lord.

And that's what he's talking about, with sincerity and singleness of heart as to Christ.

Lord, my job is to you.

You see, if you've checked at me, you know, if any of you are unhappy at work, you need to ask God if if this is the job he wants you to have.

God, is this the job you want me to have?

And if he says yes, okay, and some of you have bills, okay, that might be who you're referring to.

I don't know.

But but, you know, God, is this how you want me to provide for my family?

Then you need to quit whining and say, Thank you, God, for this job.

And you need to do it with singleness of heart, as unto the Lord.

Are you in a marriage that you're not always happy with your spouse?

You think they're not doing what they ought to do?

Did God call you to that marriage?

Uh, I think so.

Uh, once you've said I do, we've got a commitment there.

Okay?

And so what do we do?

We take them to the Lord, but we say, Lord, thank you for this marriage.

Thank you for our children, thank you for our family.

I want to just commit myself to you and you serve your family as unto the Lord.

And most people that are unhappy in marriage will find that it passes if you'll stick to it.

Everybody's happy and unhappy at points in their life, and it doesn't always have anything to do with your spouse.

Sometimes you just need to wait it out.

Sometimes you're just unhappy, and you can't always make everybody happy.

But when we do it as unto the Lord, as unto the Lord, as unto the Lord, and then he says, not with eye service.

What is eye service?

How many of you would confess that when you were a child and your mama left you a lift on list on the kitchen counter, that as soon as she left the house, you went and flipped on the TV and watched Gilligan's Island.

And then when it was about time for mom to get home, you better hurry up and get those dishes washed and that floor swept or whatever was on that list because mama's coming.

But you see, you didn't do that first because mama wasn't there to watch you.

Okay.

I service means you need someone to watch you.

Is that the kind of servant you are?

You're the kind of servant that needs someone to watch you.

Uh, it's not the kind of servant I want.

I want the one that I can, because I, you know, I like to give people stuff and then forget about it.

You know, would you do this task?

I don't want to have to come back and say, Well, did you do that?

And did you do that?

And did you do that?

I'm not a good checker.

I was always, that was always my problem.

I wasn't a good checker.

If I gave you a job to do, I hope you just did it because I'm not that watcher.

But you know, some people aren't like that.

Have you ever done, figured that out?

Some people are eye pleasers, they only do what you watch them.

And they work like crazy when the boss is working.

Haven't you heard that expression?

When the cat's away, the mice will play, you know?

And and and and that's what eye service is, as men pleasers, eye service as men pleasers mean you only do it when the boss is watching.

Well, here's the thing about serving the Lord the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

So when you work as to the Lord, it just clears up a lot of hypocrisy in your own life.

I mean, it just does.

Because God's always watching.

And your boss might not catch you, and your spouse might not catch you, and your friend might not know.

But you know what?

God always knows.

So our service is to the Lord.

If you're a good servant, it's to the Lord.

Not with eye service as men pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, as the love slaves of Jesus, doing the will of God.

What God wants, what pleases him from the heart.

Now, it's really unusual this verse from the heart, because the heart is used all through scripture, but not usually this word.

The Greek word here isn't the one that's usually translated heart.

It's usually translated life or soul.

And so it's unusual that he would use your heart.

What he means is the core of you, your very life, your very soul, the very center of you.

So with all of you, doing the will of God from who you are, your very being, with good will, doing service.

And then in case we didn't get it, he says it again, as to the Lord, and not to men.

When you serve men, you know, your just expectations are too low.

Sometimes, sometimes you have a hard time serving men because they disappoint you.

Or the how about this one?

They don't deserve it.

Or, you know, I I they don't know how good they've got it.

You know, I do this and I do that, and you know, we're not appreciated.

I I know that.

I know that.

But God knows, and so we do our service as to the Lord.

So, what did Jesus teach regarding a servant?

We've looked at kind of the role of the servant, the definition.

Is it what you thought?

It's a whole lot more, isn't it?

It's like, oh, you mean I don't get to pick and choose?

Not always.

We are fully available to the master.

So, what did Jesus teach regarding being a servant?

Well, the kingdom of God does not work like the world.

I want you to know that up front.

And so Jesus said in his kingdom that being a servant is a mark of greatness.

But that's not how the world works.

The world works with the person who's at the top of the organization, is the greatest one.

The one that has the big office is the is the uh most important one, the one who has the biggest salary and has all the titles and gets all the credit and blame.

If you've ever been at the top, you know the blame goes there too.

But you know, I mean, all that, all that, that's who we think of as being great, but that's not what Jesus said.

Turn to Matthew chapter 20.

Matthew 20 · chapter mention

Jesus was trying to teach his disciples.

Now, all of us are his disciples, but he was trying to teach those 12 guys, and one of them had an interesting um thing happen.

Their mother went to talk to Jesus.

Have you ever had your mama go talk to your teacher?

You know, sometimes that's kind of embarrassing.

You know, it's okay when you're in third grade.

It's okay when you're in third grade.

And when you get to high school, it's starting to get embarrassing.

Okay, if your mom and daddy show up at the principal's office because somebody treated you mean, you just want to crawl under a rug, okay?

It's so embarrassing.

Is that right?

Teenagers, teenagers, is that right?

That's embarrassing.

All right.

What about college?

Listen, I'm a college teacher, I've been teaching college students for almost 20 years.

I have parents who call me.

And I just want to say, you gotta be kidding me.

They're adults now, they're grown up, and they need to learn how to handle their own deals.

Well, the guys who's who are called the sons of thunder, big, tough, rough fishermen, James and John, their mama goes to talk to Jesus.

And that's what we're gonna look at.

The mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, kneel down, and asked something from him.

And he said to her, What do you wish?

And she said, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and one on the left in your kingdom.

Can my boys be at the front of the line?

And when the ten, the other disciples, heard it, verse 24, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.

What do you think you're doing?

How pulling the mama card, that's just bad.

And Jesus called them, all the disciples, to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles, Lord it over them, I'm the boss, I'm the important one.

And those who are great exercise authority over them.

You do what I say because I'm the boss.

Yet it shall not be so among you.

Jesus is turning the culture upside down.

But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave.

A slave didn't have any rights.

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

When we were singing The Great I Am, Holy, Holy, I just started bawling because I thought, God, that's who you are.

And yet you came to serve us.

Who am I?

Who am I that I even get to serve you?

And yet here we have the God of the universe who humbled himself and came into the flesh of a the limiting flesh of humankind and loved us.

Jesus is trying to teach them something that they're not quite getting.

In Mark 9, another passage, when he came to Capernaum and he was in the house, he asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves on the road?

I heard you guys arguing back there.

What were you saying?

But they kept silent.

For on the road, they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.

The disciples are jockeying for decision for position and they're arguing in the back.

Well, but I think I should be the leader.

No, I think I should be the leader.

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

In John 12, Jesus was teaching again, and he says, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it produces much grain.

Now I'm not a biology person, but there's something about a seed that the seed actually has to die in order for the new plant to come.

And so he says, When you die, you produce much grain.

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

If anyone serves me, let him follow me.

And where I am, there my servant will be also.

If anyone serves me, him my father will honor.

In the context of service and following Jesus, he talks about a seed dying.

If you're going to serve the Lord, it's going to require your death.

Death to your rights, death to yourself.

Now God has a good plan for you, but it's his plan.

And it's bigger and better than your own plan.

Matthew 23, Jesus is teaching.

And he spoke to the multitude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.

They are your teachers.

Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do.

But do not do according to their works, because they say and do not do.

For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move one of move them with one of their fingers.

You know, it's hard to follow a teacher who tells you what to do, but you know, it's the parent that says, Do as I say, but don't as I do.

All right, kids, I don't want you to smoke.

Now I know I smoke and I'm addicted, but I don't want you to smoke because it's a bad habit.

Now, listen, you gotta be fair and honest.

Oh, they gave you too much change.

We'll just keep that.

You know, I'm sorry, but when you're trying to teach lessons to your children, you have to be doing those things.

And so he says they you they they bear, they bind heavy burdens, they put, they say the right things.

They're telling you the right thing, but they're not doing them.

But all their works, verse five, they do to be seen by men.

They make their phylacteries broad.

They had these little um, it was sort of like man jewelry, but it was like a little box that had the scripture on it and showed you how religious they were, and they made theirs really big.

You know, they didn't make them little, they made them big because they wanted everybody to see the bling of how religious they were.

And so they did all that.

They love the best places at the feast.

I that's I want to get my reservation in early, and the best seats in the synagogues, saving their seats.

You know, I I remember attending a church one time where people were saving seats, and it was a huge place.

I mean, you could fit 2,000 people in there, and um my children sat in that seat.

It was bad.

It was really bad.

They were asked to move.

They were first-time visitors in this church.

My husband was speaking and we were the guests, but they didn't know that.

They just know some teenagers got their seats.

Woo! Anyway, but some people desire the best seats in the synagogue.

Greetings in the rabbi.

They love to be called, look what it says in verse 7, to be called by men, rabbi.

They love titles.

Oh, they love titles.

It is so important because I am the, and then you can fill in the blank.

But don't be called rabbi, don't be called teacher, don't be called father.

He said, quit worrying about all these titles.

Verse 11, but he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Now, this is what Jesus taught about being a servant.

But now his disciples are struggling to get it because they keep arguing among themselves who's going to be the best.

So Jesus has to teach them a lesson that they won't forget.

Turn to John 13.

After Jesus taught about being a servant, he was an example to them.

He gave them an example.

So in John chapter 13, the disciples are all gathered for the Lord's Supper, the Last Supper.

John 13 · chapter mention

And in verse 4, it says, He rose from supper and laid aside his garments, and he took a towel and girded himself.

And 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.

This was the job of the servant.

And this is the servant on the low.

I don't know if you like people's feet, but you know, cleaning feet's like a nasty job.

I mean, some people have all ugly toenails, you know, and some of them have smelly feet.

I mean, washing people's feet was not like, oh, thank you.

Can I do that for you?

No, no, no, no, no.

This is like the low end of the job.

And so, verse 12, when he had washed their feet, taken his garments, and sat down again, he said to them, Do you know what I've done to you?

Well, of course he just washed their feet.

He said, Do you understand why I did this?

Verse 13, you call me teacher and lord, and you say, Well, for so I am, I am.

I am your teacher, I am your Lord, I'm your master.

If I then, the person in the high seat, the person who's the in charge, the boss, the master, the Lord, the cure, the teacher, if I have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

For I have given you an example.

Now the example wasn't let's go wash each other's feet.

The example was serve one another.

Serve one another.

Serve one another, that you should do as I have done for you.

Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who sent greater than he who sent them.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

And then he goes on a little bit later and he comes back.

Remember I told you service and love were connected?

He comes back in verse 34 and he says, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you.

That you also love one another.

By this will all men know that you're my disciples if you have love one for another.

You know, we can't see our love for God.

We can't see the invisible faith that we have, but we can show it in our service.

And that's what Jesus was saying.

Now I'm gonna kind of pick it up.

I know I've been talking fast anyway, but I'll try to fill in your blanks a little bit.

But did you know that God wants you to be a servant?

Now it's one thing to say that he wants everybody to be the servant.

That's right, he does.

He wants all of us, everybody.

But would you say God wants me to be his servant?

Would you say that?

God wants me to be say it again.

God wants me to be his servant.

One more time.

God wants me to be his servant.

You see, it's easy when we say everybody because that means them.

But God wants you to be his servant.

You were created to serve God.

Ephesians 2.10 says that we were his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.

That God prepared beforehand, before you were born, God had work laid out for you.

My children were telling the story.

Mary's graduation was Saturday, and we had a lot of fun, but she had a surprise guest Friday.

She came in Thursday.

And her high school best friend came down from Virginia, surprised her to be there for her graduation.

And so Kobe was there, and while we were babysitting, they were filling Scott, their other friend, in on all the old high school stories.

And one of the stories was, oh, I just love to come to your house.

We always had the best time, you know.

Uh Susan would always have chocolate milk in the refrigerator.

And, you know, the basketball girls lived at my house.

So they love, she said, we love, but you know, on Saturday morning, when we get up and there'd be that list on the counter.

Every Saturday morning.

If we should if you and if you were over there, you were expected to participate in the list too.

Uh, you only you only get to be a guest at my house once.

After that, your family and you wash dishes.

So that's just, I mean, if you're gonna run with 12 teenagers, that's how it kind of works.

You know, you don't get to be the guest and you sit down while I'm running around.

We're gonna do this together.

And they said, I hated that list.

I just always hated that list.

But God made a list for you before you were born.

Look at what it says, Ephesians 2.

It says, which God prepared beforehand, before you were saved, before you were called, before you were created.

God had a list.

He wants you to serve him, and he has something for you to do.

Verse number two, you were saved to serve God.

1 Corinthians 6.20 says, You were bought with a price.

Remember, I talked about that love slave?

He bought you.

He bought you.

You belong to him.

Now, I know that's un-American.

We don't like to even think about that.

He paid for me on the cross.

You know, if I make, if I make a cake, Clay likes strawberry cake.

If I made a strawberry cake, Clay, you want this strawberry cake?

Well, maybe I don't want to give you the strawberry cake.

Maybe I want to give it to him.

You know, it's my cake.

I made it.

So I can do with it what I want to, right?

If it's my cake, I mean I made it.

Well, see, God created us.

He made us.

He can do with us as he pleases.

I don't think this cake looks right.

I'm gonna throw it in the trash.

No! It's my cake.

I created it and I control what happens to it.

But when Jesus paid for us on the cross, it's like he went to the cross.

We were sinners.

We were bound for hell.

We were bound to be to face the punishment of our sin.

And he rescued us and he paid the price.

And the price was his own life.

He traded his life for mine.

He traded his life for mine.

I belong to him.

So I'm his.

He bought and paid for me.

Now, I don't always like the idea of somebody else controlling me, but can I tell you something?

He he deserves to control me.

He earned the right by creation and by salvation.

And some of you think, well, I can't serve the Lord because I'm too old or I'm too young or I'm too this or I'm too that.

I want to tell you that Abraham was too old.

He was 90 years old when God called him, and it was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

Or maybe he was 70 when God called him.

I can't remember.

He was old when he started.

And then Jacob was insecure.

Leah was unattractive.

I think you talked about that lazy wandering eye or something.

But Leah, you know, she was unattractive, but God used her.

Joseph was abused.

Moses stuttered.

He said, I can't give a speech.

Gideon was poor.

Samson was codependent.

He had a woman problem.

Rahab was immoral.

David was adulterous.

Elijah was suicidal.

Jeremiah was depressed.

Jonah was reluctant.

Naomi was a widow.

John was eccentric.

I mean, who eats locusts?

Peter was impulsive.

Martha worried.

The Samaritan had a bad reputation.

Zacchaeus was short and unpopular.

Thomas was a doubter.

Paul had poor health.

Timothy was timid.

But God used them all.

You know what I love about all the people who are called servants in the Bible is that they were different.

And that tells me that God doesn't just use one kind of person.

If I had to be like my husband, then I just could hang it up.

I can't be like him.

He's so full of energy and he's got all these, you know, he's just never met a stranger.

You know, I I love him, but I can't be him.

And if that's what the servant, if the servant of God comes in one shape, then I'm messed up.

Because I can't be like that.

But God used the shy ones and the bold ones, the skinny ones and the fat ones.

He used them all.

Have y'all ever heard that hot dog song?

I know this is how old I am.

Oscar Meyer Wiener.

I love hot dogs.

Armor, hot dogs, armor, hot dogs.

What kind of kid lives armor?

Hot dogs.

Fat kids, skinny kids, kids that climb on rocks, tough kids, sissy kids, even kids with chicken pox like hot dogs.

Okay.

Well, God uses all those kinds of people too, you know.

So whatever God has a plan for you.

Some of you are going, this is not good.

We feed everybody over here all the time, so we don't want to talk about size in this place.

Did you know that you were shaped especially for service?

You were made uniquely by God for a purpose.

Jeremy, skip ahead to Psalm 139.

For you formed my inward parts.

You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it well.

God shaped you for service.

Let me tell you an acronym for shape.

Those of you who've been through the covenant class will recognize this part, but it bears repeating.

S H A P E S, Spiritual Gifts.

For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.

What if all we had was ushers?

Everybody can park cars, but then we don't have anybody cooking in the kitchen.

Rosemarie has done such a beautiful job of making things pretty.

I there that arrangement of flowers that's out there in the in the entranceway, you should have seen it before she did the foo-foo thing on it.

It looked like it looked like an arrangement of flowers that had gone on a convertible ride.

They were a mess.

But you know, I don't have that.

I can't, I can't I can't tie a bow.

I walk across the street and say, would you tie my bow for me?

You know, I mean, I can't do that.

But God has given you a spiritual gift, and they're all going to be different.

He's given you a heart, a passion for something.

What is it that cranks your truck?

What is it that that rings your bell?

What is it that makes you light up?

What is it that you have uh energy about that's your heart?

And then your ability, all abilities.

Now, there's spiritual gifts that come from the Lord that you didn't have before you got saved.

God gave them to you when you were born spiritually.

But there's other abilities.

Um, you might be good at sports.

Okay, I'm sorry, but you can be good at sports when you're lost.

You know, you can you can you can be a good musician when you're lost, but God wants to use whatever your abilities are for him.

There's one verse I want you to see here.

All abilities come from God.

Exodus 31, when uh they were built in the temple, and it was said, I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze and cutting stones for setting and carving wood.

Uh maybe to cut wood down, Darren.

You know, he can run that bobcat and he can do things like that that I couldn't do with my fingers.

But he can, he knows how to run that machine.

All of your abilities are from the Lord and they're to be used for the Lord.

P is personality.

Shy ones, bold ones, quiet ones, loud ones.

Only you can be you.

And then your experience, your family, your education, the jobs you've had, the ministry experiences, the pain that you've been through, the sorrows that you've walked through.

God uses those things too.

And so all of that is your shape.

Now, you have a shape that God wants to use.

What should the servant of the Lord look like?

I'm going to try to give you some practical things.

Six characteristics of a real servant.

Number one, real servants make themselves available to serve.

You might be so busy that you don't have time to serve the Lord.

You don't know my life, you don't know my family.

Well, but I can see your priorities.

You know, you've got to be available.

You've got to make the time.

What's important to you?

You do what you want to do.

You do what you want to do.

I believe that.

I believe that.

Uh, whenever I go to a graduation, particularly a college graduation, because I know how much work it is.

You know, if you graduate from college, you you worked at it.

Nobody gave it to you.

Okay?

It's hard.

And it requires a lot of stuff.

You do what you want to do.

And it means you don't do some things.

If you want a college degree, there's some things you don't do.

There's some things you go, I don't have time for that.

You know, you have to let you have to do what's important.

So the real servant makes himself available to serve.

Number two, real servants pay attention to needs.

They notice.

Philippians, Paul was talking about Timothy, and he said, For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.

Timothy was a servant because he's he noticed, he paid attention.

You know, they paid attention that when somebody was coming out of the car, that they had a kid over here in a car seat there, and they're trying to bring in a plate of brownies, you know, and they notice that they might could use some help.

They can't open the door.

Their hands are all, as Stephanie would say when she was four, I full handed.

I full handed.

You know, you can't you need help.

Can somebody open the door for me?

Can somebody, you know, I need help.

Real servants pay attention to needs.

Number three, real servants do their best with what they have.

You can't give people something you don't have, but you can give them what you do have.

You know, maybe I'm not rich, or maybe I'm not talented, or maybe I don't have, but I can do what I, you know, maybe I can't I can't buy your groceries, but I can split my bologna sandwich with you.

You know, I can I share what I have.

We they do the best with what they have.

Whatever gift God has given you.

And you know, I there was a time when I wanted to quit singing because I was around some incredible gifted musicians.

And I just thought, well, I can't sing as good as they can.

And it's true.

It was true.

I'm not being humble.

It was true.

I was not as good as they were.

But I'm supposed to use my singing as unto the Lord.

And he uses the bright spots and he uses the, you know, I mean, everybody's needed.

And there's a place where, you know, maybe they don't have anybody else.

Or, you know, maybe I'm not, maybe I'm not the best one, but I need to use what I have for the Lord.

So I I use what I have.

Number four, real servants do every task with equal dedication.

Whether it's the thing that's going to be the noticed or the thing that's not going to be noticed.

Whatsoever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

I love 1 Corinthians 15.

It says, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Equal dedication.

When we go on the mission trips, it may be that our job was to teach hand washing.

Or it might be that it's taking the blood pressure, or it may be that you're fitting the eyeglasses, or it may be that you're sweeping the room and passing out bug spray.

You know, I mean, maybe it's that you're playing with the kids and you're going to get dirty doing that.

Or maybe, you know, you do whatever has been assigned to you.

Maybe you're not speaking at the crusade.

Maybe you're cutting the grass and cleaning up.

Maybe you're, you know, cleaning the bathroom.

We had an employee one time at the school, and um they they were hired in a janitorial role.

And they told my husband, I don't clean toilets.

And I thought, well, I do.

I'm the vice president and I clean toilets.

What do you think?

What are you saying?

You know, if it needs cleaning, you clean it.

And if somebody's sick and it doesn't get clean and it needs to, you know, it's like a kindergarten teacher.

I don't do throw up.

Well, if the kid throws up, you do.

You know, I mean, you do what you have to do.

A servant does whatever they have to do with equal dedication.

Number five, real servants are faithful to their ministry without expecting thanks.

Now, I I want to be careful about this because I want you to understand two things.

One, we are supposed to be thankful, appreciative people.

We should notice when people help us and serve us, and we should be grateful and thankful, and we should tip waitresses, and we should say thank you, and we should notice and be appreciative.

Everybody say amen.

All right.

Now that said, the heart of a servant is that they don't do it for the thanks.

I want to read a passage of scripture that's real obscure, but this one changed my life when I was a teenager.

Luke 17.

Which of you having a servant ploughing or tending sheep will say to him when he's come in from the field, Come at once, sit down to eat.

But will he not rather say, Prepare my supper and gird yourself and serve me until I've eaten and drunk, and afterwards 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, this is a good memory verse, so likewise you, when you have done all those things which you were commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants.

We have done that which was our duty to do.

The spirit of this, hey, this is what God's called me to do.

You know, one day, our our our praise day is not here.

Number six, real servants maintain a low profile.

Matthew six says, Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.

Now, sometimes you have to be seen.

Sometimes you can't do work if people don't see you.

So you shouldn't say, Well, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna put my money in the offering plate because somebody will see me giving.

Well, sometimes you can't help it.

You know, what would Danny said, Well, I'm just gonna preach in a I don't want to be seen of men.

Well, the he's the preacher, you have to see him.

He can't do his job, you know.

So he's not talking about that extreme sense of, you know, this is private.

But but you don't do it for that reason.

You don't do it for the praise of men.

Are y'all getting tired?

Oh, ringing.

Come on, I know it's long, but you know, we sang extra and we had flowers, and I got one more thing to say.

Can I say it?

Y'all have time?

Okay.

How do I get there?

We've talked about what a servant looks like, but how do I get there?

Maybe you're thinking, well, I'm not too bad, but I could probably use some improvement.

How do I get there?

It starts with a change of mind.

How can I become the servant God wants me to be?

It starts with your mind.

I want you to turn to Philippians 2.

In verse 5, it says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Servants think more about others than they do themselves.

Philippians 2, I'm going to go back to verse 3.

It says, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or its disconceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Esteem others, consider others better than himself.

The root of pride is thinking that you're somehow better than everybody.

But in lowliness of mind, it's an attitude, lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, who was God, didn't consider it robbery, didn't consider it something to hang on to, just to hold away, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.

King of glory, I am who I am, all of heaven, and he comes down and he makes himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant.

You know, if Jesus can lower himself and humble himself to be a servant, who am I to balk at that role?

Coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearances men, he humbled himself and became obedient.

What is obedient?

It's what a servant does.

A servant obeys.

Who is he obeying?

God the Father.

Jesus was the servant of God who obeyed God and served men.

Now don't get confused.

I didn't say you had to obey men.

Okay, generally speaking, not everybody can tell you what to do, but God can.

And if God puts you under authority, you're obeying God when you obey them.

Can I tell you that God changed my life when I understood this?

As when I was 13 years old, I'd been a Christian since I was seven.

And I knew that if anything happened to me, if I died, I was going to heaven.

I knew the Lord is my Savior.

But I thought my parents were dumb.

I didn't have any respect for them.

I thought, are you kidding?

They're always on my case.

They don't, you know, they just don't have a clue.

And God at youth camp one summer kind of rang my bell and he said, You can't love and obey me and dishonor your parents because I won't have it that way.

I'm the Lord and the Master, and I've told you to honor and obey.

And if you don't do that, you will not be close with me.

I'm your bond slave.

I have to obey you.

I love you.

I would do anything for him.

And it meant that I had to surrender my rights.

I had to lay down my self-inflated opinions about, you know, every 13-year-old knows everything.

Wait till you grow up and find out that they were right.

But you know, you just, I that's where I was.

That's where I was.

I was blind in my own pride.

And until I laid it down and said, God, I'm yours.

Lead me, guide me.

I will obey you.

My daddy said that if God hadn't gotten a hold of me, I'd have probably given my mother a nervous breakdown.

I think it's probably true because I can see it in little sissy, you know, little Brooklyn.

They go, where did she get that?

She'll look right at you and go, No.

And I go, Oh, well, I kind of think I know.

I know where that came from.

But we have to serve the Lord.

We think like Jesus.

We have to obey Him.

Number two, servants think like stewards, not owners.

They have a clear understanding of who's the boss.

I love the t-shirt that says, There is a God and you are not Him.

There is a boss.

There is a Lord.

And we think like stewards, not owners.

I want to tell you a story at the risk of making uh no, I'm not going to tell you who it is because I don't want them to get mad at me.

But um they were in a business situation where they were being sued.

And if you've ever been in a school or a business or you've got all kinds of situations where this can happen, but they were being sued.

It was a wrongful claim.

And uh, as you know, maybe if you've ever been involved with that, insurance usually tells you what you have to do.

You know, your liability insurance will tell you you have to settle or you have to do this or that or the other.

And um I can remember them the settlement was a big sum of money, and it was just so wrong.

It was just wrong.

And this person said, Well, Lord, I sure don't want to spend the money that way, but it's your money.

And if That's how you want to spend your money, then go ahead.

See, we're stewards, not owners.

Nothing we have really belongs to us.

Three, servants think about their own work, their own work, not what others are doing.

When I washed dishes with my sister, she left bubbles on that.

She left a spot of food on that.

You know, I mean, I was just always worried about what she was doing.

That was my immature days.

But servants think about their own work.

I'm not looking around seeing whether you're doing your job.

I'm just going to do mine.

Okay?

I don't have time to worry about everybody else.

It'll save you a world of hurt if you'll quit worrying about everybody else and just do your own job.

Number four, servants base their identity in Christ.

You know, being a servant can make you feel kind of low down and unappreciated.

And if that's what you think I'm saying, I want you to understand that Jesus was the chief servant.

Look at John 13, before Jesus washed the disciples' feet.

This is the attitude of Christ.

Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world, Jesus knew that his time was up.

Having loved his own, who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Verse 3, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, Jesus knew his authority.

He knew the time, the hour had come.

He knew his authority, that God had made him master of this.

And he knew that he had come from God and was going to God.

He knew where he was from and he knew where he was going.

I know where I am.

I know where I'm from.

I came from a world of sin and I'm going to heaven.

I know who I am.

This earth, you can't mistreat me.

You can't do wrong.

You know why?

Because I don't belong to this world.

I belong to Jesus.

And one day I'm going to heaven and all things are going to be made right.

I know who's in charge.

So I can serve.

I can humble myself.

I can do all those things because my identity is in Christ.

It's not who you think I am or how you make me feel.

You can't make me feel bad about myself.

I know who I am in Christ.

I'm his daughter.

I'm his beloved.

I'm his precious.

He died for me.

I'm valuable not because of who me.

I'm valuable because he set his love on me and paid his price for me.

That's why I'm valuable.

So my identity is in Christ.

You can't make me feel bad.

You can't humiliate me.

Servants base their identity in Christ.

And servants think of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligation.

It's not that you have to do this, it's that you get to do this.

What a joy to serve the Lord.

There's a little acronym for Jesus, others and you.

It spells joy.

When you put Jesus first, he's the Lord and master, others before yourself, and then you last.

That's how you have joy in service.

Jesus, others, and you.

Now it starts, this servanthood starts with a change of mind, but it continues with a decision.

When you have a change of mind that results in a change of direction, that's called repentance.

When you change your mind and it causes you to turn around and go the other way.

We're Americans.

We're used to freedom, independence.

We value those things.

And when you turn away from your independence and your rights and you deny yourself, and you're like a kernel of wheat that falls to the ground, and you choose to be God's love slave, it'll change your life.

If you want to be the servant of Christ, you're going to have to make a choice.

Luke 16 says, No servant can choose, can serve two masters.

Either he'll hate one or love the other, he'll be loyal to one and despise the other.

You can't serve yourself and God.

It's not possible.

So you've got to decide who's going to be the boss.

In John 6, Jesus was preaching and he said some hard things, and some of the disciples turned away.

It says in verse 66 that from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.

And Jesus said to the 12, Do you also want to go away?

But Simon Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go?

Where do you go after serving God?

There's nowhere where to go.

There's no place to go.

He says, You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Where can we go?

There's nowhere to go.

There's no higher service.

Joshua 24 says, if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, if you think this is a bad thing, this is a burden, this is too much, if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourself whom you're going to serve.

Whether the gods that your father served, yourself, the world, money, go ahead, make that choice.

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Will you bow your heads for just a minute?

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.