Put Ya Work Clothes On - 1 Peter 4:7-11

If this is your first time, welcome. My name

is Logan Merrick and I get the great opportunity

to shepherd the local congregation here known

as Christ Our Cornerstone Church. Last week,

we wrapped up our walk through the book of Mark.

Next week, we will start our walk through the

book of Daniel. So that's going to be an interesting

time. If you know anything about the book of

Daniel, there's a lot of crazy things that happen

outside of the fact that the guy is like 70 something

years old and he's thrown into a pit full of

lions and friends. When he's about 17, he has

some friends that are thrown into a hot furnace,

and God shows up in all these crazy ways. And

the whole reason why we're going to go through

the book of Daniel is then we're going to go

to the book of Revelation. We're going to see

how they actually dovetail together. And so it

should be a lot of fun. I think it's open. All

right. So with that being said, though, we're

going to have a little one -off sermon here.

And if you would turn with me to First Peter.

We're gonna be in chapter four. We're starting

verse seven, but that'll be just a moment. The

title of my sermon today is Put Your Work Clothes

On. And if you want, if you're taking notes,

the big idea is right up here. Actually, you

can take that down for a second if you would.

Stephanie and we'll put, yeah, discovering and

getting to work. Oh, man. That. I apparently

clicked something wrong. So I'm gonna read this

to you, because there's no way I can barely read

that. So the big idea is Jesus didn't save you

merely to sit. He saved you to belong to the

body, to serve the body, and grow through serving

the body. But your service must flow from sitting

at Jesus' feet. So. Jesus didn't save you merely

to sit. He saved you to belong to the body, to

serve the body, and grow through serving the

body. But your service must flow from sitting

at Jesus' feet. So as you write that down, and

I really hope that my other stuff isn't small

like that. It wasn't when I checked it, but...

Something obviously happened. So last week I

kind of mentioned my grandfather and I was a

kid so my grandfather owned all these houses

on the street and my cousins grew up around me

and then my grandfather, his house and my grandmother's

house was right across from us. And he built

all of the houses that we lived in and he gave

them all to his daughters, my mom and my aunts.

And so I grew up with everybody right around

us until about high school. But because he built

the houses, he had a key to all the houses. So

on Saturdays, if my dad needed to work, my mom

usually worked on Saturdays, so I would be at

home and I was about 10 or 11. He would wake

me up on a Saturday at about seven o 'clock and

he'd say, all right, Yogi, that's what he called

me, Yogi Bear. All right, Yogi, get your work

clothes on, let's go. And by work clothes, I'm

sure you guys know what I mean, right? What do

I mean when you hear somebody say, put your work

clothes on, or your work duds on? Come on now.

Yeah, something that you can either scoop poop

in or, you know, paint in and you can throw that

away later and it's not going to matter, right?

So my grandpa, I knew what that meant. It was

going to be a day filled with long hours, no

pay, a mediocre lunch, and getting home late.

Because he would work from sunup to sundown and

he always worked hard and we would do things

I did everything from literally roofing houses

all these different houses that he owned in the

hot Florida Sun to helping to patch HVAC work

and attics to Painting houses laying carpet whatever

just anything and one of the things I remember

the most is he didn't really have anything for

me to do, but he didn't like the idea of me just

sitting on a Saturday at home watching cartoons.

So he said he had an old barn. And not like in

Florida, we don't have barns like you guys have

here, okay? You guys have cool, pretty barns.

This is basically just like an old junk work

shed, okay? And he had a bunch of cinder blocks

and they were... I mean, when I was little, so

it probably wasn't as high as I thinking in my

head, but he goes, all right, Yogi, I want all

those bricks right there. I want you to take

them and I want you to stack them on the other

side. And I'm like, for what? And he goes, I'm

just tired of them being there. Don't ask questions,

just stack it. And I want them stacked neatly,

you understand? Yes, sir. So even just stacking

bricks, right? And I'm like, man, this is not

fun. So whenever I heard my grandpa come in,

I never looked at it as, oh, I get the chance

to serve my grandfather. I get the chance to

build a relationship with my grandfather. I was

like stealing my childhood, stacking bricks like

a slave, right? And I would always think like,

how long until it's over? And here's something

that's really funny. And this is not in my notes.

So Jenaro, bear with me for a second. I remember

my cousins, my cousins were four years older

than me and they wanted to go to this party really

bad, right? So they get this idea together that

they're like, we're gonna show up way before

grandpa does, right? And he got there early,

buddy. We're going to show up way before grandpa,

and we're going to start on this roof. We're

going to get it all cleared out. We're going

to get it started so we can get to this party.

And I kid you not, we come rolling up, because

he had to pick me up. We come rolling up, and

my grandpa swung through McDonald's. He's feeling

real nice this day. He swung through McDonald's

and got sausage biscuits for us all. And as we

pull up, he sees my cousin Chance's truck, and

he goes, huh. And then he looks up, and he sees

him up there, and he goes, no. Somebody thought

they were gonna get here early this morning.

They had done literally half the house, already

cleared all the shingles off and already roofed

one side. So they said, man, they were real proud

of themselves. They said, Grandpa, what do you

think? And he goes, mm -hm, mm -hm. Well, I'm

glad you guys are real excited to get to work

today. You just made our days longer because

your lines are crooked. So let's go ahead and

rip all this off. Yogi, you and me are going

to go get more shingles. And don't do something

like this ever again. They were so bad. They

were so bad. So my grandpa, man, he is one of

a kind. And so anyway, so this morning we're

going to talk about serving because I did not

see it as serving in the moment. But now that

I look back, I see how I created all of these

memories of me and my grandpa and my cousins

too, for that matter. But so we're going to talk

about using what God has given you to build up

his church and advance his kingdom. But here

is the important part. We don't approach this

work with the attitude of that I had as a kid.

How long do I gotta be here, Pastor Logan? What

do I gotta do again? Do we really, you really

need this done? We don't serve because we're

trying to earn something and we don't serve because

we're trying to make God like us. And we certainly

don't serve because I, as your pastor, need somebody

to just fill a hole on a volunteer schedule,

okay? We serve because we've already received

grace and we serve because we've been saved and

We serve because God has given us every one of

us by the way something to contribute to the

body of Christ When I was on staff in st. Joe

Pastor David our senior pastor. He had a saying

that he would say every Monday morning in our

staff meetings We would always have, we were

a decent -sized church, but we would always have

a lot of visitors. We baptized a lot of people

fairly frequently, and his saying that he would

say every time to us as a staff, and it was this,

let's get people in, let's get them saved, let's

get them baptized, and let's give them a job.

Let's get people in, let's get them saved. Let's

get them baptized. Let's get them a job. I think

that's a pretty good, pretty good saying. And

I, the more I study scripture, the longer I work

in ministry and the longer I walk in this Christian

life, the more I realize how right he was to

think that way. And that's how I want us here

at Christ our Cornerstone to also operate. We

want to see people come through the doors and

we want to have people hear the gospel, repent

of their sin, trust Jesus Christ and be saved.

We want to see them baptized and publicly identify

with Christ and his suffering. And then we want

to give them a job. Why do you think we want

to give someone a job? What's that? Yeah, you

belong I heard somebody else. Well, what was

the other thing? You're invested What else? What's

that Yeah, there's a yeah Yeah, it's a mission

that we're called to serve yeah, all those things

are correct and here's something else One of

two things is gonna happen mom and again ahead

of myself, so I'm just gonna stop right there.

But those are all great, great answers, and you're

not wrong. So, God didn't save you to just sit

in the seat in this pew to be like, do you guys

remember full -service gas stations? I don't

think I've seen one in, I don't think I've seen

one since I was like a kid. What was a full -service

gas station like? for those that are in this

room and have no idea what a full -service gas

station was like. Yeah, you just pulled up, right?

Guy came out, an attendant came out, he pumped

your gas, he asked you how much, you'd pay him,

that'd be it, right? He'd even, while it's pumping,

at least... I was getting there, you didn't let

me finish. I was getting there, Vicki, yes. Yes,

while it's pumping he'll even the windshield

he'd clean that you knows or anything he check

your oil Yeah, all the things all the things

Sometimes and then and then you just pay you

drive off, right? And now we have self -service

right where we have to do it ourself Yeah, yeah

my yeah my dad told me how much it would cost

to take my mom out on a date, have a full tank

of gas, take my mom out on a date and see a movie.

And he said it always cost him less than $10.

And I'm like, man, inflation, buddy. So I think

that people treat church like a full service

gas station. Just come in, we take care of you,

we fill you up. You go right back out and you

won't come back till you need to be filled up

again. And that's just not how, when you read

the scriptures, that's not the purpose of the

church. But I'm gonna get into that in just a

second. But God saved you to not only make you

His, but also He saved you and placed you in

a body, this local body. He gave you gifts and

He called you to serve. Now, I know what some

of you guys are already thinking. You're like,

Pastor Logan, we're not a big church. We're a

small church. We couldn't have too many needs.

No, you're right. That's true. But still there

are things that we want to do. How many of you

guys, I'm going to ask you to raise your hand.

How many of you guys want to see our church grow?

Good. How many of you guys think that it's going

to continue to do the same things we're always

doing in order to grow? Nobody? Okay. So then

that requires all of us rowing in the same direction.

everybody so for all rowing that requires you

to have what and or right and so there are some

things that I want to do this next year coming

that we've never done before bless you oh it

was my wife I knew that was a cute sneeze But

there's gonna be things that We you guys had

never done a truck or treat before we did it

this past this past year We're gonna do it again

this year And for those of you guys that served

everybody said the same thing. I'm so glad that

we did this And so more of those things have

to happen and being more consistent about things

going on here But just because we're a small

church doesn't mean that we have nothing to do

and doesn't mean that there's not people to encourage

and there's not children to be taught. That there

aren't people to be prayed for, that there aren't

ministries that need hands, that there aren't

people who need to be visited, that there aren't

meals that need to be prepared, that there aren't

doors that need to be opened, that there aren't

people who need to be welcomed, that there aren't

people who need to be discipled. And here's the

interesting thing. A relatively small percentage

of people tend to do a relatively large percentage

of that work, and that's not just in this church,

by the way. That is the greater church at large.

Try being at Westside, where we have 3 ,500 members,

and it's the same small group of people trying

to keep that church afloat. And so it takes a

buy -in and it also takes you understanding who

you are and what you're called to. And so this

morning I want to talk about what it is to serve.

I want to talk about your gifts, how you find

those things and all that good stuff. And so

I've lost myself and where I'm at. Oh. Here's

the other thing. So I'm going to talk to those.

So there's going to be two people I'm talking

to this morning. One, I'm going to talk to those

who are not currently engaged in serving somewhere.

And then I'm going to talk to the other people

that are engaged and serving somewhere because

both groups need to have a reminder. So I'm probably

going to step on a lot of toes this morning,

OK? Is that all right? You're like, I'll let

you know after we're done, Pastor Logan. But

we're going to talk about Arthur and Mary and

all the good things. And so if you would, we're

going to talk to the person who has never put

their working clothes on. And we're also going

to talk to the person whose working clothes have

been on so long that they've forgotten why they're

working in the first place. Write this down.

Hopefully it's, oh, the big idea is bigger. Yes,

good deal. Write this down, because the goal

this morning isn't simply to get more volunteers.

The goal is to become faithful servants of Jesus

Christ. And the good news is you don't have to

figure it out on your own what that looks like.

God has already given you what you need. He's

given you gifts. He's given you a place. in his

body and he's given you a purpose. So let's together

look at what Peter says in 1st Peter chapter

4 starting in verse 11. I mean starting in verse

7 to verse 11. If you don't have a Bible, we'll

have we have some in the back. That's our gift

to you. If you don't want to grab one of those,

verses will be right up here. The end of all

things is a hand. Therefore, be self -controlled

and sober -minded for your sake or for the sake

of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another

earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins.

Show hospitality to one another without, what

does that say? Make sure you highlight that.

As each has received a gift, Use it to serve

one another as good stewards of God's varied

grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles

of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the

strength that God does what? Supplies in order

that in everything God may be glorified through

Jesus Christ to him belong the glory and dominion

forever and ever amen. So the first point, If

you have your Bible, I want you to also highlight

each, use it, and then in verse 11 where it says,

for the glory of Jesus Christ. My first point

is this, the Holy Spirit determines your gift.

So when you write this down, I want you to write

it down as, I have a gift. I have a gift. That's

really simple. I just want you to understand

that each one of you has a gift. If you're a

Christian, if you've repented of your sin and

placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord

and Savior, then God has given you something

that he intends for you to use. And Peter says

in verse 10, as each has received, he doesn't

say, right, as a group, right, as each. So every

person sitting in these chairs, each one has

received a gift. Not just me, not just the elders,

not the people who are naturally outgoing, not

the people who have a Bible degree, each person.

So this isn't, well, I'm just not very talented.

I'm not asking you to grab a guitar and sing

if you can't sing. And neither is the Lord. You

might be like, well, I don't have anything to

offer. No, you do, because that's not the way

that the scripture talks about the Christian

life. The Holy Spirit is the one who determines

your gifting. And so some of you have more than

one spiritual gift and others have one primary

gift that God has particularly equipped you to

use. But here's what I want you to understand

the most. You have been gifted by God and the

Spirit of God knows you. He knows how he made

you, he knows your personality, he knows your

experiences, he knows your strength, and he knows

your weaknesses. And he knows how he wants to

use you in the body of Christ. So, here's something,

I'm gonna use him as an example even though he

doesn't like me to point him out, but Lowell,

who's in the very back, everybody likes to turn

and look at him. Lowell, if you've noticed, does

not like to be front and center as an elder.

right I'm He does not feel a great strength to

teaching in front of everybody and it actually

says that elders must be able to teach Does that

necessarily mean you he has to be able to teach

in front of the entire group? No Does God know

that he is anxious in front of a group of people?

Yep Does that mean he has to always be just comfortable?

No But I let the Holy Spirit deal with that part.

Does that make sense? I've told you guys before

that we're always so worried about answering

the call of God upon our lives, because for fear

that God would call us to the bush of Africa.

And God knows you better than you know yourself.

And if he's calling you to the bush of Africa,

that will be your greatest joy. You just may

not even know it yet. So some of you here have

a gift you don't even know that you have. because

you're just like sitting in the pew. So what

are these gifts, Pastor Logan? Well, scripture

gives us several different lists and examples,

and we're not going to spend the entire morning

walking through every one of them. But we are

talking about gifts like teaching, preaching,

mercy, serving, shepherding, giving, encouragement,

administration. prayer, and other ways God equips

his people to serve his church. I've got up here,

thank you Vicki for printing this out, I've got

this up here. At the end, if you have no idea

what your spiritual gift is, I have a spiritual

gift survey that you take. It's going to ask

you questions and then at the end it's going

to try to help you put together what that gift

may be. So those will be right there for you

Since we don't have time to go through each and

every single one of them So I want you to pray

about Taking an assessment pray about it talk

to mature Christians who know you and then perhaps

most importantly start serving write this down

Because sometimes you discover what God has gifted

you to do by simply getting your hands dirty

and seeing where God uses you You want to know

how I learned that Pastor Logan is not made to

be a carpenter? Do you guys remember the bookshelf

that we talked about? That leaned like this?

I knew I was not meant to be a carpenter. Now,

does that mean that I can't use my hands sometimes

and fix some things? Yeah, I can. But my wife

makes sure she's standing over me and pointing

it out, right? But since I was a little kid,

I've never once minded being in front of people,

never once minded talking to people, and I've

always enjoyed just teaching. That's how God

made me to be. And so it wasn't really hard for

me to find out what my spiritual gift is, if

some of you guys don't know what yours is. But

there's something else I want you to understand

about these gifts. The gifting isn't for you.

Well, who's it for, Pastor Logan? Well, I'm glad

you asked. It's for everybody else. Peter says,

right? Use it to what? You gotta get back over

here. Say it again. Yes. Verse 10, as each one

has received a gift, use it to serve one another.

So God has entrusted something to you and he

expects you to steward it. Which means when you

refuse to use what God has given you, it's not

just the church that's missing out, it's also

you as well. So I want you to think about that.

If God has given you the gift of mercy and you

never use it, think about the people that are

missing out on that gift. Think about how this

church is missing out on the mercy of God intended

to be shown through you to all of us. Think about

the kids that come through here on a Wednesday

night that need the mercy of God shown to them,

and you're not here. If you have the gift of

encouragement and you never encourage anybody,

somebody is missing out on the encouragement

God has intended to bring through you. If God

has given you the gift of service and you're

not here to serve, somebody is missing the hands,

that God intended to use. And here's the crazy

thing. You also, as I said, are missing out too,

because God has designed the Christian life so

that we grow and we participate in the work as

God has called us to. We grow as we participate.

Now, I know some of you guys are thinking, okay,

Pastor Logan, I understand that maybe I have

a spiritual gift, but surely these gifts are

really just for the pastors and the leaders,

right? It's just the elders. Is that what that

said? No? Okay, good. Just want to make sure

that I wasn't missing that. These aren't just

pastor gifts. These aren't just elder gifts.

They're not just really spiritual Christian gifts.

These are gifts that have been given to all people

who love the Lord. And that's why I want you

to stop thinking I don't have anything to offer

the church. Because according to Peter, if you

belong to Christ, you have received a gift. And

the question isn't whether has God gifted you.

Write this down. The question is, what are you

going to do with what God has given you? But

then that leads us to another question. Well,

but does that mean that like some gifts are better

or more important than others? Nope. Surely the

person teaching the Bible is more important than

the person who's serving the dinner on Wednesday

night. Nope. Surely the person standing on the

platform is more important than the person who's

behind the scenes or the fact that Jeremy is

standing at the door welcoming people and at

the same time making sure that we're all safe

in here, right? Surely I'm more important than

that guy. Nope So that brings me to my second

point The gifts are equal in importance Let me

ask you guys this Are your eyes More important

than your ears Are your ears more important than

your hands You guys are like, I'm not sure if

I'm supposed to be answering this. Are my hands

more important than my feet? Okay. No. None of

it. They're just different, right? They have

different functions. They do different things.

But one isn't more important than the other.

And if you don't believe me, I want you to try

walking around today. If you don't have any feet,

try walking around on your ankle nubs. or on

your hands. Sorry, my hair is all over my face.

Do you understand what I'm saying? One's not

more important than the other. Or I want you

to try eating your lunch today without your hands.

It might look fun because your dog does it, but

I assure you that after about five minutes it's

gonna really start to become frustratingly annoying.

Or today, as you leave here, I want you to try

to drive home with your eyes closed. My wife

said, please, no, no, don't say that. Yeah, don't

really do that. I'm just joking. So write this

down. You see, different doesn't mean less important.

And that's something we have to understand when

it comes to church. We have to stop looking at

positions in the church and treating some as

though they're more grand, they're more important,

they're more valuable than others. The person

standing behind the pulpit is not more valuable

to Jesus than the person sitting in the nursery.

The elder is not more valuable than the person

who cleans the building. The worship leader isn't

more valuable than the person who greets you

at the door. Different roles, I'll have this

up here, different roles does not mean different

value. God has simply given us different jobs

to do, and this is where I want you to understand

why your gift matters so much. I watched the

documentary. If you've got Netflix, I recommend

you watch it. It just came out, but it's called

The Death of a Pastor's Wife, and you just watched

it. It's heartbreaking. So what it's about is

a pastor who has done some very horrific things.

And his wife, who loved the Lord and loved the

church a lot, was doing everything she can to

just put up with his abuse. And ultimately, it

ends in her death. And so, the reason why I bring

that up is this. It was brought to the elder's

attention the things that he was doing. And you

know what the elders did? Nothing. They were

afraid. to go before the pastor and call him

out on a sentence. Now, how many of you would

go, well, then they have no business being elders.

Absolutely. What is their job? Protect, right?

How many people have been in churches that have

been harmed because of leaders doing terrible

things, and then the leaders that are around

them not doing their job. And the entire time

I was sitting here, or sitting at the house watching,

it's just three episodes, it's not a long deal.

My heart hurt so much for the family, my heart

hurt so much for... the wife, but all I could

think about was if the church was operating the

way it's supposed to and everybody's using their

gifts, dysfunction doesn't happen. Pastor Logan,

what are you talking about? If people in that

church were using the gift of prophecy, not in

thus saith the Lord, because the canon is closed,

prophecy as a gift means putting back into alignment

with the word of God. So whoever has that gift

should have been standing up going, pastor, you

live in sin, you're being removed, and we're

gonna have somebody else take your place. And

by the way, we're calling the law. Yes? If a

person who has the gift of grace and mercy would

have stood up and seen that the wife is literally

dying before their eyes, would have put their

arm around her and said something isn't right.

But because people are operating in their gifts

and they're coming in like this is just, you

know, we just come and do what we want to do

and we just get the word and we make ourselves

feel good about ourselves and our pastor tells

these funny little quippy stories and then we

go home and feel really good about ourselves.

Guess what? Then you get dysfunctional people

who abuse others and people ultimately die. Well,

Pastor Logan, that's extreme. Yes. because it's

happening all over the world. So I got pretty,

pretty upset watching this if you couldn't tell.

But people are harmed and people are destroyed

because of ungodly men being in leadership positions

and other ungodly, unwilling men and women step

up and do something about it and use their gifts.

Write this down. I'm telling you this because

when the body doesn't function the way God designed

it to function, there are consequences. So this

is why your gift matters. This is why I keep

telling you, you are needed. Not because we need

you to fill a volunteer schedule. You can write

this down. You're needed because God has put

you in this body and given you something to contribute

to it God has entrusted this congregation to

me And to our elders to lead to teach protect

and shepherd and I take that responsibility very

seriously But don't misunderstand me on this

that doesn't mean I'm more important than you,

and it doesn't mean that the elders are more

important than you, and it doesn't mean that

I don't answer to the elders and to everybody

else. It means God has given me a particular

role to fulfill. God has given the elders a particular

role to fulfill. And if I'm doing my job biblically,

I'm not trying to do everybody else's job. If

I'm trying to equip you to do yours because that

is what the church needs you to do, that's my

job. So we need your gifts, we need your wisdom,

we need your encouragement, we need your mercy,

we need your service, we need your prayers, we

need your generosity, we need your willingness

to speak truth when truth needs to be spoken,

and we need people willingly to step up and say,

I'll do it. So your role matters, your gift matters,

and this church needs you to use it. So here's

what I'm saying. get your working clothes on.

Because now we've established that God has given

you a gift and that your gift matters. But now,

if you know that you have a gift and that your

gift matters, what do you think is the next point

that Peter makes? Do we just stop there? Yeah,

I know I have a gift and I know my gift matters.

What what's the next thing use it so point number

three is you must use it If you guys didn't know

I like to ride motorcycles and I have a motorcycle

and I have a really cool bagger motorcycle that

I got it in order to be able to ride it up here

and Then I realized that three and a half hours

is a long way on a motorcycle, because I'm not

like Linda Walden who can just ride and ride

and ride. Where? Isn't Linda here? Switching

seats on me. So my wife asked me not too long

ago, she said, hey, that really nice motorcycle

that's in the garage, what's the point in us

having it if you don't ever ride it? I think

that's a good question. Yes? What do you think

my answer was? Because it looks super cool. So,

what good is owning something that looks super

cool if you never use it? That's what my wife

then asked. And I said, I guess no good at all.

And that's the point that Peter's making. God

has given you a gift, so use it. Peter says,

use it to serve one another. It's not ultimately

for you anyway. It's for somebody else. It's

for the body. It's for the glory of God. So don't

just discover your gift. Don't just take the

assessment and stick that assessment in the drawer

and go, well, that's nice. Use it. Because a

gift that isn't being used is a gift that is

wasted. So what do you hear me saying? Get your

working clothes on. My last point is this. Number

four, by using you develop spiritual maturity.

I want you to turn with me to Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Bless you, man. Got a lot of sneezing going now.

Luke chapter 10, verse 38. Now, I've picked on

Luke 10:38

the people that haven't been serving. I'm gonna

pick on the people that have been serving now.

Here's what happens when you know You have a

gift. Or maybe you have a gift, but you've been

not using it. You've been operating in a different

gift. For a really bad example, you can't sing

a tune in a bucket, but you've been leading songs.

And we don't have that problem. I'm not talking

about you, Vernon, so don't think that I am.

But we would go... Why is the guy who cannot

sing singing? right, so then it's like That person

that is that can't sing They may like to sing

and some of them they're like just nobody's willing

to do it, but I'm not really operating in my

gift set It burns you out and it burns the rest

of us out too because we don't want to hear that.

You know what I'm saying? So what ends up happening

though is You start operating, and you're serving,

and you're doing your thing, and you serve, and

you serve, and you serve, and then nobody else

seems to show up. So what do you think eventually

happens? Don't be afraid to say it. You serve,

you're here all the time, you're doing all the

things, you don't see any new people showing

up to help serve. What ultimately happens? Burnout

and just bitterness. Let's look at something.

Let's read verse 38, 342. Now as they went on

their way, Jesus entered a village and a woman

named Martha welcomed him into her house. And

she had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's

feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha

was distracted with much serving and she went

up To him and said Lord, do you not care that

my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her

to help me But the Lord answered her Martha Martha

You are anxious and troubled about many things.

But one thing is necessary Mary has chosen the

good portion Which will not be taken away from

her So Is what Martha's doing, is it bad? Is

the Lord condemning her for serving? No. Is Mary

doing anything wrong? No. The Lord doesn't say

that either, does he? So it appears that Martha,

not only is she serving, but she's possibly pretty

good at it. But she has Jesus in her home, and

she's taking care of all the hospitality she's

working. She's making sure everything is taken

care of. Martha is using her gifts. And so, who

ultimately is she serving? Who's she serving?

No, no, no, no, no. Yourself sounds like the

right answer, but what's the obvious answer?

Who's there visiting? Jesus, right? She's serving

the literal Messiah in her home. And she goes,

hey, Jesus, can you do something about my sister

over here? The most passive aggressive thing

I think I've read in all of scripture, her sister

sitting there. I'm not going to talk to my sister.

I'm going to look at Jesus. Jesus, Could you

tell my sister? Right? Her sister's just sitting

there. She's sitting before Jesus. She's not

doing anything wrong. Jesus says that Mary has

chosen the good portion, but Martha's not wrong

for serving. She's serving, she's working, she's

taking care of things. So what exactly is the

problem? What's the issue here? When you look

at the verse, let's go back to the verses. There's

one thing that stands out. Look at verse 40,

what does it say? She's distracted. So she comes

and she essentially says, Lord, don't you care

that I'm doing all this work while my sister

is sitting over there doing nothing, tell her

to get up and help me. So you think about the

irony. She's serving Jesus and then she gets

mad at Jesus because she's serving Jesus. Right?

She's blaming Jesus. She doesn't talk to Mary.

She goes straight up to the Lord and she's like,

Jesus better get your girl under control now.

But Jesus responds by showing Martha that her

problem isn't simply that she's busy. Her problem

is that she's anxious and troubled. Her service

has become a source of frustration instead of

an expression of love. And church, this is where

serving becomes a test of our spiritual maturity.

Because sometimes God will use service to reveal

things in us that we didn't even know were there.

Serving reveals our pride, serving reveals our

selfishness, serving reveals our own impatience,

serving reveals how quickly we become frustrated

when people don't do things that we think they

should be doing. Write this down. And sometimes

serving reveals that we're keeping score. I'm

always the one who does this. Why doesn't anybody

ever help? Why do I have to come back here and

do another thing? It's always the same people

doing the same things over and over And I want

you to hear me I have been there one Just as

a husband because I'm gonna tell you You know

how many times I've heard my wife say How many

times do I have to be the only one that does

the dishes around here? Has any other husband

ever heard that or is it just me? Nobody's gonna

raise their hand. I see how it is. Okay. But

also, as a paid staff member, I've been on staff

at churches where I get, I'm paid to be there

and I'm annoyed because it's like, I see the

same people here. I see the same people serving,

the same people doing the things. And then we're

wondering why those people ultimately leave.

because they're burnt out. And the thing is this,

all of this is a heart problem. And that's why

I don't want you to hear me in this sermon think

the goal is simply to get more people to work.

That's not it. Yes, your gifts are needed. Yes,

the church needs you. Yes, there's work to be

done. But God is doing something bigger than

simply getting a job accomplished. Write this

down. God is working on you. Every time you serve,

God gives you another opportunity to become like

Christ. You learn patience. You learn humility.

You learn sacrifice. You learn to love people

who don't always make things easy. You learn

to serve without applause. You learn to give

without keeping score. You learn to do something

because it honors Christ even when nobody notices.

And that, brothers and sisters, is spiritual

maturity. Because what's the goal of the Christian

life ultimately? What is the goal? Is it to be

saved? Sure, but when I'm saved what is the ultimate

goal? What's that? It's almost like my wife knew

that I was gonna say that because we talked about

it on the way here Being transformed into his

image, right? All those other things you guys

listed aren't wrong But the ultimate goal is

to look like Christ and how do I look like Christ?

by serving We're took the goal is to be like

Christ to grow in the likeness of our risen Savior

and sometimes the best classroom God gives you

is not a Bible study. Sometimes it's in the nursery.

Sometimes it's in the kitchen. Sometimes it's

in a committee meeting. Sometimes it's cleaning

up after everybody else has gone home. Sometimes

it's working alongside somebody who drives you

absolutely crazy. Even if you do, even if you

are married to them. Because God isn't just interested

in what you're accomplishing. Write this down.

He's interested in who you're becoming. So yes,

church. Get your working clothes on. But when

you put them on, don't forget whose clothes you're

wearing. Don't serve with bitterness. Don't serve

with resentment. Don't keep score. Don't serve

so people will notice you. Sit at the feet of

Jesus first, then get up and serve him with joy.

Because your gift is needed for the good of the

body. Your gift is needed to bring glory to God

and your gift is one of the tools God will use

to grow you in the image of his son So I Preached

that sermon for one reason I have a lot of ideas

and Things that I would like to see happen in

ways that we can serve our community more And

we cannot do it with the same 11 people that

do everything But also those same 11 people can't

keep showing up and getting upset because it's

the same 11 people showing up Either we serve

out of the abundance and joy and love for the

father and for the people that we're serving

or we don't serve at all You see what I'm saying?

So as we get ready for this next literal year

that's gonna be coming, I want you to pray about

where and how can we serve. You know how many

people have asked me, can we start a prayer ministry?

Yeah. Go for it. Take it. Oh no, I wasn't talking

about me. You see what I'm saying, Doug? Doug

wasn't the one, by the way. He's just giving

me a real strong look. But you guys see what

I'm saying? People bring stuff to me and the

elders and go, we should do this. And we go,

great, run with it. I don't know, I was hoping

you guys would do it all. God has not gifted

me there. God has not told me to go build the

wall. I'm working on this part of the wall right

here. Does that make sense? Well, Pastor Logan,

I don't know what my gift is. Great. Here's a

spiritual assessment. Take it. Figure out where

and what you have and where it can fit in our

church to ultimately grow our church. Because

last I checked, O 'Neill is not the epicenter

of Christianity. Am I wrong on that? Okay. So

there's a lot of people that need saved, right?

And it's going to take all of us grabbing a shovel,

getting our work clothes on, and getting to work.

Let's pray.