Why: Serving - 22nd February 2026

Good morning church.

Please turn in your Bible to Philippians

Philippians 2:1–11

chapter 2 verses 1 to 11. That passage

that Danny read to us, that is going to

be our primary passage this morning. So,

please have that open.

What would it look like

in this church if in our relationships

with one another

we had the same mindset as Christ?

Putting the interests of others before

ourselves. What would that look like? I

think that that would look like a church

that displays its love and worship of

God through unity and acts of love for

one another. A church that displays its

love and worship of God

through unity and acts of love for one

another. And passage I would say that is

what I see in this church. we are

blessed in this church that we are a

church that serve one another. It's it's

like it's in our DNA. We we serve each

other. Maybe it's part of being a new

church, a young church that we we all

chip in. We all do our part and we are

good at serving one another.

But

do you know what would be incredibly

sad?

If we were to look back in five, 10,

maybe 20 years and say we used to be

great at serving. Remember when we

started out and everyone used to chip

in? We were great at serving.

How sad would that be? Because serving

is to be consistently constantly part of

what we do as a church. We don't give

up. We don't give up after five years

and kind of say, "Okay, we sort of done

well so far."

serving is to constantly be part of what

we do both individually. So there's a

responsibility on you on me and then

there's a responsibility on us

collectively as a church to be a church

that serves that serves one another. And

these past few weeks if you haven't been

here we've been asking the question why.

We've been asking why we do certain

things as a church. Important questions.

And many of these, not all of them, but

many of them have been spiritual

disciplines. So prayer,

singing, giving,

they are spiritual disciplines. And what

are spiritual disciplines? Well, they

are practices that are rooted in

scripture

that lead to our spiritual growth.

They're practices that are rooted in

scripture and lead to our spiritual

growth. What What are they not? They're

not character qualities. They're not

fruit of the spirit. They are things we

do. They're actions that we do.

They are things that we do that don't

earn our salvation. In fact, it's

actually it's kind of the opposite. We

do them in response to being saved. We

do them in response to being saved. So,

of course, those things I spoke of and

including serving, they are things we

act out as Christians. So when we are

speaking of these spiritual disciplines,

I am speaking of us as believers, as

those who trust in God. So if that is

not you this morning, in a sense, you're

looking in, you're getting a glimpse

into why we do certain things as a

church. And of course, our prayer for

you would be that you would join us,

that you would trust in God, that you

would be part of of a church, whether

it's this church here or another, and

that you would know what it is to serve

God in these various ways. So serving is

another spiritual discipline. It's

something that we do. It's it's rooted

in scripture. It doesn't save us. So as

you do things in the church to serve one

another, it doesn't save you. But it's

in response to your salvation. And

it leads to our maturity. It leads to

our spiritual growth. So there is a

there is a benefit and a purpose to it.

We don't just do it for the sake of it.

And the church both globally but also

locally as we think of the church. The

church is not a place to just show off

our gifts. It's not a place to come in

and say, "Look at me serving in this

way. Aren't I amazing? Aren't I so

great? Give me a pat on the back." Now,

as we'll see later, there is some reward

to serving. And it's it's good to

acknowledge as you see people serving.

But we don't just come here to show off

our gifts. We also don't come here just

to enjoy the experience, just to sit

back and say, you know what be

fantastic? You serve me. That would be

fantastic.

We don't do either of those things. We

don't come just to show off. We don't

come just to be served. Rather, the

church is to be a place where we serve

one another as together we serve Christ.

We serve one another as together we

serve Christ. As we read in 1 Peter

1 Peter 4:10

4:10,

as each has received a gift, so it's

assuming that you have a gift, you have

something that you can bring to the

church to use. As each has a gift, use

it to serve one another as good stewards

of God's varied grace.

Now, before I start speaking in more

detail about serving, there's an

important question that we have to ask

at the start. So I did say I I I'm

assuming that I'm speaking this to

believers when I'm speaking of serving.

I don't think actually that we can serve

in the church unless we are believers.

Um

but there's an important question we

must ask ourselves and it's not how you

serve but who you serve. The first

question we must ask is who do you

serve? And this question matters. Why?

Well our hearts are quick to wonder

aren't they? I don't know if your heart

is like mine, but it's quick to wander.

It's quick to go to other masters to

serve other things.

So, one master that our hearts can be

quick to follow is literally false gods

or idols. This was such a problem in the

Old Testament that God said it

repeatedly, repeatedly throughout the

Old Testament. Do not go after other

gods. Do not set up images.

When you come and you're surrounded by

other nations and other people, don't

let your hearts go after their gods,

their idols, the things that they serve

made of wood or stone. Don't go after

them. Don't make idols for yourself.

Now, of course, they constantly broke

it, didn't they? They constantly broke

that command. So much so that Joshua,

there's this amazing speech by Joshua

right before his death and he's sort of

giving a final warning plea to the

people of Israel. And as I read this,

there's a verse you'll notice. It's a

verse that we pull out and we display it

in our homes uh quite prominently and

it's that's a good thing. It's a good

thing to have this in our homes, but we

need to understand the context the

context of where that verse comes from.

So listen out and see if you notice that

verse right at the end. But this is what

Joshua said first or part of what he

said to the people as he was warning

them. He said, "Now therefore, fear the

Lord and serve him in sincerity and in

faithfulness. Put away the gods that

your father served beyond the river and

in Egypt and serve the Lord. And if it

is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord,

choose this day whom you will serve.

whether the gods your father served in

the region beyond the river or the gods

of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.

But as for me and my house, we will

serve the Lord. As for me and my house,

we will serve the Lord.

Now, I understand that the the risk of

us serving a physical false god is

probably fairly slim. I hope is fairly

slim.

But can we not admit that our hearts are

quick to wander after idols, after other

things? And it could be anything. I'm

even cautious to name anything because

it could be anything. Anything in this

world that our hearts can wander after.

And those material things, those things

we look to

can take over our hearts. They can fill

our minds. They can be the things we

daydream of. They're things we crave

after. They are in essence the things

that we worship, the things that we

serve. So can we say with Joshua

confidently,

whatever this world is doing, even

whatever those around me in the church

are doing, as for me and my house, we

will serve the Lord. We will root out

those idols and we will serve the Lord

alone.

A second master that we can

often stray towards serving is money. So

only last week Steve preached on why we

give this discipline of giving in the

church. And it's a discipline because

it's not something we choose to do. It's

actually a command. We should be giving

financially to the life of the church

for the building of God's kingdom. And

the Bible has a huge amount to say about

money.

uh so much so that in first Timothy he

gives this very direct warning Paul he

says for the love of money is the root

of all kinds of evil. It is through this

craving some have wandered away from the

faith and pierced themselves with many

tangs. I think sometimes when we speak

of money we get nervous. Our hands start

sweating. and we're like, we really want

to have the money conversation

either because we're unsure how much

other people earn, what they do with

their money, how they display that, how

much they give to the church. But it is

an important thing for us to look at

because money for so many of us,

including myself, can pull our heart

away. It can pull us to serve

money rather than God. So the question

around money is do you serve with money

or do you serve money? Do you serve with

money as Steve encouraged us last week

or do you serve money? Is money your

master? Is money your god? And it's

funny with money that it can be either

when when we have too little money or we

have a great amount of money. Either can

cause us to serve money.

Matthew 6:19, "Do not lay up for

Matthew 6:19

yourselves treasures on earth. Where

moth and rust destroy, where thieves

break in and steal, lay up for

yourselves treasures in heaven. Where

neither m nor rust destroys, and where

thieves do not break in and steal. For

where your treasure is, there your heart

is also.

No one can serve two masters. He will

either hate the one and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one and

despise the other." You cannot serve God

and money.

A third master that can pull our hearts

away

away from service of God is other

people. Is other people. And we have to

be careful with that. We have to ask

ourselves that in our service in the

church as we serve here locally in

passage, what is our primary motivation?

Are we doing it to serve God or to serve

others? Because praise is wonderful to

receive, isn't it? Isn't it so nice when

someone praises you and says, "You're so

great at doing this. You're so

wonderful." And like I said, it's it's

good to acknowledge people's service,

but we need to be careful with both how

we give praise and how we receive it in

the way we can give it. Thank you for

serving in this way. I I'm so encouraged

to see how God is working in your life

and using this gifting that he has given

you and how we receive it humbly.

Thank you for acknowledging that God is

working in my life. He is doing

incredible work that I could not do

without him.

So are we people pleasers or do we serve

God?

Paul again writing in Galatians says,

"For am I now seeking the approval of

man or of God? Am I trying or am I

trying to please man? If I were still

trying to please man, I would not be a

servant of Christ.

Whatever you do, work heartily as for

the Lord and not for men, knowing that

from the Lord you will receive the

inheritance as your reward. You are

serving the Lord Christ." It's from

Colossians 3.

So, we can only have one master. And as

Christians, we're we're not to serve

idols or false gods. We're certainly not

to serve money. And we're not even

primarily to serve one another. Rather,

we need to be reminded that our hearts

belong to God.

And so, we display our love and our

worship of God through unity and acts of

love for one another.

Who do you serve? Let's turn to our

passage in Philippians. And this is

where we're going to be based.

Philippians chapter 2. And I want to

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

draw from this passage five lessons in

relation to serving. Five lessons in

relation to serving. They won't all be

of equal length. So don't panic if some

are longer than others. We'll get there.

Five lessons that we can draw in

relation to serving. The first is found

in verses 1 and two of chapter 2 of

Philippians.

Serving starts with a foundation of

unity. Serving starts with a foundation

of unity. This is what is written in

Philippians 2 verse one.

So if there is any encouragement in

Christ, any comfort from love, any

participation in the spirit, any

affection and sympathy, complete my joy

by being of the same mind, having the

same love, being in full accord and of

one mind.

Have you ever experienced any

encouragement in Christ? Like ask that

question of yourself. Let that sink into

your mind. Have you ever received any

encouragement in Christ

as a believer? As a Christian,

whether it's a short time, whether it's

a long time that you've been a believer,

have you experienced any encouragement

in Christ, any comfort in love, any

participation in this spirit, any

affection and sympathy?

Well, you'd have to say, "Of course I

have." Like, it's it's endless. Like,

can you even give all of the examples of

how gracious and good God has been to

you? How loving

through Christ, that comfort that he has

given you, that encouragement, that

participation in the spirit, and what

should be the end result of all of those

graces that we've received, all of that

grace that has flowed into our lives?

Surely does it not first remind you of

just how gracious and kind God is to

you?

How vile a sinner you are? How vile a

sinner I am. And yet Christ would do

that for me.

He would give me that encouragement,

that comfort, that participation in the

spirit. But then what do we do with

that? Do we just sit and say this is

wonderful that God has freed me from

that bondage of sin. He has given me

this encouragement and grace and surely

it doesn't stop there. It it should flow

through our veins and out of us out of

us towards and to be shared with others.

This verse these opening two verses

remind us we are not in this alone. We

are not in this alone. There are

literally people sitting next to you in

this room who have also received

encouragement in Christ, comfort in his

love, participation in the spirit.

Truly, if we trust and believe in

Christ, we are brothers and sisters in

Christ. We are flesh and blood. We're of

the same family.

And so, we don't keep that

encouragement, that comfort just for

ourselves. We share it out amongst each

other.

We share it out in acts of love and

service towards one another. And then

comes verse two. And in verse two, Paul

says, "Complete my joy by being of the

same mind." Being of the same mind. So

unity, service, doing things together.

But he starts by saying, why would we do

those things? So that we would complete

his joy. See, Paul is not only their

leader, he's the one that first brought

them the gospel.

And so, when he writes, "Complete my

joy." It's it's it's like Paul as an

empty bottle,

it's like he's giving this analogy that

when he first went and preached to them

in Philippi, when they first heard the

gospel and one or two responded, well,

I'd say a fair amount filled up into

that bottle. That bottle was no longer

empty. And Paul was like, "This is

incredible. They're responding to the

gospel. They're eager to hear it." And

then as some got baptized and they began

to grow in their knowledge of Christ,

what he had done for them, well, that

bottle was filling up and up and up.

But what is it that brings that bottle

to overflowing?

It's when he sees them in unity serving

and loving one another. That's what

makes that bottle overflow for Paul.

That's what makes his joy complete.

We could speak of that even with our

leaders here in this church. Imagine

what joy it would bring to those who

preach and lead you week after week to

see you serving and loving one another.

To see that unity that we have in Christ

displayed in acts of service and love to

one another.

Serving starts with a foundation of

unity.

Secondly, verse looking just at the

start of verse three, serving flows from

the heart. Serving flows from the heart.

In verse three, he writes, "Do nothing

from selfish ambition or conceit."

You could also in other versions it

would it would use the wording do

nothing from pride or vain glory.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or

conceit. from a place of pride or or

vain glory.

Serving starts in our hearts. Now,

there's actually no Christian discipline

that doesn't. So, prayer, giving

financially, and serving, all of these

things actually start in the heart. Yes,

they're actions, but they start in our

heart.

Now, I know you're, if you're like me,

you're thinking, "But there's always

mixed motives. There's always mixed

motives in what I do, in the ways that I

serve.

There are and they will always be there.

But by the work of the spirit, we need

to root out those mixed motives. We need

to dig deep or perhaps not that deep to

find that pride, that vain glory, those

enemies of Christian serving, and we

need to root them out. Because what does

pride do? Pride seeks to elevate us

above other people. That's essentially

what pride is. is is in every

interaction we're having. Pride is

fighting to say, "I'm better than you."

Guess who's preaching this morning? It's

me, not you. Guess who's leading? It's

me, not you. Guess who set up all the

chairs? Me, not you. Pride is constantly

going to be fighting to master us and to

master others,

to make ourselves believe that we are

somehow better than others, that we are

above them.

And that brings serving not from a place

of love to God and love for his people,

but from a place of selfish ambition.

And really, I don't think we can even

call that serving. If you're not serving

to honor Christ and to love his people,

well, then you're not really serving.

You're just doing things. You're just

doing things in the church, which might

be helpful, but is it really Christian

service?

I don't believe it is.

It's it's for our own gain. It's for our

own selfish ambition.

As well as idols and God not wanting

people to go after them. What else was

God constantly reminding the people all

through the Old Testament? Don't go

after idols and false gods and your

heart is mine. I want your hearts.

You know, so many people when they look

at the Old Testament, they have this

misconception that it's all just laws

and rules and that's all God was focused

on. Well, they're simply wrong. All

throughout the Old Testament, from the

Garden of Eden right through the Exodus

into the wilderness years, the prophets,

the priests, the kings, the wars, the

exile, there was a gracious God calling

a people of faith and hearts that loved

him. That is the story of the Old

Testament. Read it if you don't see

that. Read it and you will see the grace

and love of God calling a people to

himself,

calling for their hearts, hearts that

loved him. Deuteronomy 6, you shall love

the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your

might. Micah 6, what does the Lord

require of you but to do justice, to

love kindness, and to walk humbly with

your God?

James 4, humble yourselves before the

Lord and he will exalt you.

Whatever serving looks like in practice,

and we'll we'll get there near the end,

some practical applications. Whatever

serving looks like,

it is to flow from our hearts. A heart

that is humble, not serving out of pride

or vain glory.

Thirdly, serving counts others more

significant than ourselves. Look at the

second part of verse three into four.

But in humility, count others more

significant than yourselves. Let each of

you look not only to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others.

So pride

seeks to elevate me above you, you above

others.

Serving humility does the exact

opposite. It does the exact opposite. It

is to see you as greater than myself,

as worth more than me. That is what

humble service is to look like.

If you were to calculate to add up how

much time you you spend thinking of

other people, how much time do you think

that is? Now actually as I was thinking

of this I was like well we do spend a

lot of time thinking about ourselves so

that's probably the primary thought in

our minds but we also spend a lot of

time thinking about other people and

when you think of those thoughts that

you think of other people are they

primarily loving or critical

are they primarily loving or critical

those thoughts that you have of other

people you see in the world that we live

in this self-focused world it encourages

encourages you. Look out for yourself.

Think of yourself. Put yourself first.

No one else is going to. If you don't

squeeze onto that bus and get that seat,

someone else is going to take it.

If you don't, you know, pursue this

promotion in your job, someone else is

going to get ahead of you. They're going

to get one up on you. Look after

yourself. But that is not to be true

amongst Christians. In fact, it is

actually to be the exact opposite.

We are to see others as being of more

worth than ourselves. Or have we so

easily forgotten the grace that God has

given us? Like where did you come from?

Are you of some particular worth that

God needs you? That he has to have you?

I can say for myself, no way.

I have no idea where I would be today if

it wasn't for the grace and goodness of

God. I'm sure you can speak to that too,

Christian.

Romans 12, I say to everyone among you

not to think of himself more highly than

he ought to think. We are to be quick to

notice our own shortcomings, our own

sin,

and ready to graciously overlook those

of others, assume the best of other

people.

I love this quote from Dietrich

Bonhaofer writing back in the time of of

the war.

It takes a little bit to unpack. So, let

me say it first and I'll explain.

Self-justification

and judging others go together.

Just as justification by grace and

serving others go together.

What he's saying there is

self-justification.

I don't need God or he would be lucky to

have me or I can save myself. That

mindset

goes hand inhand with judging other

people.

Look at her. Look at him. I'm so much

better. Do they not realize what they're

doing?

They go together. Just as justification

by grace, Christ alone saves me from my

vile sin

and serving other people, seeing their

needs, seeing them as being above

ourselves, they go hand in hand.

And if you look at verse four, it is

assumed that we will look after

ourselves. You've heard this preached

many times here. It is assumed that we

will look after ourselves. We clothe

ourselves. We feed ourselves. We nourish

our bodies.

And so this verse assumes that and then

pivots to instructing us to look out for

the interests of others.

Now, it's not, of course, I should say

this. It's not to be an intrusive

looking out for others. So, you're not

to like, you know, just kind of bombard

yourself into someone's life and they're

like kind of pull back a bit. It's to be

in a posture of unity and love. As you

see needs in someone's life, as you see

a way that you can encourage them, we

are to come alongside them and see them

as being of more value than ourselves.

Or do we care more about our own needs,

our own comfort

than how much we can love others? Do we

love others as we love ourselves?

Fourthly, serving has a mindset that

imitates Christ. Look at verse 5-8.

Have this mind among yourselves, which

is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he

was in the form of God, did not count

equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself by taking the form

of a servant being born in the likeness

of men. and being found in human form,

he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death, even death on a

cross.

You know, in many ways, the text says it

all here. You don't have to do much

explaining for a text like this. But is

there any greater example of humble,

God-honoring, honoring service than

Jesus? Because as I was preparing this,

I was like, what examples do I use? You

know, we actually do that as preachers.

You actually think these things through.

You're like, what would be a good

example to give? What would kind of stir

people up?

But there is no example that you can use

like Christ. As Brendan read to us

earlier, that humble servant who even

washed the feet of his disciples. And

actually, interestingly, later on in

Philippians, Paul calls

for them to imitate even him,

to imitate how he lives for Christ. Not

to boast in his own abilities, but

simply saying, "Follow my example. I

have a heart that loves the Lord. So

follow after me. Come with me."

He also actually gives the example of

two men, Timothy and Apaproditis, as

good examples to follow.

And you know what church? I could have

named many of you. I could have given

many of your names as good examples to

follow. But there is none like Christ.

There is none like Christ.

Christ took on full humanity

in order to serve us. Just consider the

humility of that. Christ

emptied himself. And we need to be

careful when we look at this. It's it's

there can be a misunderstanding here.

Christ never lost his deity. He never

stopped being fully God.

So when we speak of him emptying

himself, it's rather that there was a

voluntary laying aside of his divine

glory and privileges and the adding on

of a human nature. Christ never stopped

being God,

which actually makes it more

significant. He just chose to serve us

in this way. He chose to lower himself

to a human level. And if you think,

well, that's kind of insulting, isn't

it? Well, again, is there anything so

great about you that you can compare

with God? Do we see ourselves as lowly

and weak?

Are we in awe of God that he would lower

himself to our level to serve us? John

Piper says it this way. He says,

"Believers should be stunned into

loneliness by Christ's example, looking

to the interests of others as Christ did

when he moved from highest glory to

lowest debt."

We should be stunned into loneliness.

And then when you look at verse eight

and this focus on the cross,

it's not so much focusing here on the

severity of the punishment. It looks at

that in other parts of scripture. But

the point here is actually when it's

speaking of the cross, it's more

speaking of the humility of dying on a

cross. The shame of that. The cross was

an object of shame. It was for criminals

and outcasts.

He served us even unto death.

And as we serve, we need to have a

mindset that imitates Christ. Of course,

we're never going to be as good as him.

Of course, we can never do what he did,

but we are to have that mindset, a a

setting aside of our own privileges,

comfort and ease, a humble and

deliberate service of others for the

glory of God. That is be to be the

mindset that we have.

Fifthly, we've got there. Number five,

serving should have an eternal

perspective. Verses 9 to 11.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name that is

above every name, so that at the name of

Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven

and on earth and under the earth, and

every tongue confess that Jesus Christ

is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Now, of course, these verses speak of

Christ's reward, not ours. Okay? So, we

need to be careful with that. speaking

of Christ's reward.

And we don't serve to get a reward.

That's not our motivation in serving.

We need to have that that heart

perspective that's putting others before

ourselves. And yet scripture does speak

of some reward to serving. Matthew 10

Matthew 10:42

verse 42. And whoever gives one of these

little ones, even a cup of cold water,

because he is a disciple, truly I say to

you, he will by no means lose his

reward. There will be a reward for

serving, but it's not to be our primary

motivation.

That was kind of a side step. What I

want us to look at is is the verses I

just read

and picture that scene. Picture what is

being described.

One day every knee will bow. That's not

just every knee in this room. It's not

just every knee in passage. Not just

every knee in Cork. Not just every knee

living in the world now.

This is every person in all of history.

Billions of people bowing and confessing

that Jesus Christ is Lord.

I think it's going to be both amazing

and terrifying.

Amazing if you trust in God and if you

know him as your Lord. Terrifying if you

don't and you realize this was true

after all.

It may be

as we think of

the purpose, the outcome of our serving,

it may be that God uses your simple acts

of service, whatever that is,

to water the seeds of salvation that he

has planted in someone's life. Think

about that. It may be that God uses the

simple acts of service

that you do to water the seeds of

salvation that he is planting in

someone's life. Brothers and sisters,

serving needs to have an eternal

perspective.

These are not just simple things we do.

They are for the kingdom of God.

Now, one of the reasons I've loved

studying this topic of serving is it's

so practical and so practical to apply.

In fact, we can almost immediately begin

to put it into practice even after this

service. I hope it spurs you on. I hope

it ignites you to want to serve more.

So, I've got some rapidfire applications

for us, okay? They're not in any order

of priority. and take them with the

grace that they are given into your

circumstance, whatever that is, you

tweak it for the nuance of your life.

But I hope that some of these at least

can be a challenge and an encouragement

to you.

Firstly, how are you using your time?

Steve spoke last week of giving and the

benefit of doing like a budget in your

family, a financial budget to see where

your money goes and how much you can

give to the church. Well, do you need to

do a budget of your time? Do you need to

look at your family life, your work

life, your hobbies, all of those life

admin things in between? How much time

do you give to serving?

And that might sound crass. That might

sound like, do you really want me to put

down minutes and hours? Well, I think it

could be very helpful for us to just

look on paper and see how much do I

actually serve in terms of time and how

does that balance with the rest of my

life? Perhaps you will find time where

you didn't know you had it. Because

serving doesn't always have to be things

that take a huge amount of time.

Perhaps you have more time than you

think.

A servant heart is to be intentional.

So, we are to be deliberate in our

service. We are to commit to serving. A

few weeks ago, Shane preached on

membership. And I this point that he

made really stuck with me when he said,

you know, that and I'm paraphrasing a

little bit what he said, but we've no

problem signing up as members to various

sports clubs, subscriptions, different

things. And yet suddenly when it comes

to the church and someone's asking you,

do you want to be a member? Do you want

to like officially join us and commit to

us? We can sort of bulk at that. We can

be like, really? Or you want me to

actually give financially

even though we would do it in other

places?

Shouldn't my service, if it's genuine,

just be spontaneous, flow from my heart?

Isn't that more authentic? If I'm signed

up to a ROA, is that not going to like

just mean that I'm forced to do it? That

I'm only doing it because I'm on a ROA.

Well, firstly, as we saw earlier,

motives are always mixed, always tainted

as we continue to battle sin. But we

must fight against this really unhelpful

view of service. This idea that that

roas or committing to service is somehow

wrong.

It's really unhelpful. If if you think

for a second how difficult would it be

for a church to run without some form of

structured membership, without some way

of knowing like who's in and who's not

in, who's committed long term to this

church and who isn't. It'd be really

difficult for a church to run like that.

It would be really difficult for a

church to run without structured service

like who's opening the building, who's

setting out the chairs this week, who's

on the preaching ro. These things

matter.

ROAS are firstly practical. They they

literally just confirm that something's

covered. We know the seats are going to

be here. We know our children are going

to be minded.

But secondly, they also hold us

accountable. I can't tell you the amount

of times

that just being on a roa has encouraged

me encouraged me to go to God's word to

spend time in prayer in preparation for

whatever that type of service is that

I'm on a ro for. Do you think me

preaching this week made me rely more on

God or less on God? I was running to him

all week long because I knew I needed

him despite being on a official roa to

preach.

A servant heart is to be intentional.

But thirdly, serving can also be

spontaneous. There is that room left. We

can take and should take opportunities

to serve each other just as we see it,

just as it comes to our hearts. And

that's a a quieter,

less known way of service. you see a

need and you just do it. It could be

that someone has a need or it could be

some need here in the church like

helping to set up something or do

something. So there is that still that

space for being spontaneous in your

serving.

Serve how you would like to be served.

Did no one talk to you when you first

walked in here to PBC?

Well, then be that person to others. Did

no one shuffle over and make space for

you and your family and you all have to

sit separately? Well, look out for

opportunities to do that for others as

they come in the door.

Do you love when someone sends you an

encouraging text? Well, start texting.

Start doing that for other people. Are

you encouraged when someone invites you

into their home? Well, be hospitable.

welcome people into not just your home

but your life into the things that you

and your family are doing.

Do you see gaps in how we can serve each

other here in PBC? Well, firstly, I

would say start filling those gaps. As

you see things that need to be done,

just start doing them. But also, it

could be helpful. Talk to the deacons,

talk to the elders. Maybe they hadn't

noticed. Maybe they'd be very grateful.

Thank you for noticing that. Maybe

there's some nuance in that situation

that they can speak into. Maybe there's

some reason why that thing isn't covered

or is the way it is.

Use your gifts, but not exclusively.

Use your gifts, but not exclusively. I'm

not an IT guy. In fact, I'm the total

opposite of whatever the opposite of an

IT guy is. So much so, I walked into a

computer shop this week. It's kind of

embarrassing. I was looking to buy a

tablet

and I actually asked the guy, no joke,

who's working there. I said, "Does this

tablet come with one of those pen

thingies?" And he kind of just audibly

sighed in front of me as he was trying

to explain what it does and doesn't do.

But I'm so thankful we have it people in

this church.

We have people gifted to play

instruments,

to fix things, to care for and disciple

our children, to bake, to cook, to

organize, to plan rotors.

Whatever your giftings, use them for the

service of the church as together we

serve Christ. But also

remain willing to be less comfortable

and to serve in less comfortable ways. I

say comfortable because I assume if you

play an instrument,

you get either some enjoyment out of it

or it doesn't stress you out to do it.

There's some ease with doing that thing

that you're good at doing. So do those

things, but also be willing to serve in

less

comfortable ways, in ways that push you

a bit out of your comfort zone. There

are some things in the church, whether

you like it or not, that just need to be

done. And so see if you can help with

those things. We don't want to hold our

gifts so tightly that no one else can do

them. I am the only one that can do this

thing.

How wonderful it would be if we brought

someone alongside us. Train them up to

do this thing. Maybe they could replace

us. Maybe they do it alongside us. That

is a wonderful thing to do.

Be generous with what God has given you.

Think of all the resources that God has

given you. Your time, your money, space

in your home.

Use that, use those resources to serve

others in the church and hold those

things lightly. If you don't hold them

lightly,

be careful that they don't become idols.

Be careful they don't become things that

master you and that you serve. Your

precious car, your precious home, your

precious time. Be careful to use these

things for God and his church.

serve through speaking into each other's

lives. You know, strangely, as

Christians, it's just something I've

noticed. I've noticed it in myself,

we can be hesitant to speak about what

has just been preached or what we've

just studied in a study. So, we we go

out to our time of tea or coffee and

suddenly we'll talk about everything and

anything except what has been preached

or except what we have learned in that

study or what is really going on in our

lives.

I would encourage you talk to one

another about what is being preached and

use the name of Jesus. It's something

strange amongst Christians. We can be

hesitant to speak the name of Jesus. So

we'll talk about like God and faith. Use

the name of Jesus.

I'm so encouraged by what Christ is

doing in your life. I see the giftings

you have. Thank you for serving in this

way. How can I help you with this? Were

you encouraged by the sermon? I was.

Let's talk about this. Do you ever think

of this nuance? Talk through these

things together.

Prayer is a way that we can all serve.

How incredible would it be if every day

all of us were praying for each other?

And I'm sure many of you are. But how

can we be more deliberate in that?

Do you know it can be so encouraging if

you get that text saying, "I just prayed

for you or I was praying for you or

whatever request someone put into the

men's group or the women's group." Just

acknowledge that.

Pray for one another and tell other

people that you are praying for them.

Ask them for ways that you can pray.

Share your requests for prayer. Let's be

a church that prays for one another,

that we serve in that way.

Pray for our leaders

as they lead us in our church here in

passage.

And be a person who prays at home with

your spouse, with your children. And

pray for our church. So they would know

the names of not just our leaders, but

the people in our church. Build that

habit. get over those few awkward first

days where this is something you don't

normally do. Push beyond that and be a

family, be a household that prays. And

then of course attend prayer meetings.

We have prayer meetings and studies in

the church and as you can come along to

those things. Do you know an amazing

type of service is just being present?

Do you realize that how much you serve

the church by just being present? You

know those days where you think I can

barely get out the door and why does it

matter anyway? It matters. Literally

just your presence is a way of serving

other people. It's an encouragement to

other people.

As I conclude,

what would it look like in this church

if in our relationships with one

another, we have the same mindset as

Christ Jesus, putting the interests of

others above our own. I think it would

look like a church that displays its

love and worship of God through unity

and acts of love for one another. Let

that be our church in passage.

Father God, I praise you and thank you

for the work that you have done in my

life and in the lives of many here who

know you as their God.

Father, we

were vile and wretched sinners,

totally undeserving of your grace and

love. And yet you showered it on us

through Christ. Through his finished

work on the cross, we can indeed serve

you, God. Deliberately and purposefully,

we can serve you

even as we serve and love one another.

Father, I pray by your spirit, you would

help us to do this. We know we cannot do

any of this without the work of your

spirit in our lives. And father we pray

that all the praise and all the glory

and all the worship and wonder will go

to you alone and not announce to us God

in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let's stand together to sing and

worship.