Serve | Dr Jerry Horner

You're listening to a message to go from ACTS Church. We hope this message

will light up your tea. Well, it's good to be back to one

of my favorite places, one of my favorite places to visit. And you

sure have the right name for your church. Acts. There's always something going

on here, lots of acts and speaking of which, I think that anybody

who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ and is a true disciple of

Jesus really does want to serve the Lord. Now, the question some people

have is what can I do to serve Jesus. I mean, I don't

have much ability. I can't sing, I can't teach, I can't preach.

I really don't have much to offer to the Lord. Well, I

want to talk to you about that a little bit later. Don't you say

you have nothing to give to the Lord? Because the Lord is given to

each one of us a gift. All right, Much more about that later.

But what great deed do I have to do to show my love for

Jesus? Because the basic requirement for service is a passionate love for the Lord

Jesus Christ. You remember, Jesus did not ask Simon Peter if he loved

sheep or loved to feed sheep. He asked, Peter, do you love

me? Do you love me? Service for any reason other than love for

Jesus is unacceptable. After all, what is service? It is? This

is the overflow of a heart filled with gratitude for what the Lord Jesus Christ

has done for us. Now, so people might ask, well, how

much do I have to give? What great sacrifice do I have to make

to show my love for Jesus. Well, I want to share with you

today a story about somebody in the New Testament. It's a story that actually

told twice in the New Testament. You'll find it in the Gospel of Mark,

chapter fourteen, and you will also find it in John's Gospel, chapter

twelve. Now, this is the story of a woman by the name of

Mary. She was the sister of Lazarus. And you remember that Jesus had

raised Lazarus from the dead. So they were having a dinner in honor of

Lazarus and Jesus who raised him from the dead, and the people were having

fellowship, and all of a sudden, here came this lady Mary into the

room, and she was carrying an expensive container, an alabaster box. That

container was filled with a costly perfume, and she was really committing a social

disgrace. She wasn't supposed to be out there as the center of attraction.

Women were supposed to stay in the background. They were not to make a

spectacle out of themselves. And yet here's this woman, oblivious to everybody else,

came into the room with this alabaster box filled with this coarsely ornament,

and she broke it open, poured the contents over the head and the feet

of Jesus. And people were shocked at what she did, and they began

to criticize her. They said, what a waste this woman has just wasted.

In fact, by the way the contents of that ornament, it may

not seem like much of you to you today, it'd be worth about fifty

dollars in American money. That's not much, but back then that was actually

a full year's wages for a working person. But she poured it all out

on Jesus. She could have sold it, given the money to the poor,

and yet she wasted it. And the people surely knew that Jesus must

have been terribly offended. To be embarrassed like this in public. This woman

did. It served no purpose, It was a total waste. And yet

they were surprised at the reaction of Jesus. Jesus in effects said, shut

your mouth, stop criticizing her. He said, this woman has done a

good work for me. She's done what she could. She's come beforehand to

annoying my body for burial. And Jesus said, I like what she's done,

and I'm never going to forget it. Furthermore, I'm not going to

let anybody else forget it. Jesus said, wherever the gospel was preached,

what this woman has done will be told as a memorial to her. So,

dear friends, were fulfilling prophecy. Today we are talking about what this

woman did, just as Jesus said. So here were the people criticizing Mary

for wasting and expensive perfume, but Jesus said, she's done a good thing.

Jesus has a different way of evaluating things than us. We look at

people who give magnificent gifts, we look at people have magnificent talents. But

do you remember when Jesus was at the temple and this people were giving their

offerings, and all the religious people, the Pharisees and others were making a

big display of their gifts. Oh look at how much I'm giving. And

yet there was this woman, a widow. She had two little coins.

They were the smallest coins in circulation, and both of them put together,

were worth practically nothing. But it was all she had, and she gave

everything, gave it all. Now you know what Jesus said. Now people

thought it wasn't much, it was nothing. Jesus said, this woman has

given more than anybody else. In fact, Jesus said, she's given more

than everybody else put together. You know what that says. Jesus doesn't judge

our gift by the amount we give, but by the amount we have left

over after we give. She gave everything. God judges us on the basis

of what we do with what he is entrusted to us. Now, I

want to show you what it takes for you to please the Lord Jesus.

I want to show you the standard of service. We say, what big

thing do I have to do? What great sacrifice do I have to make?

Well, there is a standard for serving Jesus, and that's very simple.

And this is what it takes for you to do service. That is

acceptable to Jesus, and that is very pleasing to him. There are three

things. Number one, do what you can, do what you can.

This woman came in there, and Jesus said, she's done what she could.

Now she had a sister, Martha, and that was easy for Martha

to show her gratitude because Martha was very talented, she was very efficient,

and she had many gifts. And there she was in the kitchen and she

was really doing an act of service. And Mary loved the Lord just as

much as her sister did. And she said, what what can I do?

There must be something I can do, because love has to give.

If you love, you have to give. That's how it expresses itself.

All of a sudden, she remembered that alabaster box. Now how she came

to be in possession of such a an expensive gift, I don't know,

but she thought of it. She went there to its hiding place. Maybe

she had been saving it for her wedding, Maybe she was saving it for

her old age to give her security. But for whatever reason, it was

all she had that was a value. So she took it, went back

into that room, and people were staring at her, hissing at her criticizing.

She was oblivious to everybody. There was her brother Lazarus, and there

was Jesus, who raised him from the dead. She went and bowed at

the feet of Jesus, broke open that box and poured the contents out over

the head and the feet of Jesus. And Jesus said, I like what

she has done. She has done what she could. Now the people thought

it was a terrible waste. But I want to tell you something. Jesus

judges our gift by the standard of using what God gives to us. All

he expects of us is to use the opportunity that God has given us.

You say, well, I just don't have much. I want to tell

you something. It is an insult for you to say that you have nothing

to give to God. It is an insult to his grace because God has

entrusted to you some gift. But you see, we tend to magnify people

who are out there in the spotlight, don't we. I mean, here's

a wonderful Christian singer, Here's a great Christian speaker, a wonderful teacher.

Oh, here's a great musician. People who have an abundance of talent and

we compare ourselves to them, and oh, there's nothing I can do.

Oh. I tell you what. If I could sing like that, Oh,

I would really work for the Lord. If I could play a musical

instrument like that, I would really serve the Lord. If I could preach

like that, if I could sing like that. Listen, God doesn't expect

you to do what somebody else does. All he expects of you is to

do what you can. He has entrusted to you some gift, some ability.

What are you doing with the opportunity that God gives you? You say,

well, what I have is not much. Why don't you let God

be the judge of that. Listen, Everything minus God equals nothing. Nothing

plus God equals everything. In the hands of God, what you have God

can use to bless multitudes and to change nations. Let me give you some

examples. Here. Here's Moses on the backside of the desert. He's been

there forty years. He's been stripped of all of his wealth, his power,

his prestige. He has nothing. And one day God showed up.

God said, Moses, what is that in your hand? Moses said,

oh, it's just a stick. I picked this stick up and I whittled

on it. I use it to help me tend the sheep. But it's

worthless. It's just a stick. The Lord said, give it to me,

And in the hands of God that stick became his instrument to do miracles.

Moses held that stick out the red Sea party. Moses struck the rock

and water gushed out. You see, in the hands of God it is

multiplied. Do you remember In First Corinthians chapter twelve, the apostle poll compared

the Church to the human body. Now, the body is made up of

different members, and each member has its appointed function. So no one member

of the body has a right to feel superior to any other part or to

resent another part. My eye cannot say to my hand, I'm more important

than you. See I can tell you. I show you where to operate

and what to do. And the apostle Paul said, some members of the

body that are never seen, that are considered the least important, are yet

the most important for the function of the body. You are part of the

body of Christ. God has given you a function, and you have no

right to say what I have is not much, it's nothing. You remember

David went out to battle with the giant. He had a sling in five

stones. What kind of weapon is that against a giant with a huge spear

and a shield, And yet David killed that giant with that sling and a

stone. Here is a widow in Second King's chapter four. Do you remember

this woman? Her husband had died and left a huge debt. The creditors

were threatening to sell her sons into slavery to pay off the debt, and

so she told her story to the prophet Elisha. Elisha said, well,

what do you have in your house? Maybe he was thinking they could have

a sale, raise some money and pay off the creditors. She said,

I don't have anything. The only thing I have is just a cup of

oil, cooking oil. That's all. And it's not even a full cup.

It's not even worth mentioning. But it's all I have. It's worthless.

The prophet said, send your boys around the village. Have them to

collect anything that will hold oil, jars and buckets and whatever there is.

So the boys went around. They brought back all of these jugs and basins

and so forth, and he began to pour the oil out. And he

kept pouring and pouring and pouring on until all the vessels were filled, they

sold the oil, paid off the debt. This woman thought she had nothing,

but in the hands of God it became the means of saving the lives

of those two boys. You remember when Jesus fed the five thousand people,

They were just fainting for hunger. And here came Andrew said, Lord,

we got to do something. And I've looked around to see what we had,

and we certainly don't have enough money or even the time to go to

the nearest seven to eleven to buy provisions. And all I've been able to

find is this little boy, and he has a couple of fish sandwiches.

That's nothing. We've got five thousand people out there. We're not about to

feed them with a few little fish and a couple of pieces of bread.

Jesus said, give it to me, And you know what happened. In

the hands of Jesus, that little was multiplied. You say, what I

have is not much. Why don't you let God be the judge of that.

You may think that you have absolutely nothing to offer God, But in

the hands of God, what you have may be the means of changing an

entire neighborhood, or an entire city, or an entire, entire nation.

It may seem worthless, but in the hands of God, it can do

great things. And I want you to know this. Whatever God demands of

you, he will supply. And God will never ask of you. He'll

never demand more of you than what he supplies to you. That's what Christian

service is. It's returning to God what he has given to you, and

his judgment is based on what you do with the opportunity that he gives you.

And that's all he demands. So you can say, of God,

Lord, demand of me whatever you will, as long as you provide whatever

you demand. So what's the first thing in serving Jesus? Do what you

can. Oh, but it's not much, it's not even worth mentioning.

That's not the issue. Do what you can. Second thing, do all

you can, do all you can. This woman came out there with that

alabaster box. Did you notice she didn't come out there with a measuring spoon.

She didn't say, well, I've got to be practical here and just

a little dabb of this will be sufficient. She didn't measure out just a

few drops. She didn't have an atomizer to spray around. She broke it

open when she broke it open, she poured all all the contents over the

head and the feet of Jesus. She poured it all out. Not one

drop was left. So I asked you, have you done all you can?

You said, well, I've done just as much as so and so

has. That's not the question. And that's how what God is concerned about.

God doesn't measure your service on the basis what you've done in comparison with

somebody else. And you know what, God does not judge you on the

basis of what you have done, but on the basis of what you could

have done and should have done. And God doesn't judge you on the basis

of what you are, but what you could be and what you should be.

So I ask you again, have you done all that you could?

Well, I've done really a lot. I've given a whole lot. That's

not the question. Have you done all you could? Have you given all

you can give? And the thing is that God judges us on what we

do. If we give all, we yield all that He may not demand

all. But are you willing to yield all? So have you done all

that you get? Well? I have, I've prayed, But have you

ever persevered in prayer? Have you ever persisted in prayer and wept in prayer?

And number three, First, do what you can. Number two do

that much, do all you can. Third thing is do it now now.

Jesus said an interesting thing when Mary anointed his body and they began to

criticize her, He said, she has come beforehand to anoint my body for

burial. That's an interesting thing. He sure didn't look sick, but in

just a few days he's going to suffer death on a cross. And if

Mary had not anointed him on that occasion, his body would not have been

properly anointed. Do you remember? On that first Easter morning, a group

of women were going toward the tomb of Jesus, and they were carrying spices

and ointments. It wasn't right for Jesus to be buried without a proper annoying.

They were going to try to persuade the soldiers to roll away the stone

so they could go in and anoint the body of Jesus. So they got

there, the stone was rolled away already. They looked inside. It was

empty. There was nobody, But we brought spices and ointments to anoint him

too. Late, too late. Should have done it days before, but

now it's too late. Whatever you intend to do for Jesus, when he

tells you, do it, do it now. Some people say, well,

you know, I'm so young. I'm going to wait until I get

older and better established. Or I wait until I get more mature and I've

developed in my faith more, or I'll wait for a better opportunity. It

might not be a convenient time for somebody else. Or you may say,

when I get more resources, when I get my education, when I have

more money in the bank. When the Lord tells you to do something,

do it now. Do you know there are no coincidences in the life of

Jesus and in heaven, no coincidences at all. Do you remember the story

of Philip preaching in Samaria. There was a great revival and thousands of people

were saved and rejoicing in the Lord, and the Holy Spirit said, leave

here, go go down south. There's one man, one man you need

to talk to and witness to. He left a city wide revival to talk

to one man. Pos He said, well, look, let me finish

things up here first. There's st much to be done. No, if

he had waited, he would have missed that opportunity. Through the conversion of

that one man, the gospel was open to Africa. Dear friends, whatever

the Lord tells you to do, don't wait, do it now. Now.

Who was it. Who was it that said that Mary annointed his body

for burial? It wasn't her. She had no idea that when she went

out to pour that ointment over him she was anointing his body for barial.

That was Jesus who said that she did not consciously go out there to do

what he said she did. I want to tell you something, when you

do something for Jesus, you may never know the full significance of what you're

doing. You may think what you have done is nothing, it's insignificant,

But in the hands of God it bears fruit. It may be a year,

ten years, or you may never know this side of Heaven the significance

of what you've done. Sometimes when we just obey the Lord, we may

never know why, We never know how the Lord uses it. But the

important thing is that we've obeyed and that we've done. I won't tell you

a story you may never have heard of. A man by the name of

Edward Kimball, an American man who lived in Boston, Massachusetts. This was

in the middle of the nineteen century, and he was just a simple man,

a clerk in a business. But he was a Sunday school teacher.

He had a class of boys that he taught Sunday school, and one Sunday

there was a new boy in the class, seventeen year old boy. Oh,

he was a rough kid, and he had had little formal education.

He butchered the language, he was rough, unkempt, and yet there he

was in the Sunday school class. And Edward Kimball had a burden for this

boy. The only reason that boy was in the class is that he had

come to work for his uncle. His uncle owned a department store, and

the uncle said, if you're going to work for me, you got to

go to church. So there he was in the Sunday school class. So

Edward Kimball had a burden for him. And he felt the Lord saying,

go tell this boy about Jesus and lead him to salvation. So on his

lunch hour, Edward Kimball went down to that department store. At first he

walked by, he said, oh, they won't like it if I go

in there. Deserve things but he went back, He went inside, He

went back to the shoe department where this boy was working, and with tears

in his eyes, he put his hand on that boy's shoulder, told him

about the Lord Jesus Christ and led him to confess Christ as his savior.

And that boy was saved. Now you say, oh, that's a great

story, but so what Well that boy his name was Dwight L. Moody.

Now you may never heard that name Moody, but was the greatest Christian

evangelist of the nineteenth century. And even today his legacy lives on with Moody

Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, and Moody Church and so on. And

he was the instrument and bringing millions into the Kingdom of God. Okay,

Moody went over to England and he preached at Oxford. He preached at Cambridge.

And you may have seen the movie Chariots Afire, and there's one of

the leading carriage c T stud He was a student at Cambridge. He was

a star athlete and very wealthy family and his family had dreams aspirations for him.

He heard Dwight L. Moody preach, he got saved. You know

what, he did. Instead of investing his life in business, he went

to China as a missionary. And yeah, he's the one in Chariots of

Fire. But that's not all. There's another man that heard Moody preach.

Now, this man was the best, most eloquent preacher in all of England.

F. B. Meyer was his name, and he was recognized all

over England as the most wonderful orator in the country. One of his church

members said, you ought to go hear Moody preach. You know what,

he said, What can an ignorant American evangelist teach me? But this woman

was quite an influential member of his church, So to please her he went.

And there the Holy Spirit came upon him, and God used Moody to

minister to this lofty pastor. From that moment coming on when he said I'll

give everything to Jesus, I submit myself to the lordship, I'm telling you

his minister change. He was no longer just a great speaker. He preached

from his heart the Lord Jesus and changed his whole ministry. Well, this

man F. B. Meyer came over to the United States and he preached

at one of his meetings there was a man saved. His name was Wilburt

Chapman. Wilbur Chapman became an evangelist. Wilbur Chapman later was preaching in Chicago,

Illinois, in a storefront mission and there walked by a group of professional

baseball players, and on a lark, they went in to this meeting.

One of those men got saved a baseball player. He started going around with

the Sunday testifying. He became an evangelist. He became the greatest evangelist of

the first part of the twentieth century. His name was Billy Sunday. At

one of his meetings, there was a man by the name of Mordecai Ham

who really got on fire for the Lord. He became an evangelist. He

was conducting a tent revival back in the nineteen thirties, and a sixteen year

old boy came down and gave his life to the Lord in that meeting.

That boy's name was Billy Graham. And you know the story of Billy Graham.

Now I want to ask you when Edward Kimball obeyed the Lord, And

when Edward Kimball witnessed to this seventeen year old boy on his lunch hour.

Do you think he had any idea of what was going to happen over the

years. He had no idea that as a result of that one act,

millions and millions of people would enter the Kingdom of God. What I'm saying

is, you may never know. You know that the Lord says you need

to go visit somebody, or you need to make that telephone call, or

you need to perform this act of generosity, whatever it is, you may

never know how God will use it. I think sometimes when we get to

Heaven, we'll be surprised when we learn the results of some of the things

that we have done. Now, I want to show you something beautiful about

what happened in that room. When Mary anointed the head and feet of Jesus,

she noticed that expensive perfume was dripping on the floor. Now, when

she came in there, she had brought no towel, and here was the

moment dripping on the floor. So impulsively, she just reached back behind her,

got a handful of her long, black, flowing hair, and she

used her hair as a twent She wiped the feet of Jesus and wiped the

floor. And when she did that the fragrance that was on Jesus was on

her, and she smelled just like the Lord. You can always tell when

somebody's been around the Lord. Their glow, their glow with his glow.

And you see, dear friends, what you do for Jesus will come back

to you. It will come back to you. What you pour out on

Jesus will always come back to you. I'll give you a couple of illustrations.

Several years ago, I was in South Africa and I was speaking and

preaching and teaching at a pastor's conference. There were about three hundred pastors and

their wives at this conference, and in one session there was just a steel

stillness and annoying of the Holy Spirit. I didn't know quite how to end

the session, but I was through. So I was standing there and a

woman from the back got up and she started walking down the aisle. People

were gasping, some people started crying. I didn't know what was going on.

And this woman turned and she talked to this group of people. She

was speaking Africaan, so I didn't understand what she was saying until later somebody

told me, all right, here's the story. This woman was a pastor's

wife, she was the greatest, most talented musician in that whole denomination,

pianist, singer, And there she was, this talented woman, pastor's wife.

Fifteen years before that time, her daughter, nineteen year old daughter,

had been killed in an audibobill accident. After the funeral, she dropped out.

She stopped going to church. She never sang or played the piano again.

She became dependent on drugs and alcohol. Her husband struggled along in the

ministry, and he dropped out until just recently the Lord told him get back.

And he was pastor of this little church, and he persuaded her to

come with him to this meeting, first thing she'd ever attended fifteen years.

All right, during that meeting, the Holy Spirit spoke to her heart,

and she came to the island. Here she was confessing to this group of

people and giving her life back to the Lord and yielding everything to the lordship

of Jesus. Having said that, she walked up on the platform, she

sat down at the piano, and she began to play and to sing,

first time in fifteen years. What she played and sang was Jesus loves me.

This I know, for the Bible tells me, so now that's not

the end of the story. Afterwards, her husband came to me and he

told me this. He said, my daughter gave me a birthday gift shortly

before she died. It was the last thing she'd ever given to me,

and I value it more than anything. It's very special to me. What

she had given him was a copy of the Spirit Filled Life Bible Bible which

I had edited. And he said, you just still know what this means

to me, and asked me to sign is see what what you pour out

on Jesus will come back to you. I was in New Zealand some years

ago and I spoke at this meeting, and afterwards this man got up to

testify. He said many years ago, about thirty years I had first been

there about twenty five, thirty years ago. He said, I tend my

wife and I attended a service, and he said, I was considered myself

a fine Christian. I was a young businessman. But that night the speaker

just talked about total surrender to the lordship of Jesus and the fullness of the

Holy Spirit in your life. He said, my wife and I responded to

the altar call. We surrendered completely. We were filled with the Holy Spirit.

He said, my life has never been the same since then. And

he said I never did get to meet that speaker or thank him for coming.

He said, tonight, I would like to thank him with that.

He turned and shook my hands and thank you, thank you for preaching that

message. See, dear friends, what you pour out on Jesus will always

come back to you and you are blessed. Okay, so what do you

have to do to please Jesus? What is the standard of service? Well,

it's very simple. First of all, do what you can, and

don't you dare look at your gift and compare it with these people up here

on the stage or with anybody else and say it means nothing. Listen,

God didn't give it to you for nothing. He gave it to you because

you are the one who can use it for his glory. You say,

I don't even know what it is, all right, maybe you don't,

but do what you can. It might be that you're a greeter. You

may be the first one that a visitor meets when he comes in here.

It might be a new family has moved into your building and you're the first

person that you understand what I'm saying, whatever it is that God or with

the children, or with the elderly, or whatever, I don't know,

but God has given to you something. So do what you can and do

all you can. Don't hold back, don't let a drop be left in

your alabaster box. Pour it all out and do it now. Don't wait,

don't wait, it might be too late. Okay. I want us

to pray, and I ask you, are you willing are you willing to

do to be that kind of servant for the Lord? To do what you

can. Father, I thank you for this woman Mary who annoyed Jesus.

I thank you for the example that she gave us. I thank you Lord

Jesus for recording this message and this act that we can present it as an

example of what it takes to serve you and to please you. And Lord

I ask right now that if there is somebody here who has never trusted Jesus

as savior, that Lord, that person would the heart would be stirred by

the Holy Spirit. That person would say, Jesus, come into my life.

Jesus, I repent, I surrender to you. And Father, I

pray that everyone here who professes to be a follower of Jesus Christ would right

now say, Lord, everything I have is yours. I yield to you

whatever gift you've given me. I want to use it to the fullest,

and I want to start right now. I don't want to wait. So

Lord, with the gift that you've given me, I dedicate it to you,

and I will do all that I can to your glory. Thank you,

Lord Jesus Amen. We hope you've been blessed by this message. For

more information on our church, please visit as church Org. We are also

active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that this week is going to be

a good week. I hit for you. God bless