212 Degree Service

What is the difference between hot and warm

• At 211° water is hot. But At 212° it boils.

• One degree is the difference between water as a liquid and water as a gas.

• One degree makes all the difference.

In Revelation 3:15-16, the Laodicean church is called out for their lukewarm Christianity,

• The Lord says that because they are lukewarm he will vomit them out of his mouth.

Through the Laodicean church we discover that lukewarm Christianity is not enough.

So what is the one degree that separates 211° Christianity from 212° Christianity,

• lukewarm Christianity from committed Christianity?

• In this lesson, we’re gonna look at that one degree of separation in our service.

And we’ll see that there are 4 ways we reach 212° in our service.

1) 212° SERVICE IS IMPARTIAL

• Numerous times the disciples tried to choose who Jesus could serve

• They encouraged Jesus to send away the crowd of 5000+ people to find food (Matthew 14:13-21).

• They asked Jesus to send away the Canaanite woman who was following him and seeking him to heal her daughter (Matthew 15:21-28).

They rebuked parents for bringing their children to Jesus (Matthew 19:13-15).

212° Service does not pick and choose who to serve;

• 212° service just serves who needs to be served.

• Jesus never told us who to serve.

• He never gave us parameters on what type of person deserves our help.

• Look at the parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25. J

• Jesus separated the sheep to his right and invited them into the kingdom

• Because they fed him when he was hungry,

• They gave him something to drink when he was thirsty,

• They invited him in when he was a stranger,

• They clothed him when he was naked,

• They took care of him when he was sick, and visited him when he was in prison (Matthew 25:34-35).

• But notice that the sheep didn’t even realize when they had done these things for him (Matthew 25:37-39).

• These sheep were simply serving without discrimination

• And in the process they were unknowingly serving the Lord.

If we want to become 212° servants

• Then we have to start by becoming impartial.

• If we see a man standing on a street corner asking for help

• most of us will be leery of giving him cash because we are skeptical of what he will use it for.

• Many of us have been burned by people we have helped in the past.

• So should our skepticism or our mistreatment in the past

• prevent us from serving? No!

• Sometimes we will help people who misuse it and abuse it

But that does not mean that we stop helping people.

If we want to become 212° servants

We cant pick and choose who we serve; we must simply serve.

2) 212° SERVICE IS SELFLESS

• Some people serve in order to be rewarded:

• Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, decided he deserved a reward from Naaman

• even after Elisha had declined (2 Kings 5:15-27).

• Instead of being a selfless servant, he became a selfish servant.

• Ananias and Sapphira lied about the amount of money they received

• for selling a piece of land in order to appear selfless and sacrificial (Acts 5:1-10).

• nstead of being selfless servants, they became selfish servants.

212° service does not seek nor need an earthly reward;

• 212° service understands that God will bring forth the reward.

In Matthew 6:1-4 Jesus tells us, “

Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.

Mt 6:2 When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get.

Mt 6:3 But when you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing.

Mt 6:4 Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.

Heb 6:10 For God is not unfair. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other Christians, as you still do

Our God knows what we do as servants,

• and He will reward us appropriately.

• Jesus himself often did not allow those he healed to spread the word about what he did for them.

• He did not seek earthly praise or fame. He “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28).