Serving Jesus Toegether Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• John MacArthur Jr. shares the following story.

• After World War II, a group of German students volunteered to help rebuild an English cathedral that had been severely damaged by German bombs. As work progressed, they became concerned about a large statue of Jesus, whose arms were outstretched and beneath which was the inscription: “Come unto Me.” They had particular difficulty trying to restore the hands, which had been completely destroyed. After much discussion, they decided to let the hands remain missing and changed the inscription to: “Christ has no hands but ours.” (John MacArthur Jr.)

• The work of Jesus Christ in the world is in the hands of those who belong to Him. In that sense, He has no hands but our hands, no feet but our feet.

• WE are called as Christians to serve the Lord together.

• SLIDE #2

• It is my contention that a Christian who is growing is a Christian who is serving. One of the blessings of the Life Group Ministry is the fact that we can grow closer to Jesus together and in turn we will grow closer to one another.

• As this growth process happens, we will be more eager to serve Jesus together.

• Romans 12:1-2 encourages us to present ourselves to God as a living and holy sacrifice. WE are further encouraged to not be conformed to this world but rather to be transformed by the renewing of the mind so that we can identify God’s will.

• The purpose of offering ourselves to God as living sacrifices is not mystical or complex but extremely practical. We are to work together with others who are living their lives as a living and holy sacrifice to God to carry out the work of the kingdom of God through the church. We are the hands and feet of God!

• When we give ourselves over to God, it will have not only profound effects on ourselves, but it will also have a profound effect on others. It will affect our relationships with God, the church and those who are lost.

• The passage we are going to dive into together today in Romans 12:3-8 underscores the fact that we cannot be committed to Christ, yet inactive in the work and life of the church. Many people will claim a close relationship with Jesus, yet they will not be an active part of His kingdom!

• Our passage will help us to realize WHY true devotion to God REQUIRES us to use our talents and gifts for the kingdom of God through His church.

• Once again in our Life Groups you will be encouraged to grow in your faith to the point where service becomes even a larger priority for you.

• When the life of each individual Christian is a living and Holy sacrifice to God, we will all be focused on working together in God’s church.

• Let’s begin with verse 3!

• SLIDE #3

• Romans 12:3 (ESV) 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

• SLIDE #4

SERMON

Serving Jesus Together requires…

I. A proper attitude.

• The issue of serving God with a proper attitude is not only important in the church, but it will carry over into everything else that you do in life.

• One of the things that will get in the way of our service to God and His church is when we think too highly of ourselves. When our attitude is that we are above doing certain things, it will keep us from fully serving God.

• This does not mean that there will be some things we really do not like doing, it means that we will not think we are too good to do something.

• Service begins with honest evaluation of our gifts and personal dedication to Christ!

• We need to be willing to do whatever God calls us to do. If we think we are too good to do certain things, then we have some issues that need to be dealt with.

• SLIDE #5

• Luke 14:11 (ESV) For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

• We are told to THINK SO AS TO HAVE SOBER JUDGMENT.

• This is the true standard by which we should look at ourselves, our place and value within the church; we are to use sober judgment.

• We must not think so highly of ourselves that we think we are above doing things within the church. What constitutes sober judgment is explained in the next phrase.