I Am A Servant Series

I Am a Servant ?Romans 12:3-8?September 23, 2018

What is to be the nature of our role in the Body of Christ?

?1. I seek positions of service. v.3

2. I participate on the team. vv.4-5

?3. I invest what has been entrusted. vv.6-8 ?

If you watched March Madness this last Spring, you became familiar with Sister Jean (pic). This 98 year old nun caught everyone’s attention. She was a nun at Loyola-Chicago University, a catholic school. She would show up at all the games, pray with the players, encourage them, and then after a game, win or lose, she would write a hand written note to each player that would lift their spirits catapult them higher. The Loyola Ramblers hadn’t won a conference championship in years and had never made it to the NCAA Tournament. No one picked them to win in the round of 64, but they did. No one picked them to win in the round of 32, but they did. No one picked them to win in the round of 16, but they did. They made it all the way to the Elite 8 before bowing out. Some people owed the team’s success to Sister Jean’s prayers. I prefer to believe that their success was not from Sister Jean’s prayers, but from her presence and participation and encouragement. A 98 year old nun, stuck in a wheel chair, seemingly the least important person on the team—probably had the greatest impact. ? Turn to Romans 12:3-8 We are now in week 3 of our 4 week series entitled, I am ________. It is a series designed to focus us on what it means to be a part of Rush Creek, to be a partner of Rush Creek, to be joined to the Body of Christ here at Rush Creek.? We’re no longer using the term member. We’ve switched using member to using partner. The Bible says in Philippians 1 that we are partners in the gospel. Membership is passive; partnership is active. Membership can lead people to join and then feel as if they have done all they need to do. Partnership prompts us to own the mission and vision of the church and work together to bring them to pass.? Each of you is indispensable to the mission and vision that God has given us. If God has called you here, then He has called you to join us, partner with us to achieve this great privilege, this great responsibility to push back the darkness, advance the kingdom, and go into all the world and make disciples. ? Participating in the Great Commission is not only the duty of the staff and leadership of the church. It is the duty and joy of each person God has saved and called to be a part of the body here at Rush Creek. ? As I’ve said these past 2 weeks, if you’re not joined to us yet, you can wait until January and go through our new on ramp called, “First Step Experience” (logo?). It’s a 4 week experience that at the end of it we’ll accept you as a partner into this great enterprise called Rush Week. OR, you can join at the conclusion of this service today by just coming to the Next Step area over here after the service.? We’ve isolated four characteristics of what it means to be joined at RC:?I am a Christ-follower(build). First and foremost, to be a part of the body here means that you have given your life to Christ and are following His will in every area of your life.?The 2nd characteristic: I am a partner. You own the mission and the vision of the church and are fully committed in seeing God do great things in you and through you.? Now this morning we take on the 3rd characteristic of someone who belongs to RC:?I am a servant

Jesus talked a lot about being a servant. And he modeled that for us. In Mark 10,

“Jesus called them over and said to them, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’.” Mark 10:42-45

No doubt you’ve read and heard that passage a thousand times, right? But hearing is one thing—doing is another. We prefer to be served, don’t we? We prefer for others to bend their desires to ours. We prefer to feel comfortable rather than to discomfort ourselves in serving others.? Think of the people you serve. If you’re married, hopefully you serve each other: getting coffee for the other, helping with projects, watching a Hallmark movie with your wife. If you’re a parent, you serve your children by protecting and providing for them. You may take on the attitude of a servant at your school or your workplace. These are all important areas that we are to serve. But in the scheme of eternity, serving the Body of Christ must have a critical role in your life.? This is what the Apostle Paul was getting at in Romans 12:3-8. Now before we study vv.3-8, I want you to understand the context of the passage. If you have your Bibles, look at the 2 verses before vv.3-8 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2