Service with a Smile:
Finding Your Passion
Scripture Reading: Gal. 1:11-24
[Tigger video depicting a cartoon character who displays passion]
I don’t care who you are,
I don’t care how smart you are,
whether you’re young or old,
whether you’re tall or short,
as beautiful as Robin or as homely as me,
there is something within you,
something you really care about,
a place that makes your eyes light up—or tear up—
when someone or something touches it,
a subject or interest that gets you excited,
that can make you crazy with enthusiasm,
excitement,
fulfillment.
[ASK ONE OF THE KIDS] What was it for Tigger? What was his passion? What got him all excited in that video we just watched? RIGHT! It was bouncing!
For Dr. James Dobson, it’s—what? [FAMILY]
For Billy Graham, it’s—what? [EVANGELISM]
For Mother Teresa it was—what? [THE NEEDY]
For YOU, it’s—what?
That’s the question we’re going to try to answer this morning.
So, as we get started, I’d like to invite you to pray with me, please:
Father God,
I pray for each of us in this place this morning.
Please speak to us from your Word, the Bible,
turn on a light in our hearts and minds
that we might see more clearly
how to follow and serve you,
and that the way might be opened for us to
have FUN and find FULFILLMENT
in glorifying you and serving others,
in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Good morning. My name is Bob Hostetler, and
this morning at Cobblestone Community Church we begin a new four-week series of messages from the Bible, entitled “Serving with a Smile.”
You see, we here at Cobblestone Community Church have been meeting together for worship for only eight weeks now; this is our ninth Sunday celebration.
And it’s our plan, as we worship and fellowship and pray together, to prepare to launch a full fledged, new, different, dynamic,
community-oriented,
student-friendly,
seeker-aware,
outward-focused church
on Palm Sunday, April 8, 2001.
But we feel very strongly
that we want that church
to be the kind of church
where people are equipped and energized
—set free—
to have FUN and find FULFILLMENT
in glorifying God and serving others.
As a matter of fact,
I not only believe that’s possible,
I believe it’s IMPERATIVE!
Because, you see, when the Bible says,
“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).
I believe it’s a mistake to apply that statement
to the giving of money alone.
I believe “God loves a cheerful giver” applies also to those who give their time and effort and expertise in the service of God . . . .
And God LOVES IT when you and I are serving
him
and his people
and his children who haven’t yet surrendered to him
with joy
and laughter
and excitement
and exuberance
and fulfillment.
I believe God LOVES IT when we’re having a blast
in glorifying him by serving others!
Because he loves cheerful giving!
So how do we do that?
I’m so glad you asked.
Because I’m convinced that the key to
to having FUN and finding FULFILLMENT
in glorifying God and serving others
is in:
• finding your passion
• finding your gifts
• finding your style, and
• finding your place.
And those are the things we’re going to concentrate on these next four weeks:
• finding your passion
• finding your gifts
• finding your style, and
• finding your place.
You see, the way it usually happens is that when we become Christians, we want to do like that tenth leper we read about in Luke 17 last week,
and return to God with gratitude for his healing
and salvation
and blessing,
so we jump in and start serving him somewhere,
or we get “pulled in” and start serving wherever,
and we can become very active,
but not necessarily effective.
And we serve and serve,
but our efforts often exhaust us,
and we feel like we’re spinning our wheels,
not making the difference we had hoped for.
And sometimes it even seems like
the more we DO for God,
the less we get out of it,
the less HE gets out of it,
and we end up feeling like
not only our service
but our relationship with God
is going nowhere.
But I’m inclined to believe that when that happens,
when we’re expending a lot of motion without
movement,
it’s because we haven’t found God’s design
for serving according to who he made us to be . . .
we aren’t focusing our passion,
or gifts,
and our style
in the place he has called us to occupy.
But when we do that, we’ll be able to make a mark.
And my hope is that by the end of this series,
you’ll be equipped to serve God and others
according to your passion, spiritual gifts, and personal style, in a way that will energize YOU and make a discernible difference in the lives of others.
Oh, yeah, and it’ll be FUN, too!
So, let’s get started by turning in the Bible to the New Testament book of Galatians. . .
Galatians chapter one.
Now, if you worship here regularly, I encourage you to get in the habit of bringing your Bible with you so you can read for yourself
with your own eyes
from your own Bible
what’s being taught up here at the front.
If you’re here without a Bible of your own this morning, please feel free to use on of the copies we provide for you in the center of each table.
And if you don’t have a Bible of your own, we would love for you to take one of ours home with you. . . Consider it your souvenir.
So, having said all that,
let’s look at Galatians, chapter one. . . .
It’s on page ___ if you’re reading from one of the
table Bibles today . . .
And our study of God’s Word this morning will begin at the 11th verse of that chapter,
where I want you to notice . . .
1. The Recognition of the Passion
(Gal. 1:11-16a)
Now, Galatians is a letter that Paul the Apostle wrote to a number of churches in a geographical region called Galatia. . . thus, the name “Galatians.”
It was intended as a sort of circular letter; one church would read it aloud in their public worship, and then pass it on to the Christians in the next town, and so on.
And the author of the letter, as I said, is Paul.
And Paul writes, beginning in verse 11:
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles
Now, I’ll stop there, because I want you to notice: Paul is a man who has recognized his passion.
And what was his passion?
You’ll find it in verse sixteen:
to preach Christ among the Gentiles!
This step of recognizing your passion is crucial, and I want to impress on you three things about it:
a. Passion is God-given (v. 12, 16)
Paul said, “God . . . set me apart . . . . so that I might preach him among the Gentiles.”
Passion is the God-given desire that compels you to make a difference in a particular ministry.
When you are impassioned or excited about where you are serving or who you’re serving, you’ll be more likely to have a stong motivation and a sense of fulfillment in what you’re doing.
You might find it helpful to think of passion as an arena or context for where you want to make a difference. Many passions relate to particular groups of people:
children,
young adults,
moms,
the elderly,
the homeless,
the abused, and so on.
Other passions relate to causes or issues such as prejudice,
abortion,
the environment,
hunger,
and so on.
Passions can also revolve around certain functions in the church, such as
organizing events,
facilitating worship,
intercession,
and so on.
The next thing I want to say about recognizing your passion is this:
b. There is no right or wrong passion.
In the past, you may have expressed your passion to someone who responded in a way that made you suppress it. You might have been made to feel that you couldn’t pursue that passion because:
•you were too old, or too young,
•you didn’t have enough education,
•you’re a woman . . . or a man,
•you have children . . . or you don’t;
But here at Cobblestone you have permission to simply recognize your passion. Name it. Put aside for now any restrictions you may feel because you have kids, or bills, or because you’re young or old, or whatever.
We’re going to give you an opportunity this morning to get a better understanding of your God-given passion. But before we do that, let me mention the third thing I want to say about recognizing your passion:
c. Passion answers the “where” question
Passion helps you know where to serve,
where to direct your gifts,
where to focus your efforts.
But that’s not all I want to point out to you from the Bible today. Let’s pick it up where we left off in Galatians 1:16, and we’ll touch briefly on what I’ll call . . . .
2. The Ripening of the Passion
(Gal. 1:16b-21)
Paul writes, “when God . . . set me apart . . . and called me. . . so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,”
I did not consult any man,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
19 I saw none of the other apostles- only James, the Lord’s brother.
20 I assure you before God that what I am writing to you is no lie.
21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
Now, in these verses, Paul is referring to a time of training and preparation for the pursuit of his passion, a period that took at least three years.
Similarly, when you and I begin to pursue our passions, there is often a time of ripening, a period when our passion matures and we gain growing clarity.
For example, take Ted, a young man with a passion to work with children. He starts out serving in Sunday school. He serves there for a while and begins to feel that’s not quite who he is. He enjoys working with the kids, but he’s not really having the kind of impact he wants.
He begins to realize that he really wants to work with kids in single parent families. So he slides out of the Sunday school program into his church’s “Buddy Ministry,” where adult “buddies” pair up with kids from single parent families.
He serves there for a while and is pretty effective. But as time goes on, he begins to say, “You know, I have an even deeper passion not only for kids who are lonely, but kids who are really struggling with life and relationships.”
So he starts a ministry in his church for kids who have lost a parent through death or divorce. And now, he finally says, “Wow! This is me! I’m really doing what I love, what I feel passionately about, and I’m having an impact on these kids!”
That’s the ripening process, of applying your passion and refining your area of service until you’re having FUN and finding FULFILLMENT
in glorifying God and serving others.
But allow me to point out just one more thing from the Bible today. Look at Galatians 1:22, and we’ll touch
3. The Result of the Passion
(Gal. 1:22-24)
Look at what Paul says:
22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they praised God because of me.
That is what will happen when YOU begin
to serve God cheerfully,
with your whole heart,
according to your passion . . .
People will praise God because of you.
They will give glory to God
because of your effective service.
That’s the result of finding your God-given passion and pursuing it in God’s service.
Now, I’ve purposely made this morning’s message a good bit shorter than usual, because we’re going to use the final ten minutes or so of our celebration to explore—individually—what your passion might be.
Of course, you may already believe that you know that. But you may only have part of the picture.
So I want to ask each of us to please take the “Passion Assessment” that was included in your programs this morning. And, our dedicated— and beautiful—sound man is going to play some music while we take the time to give this “Passion Assessment” our prayerful and careful consideration. I’m going to guide you through it, taking the questions one at a time, and then when we’ve finished, we’ll conclude with a time of prayer and meditation [worship and prayer?].
And, as always here at Cobblestone,
there will be counselors available
throughout this room
wearing brightly colored name tags
in case there’s anyone here who would like private prayer this morning.
You need only to tap one of them on the shoulder or grab ‘em by the arm
and they’ll be happy to talk with you
and pray with you.
But right now, let’s take a few moments to prayerfully assess your God-given passion . . .
