SHAPED TO SERVE GOD
Introduction: I want you to know how proud I am of you today. So many of you made a major commitment to be a part of this 40 Days of Purpose Campaign. You committed to having a daily quiet time. You committed to be here for the worship services. You committed to being in a growth group. For many of you it is the first time you have even attended a growth group. I bet it is safe to say all of you believe that it has been time well spent as we have discovered God’s purposes for our lives.
Today we are going to talk about the fourth purpose in life, the fourth reason why you were put on this planet. You were put here to serve God. You are shaped to serve God. You will learn more about what “shape” means in your daily readings this week so keep up! You’ll also talk about it in your growth groups. I also want to encourage you to sign up for CLASS 301 if you are eligible. You will study these concepts in there as well. So what does it mean to serve God? That is what we are going to talk about today. The word for serving God is the word “ministry”. Ministry simply means to serve or meet the needs of others. We serve God by serving others. Do you know any needy people? Do you know any needs that are in the church?
Like the other purposes we have been talking about, this purpose is often misunderstood. There are some misconceptions about ministry that I want to mention.
The first misconception is that people think ministry is for the professional. “Isn’t this why we pay our pastor?” This is a common misconception in a lot of churches. Look at what the Scriptures say about that in Ephesians 4:11 AND Ephesians 2:10. My job is to equip you to do the work of ministry. Brian’s job is not to “do” the youth ministry but to equip you to do the youth ministry. We are here to invest in your life so you can invest it in others. “We” are all God’s masterpiece and we all have a role to fulfill.
Another common misconception about ministry is that ministry means “meetings.” Now, how many of you like meetings? I realize that meetings are necessary and vital. But when we do more meetings than we do ministry we’ve got it all wrong. We do not win the world by meeting but by going.
A third common misconception is that ministry is about positions of service. Many have the wrong idea about what being a servant or “minister” is all about. We think of it in terms of the reality television show “The Apprentice.” If you have followed that show you see all of these young professionals doing whatever it takes to please their CEO so he could ultimately choose him/her to lead one of his companies. You have seen how the contestants will do whatever it takes, even backstab one another to get to the top. Now, as followers of Jesus we are working for the CEO of the world. Yet, it is quite clear that he demonstrated a different way, a different mentality of service. He shows us that it is not about where you sit but how one serves that is important.
Let’s look at John 13:1-17 (Read)
This account will not mean anything to us unless we understand a little but of the culture and background surrounding this story. Jesus knows his time has come and was going back to the Father. In these final moments he has with his followers he does something absolutely unheard of, undignified and certainly politically incorrect. I want you to know that the mouths of the disciples hit the floor and yours would have to. You see, in that time they didn’t have Nike or Reebok or Timberland. They had sandals that they wore. Many would even go barefoot. They didn’t have odor eaters or air freshner either. As one walked those dusty roads the feet would become really dirty and muddy. When you went into someone’s home you were to wash your feet. It was necessary for your personal comfort and was good hygiene. Customarily, a host provided guests with water for washing their own feet. But, if they had a servant, the servant of the house would wash their feet for them. Footwashing was regarded as so lowly a task that it could not be required of a Hebrew slave. For the disciples, this was the last thing they would ever expect someone to do for anyone else. It is hard for us to grasp how out of place this was for Jesus to be doing. We have a hard time comparing what Jesus did to something of today.
It is interesting in Luke’s account of the final hours of Jesus’ life because in Luke 22:24 it says that the disciples were arguing over who was the greatest. Jesus responds not by getting angry at them or kicking them out of the Last Supper but by basically taking off his outer clothes and washing their dirty feet. This footwashing account has both a symbolic and practical meaning.
Fist, it symbolized Jesus willingly laying down his life only for it to be taken up again. Jesus took off his garments. His life would be laid down in death but would rise again in new life. The act of footwashing was a humble event. Some of the disciples were probably a bit humiliated for Jesus. To me, that is a picture of the kind of death that Jesus died—it was a humiliating death for it was the death of a criminal.
Secondly it had a practical meaning. Jesus was showing the example of humble and loving sacrifice. Look at what John 13:12-16 says.
This is now our life. We are to give of ourselves in humble service to others. Our life no longer belongs to us. Jesus served us and continues to serve us today. I don’t think Jesus was literally saying you have to always wash each other’s feet. What he was saying is that we have a whole new way of looking at life and looking at each other. To Jesus, this self-less act of service was not above him. This was the model Christ left for us. This is what it means to be a Christ-like servant. To serve in a way that impacts. He was willing to do for others what no one else wanted to do. He served the ones who were even going to run away when things got tough, deny him and betray him. Oh, to have that kind of love and servant spirit—that cares nothing about the “returns”.
I think it is important to realize why he was able to do this. Read John 13:3,4. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God so…..” He was secure in who he was and where his destination was going. Who or what model of service have you been following? Who or what model of service determines how you serve others? Many of us have the wrong idea about service because we are looking at the wrong person…
VIDEO CLIP/”WORD ON THE STREET”/ESSENTIALS VOL. 4 NO.2)
Our view of service affects why or why we don’t serve. Here are some common excuses people give for not serving…specifically in the body of Christ (in the church).
1). “I’m too young/old to serve.” Some of God’s greatest servants have been young. God has used many young people through the centuries to be champions of mighty movements of God. Paul exhorted Timothy: Set an example for the others!
You are never too young to serve! I want to encourage our young people to be a part of our upcoming mission trip on April 2-3rd. You can make a difference!
2). “I’m too busy”. I believe this is a great sin. Can you imagine telling God when you stand before him one day and he asks you, “What did you do with the talents and time I gave you? And you respond, “I was too busy to use them.” Does that make a lot of sense to you?
If you and I are going to be true servants of Jesus Christ we have to be willing to be interrupted. It is really need to read about the life of Christ and how so many times when he ministered to someone he wasn’t planning on it at the time. It just happened. He was going one way and a need came up.
3). “I don’t have anything to offer.” Folks you have more to offer than you think you do. You have spiritual gifts. You have passion for certain things. God has given you abilities. He has allowed you to go through certain experiences in your life. He has given you a personality. It’s up to you to develop those things.
4). “I don’t know where to serve.” This week you will discover that you have a ministry. Next week you will find you have a mission. Your ministry is what you do in the body of Christ. Your mission is what you do outside the body of Christ. If you aren’t currently serving somewhere in the church I want to encourage you to start somewhere. Just find out what a need is in the church and meet it. I also want to encourage you to stick around after our morning worship service for our ministry fair. This is an opportunity for you to see all the different ministries we have at Riverwood and how you can plug in. Please look at the tables on your way out. So many of our team leaders spent a lot of time and money putting their tables together.
5). “I’m afraid I’ll get stuck in a ministry and can’t get out.” Some want to serve in a church ministry but they are afraid they are going to get locked in and cant’ get out. I promise we won’t let the children hold you hostage! I really believe that when you find the ministry God wants you to be a part of you are going to enjoy it and you are going to be good at it.
6). “I have too many needs of my own.” Can I let you in on a little secret. No matter what difficulties are deadlines you have right now. When you begin to focus your gaze on other people you begin to realize that your problems aren’t as big as you think they are. Don’t ever forget that there is always someone out there who has it worse off than you do. The best thing for some of you is to get involved in helping meeting someone else’s need.
TRANSITION: "Some people say, well, you know, a church our size doesn’t need my help. There are enough people serving right now. Are you kidding? Come meet with me next week and I’ll show you dozens of unmet needs in our church." Rick Warren
Friends, I believe God means for our church to reach a lot of people. We are beginning to see that reality. I think it is his will that every church grows but not every church wants to grow. If you are looking to be a part of a small church then Riverwood is not the place for you. But it takes the church—doing what it is designed to do, each member fulfilling their ministry with a Christ-like attitude, to reach out and effectively minister to the community.
CONCLUSION: "Have you ever wondered why you are here at Riverwood? Why God brought you here? God brought you here because he knew you had something to give back. He brought you here to serve."
I don’t want you to miss verse 17 of John 13. Jesus is saying if you do this…if you learn how to serve other people effectively….you will be blessed. Are you looking for blessing in your life? The Living Bible says, “You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing. No blessing if you don’t serve.
Will you pull out your “Shaped to Serve” insert found in your bulletin. In a minute (not now) I want to ask you to fill this out. Turn it in to the office or turn it in to Kristi Ruble at our ministry fair. You were also handed a puzzle piece when you came in here today. Will you pull that out? 1 Cor. 12:12, 14 says we are part of the body of Christ and we are a necessary part of it. I want you to keep this puzzle piece in your pocket until you are involved in a ministry here at Riverwood Church.
"You can do two things with your life. You can waste it or you can invest it. Which one will you do?" (Rick Warren)
