Remedy Part 5: The Remedy For Emptiness Series

Remedy

The Remedy for Emptiness

Scripture: Rom. 12:3-13

Main Idea: We can never lead fulfilling lives if we keep to ourselves and serve only our interests. God provides the remedy for emptiness when we live to serve our purpose in His body, the Church.

Icebreaker: Today being Mother’s Day, I thought I’d read

Intro: Remember last week how Paul wrote to “present your body as a living sacrifice…” This week and next, he tells us how.

Scripture: Romans 12:3-13

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[a]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.13Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

-During experiments aboard the space shuttle “Columbia,” scientists discovered that there could be twenty-six lakes underneath the Sahara desert. It’s heartrending to think of the people who are starving and dying of thirst because these hidden resources have not yet been tapped.

-In a similar way, there are a number of spiritual resources that lie untapped in our church and in our individual lives because we’ve simply not gone deep enough. My fear is that we’re missing out on what the Christian life is all about. Some of us are settling for something far less than what God intended, and we are empty inside as a result.

3 Types of Christians

Did you know that there are 3 types of Christians in every church?

1. Seekers – These are people who genuinely seeking God, but never make a commitment.

2. Soakers – These are people who love God, but think the Church exists to serve them. They want to soak in great worship and great preaching and great programs but never want to do anything to help make those things happen. So they soak in and soak in and soak in but never let anything out.

3. Servers – Finally, the servers are those people who are genuinely seeking God, and really do love God, but are actively giving forward to see God’s Kingdom expand through their church.

Finding Your Purpose in Christ’s Body

1. Always begin with a spirit of humility – vs. 3

Illustration: There was a man who was driving down the expressway in rush hour traffic when he received a call from his wife on his cell phone, “Honey, you need to be careful driving home because I just heard on the news that there’s a dork driving in the wrong direction on the same road you’re on.” To which the husband responded, “It’s not just one; there are hundreds of them!”

Questions: -Have you ever been around an individual who always thinks they’re right? How does it feel to be around someone who boasts and brags about his or her abilities? It’s not a good feeling, is it?

Statement: And you know what? When it comes to finding our purpose, we should always begin with a spirit of humility.

-Never forget this truth: God uses us simply because He wants to. We’re to avoid thinking too highly of ourselves and we’re to avoid thinking too low of ourselves. We do that by focusing on God’s grace. Everything we are and everything we have is by grace. Let’s get rid of our superior attitudes.

-Thinking more highly of ourselves than we should is one of the greatest problems in serving God. The Roman church may have struggled with the problem of self-importance because they were located at the heart of the Roman Empire.

Scripture: Rom. 12:3

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.