Stooping To A Higher Level Series

STOOPING TO A HIGHER LEVEL

John 13:1-17

S: Celebrate Jesus!

Th: Service

Pr: JESUS KNEW HIS IDENTITY YET SERVED WITH HUMILITY.

?: How? How do we do it?

KW: concerns

TS: We will find in John 13:1-17 four concerns that Jesus

demonstrates in order to serve with humility.

The _____ concern that we must have in order to serve with humility is about…

I. OUR SELF (1-3)

II. OUR PLACE (4-8)

III. OUR NEED (9-11)

IV. OUR RESPONSIBILITY (12-17)

RMBC 2/13/00 AM

INTRODUCTION:

1. Do you value progress?

Do you like to make progress?

I do.

I would venture that most of us do.

We like to be better.

We like to get ahead.

It shows that we are moving.

We are learning.

We are becoming smarter and more skillful.

And as a result, we can move up the ladder with more responsibility.

ILL Drama: “The Interview”

Well…that was a hard lesson to learn.

For, as we have just seen…

2. Our desire for progress is also a challenge to our priorities.

ILL Internet: Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s Hamburgers is the only founder among America’s big companies whose picture in the corporate annual report shows him wielding a mop and a plastic bucket. That wasn’t a gag either, it was done intentionally so that he could lead by example. At Wendy’s an MBA does not mean a “Master of Business Administration,” it means “Mop Bucket Attitude!” Service at the lowest levels makes for great success.

TRANSITION:

1. This is our fourth Sunday (Day 22) of our 50-Day Adventure called “Celebrate Jesus: Discover What Makes Him Attractive to So Many People.”

We have been discovering what Jesus was like as He walked this earth.

So far, we have learned that…

1.1 Jesus stayed spiritually connected and directed by God.

He knew that to know God’s will, He had to be disciplined in keeping His relationship with the Father constant and vital.

He was disciplined to spend alone time with the Father.

Second…

1.2 Jesus shattered the stereotypes of “us” and “them.”

Jesus was not afraid to talk to anybody.

He would readily talk to people that others considered undesirable.

Instead, his focus was to establish that everyone was the same, with the same needs.

Third…

1.3 Jesus liked people and drew out the best in them.

Jesus had a way of seeing through a person’s circumstance down to their real person.

He wouldn’t let their job, their personality, or even their sin keep Him from making contact.

He was about people.

He really liked them.

2. In today’ story, Jesus places Himself in contrast to the disciples who are looking for places of honor and recognition (cf. Matthew 20:21-22; Luke 22:24).

The texts that we are about to read determine some of the context of what was going on as Jesus entered into what apparently would be the last day of his life.

In Matthew 20…

"What is it you want?" he asked. She (the mother of James and John) said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." "You don’t know what you are asking," Jesus said to them (James and John). "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.

In Luke 22, in the upper room, the context of today’s passage, it says…

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.

We have no idea of how the dispute arose.

Perhaps there was a snide comment, and the bickering began.

All of sudden, there was level-nine squabble.

But Jesus was about to teach them that the kingdom of heaven works on a different principle.

The disciples thought that being the greatest was the goal.

Sitting at the places of power next to Jesus was the goal.

Instead, Jesus demonstrates that they are missing the whole thing.

The way you raise your level of authority is to stoop to serve.

This is what Jesus shows us.

For…

3. JESUS KNEW HIS IDENTITY YET SERVED WITH HUMILITY.

But how?

How do we follow His example?

Well…

4. We will find in John 13:1-17 four concerns that Jesus demonstrates in order to serve with humility.

They are concerns that we need to have in order to serve with humility.

OUR STUDY:

I. The first concern that we must have in order to serve with humility is about OUR SELF (1-3).

(1) It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. (2) The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. (3) Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God…