Are You a Great Christian?

The United Church of God presents Gary Antion with a sermon titled, Are You a Great Christian? It was recorded July 23, 2011, in Cincinnati, East Ohio. Are you a great Christian? I mean, are you great? You might think, oh, that's pretty vain. Great Christian, yeah. Let me explain. Matthew 20, verse 26. The disciples had been having difficulties trying to figure out who was going to be the greatest among them. You remember Mrs. Zebedee came and said, you know, just one little small favor. Let me ask of you, Jesus. Remember all the falafels and pita bread that I gave you and all the things that I did for you, the meals that I cooked for you, and the shish kebab that you had at our house. Remember all the things that I did for you. Just let my sons be, one on your right hand and one on your left hand in the kingdom. And Jesus said, I can't give you that. I can't grant you that. And the other disciples said, they were mad. They heard about this. Again, word got spread. How? I don't know. Somebody told them this happened. And they said that Jesus sat them all down. And he said, verse 24 says, when the ten heard, they were moved with indignation against the two brothers. Hey, I wanted that position. How dare you want it? Jesus called them to himself and he said, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and say that they that are great and exercise authority upon them. Verse 26, But it shall not be so among you, whosoever will be great among you.

Let him be your minister or your servant.

Think, New King James says, let him become your servant. You see, to become great, you have to become a servant. You have to choose. See, it didn't say you're bought, you're made a servant, you're indentured as a servant. It says you become a servant. Every time you volunteer to do something, every time you extend your hand to someone else, you have chosen to be great.

You've chosen to serve. God says, if you want to be great, serve.

So I say to you, are you a great Christian? Let's take a look at some of the servants of God. Some examples, and then we're going to look at how you can be a great Christian by serving.

There are many servants in the scriptures, by the way. You can look up the word servant, and you look up some of the individuals. Some very famous individuals are called servants, like Abraham was a servant of God. Jacob was a servant of God. Moses was a servant of God. It says that in the scriptures. Before them, Noah was a servant of God. David, man after God's own heart, was a servant of God. The prophets, many of the prophets, are called a servant of God. The apostle Paul clearly identifies himself as the servant of God. James, the brother of Jesus Christ, who could say, hey, this letter's from me, James, Jesus' brother. He didn't say that. He said a servant of Jesus Christ. Peter, who was bold and outgoing and sometimes impetuous, still identifies himself as a servant of God. Jude, brother of Jesus Christ, says servant of God. And the apostle John, the longest living and the best friend of Jesus from what I see in the scripture, identifies himself as servant of God. Let's take a look at some other examples, some examples in scripture of individuals who are identified as servants and see what they did. See how they are described. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 14. We're going to emphasize those in the New Testament, although in the Old Testament there are many servants, such as Jonathan's armor bearer. Jonathan said, well, you know what? God can whip this Philistine army. He can drive them out by us. We don't need to wait for all the troops to come. You and I can do it. In his armor bearer, his servant said, wherever you go, I'll go with you. You lead, I'll follow. He was a good servant of Jonathan's. Lots of other examples in the Old Testament of individuals who were servants.

But 1 Corinthians 16, verse 14. We see a family, a family who were known for their service. In fact, they had a problem with an addiction, but this was a good addiction. They were addicted to serving. They were addicted to serving. Notice 1 Corinthians 16, verse 14. Let all your things be done with love. It does take love. What is love? Outgoing concern. I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanus, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry or the service of the saints. They've addicted themselves to that service. Verse 16. That you submit yourselves to such and to everyone that helps with us and labors. So you might want to ask yourself, how much do you help?

Are we only a church for what we can get?

Are we a church for what we can give? Some people say, well, you know what? I don't really need to go to church. I can sit at home. I could listen to them. I get CDs every week. I could listen. And it's true. Would you get the knowledge? Absolutely. Would you get a webcast? You get everything. You get. And you get. And you get. What do you give? You can give prayers. That's powerful. That's good. Can you give encouragement? Can you give example?

Can others see your example? Can others feel your magnetism? Can others feel your enthusiasm?

If you're sitting at home, they can't. Now, there are people who are sick and afflicted and who cannot. And I certainly talked with Marvin Staggs this week, and he mentioned he's not able. He missed, I think, his fifth week or whatever he said. He's just not feeling well. And I certainly told him I encouraged him. Pray for him. And Carol Golsan saw her yesterday. And she's still battling. She's still struggling. The doctors just fold their arms in front of the oncologist, says, I don't understand. I thought you'd be gone a long time ago. And she's still hanging in there. And I don't know what purpose God has, but I do know God can help her through. And certainly, she's there at home. And they have, there's legitimate reasons not to be here. But if you can be here, being here is such a blessing, not just to you, but to others. I remember one lady who came to church, and she sat in a wheelchair, she had to be in a wheelchair all the time. And she said, what good am I? I'm no good. I'm not good to anybody. And I said, I still remember her in New York City. I said, every week you come here and you sit here with a smile on your face. That means more to me than anybody who runs around throwing chairs around or giving out songbooks or ushering. Just seeing you make the effort to come to church and be here with a smile, knowing what you have to go through to get here, is such a powerful encouragement to not only me, but to all the brethren. You have come forth and served. Again, it's not about what you can get, it's about what you can give. So ask yourself, how much have I helped out? How much do I help out every week? How much do I help the brethren? How much do I give back to God, to His people? Philippians 2, verse 19. Another example. So we see the example of Stephanus. They addicted themselves to serving. They were helping. They were looking for ways to assist, to help. Philippians 2, verse 19. The Apostle Paul was in prison. He loved the church at Philippi because they cared about him. Beautiful book, verse 19. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly to you. I'm hoping that I can send Timothy to Philippi to help you. That I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. So first of all, you know Timothy was going to help and he was going to communicate. Verse 20. For I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state.

Sometimes we have to almost do what's unnatural.

Timothy was trained to do that which was natural. He was naturally loved people. I was talking to Mrs. Hitchen. She said, I love people. I love people. I said, good for you.

Do you love people? Then you love people. You look for ways to help them. So he said he naturally will care for your state. Some of us maybe have to learn. So it becomes unnatural to start with, but later on it becomes natural to naturally care for others. Verse 21. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

So do you come to church for what you can get? Do you come to church for what you can give?

And every one of us has something we can give.

If it's just a cheery hello. If it's a greeting. If it's how are you doing? If it's I'm praying for you? If it's did you how did that job interview go? If it's some type of encouragement?

Any way we can come and help. Verse 22. But you know the proof of him that as a son with the Father, he served with me in the gospel. As a son with the Father, so he served with me. Timothy was like a son. You know, when my dad was alive, when my dad had to do something, I thought it was the greatest thing in the world to serve with him. I remember putting up fans in the summertime because I brought them a fan, and we put it up. I knew some of the ways of getting it together. My dad was an electrician, so he would do all the hard work, and I would do this part. We worked so well together. All the family saw we had fans. They wanted fans. Other family members would buy the fan and ask my dad to come put it up. I was on vacation, but we put up quite a number of fans for people. My dad liked the one we brought him, so we ended up putting a number of them there. But it was such a joy just to help my dad. Here, dad, how about this? Think about he's going to need this screwdriver. He's going to need this wrench. Here's this part to go on. We worked so smoothly together. I remember putting up blinds at my daughter's home when she moved into a new home in Newark, Ohio, and she needed some Venetian blinds put up. My dad and I got together, and we put those things up so fast. It was a joy to work with him and serve. Do you like to serve?

Paul said, just Timothy. I like him. He's just like a son with his father. He serves with me.

How do you serve? Do you serve with others? Do you join in? Can I help? How can I help? Can you submit? Tell me what to do. Tell me what to do. I'm here. I'll need you to do grunt work. I'll do grunt work. You need me to do fine things. If I can do the fine things, I'll do the fine things.

How are you? Do you help? Philemon. We see the example of Onesimus. I was thinking, I hadn't remembered the last time Philemon was quoted. Maybe you do, but it's the book right after Titus.

And before Hebrews, Philemon, we find Onesimus. Onesimus was a slave who apparently had run away from his boss, from Philemon. And Paul was responsible for Philemon's conversion, as well as the slave's conversion. And Paul is saying to Philemon, look, take this guy back. He's sorry he ran away. He's really been of good service to me. I'm sending him back to you. Don't mistreat him because he's a good guy. So we look at it in verse 8. So he intercedes for Onesimus, who was a servant. He says, wherefore, though I might be much bold in Christ to enjoin you, that which is convenient. In other words, I could have commanded you to do this, but I'm asking you to do this. Yet for love's sake, I rather beseech you, being such as one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. So I'm older and I'm in prisons and I'm just asking you, I beseech you for my son Onesimus, whom I've begotten in my bonds. So he ran away. He's come to me. He's converted now. He's helped me. Notice what he says, which in time past was to you unprofitable. I know he must not have been a good guy. He must have been slacker or whatever. But now is profitable to you and to me. He's been a really good help, whom I have sent again. You therefore receive him. That is my own bowels, my mercies, my tenderness go with him, whom I would have retained with me. I would have loved to have kept him, that in your stead he might have ministered to me.

So here was Onesimus now, who's mentioned in Scripture, is one who served the apostle Paul, who helped him out. He ran away from his boss Philemon, his master, and he came to Paul. And he was converted and stayed with Paul, helped Paul out. But Paul said, you know what? You really do need to go back. I'll run interference for you. And so he says, So I'm sending him back to you. I would love to keep him, but he really is your servant.

And he goes on to say in verse 15, So maybe he left, he's become better, he'll come back and serve you. Verse 16, So then he goes on to say, If you count me as a partner, and if you count me special, please take care of him. And if he's done any wrong, lay that to my account.

But here you have Onesimus, who was not a good servant to start with, to Philemon, but he went, linked up with the Apostle Paul, and through his time with Paul, was converted and is a servant of the Lord. Paul said, I would love to have him stay here and serve, minister, with me. Epaphroditus is another one. Epaphroditus in Philippians 2, verse 25. We were just in Philippians. Let's go back to Philippians, chapter 2, and verse 25, and we'll see the service rendered by Epaphroditus. How to be a great Christian. Serve. How to be a great Christian. Have the heart and attitude of a servant. You can't go wrong when you're willing to serve.

Can't go wrong. And serve as you are able. That's the key. In Philippians 2, verse 25. Yet I suppose it necessary to send to you, Epaphroditus, I need to send back to you, my brother, companion in labor. He's helped me. He's helped labor with me. And fellow soldier, he's warred with me, in a sense of warring spiritually. But your messenger and he that ministered to my wants. He was there to help me with anything.

He was there to do anything that I needed him to do. Verse 26. For he longed after you all. Well, he loved for his church area, the Philippians. He longed after you all and was full of heaviness because you had heard that he had been sick. He was feeling bad that you were troubled about him. He was feeling bad that you were worried about him.

What an attitude that Epaphroditus had about caring for other people. He even cared that they were troubled about his sickness. Verse 27. For indeed he was sick, near unto death. But God had mercy on him, not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

Why? Because this man was sick, near unto death, because he was bringing supplies from the church of Philippi to help and aid the apostle Paul, bringing care packages and whatever else they sent. I sent him therefore the more carefully that when you see him again you may rejoice and that I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such in high reputation. Verse 30. Because for the work of Christ he was near unto death. Because he tried to do what he needed to do to serve, he was near unto death, not regarding his life to supply your lack of service to me.

He was making up for what you couldn't do in person. He was doing for me. And he got so sick, he almost died in doing it. Whether he got the flu on the way or got a fever and said, I gotta keep pushing on because these goods will spoil or I need to get them to the apostle Paul. And he proceeded on from Philippi to where Paul was in jail to make sure Paul could get that supply.

And he said he came to serve and he brought your lack of service to me. Whatever you couldn't do, he was making up for as your representative. I like Epiphraditis. He was willing to risk his life to serve the people. Another example is Onesophorus, a different Greek name. Onesophorus. And this is in 2 Timothy 1.

2 Timothy 1 verses 16 to 18. Onesophorus. Paul writes, The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesophorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. He came and visited me in prison. When I was a jailbird, he wasn't afraid to come and visit me. He wasn't afraid to become associated with a prisoner. Verse 17. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. He came looking for me and he found me and he wasn't ashamed.

Remember, they probably were keeping a watch on everybody who came to visit the apostle Paul to say, those must be people we need to keep an eye on too. Verse 18. He exposed himself, in other words, that he was a Christian. The Lord grant to him and that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered to me at Ephesus, you know very well. And when I was at Ephesus, he served me well there too.

So again, several of these individuals are singled out as men who served. Phoebe also was a servant. You remember Phoebe. You remember Bracilla and Aquila, who jumped to the aid of Apollos to help him out. Who jumped to the aid of the apostle Paul to help him out. One great example is Philippians 2, verses 5 to 7. And that is the example of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ, when he was God, when he was the Word with God and was God, he could have come in the world as anything he wanted.

Was it really essential for him to be a servant, to take away your sins? Or did he merely have to die? But how did he choose to come into the world? See, most of these individuals, other than Onesimus, were not servants. They chose to be servants. And Onesimus, after he ran away, he chose to be a servant. It's really about becoming a servant. It's not that you're that way automatically. It's not that any of us is.

It's about choosing. Choosing. Philippians 2, verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. What kind of an attitude did Jesus have? Really, the better word is attitude. What was Christ's outlook on life? What did he come to do? What did he come to be like? Notice, verse 6, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God or a thing to be grasped after to be equal with God because he was. John 1, 1 tells us, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. And the word became flesh. He gave it up. He gave it up. But verse 7, and he made himself of no reputation.

He could have been born into the world as a king. He could have been born in the world as a prince. Could have been born in the world as a knight or an earl or some type of a governor, a captain, a general. But what was he born into the world as? What did he come to be? He made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

He chose to be a servant. He chose to be a servant. If we want to be, quote, great, and I put that in quotes, great Christians, we must choose to be servants. Choose to serve.

So how may we be great? How may we be, quote, great, unquote, as Christians? I want to read to you a quote from General Norman Schwarzkopf's book entitled, It Doesn't Take a Hero. It's a very thick book and very, I just looked at it again. I read it, but it's very small words and lots of probably 400 pages. But he was one of my heroes, Schwarzkopf, in that in the Gulf War, when we took down, when we rescued those in the Saudi Arabian Peninsula, the people of Aden and some of those areas, Kuwait. And when he came in and vanquished the Iraqis. Here's what he says, though. It's a book about his life. It's titled, It Doesn't Take a Hero. Quote, When I began as a plebe, this is at West Point, duty, honor, and country was just about just a motto I'd heard. By the time I left, those values had become my fixed state. The Army, with its emphasis on rank and medals and efficiency reports, is the easiest institution in the world to become consumed with ambition. Some officers spend all their time currying favor and worrying about their next promotion. A miserable way to live. But West Point saved me from that by instilling the ideal of service above self to do my duty for my country, even if it brought no gain at all.

It gave me far more than a military career. It gave me a calling. What did he learn? He learned to have the ideal of service above self. Service above self. I think that's pretty amazing from a man who is a general, who became a general in the military. So how can we become great?

Number one. Four points, and they're all A's. A, attitude. Attitude. It begins with an attitude. The attitude of a servant. How may I help? What may I do to assist? What may I do to help you?

Looking, thinking about others. Thinking about others. Acts 20, verse 35. Statement that Jesus Christ made nowhere found in Scripture, but remembered as it was related to us in the book of Acts. Acts 20, verse 35. Paul said, I have showed you all things in his talk to the Ephesian elders. How that it's so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus. How he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Servants are about giving. Servants are more about giving than they are about receiving. They're concerned more about giving to someone else than getting from someone else. And there's a time to be both, and in marriage it certainly has to be balanced. You have to be a giver and a good giver and a good receiver. You can't just be a giver all the time, nor a receiver all the time, or either one gets very tired. But it takes both giving and receiving. We're talking about the attitude of a servant, as how may I give? What do I have to give? How may I help? How may I assist you? What may I do to make things better? How may I lighten your load? Philippians 2, verse 5. Philippians 2, verse 5. It begins with the attitude of... and it's an attitude of humility. Acts 2, verse 5. We read it just shortly before, but let's read it again. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. What did he do? He humbled himself. It's an attitude of saying, I'll play second fiddle.

Somebody has to play it. I'll play second fiddle. I'll assist the first fiddle player. I don't mind playing second fiddle. If you choose it. It's not saying you're a second fiddle player. You might be as good as the first fiddle player. My wife played trumpet in the band, and her dad never put her first trumpet, the first chair, first trumpet. He'd always put her second. He didn't want people to think that he was putting her there because she was his daughter. She was actually as good or better than the person who sat in the first chair.

So she learned to play second chair. First trumpet, second chair. It's okay. It's okay.

I played in trombone in bands. I was in a county band. I played second or third trombone. It was okay. Somebody has to play it. I could play first trombone, too. But somebody had to play second. So I was designated second. So I played second trombone. It's okay. We all worked together.

It's like some people sing the melody, and some people seem to harmony. If you play trombone in the band, you almost never get the melody. Once in a while, there's a little burst that you get there, and you really enjoy playing the melody. Most of the time, all you're doing is a little umpapa, or you're doing the papa while somebody does the ump. Are you doing the ump and they're doing the papa? Or you're just doing counter melodies. You really don't get to shine. That's okay. Let that trumpet player play all by himself, and it sounds very shallow.

Add the trombones and the other instruments, and it sounds beautiful. They need each other. Are you willing? Do you have a second fiddle attitude? Do you look? How may I assist? How may I help? How may I serve? And frankly, brethren, we need a lot more of that attitude in the church. We really do. Sometimes we're looking around for ushers and saying, well, we can't find any ushers. Nobody's watching. Everybody wants to be a... You know what? There was a day when people thought, man, I can be an usher, a church. Wow! You mean you're asking me to clean the bathroom? I can monitor the mother's room? Wow! What a great honor to serve God's people in that way. They didn't look to, wow, what am I going to get a week off? They just said, hey, I'm here. I'm going to serve. Now, if we have enough people, it's great to give people weeks off. And if people needed time off, they would say, I'm going to be out of town this week and somebody fill in for me. Sure, we can get somebody. But they'd say, man, this is a great opportunity every week to serve. It's encouraging to see people who have an attitude of service. What may I do to help you? I think Richard Kennaback and Chris and Paul, I'm probably their biggest nemesis. My computer goes, something's wrong. I got on the phone. I'm sorry. I feel bad. I feel bad to call them. I'm sorry. This doesn't work. I can't get this to work. I'll be right down. How may I help you? That's a wonderful attitude. I appreciate it so much. What may I do to help you? Okay, I'll be right down. It's so appreciated. It's an attitude. How may I help? How may I assist? How may I make things better? Secondly, second A is awareness. If you're going to be a great servant, if you're going to be a great Christian by being a servant, you have to be aware. What's going on around here? Oh, look at that lady. She's got her arms full. Oh, I hope she makes it to the table and doesn't drop those things. Why not run over to her and say, can I help you? Let me lighten your load. You see people struggling to come in to services with, you know, baby bags and babies and carts and chairs and little sleeping instruments or whatever. Help them! Oh, I hope she may watch. Look how much she can carry. She's really good.

Awareness. Awareness. If you go back to get a book, get two song books. Probably someone else forgot it too. And look around. Be aware. Sometimes I've been at some services I don't necessarily mean here. And lots of people don't have song books. I know here they walk, the ushers walk up and down before services begin. They offer song books. Those are really nice. In some areas, no song books.

And you have to run back and get it for yourself. And that's good. But look around for others. Being aware is very important. Psalm 123 is one of my favorite scriptures regarding service. Psalm 123, verse 2. Psalm 123 and verse 2.

Behold, the eyes of servants. Behold, as the eyes of servants, look to the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of the maiden, to the hand of her mistress. Do you look? Are you aware?

I remember this one restaurant. I always remember it in St. Louis, Missouri. It was a Cheshire Inn, one that we ate at frequently because it was open late at night. And we would be hungry. We came home at 10 or 10.30 as long as we got in before 11. We could get dinner. And they had such good waiters and waitresses. If you went to scratch your head, waiters show up. Yes, sir. Can I help? Did you need something? Just scratching my head. Or you make a gesture. Yeah, what about this?

Sir, something wrong. Maybe they were overly officious. But they looked at the hand. They looked to see if there was any gesture. Does somebody need help? Does somebody need something just like that servant and that mistress, that handmaid? Look at their masters to see for the slightest clue that they need help. And they're there. That's what I call awareness. So he says, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he has mercy upon us. We look to him. We're aware, when is God going to show me mercy? When is God going to intervene in my life?

But we need to be aware if we're going to be good, if we're going to be great Christians, and we want to serve, you've got to be aware. Look around. Who needs help? Does anybody need help around here? Anybody need somebody to help? Need a helper? Need a second fiddle player? I'm here. Got my fiddle. I'll be happy to help out. Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. I get the feeling of the church at Philippi had a lot of good servants. It's like the church at Cincinnati does. Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other better than themselves.

Do they need help? How may I help you? How may I assist you? What may I do to make you better?

Verse 4. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Don't just look for your after your own things, but look after the things of others too.

That's a servant. I'm aware of your things. I'm aware of what you need. I'm aware of how much they might need to be cared for or assisted. Not just, I'm just going to take care of my things, and that's all I care about. So, awareness. If you want to be a great Christian, you have to be aware.

Aware of needs. Looking to serve. How can I help out? What may I do to make it better?

Number three. An attitude and awareness are all great, but if you don't do anything about it, I'm aware they need help, and I want to help, but I don't help because somehow we can't get motivated. Action. The third A. Action. You can't just sit back and hope that it gets better. You can't just sit back and think it through. I'm going to think, how can this get better? Hmm. To do action. To be action-oriented. Galatians 5 and verse 13.

Galatians 5 and verse 13 tells us our motivation is love. He says, For brethren, you have been called to liberty, only don't use your liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But by love, the motivation, outgoing concern, serve one another. Don't just think about service. Don't just be aware that there's a need. Don't just have a good attitude, but actually do something. Get involved, I think, as Mr.

Pulliam was mentioning. Getting involved. Thinking about others. Great way to help you through depression. Most people who are depressed, who are anxious, too many thoughts coming upon themselves. Love, outgoing concern, is thinking about how the other person might be bettered by your presence and by what you can do. 1 John 3 verses 16 to 18 on this point on action. 1 John 3 verse 16, he says, Hereby we perceive the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. He did something, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Laying down our lives. Every time you give up a minute or two for someone else, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, you've given away twenty minutes of your life for someone else. But who so has this world's good and sees his brother have need and shuts up his vows of compassion from him? How dwells the love of God in him? Have you seen a need? If you think of the need, if you realize there's a need, if you'd like to help with the need but don't help with it, what good is it?

Good intentions but not good actions. Verse 18, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Many people fight a good fight with their tongues.

They don't fight a good fight with their feet or their hands. It's important to have action. Finally, Matthew 24, verse 47, 45 to 47, Jesus Christ, when he comes back, he's going to divide the sheep from the goats, and there's a distinctive feature about the sheep. Matthew 24, verses 45 to 47.

In this case, let me read this first. Matthew 24, verses 45 to 47. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his Lord shall make ruler, has made ruler over his household? So what servant is going to be elevated to ruler to give them meat, food, and deuceson? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find what? So doing. Not so thinking, not so planning, not so being aware of, but so doing. Fairly I say to you, he shall make him ruler over all of his goods. In chapter 25, chapter 25, it's interesting, Jesus Christ is dividing the sheep from the goats.

He said in verse 37, I maintain that people who have an attitude of service, who are aware of service and do service, it becomes part of their life. They don't think I'm doing something special, like Timothy, who naturally cared for people. It's just something you do, just something you need to do. My parents were in the church, tended to church. They were never baptized. After they left the church, when my brother Dave was disfellowshipped in Pasadena, and they didn't want to be in church in Pittsburgh and cause problems, if people started saying things about my brother, their son, so they decided not to go to church anymore. They liked going to church. They were never baptized. They still knew people in the church who needed help. And even though they quit going to church, they didn't quit helping people. And so they served them. And they served them well. Announcement. Okay, it is starting the thunder badly outside, and a lot of car windows are down. So if you need to go close your windows before you end up with a car full of water, please feel free to do so. And I will pause for a moment and give you a chance to do it so you don't miss the rest of the sermon. How's that? You can all take a breath. You can all button your callers.

While they're on their way of going out and checking things, you are aware about Oslo, Norway, what a horrible thing happened in Norway, or the explosion. And then we're 80 some, I think it was 84 people, were shot up over on that in that camp where a guy posing as a police officer said he was there to check things out to make sure they were all okay. And then he ended up gunning down around 80. They think there may have been two gunmen. So it's pretty awful. They don't know yet who did it. They think it's maybe just some some redneck. I don't know if they have rednecks up there, white necks or whatever they are over in Norway, but they somebody over there who military paramilitary person who wanted to inflict damage, some think it may have other ties.

Because it's almost coincidental with the blowing up of the right near the prime minister's building where his dwelling was. So something very serious. And of course our debt crisis continues to go on in America. And we do need to be aware of that and pray that God will, because it could cause have great ripples, you know, as far as people's interest rates and so on. So we really need to pray for God to do whatever he wants to do, and he can do what he wants with his country, whether they will come to something. But it does show the need for good leadership, need for people to step up and be counted. And right now, it's just very difficult for what's going on. So certainly encourage you to pray about that. And of course, the weather that God's people will stay healthy during this time, people have died because of the heat. So just really be careful, take care of yourselves. And please continue to remember Carol Golsan that God will continue to help her. And if he's, yeah, I said, wouldn't it be something? Here's a woman that's been on in hospice for a period of time now, and she's healed. What ripples will go through the medical community that a woman who they gave up as somebody who's not going to make it is brought through and healed. Okay, I'll continue my sermon. So again, these people, it became their natural way of life to serve. They said, when did we do this for you? He said, in as much as you did it to one of the least of my people, you did it to me. As we serve God's people, we really do serve God, don't we? Because it's the body of Christ. And as we serve humankind in general, by whatever community activity we do, we also store up treasure in heaven. Why? Because he made those people, didn't he? All human beings are his by creation. So number three point is action. Don't just think about it. Don't just be aware about it. Do something. And number four, number four, is another A. And it's alliance. Alliance. Following on what Mr. Pulliam said. You want to make an alliance with God. If you are a great Christian, you will have an alliance with God. That's point number four. Romans 12 verses one and two. It's impossible to do it the right way. It's impossible to serve out of a right spirit without the spirit of God either being with you or in you. Romans chapter 12 verses one and two. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Bring God into the picture. You form an alliance with Him. God loves people. God takes care of the widows and the fatherless. God looks down and blesses and shows mercy. God cares about His creation, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a servant. He could have chosen anything as long as He was willing to die, but He came as a servant into the world. Verse two. Romans 12 verse two. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Your reasonable service is to yield to God, your reasonable service is to say, what can I do, God? What can I do for my God? What can I do for my Lord and my God? What can I do for His people in whom He dwells? What can I do for them?

Second Corinthians 8. Second Corinthians 8 verses 3 to 5. We find the people here in Macedonia Moreover, brethren, as he writes to the Church of Corinth, remember Corinth was in a different area than the Macedonians. The Macedonias were where Philippi was. But he says, moreover, brethren, we do want you to know the grace bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Here's what that grace was. How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality. They knew what it felt like to be without, and they wanted to help somebody else who was without for the poor saints in Jerusalem.

He says, verse 3, For to their power I bear record, yes, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying to us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. They begged Paul and his party to take these gifts that they had, even though they needed whatever they were sending, as much as the people there. But they said, we want a gift because we know what it feels like to need. And so we want to help. Verse 5, And this they did, not as we hoped. Well, he's unhappy with them, no. He meant, they did more than we hoped. First, they gave their own selves to the Lord. They made an alliance with God. God, help me to serve. God, we want to serve you, and we want to serve your people. Now, there are ushers here who serve faithfully and regularly every week. There are individuals who serve faithfully and regularly every week to make it better for you. There are others who intermittently serve you, such as when socials come up, and then they jump in and serve the social committee. There are others on security who serve regularly. There are individuals who serve, who pitch in and help, who see a need, who usher, who help, who assist, who song lead, who give sermonettes, who play the piano. I don't know how many weeks Rhonda has to play the piano.

She's either she or her brother in the AM church. You think it doesn't take time to practice?

You think it doesn't take out of her life? She has to leave her husband. She can't be there with him after the song service. She doesn't get to sing with him when she's playing.

Again, we all give up something. We can all do something. How do we serve? How do you serve? How do you help? Ask yourself, do I?

These people gave themselves to God first and to us by the will of the Lord. So first they said, we're dedicating ourselves to God. We want to link with Him. God loves people. Jesus Christ came to serve. He came to serve.

In Matthew chapter 20 and verse 28. Matthew 20 verse 28.

This fourth point on alliance. Matthew 20 verse 28. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister. He didn't come to be served. He came to serve. And to give His life served in the ultimate way. He gave His life a ransom for many. Jesus Christ came to serve. Just because you served doesn't mean you never sit down and enjoy the fruits of other people's service. Sure, you can. Remember the lady who came and washed his feet? He didn't say, get away from me. I didn't come to serve. When people wanted to serve Him something, He didn't say, oh, you can't give me anything. So you have to be gracious. But what is your attitude? It's an attitude of service, of caring about others, at least as much as you care about you. Secondly, it's an awareness. What's going on? Does anybody need anything? Looking around, being alert. Thirdly, it's doing something, getting involved. Where's there a need? Where could I jump in and help? And fourth, it's doing it with an alliance with God, knowing that's what God does and asking Him for the help and strength to be able to do it. Those are the four A's. I'm going to bring this to a conclusion with two more scriptures and one quote. Here's the quote first. It's entitled, Third Class Passengers. In the days of the stagecoach, a man undertook a journey. He was informed that there was first, second, and third class passengers. However, all the seats on the coach looked alike to him, so he purchased the third class ticket. All went well for a time, and the man was congratulating himself upon saving the money by paying less for a third class ticket. Presently, they came to the foot of a very steep hill when the driver stopped the horses and shouted, First Class Passengers, keep your seats. Second Class Passengers, get out and walk. Third Class Passengers, get out and push.

What we need for the kingdom is third class passengers, those who will push, not first class, who are contented to sit and look on while others are working. Not second class passengers, who are willing to walk away when the real work comes, but third class passengers, who are willing to bear the burden and the heat of the day and, I might say, and serve.

Third Class Passengers, we need a lot of third class passengers, those who are willing to push. Not those who sit in the seat and be pushed. Not those who walk away.

Matthew 20, verse 25, verses 25 to 28 to reiterate the scripture that I begin with.

Matthew 20, verses 25 to 28. But Jesus called them to him and he said, they were having difficulties, you know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them and they that are great exercise dominion upon them. But it shall not be so among you, whosoever will be great. You might say, who wants to be a great Christian? Jesus wants you to be a great Christian. Let him be your servant or minister, and whoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, he set us an example, but to minister and give his life a ransom for many. But remember it's something you choose to do.

Not something you have to do, something you choose to do. People may ask you, they say, you know, would you be interested? Oh, I didn't know you needed any help. Well, maybe you weren't aware. I'm willing. Sure, jump in and help. That's okay. Matthew 25, final scripture, Matthew 25, verse 14 to 21. Here we find the parable of the pounds, of the talents, rather. Pounds is in Luke 19. Parable of the talents. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling to a far country who called his servants, called his servants. You might also call it a parable of the servants. And he delivered to them his goods. And to one, he gave five talents to another two and to another one, to every man according to his ability. Again, serve as you are able. If you're older and you have arthritis and can't lift your arm up, do we expect you to be lifting chairs and throwing those around? No, we don't expect that.

Can you help in other ways? There are other things you could do. Can you come early and make coffee? Can you help out? How can you help out? How can you serve? Does it have to be something physical? Can you just cheer up people? Can you ask them for their take note when people are sick and pray for them? Give them an encouraging word when you see them the next week, when they've been sick the previous week. You can help in many ways according to your own ability. He said that he that received the five talents went and traded with the saved. He did something with it and made other five talents. Likewise, he that had too, he gained two others. But he that had received one, digged it into the earth and hid his Lord's money. He didn't want to do anything. He just hid it. After a long time, the Lord of those servants came and reckoned with them. So he that had received five talents came, said, Lord said, he said to him, Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I've gained besides him five talents more. And his Lord said, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord. You could read the two. He does the same thing. The one he doesn't get it, takes away, gives it to the other one. What is the whole point? The whole point is, in the end, you want God to be able to say to you, because you've chosen to be a great Christian, you want God to be able to say to you, well done, thou good and faithful servant.