Christ-Centered Service

As we've mentioned many times already today, and as we all know, we've just completed the last four Holy Days according to God's plan and the Holy Days that belong to Him, the feasts of the Lord. These Holy Days have our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, at the center of each one and continually point us towards the work that God is doing now and His plan for the future, which will benefit all of mankind. It's no wonder, then, as we think about these days we just observed to consider what we must be about ourselves, the topic of service is one that should be on our minds. We know that Jesus and everything that He did was always according to the will of the Father. He never broke or strayed from His mission or the purpose He came to fulfill, and we know a large part of His ministry was about serving those around Him and those He interacted with.

Almost three years ago, I started a sermon series on the topic and the importance of service that I was not able to finish because of COVID. I don't know if you recall that. I remember it.

It was beginning of January. I shared a couple sermons on service. I had a few more that was in the works, and then, as with so much of our lives at that time, everything came to a screeching halt. Things started going different directions, and I do feel like those sermons helped at the time because it helped remind us of the importance to look after one another, not knowing what was coming down the pike. But I'd like to take some time over these next few weeks with you and get back to the subject again. It's a vital subject that must be one that we continually keep on the forefront of our mind. Even every few years, not every so often, getting back to the core of what is service, what is God we service, what is Christ-centered service. Because, again, as we looked at with our Lord and Savior, the example that He provided, service is critical and such an important part of who He is and what He wants us to continue to do in the future.

A question I pondered this week was, where would any of us be if acts of service were something absent from this world? Where would we be if service was not something that was part of our character? We look at a lot of the animal kingdom, and you see how the animals are designed by nature to pretty much look after themselves. There are some species that will complement one another or help one another, but in a lot of ways, most of the animal kingdom is about self-preservation.

They go about doing their own things, the ways that they want to do, and what benefits them themselves. But God didn't design us that way. He designed us after, again, His own image.

That's an image of love, of caring for one another. And as we see not only in Scripture the way that God looks, the Father looks after us as His children, but also the example that our Lord and Savior set of service, that this is part of who we are and what God has given to us.

Where would any of us be if acts of service were something that was absent from our nature and from this world? I just know we'd be in a huge heap of hurt. From our earliest living moments, we were all deeply impacted by service as we were in the complete care of someone who loved us and took care of us. I don't think I've ever felt the responsibility of this until I held Kelsey for the very first time. I never envisioned what that would feel like, what that would be like, but until you hold someone who's now 100% dependent on you and your care, your protection, your guidance, the weight and the responsibility of something like that is unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life. And we know that that was a calling for me to be a servant-oriented parent, that I would be giving of countless numbers of lack of sleep. There'd be those moments where Kelsey would be sick and I'd be driven to my knees in prayer because of concern and out of love. Those moments where correction would need to come in at times, but also building up, encouraging, and being her number one fan. And all of this is the way that God designed us, and it's beautiful when we have that opportunity to do that for our own children, for our nieces and nephews, for others in our congregation that we mentioned about today, as the little ones grow up in our midst, that we can serve them as God has placed them here as part of our family. But we know that as our life moved on, as we continued to grow, we ended up in other people's care. We ended up in teacher's care, and we are so thankful for the teachers that we have in our congregation, the service that they provide to our communities, the love that they pour out, the going above and beyond, often even financially, taking of their own funds and helping to buy supplies, or recognizing a child is without, and they can be subtle in purchasing something a child needs. Our teachers give time and time again in service, and they're such a blessing to our society, the good ones who really care and really serve from the heart. Maybe you had others that spent time helping and serving in your life. Maybe it was a coach or an activity director. Maybe it was a mentor who took you under their arm and showed you a thing about life. Or maybe it was a next-door neighbor who your parents could lean on to keep an eye on you from time to time or even to take you someplace if the need arose.

I remember our family had a close friend that lived about a mile away from us, but there was many a day that we were dropped off at their house and smith a day his mom and dad had to do other things. Or we knew that they were also a phone call away. That if we were by ourselves and mom and dad couldn't be reached, this is pre-cell phone days, right? That we had their number up by the phone. That if we had to call them, mom and dad knew they would be over in a heartbeat to look after us if we needed them. And so as we continue to grow and our lives continue to change from being a kid to a teenager, even to a young adult, there's often someone in our life that is providing service to us and continually looking after our needs in a beautiful way. And as you know, I'm never shy to acknowledge the diligence of those within our family, those within our congregations that have continually served us over the years. I've told you before and I'll never shy away from it. I don't think I would be here. I know I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for those who came before me and laid foundations that I could grow up as a kid on a blanket in your midst. And that's a beautiful thing. People came when I was unaware of even what church was. I was learning about God. I was not even understanding most of the concepts that we take for granted now and sit on our hearts as other people came and they set up chairs every Sabbath. Somebody manned the sound station. Somebody was at the parking making sure there was a greeter at the door and it would help my mom with the bags and the kids get into the door. There was somebody who prepared a message every week. There were people who would come and anoint when I was sick. All these ways that the church and that many people before me and before you laid a foundation that we're able today to be building on is a beautiful, wonderful thing and it's part of the God's plan that He has for all of us.

And the way that each other have served. The way that you have served one another, I've seen that. The way you've served me and my family in just the five years that we've been here is just this what God has brought us to and this is the beauty of service in our family. So as we return to this series of sermons about service and this first message, we will examine Christ-centered service and how we develop the attitude and actions that follow in the example of our Lord and Savior.

Christ-centered service demonstrates the greatest level of spiritual conversion because it directly follows Christ's example. Often when one thinks of service, our minds gravitate towards the responsibilities or official areas of service that one is closely tied to. It might be a group that you are affiliated with or a responsibility that you have at home or within your community.

Here in our congregation locally, we may think about our name being on a list for something that we have an official responsibility for. And while these are definite ways to serve, it's not the only way and we can't let our minds be limited by these official thoughts. We must learn to think outside the box when it comes to service, to find ways to help our family right here and those outside our walls in unique ways where they need to be served. Servants base their identity in Christ, not in themselves or how they serve. Becoming a servant should be our identity as well because it reflects who Christ is. It should become one of our goals as a Christian and we should strive to develop qualities consistent with service. And so as we begin to get in the heart of this message, I'd like to share six characteristics of Christ that demonstrate how He gave His life to be a servant. And when we consider and seek to build more fully these qualities in our life, then the way that we think about and the way that we apply service to others will change. And I hope it explodes into a vast array of ways that we seek to serve others. So again, these are qualities of Christ and then midway through each one of these qualities, I'm going to try to apply a practical application that maybe you and I can relate more closely in our lives and to apply today. So the first Christ-centered service characteristic is, of course, I don't want to...we have to start off right with the big one, humility, right? Humility. Let's turn our Bibles to Philippians 2 verses 5 through 8. A lot of these passages we're going to go to are ones that we've read many times before, and as soon as we start to read these, you're going to recognize them quickly. But these are these foundational stones in the truth of God's Word about our Lord and Savior and the way that He lived His life and the example that He set.

And they are vital for us to continually bring back to our mind and to remember as we examine the importance of service and as we look at the the most perfect example of service in our elder brother. Philippians 2, and actually we'll restart in verse 1. Philippians 2 and verse 1.

Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, saying that if we bring on any of these godly qualities and characteristics, he says, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. And he says, let nothing be done, Paul says here, through selfish ambition or conceit. It's not about us, is what he's saying, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross.

This is a beautiful passage that we have just reminding us of the example that Jesus Christ himself set, of giving himself fully, of the Father giving his only Son fully and holding nothing back from us. And what an amazing example we have. The practical application for me and you, you can write down in your notes, is awareness. Awareness. There was an awareness of Christ of who he was before the Father. He knew that he was the Son of God. He knew that he was sent with a mission that he was on, and he diligently finished that mission. And while Christ was without sin, you and I are not able to speak of ourselves in the same way. Our awareness must come from a sense of who we are, which as mortal human beings, in which our own nature often rises to the top.

We have to recognize and be aware that we fall short of the stature of Jesus Christ, that example that we are to try to work towards. That often our pride, our selfishness, our own motivations get in the way and create problems for our lives. We have to be aware of these things. Because as we allow Christ to live in us and change us from the inside out, we will have an awareness of just where we stand before God, which in turn should allow us to put on the quality of humility as we come before our Father. That's where this awareness of truly who we are will drive us to our knees in recognizing that we fall short. We have those areas of sin that we're still trying to work against. We have those attitudes that can pop up out of nowhere. We have those triggers, right?

I've got my list of triggers. It's in a box. I'm working on them one at a time. But when something happens in life, it's just boom! It's like a reaction. We almost can't even help it. And then after that, after the horse is out of the barn, we're now dealing with the ramifications of that.

What this should do, this awareness of who we are, these triggers, these aspects of our nature, should drive us to recognize that we need humility before our God. That we're not perfect yet. And that will in turn help us to serve one another, recognizing that we don't have it all figured out.

We're not perfect. And that when others cross our path, others hurt us, others do things that we don't necessarily appreciate, we can still come and serve them. We can still come and love them.

And so this first character trait of humility that Jesus Christ had in our own awareness is an example of Christ-centered service. A second example of Jesus Christ is he was a teacher and a mentor. Let's look at Matthew 23 in verse 8. Matthew 23 in verse 8.

Matthew 23 in verse 8 as we consider the teacher and the mentor that Jesus that Jesus was. He says, but you in verse 8, do not be called rabbi, for one is your teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for one is your father, he who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers. The King James version says, master.

Do not be called teachers or masters, for one is your teacher, the Christ. Again, the King James version uses the word master to refer to those who claim the right to direct or control other people. This was often a title that was conferred on Jewish teachers. They would be called masters.

And while it's okay to be called teachers today, I mean, I have no problem referring to me as a teacher in that way, because it holds a different meaning than the word master here at the time of Christ. We got to remember that it's okay, let me back up again, it's okay to be called teacher because it holds a different meaning to us. But the connotation here is about master, one who's in control, one who lords it over others. Barnes notes says, it does not prohibit Christians from seeking or receiving distinction among themselves to control their opinions or conduct of others in order to be superior to them. I'm sorry, it does prohibit. I think I might have said it does not prohibit. It does prohibit, let me rephrase that, it does prohibit Christians from seeking or receiving distinction among themselves to puff ourselves up or to say, well, don't you know who I am? We'll hear that in society at times in a very ugly way. It says, it does prohibit those from seeking these things in order to control the opinions or conduct of others in order to be superior to them. That's that common denominator in our Christian walk, as we looked at in that first example of humility and being aware. We all fall short.

Every single one of us in our family here, everyone in society around us, we all fall short of who we should be before God. We all make decisions that fall short of the standard.

And for any of us to pick ourselves up and act like we're superior to anyone else, we just can't do that. And that's what Christ is saying here, to not be called a master, to not be called a father in a way that you're carrying yourselves above everyone else, because Christ is that teacher. Jesus is that mentor that we have in our lives. And so the practical application for us today is one of persuasion. Persuasion. Because a good teacher or mentor can persuade or motivate others to develop attributes that lead to success. Sometimes in our society today, the word persuasion can come with a negative meaning or connotation. Even the definition of itself can mean to move by argument, which means like you're going to argue with somebody until they see things from your perspective. That's that negative connotation that we can have. But persuasion is not a bad thing of itself. To create a discussion, to help other people to see something maybe they haven't seen before, is a tool and a gift that we can utilize. Some synonyms for persuasion is to convince, or to motivate, or to encourage. So we see that these are words that are powerful and can really impact one's life. Let's look at Acts 2 and verse 36.

To see this in practice, Acts 2 and verse 36. We know this is a passage that we read often through the year about God's people, the disciples, gathering on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out. And after having God's Spirit, Peter gave this amazing sermon that cut many people to the heart. And here in Acts 2 and verse 36, we break into the end of that sermon, where Peter says, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And now when they heard this, they were cut to their heart. You could say they were persuaded of where they stood before God, of the responsibility they had.

And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord or God will call. And then it goes on to saying, With many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. And then we see through his persuasion, we see through his conviction, verse 41, And those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. We know that wherever Christ traveled and interacted with others, he was always teaching and motivating others to action. We see this through the same example with the disciples and the work that they did throughout the New Testament. Think back to your schooling, whether it be high school, technical training, college, your first job. There was somebody who was always there helping you along your path. Someone who was mentoring you, someone who was persuading you, convicting you of a better way or of a new idea, something maybe you hadn't considered from your own vantage point yet. A good teacher or mentor can persuade you to think differently than you had before. They can cause you to open your eyes a little bit more broadly and allow you to have a deeper understanding about yourself. In the same way, we should be able to serve others by showing and explaining the truth that God has revealed to us. And in doing so, we should be able to expound and draw out the application of Scripture to help others in their time of need.

Again, we see this example of teaching that Jesus did and of persuasion in all that he did, living the fleshy life as we do today. So this is another aspect of service, being able to teach, to motivate, to persuade another person to see the truth of life. A third aspect out of the six we'll look at is Christ put other needs before his own. Let's look at Romans 15 in verse 1.

Christ put others' needs before his own.

This is like, this point is like the understatement of the world, that he put his own, put others' needs before his own. What an amazing example that we see all through the Gospel accounts and we see the writers in the New Testament also just re-emphasize over and over again, because this is the most beautiful example that we have in the way that he served humanity and served us. Paul talks about this in Romans 15 in verse 1.

It says, We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Notice that it's not about us. He's getting at here. Verse 2, Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification or building up or strengthening. That should be our view that we look at one another with. That should be our view that we look at our neighbors and our communities, those we interact at a workplace. How can we build up others around us?

I think you guys have had that in the workplace especially. I've seen that time and time again in my own life. Someone who was looking out for me, they didn't have to do it. And in fact, they were probably going out of their way. They could have focused on their job and their responsibility, but they saw something that they could help me with to better myself, to better the company, to just take a step forward that maybe if they didn't do that for me, I would have missed that aspect of learning.

Paul says, Let each of us, verse 2, please his neighbor for his good, leading to that edification, that building up, that strengthening. Verse 3, For even Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you, fell on me. Christ always did the will of the Father. He was always willing to give of himself completely. He prayed for the disciples, and in turn, he prayed for us, knowing that we would come down the road in future generations. He was patient with others who weren't always making the best choices in their life, always desiring to point them in a better way to go with their own life. He did not seek to please himself, is what we see here in verse 3. Continuing on, verse 4, For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we, through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded towards one another. He's encouraged us just to that example that Jesus Christ lived his life by. Let us also be like-minded towards one another according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus. So the practical application to Christ putting his needs, or putting others' needs, before his own, for you and me today, the practical application is sacrifice.

We can ask any parent in this room what it means to sacrifice, and they will go down a list, right?

What it means to sacrifice for your children. We see that with our two youngest families and the different things that they've had to sacrifice. Primarily sleep. I saw Chris shake his head like, man, sacrifice. You don't understand sacrifice until you have children. Over and over and over again, we make sacrifices because we love them and because of the preciousness that our children are in our hands. Same with many a school teacher. They'll sacrifice their evenings. They'll sacrifice their late evenings coaching. So many of our teachers, they coach or they're involved in clubs after school activities, and often they don't get an extra dime for any of that. They do it because they care for the kids. They'll stay late after class to help a student reinforce a topic.

It's beautiful when we see this type of sacrifice made in life. Let's look at Matthew 20 in verse 20, and we'll see someone who didn't quite understand this concept of sacrifice yet. They would in time, for sure, but in this moment they're kind of missing the mark. And it's a good example for us to be reminded of, too, because we can fall into the same type of competitive thought, same type of attitude at times in our own lives of seeking after our own will instead of seeking after opportunities to sacrifice.

Matthew 20 in verse 20. Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him, in the speaking of Jesus, with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from him. And he, Jesus, said to her, What do you wish? She said to him, Grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on your left in your kingdom. I can't read through this passage without kind of putting myself in the shoes of the environment or even just watching it from a side, right? You're going to take your sons in front of the other ten, your two out of the 12, get to be on the left and the right. Where do my kids sit? In the back of the bus? I mean, what are we talking about here? You're going to put your kids up front and even the sons, maybe what was going through their minds and to think about what they're talking about here. And Jesus said in verse 22, You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with? And they said to him, We are able. And then if we could see the head shake probably maybe from our Lord and Savior, I think it would have been inserted right here. He said to them, You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand or my left is not mine to give, but is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father. And when the ten heard it, we get the biggest understatement in the Bible. When the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.

But Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles gored it over them. Here's going back to that being called master, that concept of being superior to others and to carry yourself with that superior thought and action and attitude. He's saying, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles gored it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to be great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. It is not for you and me to dictate what positions of authority or power that we will have in this life or even in the kingdom of God. This is up to God to decide on how and where to place each one of us. It doesn't mean that we can't have opinions today on where we like to serve or ways that fill our hearts, fill our tanks. I think we all have that as we serve our brothers and sisters, we serve in our communities. There are ways that we really walk away like satisfying, thankful that we have opportunity to serve mankind in this way or that way. It's not saying that we can't have preference, but that can't be our only motivation about what we get or about what we can or can't do. We have to continue to have ideas and opinions of service beyond just what we think. We will have to remain and be that tool in God's hands to be used where he places us and to be ready to be used in that way. The Gentiles sought out leadership and service positions to lord it over them, Christ says.

In Merriam-Webster's dictionary, lord it over means to act in a way that shows one thinks one is better or more important than someone. I think we've all encountered people who've interacted with us that way, right? They talk to us, maybe talk down to us, and we know how that feels. We know how it hurts. We know how it's not building us up. When those conversations are directed that way, they're not that person in that time. They're not sacrificing for us.

They're lording it over us. But the key again is back into verse 27 and 28, that example that we have in Jesus, that he didn't come to be served, but he came to give of himself. He came to sacrifice ultimately fully of his life, but also of his time, of his resources, of his energy.

And so as we seek to serve more fully, this will often take sacrifice on our part, be it time or money, potentially. Obviously prayers and conversations as we listen.

Listening is one of those amazing ways that we can sacrifice for one another, because often somebody has something that they need to get off their chest, something they need to share, a challenge that they've had through the week. And we can either have our thoughts someplace else, or we could be jumping ahead in their conversation, right? What am I going to say next? How am I going to respond? When ultimately, more times than not, somebody just needs to be listened to and to feel valued and cared for in that moment. It's a gift when we can give of ourselves in that way and just let them talk. And sometimes not have any advice to share, but others say, I'm sorry that you're going through such a difficult time right now.

There's sometimes no words to just make that situation better, but in that moment we can sacrifice our time with one another in that same way that Christ put others' needs ahead of his own. We must also be willing to make sacrifices of things that are ours to control as we seek ways to serve one another. The fourth Christ-centered service characteristic is that Christ was approachable and he often initiated contact. He was both approachable and he initiated contact. Let's turn to John 4 and verse 3 to see an example of Jesus doing this. John 4 and verse 3.

I'm in Luke. It's supposed to be John 4 and verse 3.

Talking about the journeys that Jesus was on. It says, He left Judea and departed again to Galilee, but He needed to go through Samaria. And this was not a place where He would have been, while the Jews in that time, would not have just been like, yay, I get to go to Samaria.

So He came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey, sat thus by the well, and it was about the sixth hour. And a woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. There's an amazing opportunity that Jesus saw in this conversation that is about to happen. We're not going to dive through it and go through the depths of it. It's a sermon for another day. But Jesus could have just stepped back. He could have just let somebody else. His disciples were in town buying food. He could have just waited for them to come back and asked one of them to give Him water. But He saw an opportunity. He was approachable in His mannerisms, but He also was willing to initiate contact here.

Verse 4, again, in verse 7, He said, Give me a drink. For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. And then the woman of Samaria said to them, How is it that you, being a Jew, asks a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

To understand this concept, the Samaritans were considered half-breeds. And I don't say that lightly. They were considered to be inter-married and mingled, part Jew, part Samaritan, part other cultures that brought their own traditions, their own ways. And in some ways, they were even considered, as we would a dog. They had no value in a lot of the Jews' minds.

And here Jesus is talking to her by the well, initiating contact, wanting to dive deeper and to show her something that she had never considered before. Verse 10, Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says, Do you give me a drink?

You would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Again, we're not going to dive into the rest of the story. But Jesus had a gift that he could bring to her. This living water, this new way of thought, this new way of life, to broaden her view of her existence, to not thirst just after the physical water, but to thirst after righteousness.

He was presenting before her.

Christ knew his message was for every person, no matter their background or problems in life.

He knew that everyone needed the hope that he had in his heart and that he was able to bring.

He knew that everyone needed that awesome gospel message, the good news of the kingdom.

He was ready and willing to share that as he was approachable and he initiated contact. For you and me, the practical application is for us to build community. Just as Jesus shared in his Good News message with the Samaritan by the Well, we must be ready to share the same good news at any place and at any time. What is your community where you may have an opportunity to share God's truth and to be alight? Is it with your neighbors? Because they see us, right? I see my neighbors, they see me. I still wonder what they think sometimes when there's no Halloween decorations going up in the front of our house, especially the pastor next door. He doesn't even put Christmas decorations up. I'm sure there's thoughts that go through their mind when they see us leave on the Saturday in our suits and our daughter dressed up. And then they see me Sunday morning mowing my yard. I'm sure there's all kinds of thoughts that go through their minds.

Is our community like where we're being seen? Is it with our neighbors? What is your community where you may have an opportunity, again, to share? Is it with those that you go to school with, be it public school or college? I'm not going to tell a story, but well, I'll say that for another time. I don't want to go off my notes too far. But when you're in school and when you're in college, and especially the college environment, I'll lead to it a little bit. We're kind of seeing another side of the college environment now that Kelsey's away at school.

And is she standing out? Absolutely she is. Is that her community that she's in right now? It is. And so she is now recognizing that part of her responsibility is to be the slight, to stand out in this community, to demonstrate God working in her life. Is your community with your co-workers? That was always one that I remember too. And we could go around the room of what it's like to have a job and to work with people who will curse, tell about their weekend adventures that we don't want to hear, and yet we don't do those same things.

They know that we're people of character, that we're not going to be the ones who go and lie to the client. Is that that part of our community? Is it with your local moms group or your local community group? All of these ways that we have an opportunity to build community, but to build it with God being at the forefront of our motivations as we serve our communities and those that we're around.

This doesn't mean that at every moment we need to be preaching God to them, because we know so often that our words or our actions speak louder than our words. People see what we do and what we don't do. People notice our speech and our attitude.

People see the ways that our family interacts with one another. Often all of these ways and these things that we do open up a door for others to say something's different about your life, and I can't put my finger on it. Why do your children look up to you and talk nicely to you? Most of the time. Our daughter's not perfect. Good thing she's not here, right? I don't think she's tuning in either. But our kids, more times than not, I mean, you see them here in services. They're sitting here. They've been trained. They've been taught. They know right from wrong, and it's beautiful to see as they continue to go through their lives.

This opens a door for people to want to understand why is what's different about you? And as Christ was approachable and as He initiated contacts with others, we too have that same ability to build community and then find the ways to serve them more fully as our lives continue to intersect. So it's a beautiful opportunity as Christ was approachable. As He initiated contact, we must follow that to be approachable and to be able to interact with others and in turn to build up our community, be it here and to be it outside of our walls.

A fifth way that Christ served and gave of Himself was He was one who encouraged. Christ was one who encouraged. Let's turn to Luke 22 and verse 24 this time. We're going to break into this passage here. It's another one of those where it's kind of like you. In our mind, we can kind of shake our head because it seems like almost an unbelievable situation that's occurring here.

But then I remind myself if I was in all their shoes, I might be making the same mistakes. But we're breaking into a passage here in Luke chapter 22 and verse 24 where Christ is about to keep the Passover with His disciples. But in the midst of this opportunity to share and to teach, a dispute breaks out. I can only think that the disciples were having a bad day in this situation. But in the midst of this dispute, Christ does not just cast them all aside, but He uses it as an opportunity to teach and to encourage.

Notice how He encouraged them towards the end of this passage here. Again, Luke 22 and verse 24. Now there was also a dispute among them. And remember, this is on Passover, the final Passover that Christ would keep with His disciples.

There was a dispute among them as to which of them should be considered the greatest of all times. Could you imagine coming to Passover like this next year? We got all winter to get through. Could you imagine coming to Passover in the spring and you walk in the door and you're looking around, who's the greatest here? This is what was going on. And He said to them, the kings of the Gentiles exercise again.

He's bringing this concept back to life again for them. The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you. On the contrary, He who is greatest among you, let him be the younger. And he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table, yet I am among you as the one who serves.

But you are those who have continued with me in my trials. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as my father bestowed one upon me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. He recognized that this is not a way of thinking that they should be all caught up in, but he wanted them to know you are special, and you will have opportunities to serve, but to like receive great blessing in the kingdom.

But it's of service, and this is one where he was trying to instill this again through his encouragement. And he was one who often encouraged all through the gospel accounts we see, often and always, offering encouragement to those around him. For you and me, the practical application is that we have the opportunity to offer healing to others around us. So many are hurting from the stresses of their environment, and because of these stresses, many act out in ways we wish they wouldn't.

There was a few years ago, Laura and I were at winter camp, and we were, we've been blessed to be able to be dorm parents. I've mentioned this probably in the past. Dorm parents come in in the evening after the dorm is starting to settle down just before bed. It's an opportunity for us to come in and maybe to offer encouragement to the dorm to see how their day went. And as dorm parents, we're assigned to that dorm off-camp the whole week. And so Laura and I will go to different activities where they're at. We'll offer them, we'll trip to our best of our and everybody's names, and we'll be able to like go to the activities, tell them how great they did, or offer encouragement when one needs it, when they're facing something hard. And so in the evenings, we get to come back together, we get to be in the dorm with them, we get to sit down, and it's one of the highlights of camp. Like if they took that away from me, I'd be really, really upset. It is so much fun, and as we have opportunities to encourage others who've never been dorm parents before, often they're nervous, saying, I'm not qualified to go in and offer anything. And I said, they just want your presence. They just want you to be there and know that they're loved. And then after they do it once, usually the people can't wait to be dorm parents again. But sometimes we hit challenges with the campers. Sometimes they will, more times than not, they'll open up and be transparent with us.

And we were got into a discussion about three years ago about something that led to some of the difficulties our teens face. About how often they're cut down by other peers in school.

They're made fun of, not just because of their beliefs, but because of the values they stand on.

There, one talked to us and said that she's called a try-hard. And I said, a try-hard? What's that mean?

And she goes, you know, like when you get good grades, or you go to your teacher after school and you ask for help, or you play in the band, or whatever, you're trying hard to be good at something or to do well. They use that as a negative. You're just a try-hard. Kind of, I guess we would say in the past, like a teacher's pet. You're just going above and beyond. You're just, imagine like the hurt to do your best, to excel, to enjoy like whatever it is that you're doing in school, only to have somebody cut you down. We see the culture around us sometimes use the word canceled, right? Cancel culture. That if you disagree with somebody or somebody disagrees with something you've done, you can be canceled. You can be thrown pretty much in the trash. Your value as a person, your opinion on things, doesn't matter anymore. This is some of the challenges that we see in our society. We know this goes on daily in the schools. Our teachers in the room can speak to the students that's been hurt this way for doing nothing more than trying to be good and excel at their classwork. In our talk with the dorm and these young ladies, I was able to share an axiom that I hope brought them a bit of encouragement, that axiom is hurt people, hurt people. Have you ever heard that? That's one that's kind of just stuck in my mind as I continue to go through life and you encounter somebody at the store or somebody at work that you're just like, wow, I can't believe they said that to me or I can't believe they responded that way. And I've learned that often that response is an outward effect of something else going on in their life deep down that is where they're unhappy. And this this axiom, hurt people, hurt people, often holds true when we see some of the outward expressions of things going on in society right now around us. Being able to offer encouragement is such a healing factor to those who need it.

It's a gift that often costs us nothing other than a small piece of our time, yet to those on the receiving end, it is often a life raft which helps in their time of need.

Jesus was the expert in offering encouragement to those around him. We, in turn, must also be willing to share healing words to those who are hurting from the weights and stresses of a world governed by an adversary who hates them and hates the future that God has in store for them. Our adversary, Satan, wants nothing more than to destroy the lives of humanity. And he's doing a pretty good job at it right now. And so, when we can come in and follow that example of service by offering encouragement to bring healing that comes from not us but from God, that's like an amazing opportunity of a life raft coming along in a flood to give somebody a hope and a direction maybe that they can go. What a service we can bring to a world that desperately needs the healing words of God. The sixth and last area that I'd like to look at as we consider Christ-centered service and the example that he gave is that Christ saw the potential in others.

He saw the potential in others. Let's look at John 1 and verse 35.

There's so many examples we could draw from from the Gospels on this one, but John 1 verse 35 is where we'll go for today.

This is early in Christ's ministry. This is as he's now gathering disciples to follow after him.

And we see how he saw the potential in one who was probably... he was not going to be the one that was going to rise to the top of the group to choose from. John 1 and verse 35, again, the next day John, and this is John the Baptist, stood with two of his disciples. So John the Baptist had his own disciples. And looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God.

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And so at this time, these two disciples of John started following after Jesus. And one of the two who heard John speak and followed him... Oh, and this is verse 40. I'm jumping ahead to verse 40. And one of the two who had heard John speak and followed him, speaking of Jesus, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which is translated Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus looked at him, looked at Peter, he said, You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas, which is translated a stone. I think it's interesting. I mean, if we put ourselves in the shoes of the situation again, imagine being Peter, and all of a sudden, here's the Messiah, the one that you're going to start to follow. You have your own ideas. This is truly the Messiah. My brother says it is. I don't know if I trust my brother. He's going through this. And then all of a sudden, the Messiah says, I'm going to change your name. You're going to be called a stone. What does that mean? What does that add up to? Why is he doing this to me?

But yet, Christ saw the potential in Peter. He not only saw who Simon Peter was, but who he would become. But what's interesting is we've read through the Gospel accounts. We've read through the actions that Peter had. And it shows one who was not always rock quality.

Peter sank when he was walking on the water because he took his focus off Christ and became scared. Peter rebuked Christ after Christ explained he must die. Peter said that Christ couldn't wash his feet. He lacked understanding of what was going on. Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. Peter denied Christ three times after saying that he'd be willing to die for him. None of this is adding up to rock quality. But through his time with Christ, the lessons he learned and through the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit, we see a completely different person in the book of Acts. Someone who spoke boldly about the good news message that Christ was bringing through his speech that he shared with many of the Christians.

We see someone who ultimately gave of his physical life in martyrdom because of the belief he had in Jesus and the good news message and of God.

Christ knew all that Peter was and all that Peter would become, but we often have a hard time seeing the full potential in others.

For the practical application for us, it's one of empathy. Empathy is the ability to have empathy for others is so important. Empathy allows us to see the deeper potential that one has to become a son or daughter of God. We must be willing to see things from that person's shoes, from that person's perspective, and to be willing to walk in their shoes. This is empathy. It's literally considering if you were in the other person's shoes. If you literally had their same upbringing, same parents, same schooling, same life experiences, same highs, same lows, how would you be today? That is empathy. To understand when one is going through a hard trial of life, to put yourself in their shoes and say, what would my response be if I was in their shoes going through the same thing right now? That's empathy. And as I've seen and I've grown through God's grace and consider putting myself in other people's shoes, fully putting myself into their life up to this point, I think there's a high probability I would probably be making the same decisions in their life going through the same struggles that they are. We're such a product of our upbringing. We're such a product of our parenting, of our schooling, of our life experiences that often we would not deviate probably very far from the choices that others make in their life and the difficulties they go through. Often we wear our own glasses created by our own unique upbringings and experiences and we judge one another through our own wins. And that's not fair.

As we understand that each person's lives are different and experiences are different, if we would view them through their own wins, we would draw so much closer in understanding that it's a hard life that we all have been called to and we all fall short of the standard of Christ.

Again, I know I can speak for myself. I think we can all agree with this, that we wish we had the insight that Jesus did when he looked at Peter and called him a stone. We wish that we could look at one another's lives and see the full potential that God can see in ourselves, right? And to see one another. Because imagine this whole environment, like our family here, if we could see one another exactly as Christ and as our Father sees us. Imagine the things that would be smoothed over in our relationships. Imagine the difficulties that would go out the window because we would say we see what you can become and what you're going to become, just as Christ saw what Peter would eventually become, would be a transforming effect that we would have in our family. And this is where empathy can have such a powerful effect. God hasn't given us the ability right now to see the full potential and what everyone can bring, but he's given us the gift of empathy. And through this gift, we can better see how we can best serve one another. So as we begin to wrap up today, I recognize that I didn't spend a lot of time on any of these six points or these six application aspects.

I recognize every single one of these could be blown out into a sermon in itself, right?

Humility, service, empathy. I mean, we could go on and on for an entire sermon on any each of these topics. I know sometimes as we go through our weekly life and our studies, sometimes it can be difficult to find a subject to study at home through the week or maybe in these next two weeks.

Maybe consider one of these six aspects of Jesus or these six application aspects, one of them, that kind of speaks to you today, that kind of resonates with your mind that you'd like to maybe study more into. Because like I said, there's a lot of material behind the scenes in this sermon that we could each grow and dive deeper into. Maybe there's one of these aspects, and I want to encourage us all to find maybe one of these aspects that we can study more and grow in, and maybe you can make it an emphasis for your week, for your study this week. I've asked Mr. Chase if he could hand out a handout. You can go ahead and do it. And each person can take one, and I hope our teens will go ahead and take one as well. This is something that I did several or three years ago, and as it's being handed out, you'll understand as you see it. And then those who were with us three years ago, you'll recognize it. This is a list of areas of service within our congregation. I think you'll remember three years ago, I asked if there, I wanted to get input on ways that each person could serve in the congregations. I know many of you already do. But this list here is a list of service areas that we have in our midst, and there's probably some others I could have added in things. It's the same one that I handed out three years ago, but when COVID hit, I know that some of many of you gave me back a list of areas that you would like your name to be considered for service. It came right before COVID hit, and I did not have an opportunity to even go through, and so I kind of organized and figured out where people would like to serve.

And so I was not able to finish that exercise. And it's okay. God had other plans. We went other directions. We pivoted, and now I'd like to pivot back. And so I'm again sharing. I'm going to share this with the other congregations again. These are areas within our congregation where people serve, and we need help. This may be an area that's new for you. It may be something that you've not considered before, and I'm not trying to say that everybody has to sign up for new areas or that you even have to be pressed to feel obligated. But I'm handing this list out separate from the list that you can give back to me, saying where you would like to consider serving, because I really would like you to take this list and to pray about it, to read through it, and then go to God with it, and see where God motivates and moves your heart if there are areas that you can serve. Now, I recognize a lot of these on the list are physical ways to serve here in the congregation, and not everyone's able to serve in that way. And I recognize that the conversations that some have with others on the Sabbath, the prayers that I know many of you offer up for one another, these are amazing ways to serve. And so don't again, we can't let ourselves be limited by a list like this of service areas. But on the flip side, we recognize as you look through this list, these are needs that we have in our congregation, and it's not bad for your name to be on a list if it fits for your life. And so again, in the future weeks, I'm going to hand the second part of this back out. That's the one where you can put your name at the top, and you can check a few of the boxes. But in the meantime, consider this list. I would encourage you to consider this list, and take it before God, and then see if there's areas where you can continue. If it's an area you're already serving in, and you want to check that box, by all means do it.

But with our teens in the room, some of you guys are three years older than you were before. Some of you are teens who weren't before. I want you to consider if there's areas that you want to serve, and it doesn't have to be like 10 items. It could be one item. But an area maybe that you want to get pressed a little bit outside your comfort zone? An area like learning how to run the sound system?

I remember being pressed the first time I did that. These are opportunities for our teens and our young adults, and we have a few young adults. But our teens, I'd encourage you to also consider this. And if you have questions with me, or you want to ask your parents questions about certain of these things, go to them as well. This is an opportunity that we have as a family to continue to press ourselves, and to continue to grow in service to one another. And like I said, this is, again, just a subset of the ways that you serve. And I know that many of you serve. Many of you serve beyond this list in ways that sometimes I don't even know about. And I want that to continue to go forward, too. But these are ways that we have within our family here that we need help. And we need to just encourage you to think through these things as we continue to think about the example of Christ having that humility that he always had. Being that teacher and that mentor, putting other needs ahead of his own, being approachable and initiating contact, being one who encouraged, and being one who saw the potential in others. And that's a final passage to consider today. Let's look at 1 Peter 2 and verse 21. We know again that everything that Jesus did while he lived on this earth was to fulfill the will of the Father. And as Christians, we know we are to become closer followers and disciples of Christ. And so it leaves us a great mountain decline, if you will. And as we consider Peter's words here in 1 Peter 2, verse 21, that stone that became a rock because God saw the potential in him, the growth that he could achieve, and the growth that he did through not only Christ's encouragement and support, but also through the giving of the Holy Spirit and the power that God gave Peter.

Peter shares this passage, verse Peter 2 and verse 21. For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled did not revile in return, when he suffered he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

Our elder brother gave of his own physical life on each of our behalf. He did this through the actions and attitudes while alive, and he did this through the sacrifice of his physical body unto death. We have each been served in a way that cannot be compared to any other type of service because we have been served by God himself. Through the examples we have reviewed today, Jesus served in these amazing pathways and so many more. What we're left with here is a very high calling, but it's a calling we can reach for and achieve when we prayerfully ask God to assist in our growth. Therefore, let us continue we put on Christ more fully as we seek ways to serve one another.