What Is Your Labor of Love?

Our keynote passage for the sermon today is located in Matthew, chapter 20, and verses 25 through 28. “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord 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 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’” Matthew 20:25-28). The disciples must have been shocked! How different was the leadership Jesus Christ was describing – in stark contrast to what the disciples had observed around them in the world of their day! Perhaps three to four decades later, God’s servant – probably the Apostle Paul – wrote about the same subject. “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:10).

John Cafourek (1945-2017) served in the ministry of Jesus Christ with his wife, Sandy, for 46 years.

John was born in South Dakota. He attended Ambassador College in Pasadena, California, from 1965 to 1969, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He received a Master’s Degree in psychological counseling from Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1978. John pastored churches in Nebraska, North Dakota, Missouri, Mississippi, Washington, and Oregon.

He directed speech clubs for men, gave seminars on abuse and addictions, and traveled as an international speaker in Canada, England, New Zealand, Jamaica, Australia, and other areas. He also directed a United Church of God preteen camp for children ages 6 to 12 and served at the church’s teen camp.