16th September 2007 PM

'LET'S SERVE TOGETHER' Pastor Colin Meadows

Ephesians 3:14-20, 1 Peter 4:7-11, John 13:1-5, 12-17

Ø We are better together! It is amazing what we can accomplish when we work together. Example of Sat together a few weeks back when around 150 people came and worked at the church together, cleaning, plantings shrubs, putting out chairs!

Yes, we are better together in every way, as we love each other, as we reach out to our world, as we fellowship with each other, as we encourage each other to grow. Tonight we look at how it is better to serve others together.

Ø We are here to serve others! The Apostle Peter gives clear teaching concerning our task in serving others. We are to do it! It is not an optional extra. It is true that we are not saved by our serving but we are saved so that we can serve others.

1 Peter 4:10 “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

In many people’s thinking, a person is great if they have wealth, beauty, intelligence, power or position. In God’s eyes, a person is great if they serve others. DL Moody once said ‘The measure of a man is not how many servants he has, but how many men he serves.’

God’s Word here literally means we are to ‘be ministering as good stewards of the manifold grace of God’, to use the resources that God has placed in our care so as to bring the maximum glory to God. The picture here is of people who wait on tables, ministering to the needs of the guests. How good are you at waiting on tables? In response to all that God has done for us in Christ, we are thus to use our gifts to serve.

It is so important that we grasp this truth. God has not endowed us with gifts to be used for our own pleasure. These gifts are to be used for the benefit of others. In so doing we will bring glory to God. Yes, we are here to serve others.

Ø We are empowered to serve others! Serving others requires great energy, persistence and perseverance. It is not for the faint hearted. Will we have the strength to do it? The answer is a clear yes! God has poured his Holy Spirit into our inner being to empower us to serve.

1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever, Amen.”

We have all the strength that we need for Christ is indwelling our lives! The Apostle Paul in Ephesians makes this so clear.

Eph 3:16-17, 20 “I pray that our of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith….Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”

We have been empowered to serve others. We have all the strength that is needed, beyond our imagination! In Ephesians 1:19-20 Paul reminds us that the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead now empowers us for service. We don’t need any more power than that! Yes we are empowered to serve others.

For me however there is an even more powerful reason why we should serve others, that of the example of our Lord himself.

Ø We follow Christ’s example to serve others! Jesus is the perfect example of one who served others. He was very clear in his mission here on earth. Let us listen to his own words.

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus left heaven and came to earth as a servant. His life and ministry revolved around caring for the needs of others. We are called to live in a similar manner. The Apostle Paul explains that so that we are left in no doubt.

Phil 2:5-7 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

Jesus set aside his rights as a son and took up the role of a servant, living in obedience to his father. He calls us to do likewise. We see a wonderful example of this in John 13. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. He knew who he was yet he chose to lay all this to one side so that he could serve others. Normally a servant should have washed the guests’ feet on arrival for the meal but this had not taken place. Furthermore none of the disciples had volunteered to do this task so Jesus stepped in to serve.

Jesus saw the need and acted. He didn’t wait for further confirmation. He then said that they as his followers should follow his example.

John 13:14-15 “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

He left us a template or pattern for us to identity with. Jesus sought to meet the most pressing need of his times. He asks us that we do the same in the days in which we live. What is the deep cry of need that your heart identifies with amongst the people with whom you move? Perhaps it is loneliness, a sense of isolation, perhaps physical need to mow a lawn or tidy up the house. Seek in God’s strength to meet that need. Let us thus join with other believers on a journey of service.

During WW2 PM Winston Churchill in England called on the coal workers union to help increase the rate of production of coal. He asked them to picture a parade that would be held in Piccadilly Circus after the war. As the people marched past first would come the sailors who had kept the sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had bravely fought on various battle fields. Then would come the pilots who had driven the German air force from the skies.

Last of all, Churchill said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, ‘And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?’ And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, ‘We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.’

Each of us has a servant role to play in God’s kingdom. Not all of the jobs are prominent or glamorous. But as we each play our part in serving, so God’s kingdom will come on earth, as it is in heaven. We have been challenged over past days to find an area of ministry together where we can be involved. Pray that God will guide you to the area of service where you can use your gifts for his glory!

Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page