Growing Strong in Service
Please Note: the full transcript is available in the Manuscript link above.
Psalm 138:3 - On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.
1. Shoring up foundational areas in our walk with Christ and our church ministries that comprise the basis of godliness and effective community service.
2. Planning and praying for the construction of Faith West and the successful launch of a cluster of new ministries in West Lafayette.
3. Preparing for the next round of ministry dreaming as we embark on a new strategic planning process in 2013.
Stewardship: God-given responsibility with accountability
Four Key Principles of Stewardship
1. God owns everything, I own nothing.
2. God entrusts me with everything I have.
3. I can either increase or diminish what God has given me; God wants me to increase it.
4. God can call me into account at any time, and it may be today.
I. Service can satisfy our longing for greatness
A. Greatness is not found in position
Matthew 20:26-27 - …but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave…
B. Greatness is not found in power
Matthew 20:25 - You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
II. Service will be rewarded
Matthew 20:26-27 - …but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave…
Mark 10:29-30 - Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.
A. Rewards in the present
B. Rewards in eternity
John 12:26 - …if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
1. Special honors
1 Corinthians 3:15 - …he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
2. Verbal affirmation
Matthew 25:23 - Well done, good and faithful servant
Matthew 25:26 - You wicked, lazy slave…
C. Enemies to Effective Service for Christ
1. Lack of understanding
2. Apathy
Ephesians 2:8-10 - For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
3. Consumerism
“We should be more truthful with each other here. [People come to church] because their high-school kid likes the youth program, or because their children don’t get bored, or because they like the music, or because the pastor preaches the Bible the way they believe it should be preached, or because they happened to be greeted by a smiling face one day, or because the worship leaders looks like Brad Pitt… This is the hard, raw reality of life in the North American church. The people who come to our churches have been formed into spiritual consumers. This is who we are. It is our most instinctive response to life.” Renovation of the Church, Kent Carlson & Mike Lueken
The mission of Faith Church is to glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to be more faithful disciples.
4. Busyness
III. Service helps us become more like Christ
Matthew 20:28 - …the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
