Studying the Gospel - Clover Sites



Studying the Gospel This is talk number III on Servanthood. Two weeks ago we saw that Servanthood is not optional. We also examined the divine nature, displayed in Phil. 2:5-11, and we saw that it was a nature of profound servanthood. We decided that we grow in our capacity to serve to the degree that we study Jesus. Last week we examined Peter’s growth in servanthood. It began with his confession of Christ’s divinity , but fell apart when Peter realized he didn’t know what Christ’s divine nature meant. Many of us are in the same boat. However, God eventually completed the work that he began in Peter. In the same way, he will complete the work he has begun in us. We saw last week that those who confess the divine nature will also eventually model it. They model the divine nature to the degree that they increasingly see God’s goodness in the light of their sin. We see the divine nature by spiritual illumination. The divine nature takes up its cross, hates its own life, and denies itself. It does this because it loves God and man. Everyone born of God shares the divine nature. For this person, all things have become new. Therefore everyone born of God increasingly desires to “take up their cross,” “hate their own Life,” and “deny themselves.” My point today is similar. All Christian servanthood should find its origin in the gospel.What God has done to save us affects our servanthood three ways. First, it defines servanthood. Second, it motivates servanthood, and third, it provides grace when we act out of selfishness, which is daily. Again, my main point today is that all servanthood should have its origin in a clear view of the gospel. True servanthood is gospel-centered servanthood. Let’s restate last week’s working definition of servanthood. Joshua Harris: “Serving is spending yourself—energy, time, and gifts—for something outside of yourself.” Servant Individuals do this Servant families do this. Servant churches do this. Jesus is our model. He spent his time, his wealth, his freedom, his status, and his comfort for something outside of himself—the Father’s glory and our salvation. The rest of this sermon is going to look at five qualities of a servant. There are more than these five. In each case we will try to see them in some aspect of the gospel, i.e. Christ’s saving work. . Five Servant Qualities that have their source in the gospel Servants increasingly purify their heartsNotice, I didn’t say servants have a pure heart. None of our hearts are sufficiently pure to earn God’s favor. They will be. On the last day, the apostle John tells us, we will become like Jesus when we see him (1 Jn. 3:2). This includes purity of heart. But, in this life our hearts will always be mixed. Despite this, we must increasingly purify them. So, what are the qualities of a pure heart? A pure heart serves for God’s sake. Therefore, it prioritizes its service. It also serves disinterestedly, not for its own sake but for the sake of God and others. A Pure heart serves not for people’s sake, but for God’s sake . God’s servants have their eyes on pleasing God. Jesus is their example. He always served people for his Father’s sake. According to the apostle John, at the Pool of Bethesda there were “multitudes of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.” But Jesus only healed one. Why? When asked why he healed on the Sabbath Jesus answered, John 5:17 —“My Father is working until now, and I am working.” A couple verses later Jesus said, John 5:19 — “The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” It is important to note: Had Jesus’ had not served people for his Father’s sake, none of us would be saved. Because a pure heart serves for God’s sake it will need to make choices about who will get served and who will not get served. In other words, it will prioritize its service. If you serve effectively, competing claims for your service will arise. There will be conflict. When both demand attention, who do I serve, my boss or my family? When there is a conflict, do I serve my spouse or my children? Do I serve my parents or my children? Do I serve the church or my family? You will not have enough energy to serve everyone who needs your help. Therefore, God’s servants serve from clearly articulated, God-given, priorities. Jesus did this. For example, midway through his ministry, he retired to Phoenicia for rest. It was the land of the Gentiles. A Phoenician woman begged him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Jesus responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” In the same way, Jesus carefully prioritized his family commitments, and they were often counter-intuitive. Mark 3:31–35 —“They said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” As we saw two weeks ago, Jesus submitted to death when it appeared to be the worst thing for his disciples. Why? That was his Father wanted him to serve. In the same way, spouses make their marriage and children a priority, but never at the exclusion of service in the local church. They don’t let the church destroy their marriage and family, but they don’t let their marriage and family keep them from serving the church either. Servanthood starts at home, but it doesn’t stop there. Similar priorities direct how we serve with our time, our money, and our commitments. A Pure heart serves disinterestedly. A pure heart serves without reference to earthly reward. It serves for the Father’s glory. Jesus had no earthly reward. It would all come after death. Jesus died in anonymity. No one outside of Palestine knew of him. The great men of his day, the Caesars, never heard of him. Had they heard of the poor, uneducated, untraveled, unsophisticated carpenter from Galilee, they would have scorned him. Jesus didn’t care. He did not serve for earthly approval. How about you and I? Many of you do well. Our nursery workers serve anonymously. Those who mow our lawns do so anonymously. Those who serve GCF with their money do so anonymously. One of our ladies prices out our books in the bookstore every Tuesday mornings. Another couple has volunteered to purchase the books for our library. Some of our women clean our kitchen and prepare meals for Veritas and New Members classes. Two of our women are responsible for the flowers in the church entryway. Three siblings from one of our family’s sets up the Sunday School chairs. One of the men prunes our trees and has sanded and refinished the entryway steps. I could go on and on. By contrast, Ananias and Sapphira sold their land and donated the money to the church. They did it for recognition. They boasted that their donation was the full price of the land, when actually, they retained some for themselves. They lied to get recognition. God struck them dead. In the same way, the Pharisees served for recognition. They wanted the respect of those around them. Jesus condemned them even while he commended the poor woman who put all she had, only two pennies, in the collection plate. Sometimes we serve from a pure heart, at other times it is impure. Don’t get discouraged and stop serving because your motives are impure. Instead repent. Purify your heart and continue serving. Why? The gospel is Good News. When you believe, God imputes the purity of his Son’s heart to us. When you believe he puts all of your heart impurities on his Son and punishes them with the punishment they deserve—crucifixion. Servants take Commitments seriouslyRight after Adam sinned God made a covenant of redemption with him. To the Serpent he said, Genesis 3:15 —“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”4,000 years passed. God had a lot of time to weigh the cost of this commitment. Eventually, keeping this promise cost the Father his Son. In the words of Ps 15:4, God “swore to his own hurt and did not change.” This is why we are saved. God swears, and does not change, even though keeping the promise has become very costly. The cross is a graphic picture of this principle. In the same way servants make commitments and walk them out, even when they become exceedingly costly. (Uncle Gale) Church membership is one example. Many don’t want to become members because they fear it might become costly. But that is the idea. No one knows what it means to love until they have to serve someone they don’t want to serve because it has become inconvenient. The same applies to HomeGroup. If you become a member of a HomeGroup, be like God the Father, take your commitment seriously. Keeping commitments applies first of all in small things. Someone shares a problem and you end the conversation, “I’ll pray for you,” but you really have no intention of praying for them. Be like Jesus. Take your commitments seriously. Jesus warned us that on the day of final judgment we will all give an accounting for “every careless word we speak” (Matt. 12:36). Don’t say “I’ll call you this week for lunch” without any intention of doing it. Don’t tell the boss you will have the project done by Friday unless you think you can. Those who take their commitments seriously write them down to insure that they follow up. Keep your marriage vows. How about promising to return a call? Finishing a job by a certain date? Showing up for music practice on time. Your service will be according to your willingness to make commitments. The cross is the measure of this principle. God serves us by making Covenants. In the real world, we fail. We make promises and we forget. So what is the solution? God imputes all of his perfect commitment keeping to those who believe. When you believe, he transfers all of your failure to keep your word to his Son and punishes it appropriately. Servants are increasingly humble The foundation of servanthood is the personal knowledge of my sin. Servants increasingly think of themselves as the greatest sinners they know. Because they see their own sin so clearly, God’s servants are patient with the failings of others. Why? They are humbled by God’s patience with themselves. Despite my great sin and arrogance, Jesus descended an infinite distance to save me. Jesus humbled himself to save me when I deserved eternal damnation. As we said last week, when in conflict with another, and when it is loving to do so, God’s servants humble themselves and fall on their swords. Why? Jesus fell on his sword to save me. I had no right to be saved. Jesus denied his rights to save me. In the same way, servants see people with problems as a glass half full. They do this because God the Father has seen them as a glass half full. This means that God’s servants are more conscious of God’s grace at work in others than they are of their weaknesses, sins, and failings. They do this because they know God is more conscious of his grace at work in them than of their weaknesses, sins, and failures. God’s servants are quick to forgive. They forgive because God forgave them of an infinite debt. God’s servants do not give those closest to them what they deserve. Instead, they give them grace. They do this because God has never given them what they deserve. Rather, he has repeatedly extended the olive branch of grace to them and they constantly live in the shadow of that truth. How do God’s servants come to understand what they deserve? God’s servants acquire the knowledge of their sin by positioning themselves at the foot of the cross. Servants are Active God’s Servants are not passive. They do not wait for opportunities to serve to seek them out. Instead, they pursue opportunities to serve. They ask their HomeGroup leader, “How can I serve you?” They ask their spouse, “What can I do to serve you today.” They ask the boss, “What do you need done that no one else is willing to do?” They enter a room with their antenna up, looking for needs that they can meet. Jack is alone in the corner. I will go and talk to him. The carpet is dirty. I will get the vacuum and help. My wife is exhausted. She needs rest. I will give her my Starbucks card and take the kids for the morning. My husband is discouraged and beaten down. What can I do to encourage him? This was Jesus. He was an active servant. His antenna were always tuned to the Father’s will. What would advance the Kingdom of God? What can I do to reach God’s people? What can I do to glorify my Father? Scripture tells us that “Jesus set his face like flint for Jerusalem.” He had heard from the Father. He was to go to Jerusalem and die. Once he understood this, he actively pursued his Father’s will. His resolve was locked. He would obey. One way to serve actively is to study the needs of those you closest to you. Another way to serve actively is to study the needs of the church, your HomeGroup leader, your ministry team leader, etc.. Servants elevate others at their personal expense Jesus spent his life glorifying his Father. Jesus spent his life elevating and exalting his enemies, you and I. Paul spent his life elevating and exalting first Jew then Gentile, even those that hated him. The Proper Response This description of servanthood should be overwhelming. It is impossible for any of us to perfect this way of life. The bar is simply too high. The requirements are simply too great. None of us has what it takes to serve like Jesus. We can grow in this direction, but a close look at Christ’s servanthood humbles us deeply. Christ’s example confronts our tendency to call servanthood things that are actually self-centeredness. It has forced me to face my own self-focused and self-absorbed sin. It reminds me that when it comes to servanthood, I am no expert. No, I am poor, weak, and needy, and so are each of you. It is important that we are patient with each other and patient with ourselves. “Love is patient. Love is kind.” (Show the Performance gap diagram). In an article in World Magazine Andre Seu eloquently describes each of us as we slowly grow in our capacity to serve. “You're still short-tempered—but a couple of times last month you said you were sorry. Your marriage has had its peaks and vales, but you are still together. You sin every day, but you don't find it pleasant anymore; you're not blasé about it anymore. You wish you could change. One thought in 10 in your head is a thought of gratitude—but that's way up from zero. You recently wrecked a relationship, big time. But you went back and tried to make it right. Feebly, timidly, awkwardly. But in the old days you wouldn't have even done that. The first thing on your mind when you wake up in the morning is still "&*%$#, it's Monday." But at least the ninth or 10th thing on your mind nowadays is the goodness of God. You used to spend 15 minutes obsessing to every one minute praying, but now the proportions are beginning to reverse. As time goes by, the things of earth seem thinner and the things of heaven seem more concrete. Sorrows abound, but comforts more abound. And these are less and less the comforts of escapism but those of reality—the soon and certain return of the King.” Here is my point: Jesus died to forgive us for not serving as we should. In addition, he died to motivate us to serve, to be holy as God is holy.Here is how that happens. He rose form the dead, ascended into Heaven, and received the promised Holy Spirit from God the Father. On Pentecost Jesus poured the Holy Spirit out on the infant church. If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives in you. He comes to make our sin real to us. He comes to make Christ’s moral beauty, his cross, and his resurrection increasingly real to us. In other words, the H. S. motivates us to serve by magnifying Christ. As we “study Jesus” the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s moral beauty real, and we increasingly hunger to imitate him. There is the power for a life of growing, joyful servanthood. Discuss two Services Introduce Leaders of Service Teams Steve Lady (Technology)Ben Green (Security) Katie Spurgetis (Kitchen) Lisa Ulrich (Nursery)Ken Fry (Building/Administration) Mike Mosback (Music)Brian Huseland (Children’s Sunday School) Dave Nelson (Crossroads, Christianity Explored, Evangelism) Blake (Veritas) HomeGroup Study QuestionsWhy was this sermon titled “Studying the Gospel?” What was the main point of this sermon? Some principles that characterize servanthood follow. In each case describe how Jesus modeled this principle. Servants increasingly purify their heartsServants take commitments seriouslyServants are increasingly humbleServants are activeServants elevate others even at their own expense How does studying the gospel define what servanthood means? How does studying the gospel motivate us to serve? How does studying the gospel comfort us when we fail to serve? How does God want me to respond? In light of this sermon what does repentance in my life look like? ................
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