The Vital Role of Service in the Body of Christ

Turn with me to Romans chapter 12.

We're going to continue our study here in the book of Romans, and in particular the study of the ministry gifts that are listed here in Romans chapter 12.

We're going to be in Romans chapter 12, verse 7 today.

Last week we looked at the gift of prophecy and what Scripture has to say about that and the importance of that within the body of Christ.

But today we're going to be looking at the gift of serving.

Romans chapter 12, verse 7 calls it the gift of ministry.

The word ministry just means service.

And what we can see here this morning is that there is a gift of grace to believers to serve at a capacity that is beyond the norm.

Every believer has been called to serve.

We know that.

I mean, so just because an individual is not spiritually gifted in the area of service, we're all called to serve.

We know that.

Yet there are some believers who seem to find their greatest joy not in standing in front of people, but in quietly helping behind the scenes.

These are the people who notice the chairs that need to be set up.

These are the people that understand that meals have to be prepared.

These are people who understand that visitors need to be helped, that the room needs to be cleaned, that a ministry needs support.

These are people who are drawn by God to see these things and then have the desire to do something about it.

Someone who is gifted in the area of serving often receives little recognition.

But I would venture to say that churches would definitely struggle without them.

And the idea would be this, that somebody is willing to do something behind the scenes, not get any credit for it, but yet obviously impact the ministry, impact the gospel of Jesus Christ and lead people to knowing who Jesus is and what he has done for us.

Romans chapter 12 calls this gift serving or the gift of ministry.

And this gift reminds us that the greatness of God's kingdom is not measured by visible ministry.

Sometimes it's measured just by faithfulness, humbled faithfulness.

And I want you to understand that as we go through each one of these gifts, that one gift is not more important than the other.

They're all equally important in the body of Christ.

Some might say, well, I think that the prophecy ministry or the teaching ministry is the most important.

Well, those are ministries that are up front.

Those are ministries that get a lot of attention.

But folks, the people who are serving in capacities of proclamation of the truth of God, of teaching the word of God, of administration, cannot do the job that they are doing without the gifts of ministry, without the gift of giving.

And so sometimes the ministries that get forgotten about are the most important.

And so the gift of ministry here this morning that we're going to be talking about, the gift of service is vital for the health of the church.

It's vital for the gospel message to be preached.

It's vital for the church to work in unity moving forward in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so go with me to Romans, chapter 12, verse 7.

It says, this or ministry or service, let us wait on our ministering.

And so the definition of the ministering gift or the gift of service is simply this.

It's a spirit given grace, desire, or motivation to identify physical and practical needs within the body of Christ.

And it is a desire to willingly meet those needs in allowing other people in the church, the entire church itself, to function effectively for the glory of God.

Simply put, the servant sees practical needs and joyfully meets them.

Someone who's gifted in the area of ministry and the gift of service is going to be able to identify a need, but not only just identify a need, but joyfully meeting that need at whatever capacity God has led them to meet it.

And so the Greek word that we get this word ministry from is, is the word diakoneia, which we get the word deacon from.

This is the same root word for the word deacon.

And we know that the role of the deacon within the church is to serve.

Is.

Is to allow for the pastor of the church to do the things that the pastor is called to do, and so to serve.

And so the meaning of this word ministry or service literally means to wait on others to do things for other people, to minister through practical labor.

This is not a theoretical thing.

This isn't just like, hey, let me serve you by telling you something.

This type of ministry is let me serve you by doing something.

And so it's caring for needs of people.

And so this gift emphasizes doing rather than directing.

Now, there's certainly some gifts that we're going to be talking about that's all about directing, administration, organization.

But this particular gift is more about doing than directing.

And so what's the heart of a servant?

Well, the heart of the servant is essentially this.

These questions would be asked, what needs to be done?

Not what do I want to do, not what makes me feel good, but what needs to get done so that this can happen?

What needs to get done so that we can have this ministry launch?

What needs to happen that this person can hear the gospel and that can serve at what God has called them to serve in?

How can I help?

What can I take off of someone else's plate.

How can I make ministry easier for other people?

So for someone walking with the heart of a servant, it's this.

Their motivation is not attention.

It's not praise, it's not adoration.

Their motivation is usefulness.

Their motivation is helping.

Their motivation is to see that a person is freed up from their burden so that they can do more for the cause of the gospel.

That that's the heart.

But what's the purpose?

Why would God have this within the body of Christ?

Well, what we see here is that serving is more than just accomplishing tasks because we see some people in this world that are very task oriented and there's nothing wrong with that.

There's some people that like to have checklists.

I know for me, I like to have a checklist on my phone and I like to check those things off the box and say, okay, I'm done with that.

But that's not biblical service because it's not just about a checklist.

It, it's more than accomplishing tasks.

It's.

It's purpose completely is to strengthen the body of Christ.

It's not just about making sure that my daily chores are done, but it's about strengthening others so that we can have a completely healthy body to work for the cause of the gospel.

So when practical needs are handled well, pastors can shepherd, teachers can teach, evangelists can evangelize, encouragers can encourage, administrators can lead and organize.

And serving removes distractions so every member can better fulfill God's calling in their life.

So serving is so important because without the ministry of service, without people relieving other people of burdens, there's going to be really no organization.

There's going to be no effectiveness.

And so a healthy church is built on thousands and thousands of unseen acts of service that might not ever get credited here on this earth.

But we know that God notices these things and we know that God gifts these people and that ultimately God is going to reward those that have sacrifice in the area of service within the body of Christ with the right motivations.

So there's a lot of biblical examples that we can see in scripture about people who are gifted in this capacity.

The apostles delegated daily ministry to qualified servants in Acts chapter six.

What was the result of that?

Well, the word of God increased, more people came to Christ, the disciples were multiplied, the church began to grow and serving multiplied in many capacities within the church there in Jerusalem, and then ultimately we know around the world.

So what's a spirit filled servant look like?

Because we looked at this last Week.

Someone can exercise in the Spirit with their gift from God, or they can exercise in the flesh, because this is really how God has designed us.

God has designed an individual to be gifted in service.

And that individual can choose whether they want to serve in the flesh or they want to serve guided by the Spirit.

And the Bible really gives us some examples of people that are guided by the Spirit in their service and guided by the flesh.

And so when yielded to the Holy Spirit, a servant is going to be quick to notice the needs of others.

Many people walk past needs.

If someone's not gifted in the area of service, they might walk right past a need.

They, they might walk right past a ministry opportunity.

But someone who is gifted in the area of a servant that is being led by the Spirit will not walk past the need.

They will quickly notice that need.

And they will notice them in such a way that will allow them to know what to do next.

And so a person who is walking as a spirit filled servant will quickly notice needs.

But number two, they will enjoy meeting practical needs.

There, there will be some level of fulfillment and joy in meeting the needs of other people.

How does this look?

This looks like hospitality.

This looks like preparing meals.

This is setting up, cleaning up, repairing, organizing, helping others succeed in what God has called them to do.

And these are done with genuine joy.

You know, there's times in my life that I've recognized that I am not naturally or supernaturally gifted in the area of service.

Because sometimes I'll serve because I have to serve.

Sometimes I'll serve because I do see the need, or someone brings that need up for me, but I'm not doing it with a spirit of joy.

Someone who is gifted in the area of service will find overwhelming genuine joy by helping others.

Another thing that will be seen in the life of someone being spirit filled is that they will find joy in freeing others up for ministry.

Meaning I want to help you so that you can do more.

Their reward is often seen someone else be successful.

Someone like John the Baptist.

John the Baptist certainly had the gift of prophecy.

He had the gift of proclaiming the word of God to people.

But John the Baptist also says something in John 3:30 what he must increase, but I must decrease.

A servant understands that principle, that I will decrease so that someone else can increase for the cause of the gospel.

There's a sense of humility there.

There's a sense of sacrificial service in that.

And so they find joy in freeing others up for ministry.

They enjoy the tangible process.

They love seeing something Completed, they're seeing something fixed, seeing something organized, seeing something accomplished.

They love to see progress happening.

I love to see progress happening.

But sometimes I'm not willing to do the things that are called to happen to see that progress go about.

And someone who is gifted in the area of service and being spirit led is going to be someone who enjoys that tangible process happening and is willing to sacrifice to see it happen.

Another thing is that they're willing to sacrifice their own comfort.

They willingly give their time, their energy, their resources, their strength sat sometimes beyond what is even asked for or not even asked at all.

They're willing to sacrifice their own comfort for somebody else so that they can have that joy of service.

I don't know about you, but a lot of times I'm willing to serve.

When it doesn't hurt me, when it doesn't make me have to sacrifice anything, I'll serve.

But then when my time's up, I'm done, I gotta go.

But someone who was gifted in the area of service and willing efforts, ready to have the spirit guiding them, will say, you know what?

I'm willing to be discomforted.

I'm willing to be displaced.

I'm willing to sacrifice in whatever degree so that somebody else can work forward in the cause of the gospel.

They usually thrive under clear direction.

Many servants enjoy receiving tasks and seeing it faithfully completed.

They don't need the spotlight.

They don't need to be the one pulling the strings, dictating everything.

They simply want to help.

And they'll thrive under someone telling them, hey, do step one, two, three, four, do that and we're gonna be good.

And they're willing to walk in that and work in that.

They do appreciate encouragement because much of their work happens behind the scenes.

There is a need to give them affirmation.

There is a need to give honor to whom honor is due.

So Paul, we see in all of his epistles, he repeatedly thanks faithful servants through his letters.

If you see it at the tail end of the letters, he'll thank people for their faithful service to the Lord.

And that gratitude often strengthens servants to do more ministry.

And so there is that desire for that confirmation, for that edification.

But just as much as that's a spirit filled servant, let's look at the other side of the coin.

Let's look at the flesh filled servant.

What does it look like for a servant to be exercising in his or her flesh?

Well, sometimes the spiritual gift that God gives us can be distorted when it's controlled by the flesh.

Sometimes a Servant who is walking in the flesh can prioritize task over people, meaning this as long as the job's done, I don't really care about what those people are thinking or what they're feeling.

Hey we, the job is the first thing.

And so sometimes ministry can become about finishing projects instead of loving people.

And the Bible tells us to love people while we're serving.

And so we're going to talk a little bit more about an example of that later on in A Lady Named Martha.

But there is that challenge sometimes of over prioritizing task and under prioritizing people.

Another thing would be this.

If someone has the gift of service or ministry, but they're acting in the flesh, they, they may criticize others who don't see it the same way they see it who are not serving at the same capacity as them.

Maybe you heard it this way, why doesn't anyone else see the need right here?

Well, maybe because that person isn't gifted in seeing that need right there.

Maybe another question might be asked, is this, why am I always the one helping and no one else is helping?

It's that focus on self.

There's that idea of comparison.

And we know that sometimes comparison can cause bitterness.

The reality is, is that yes, we're all called to serve, but not all of us are gifted in the same way of identifying needs and joyfully serving in those needs.

So there may be a level of criticizing others if others are not serving at the same capacity as me.

And so that would be a flesh filled reaction.

Another thing is that they may neglect their own home or their own family are their own needs.

And so when helping everyone else, they forget that God entrusted them with a family and a home that they are supposed to steward.

So that might be a flesh filled reaction.

Another flesh filled reaction could be that they become overextended.

They're unable to say no.

You ever met someone?

Or maybe you're that one that cannot say no.

No matter, no matter how much you realize that that's not a good decision for you today.

You can't say no or, or you take on too much or you're running toward burnout.

Many times people run toward burnout because there's a good desire of service, but they're unable to wisely discern that there's a limit to our physical status.

And so sometimes a flesh filled servant's all about burning out for Jesus, but at the end becomes ineffective because they're not being spirit filled and they're not making the wise decisions.

Let me tell you Something, and this is something that I need to hear.

Sometimes even Jesus rested there.

There is a time and a place to be able to discern that.

I can only do so much.

Now sometimes people limit that and say, I can't, I can't do anything.

Don't ask me to do anything.

I'll say no.

In every situation, well, that's a whole different story.

But here, in this case, there is wisdom to understand what God has called me to do.

And I can't do everything.

All I can call, all I can do is, is to do what God has called me to do.

And so that would be one aspect of a flesh filled servant.

Another aspect of a flesh filled servant would be this.

They may step into needs without invitation.

Good intentions don't always equal wise ministry.

Sometimes helping needs permission.

Have you ever had someone say, why step in and fix that problem?

And hey, well, maybe someone wasn't ready for you to come in and fix that problem.

Maybe it wasn't a perceived problem.

Maybe you perceived it to be a problem.

One, one way that I've seen this happen and, and I'm going to be gracious and loving when I say this, but sometimes people have to do a task a certain way.

Now none of, I know none of you men would ever say that, but some of us men, particularly us men, we say, no, it has to be done this way and that's the only right way to do it.

And if someone else does the job a different way, it's like, no, that job was not done.

I need to come in and reorganize everything that was there and redo everything that that person did.

Oftentimes I think some we have good intentions, but what we see here is that of a flesh filled servant might look at somebody else and say, you know what, I'm going to just help them even though they don't want my help.

That's an issue sometimes at hand.

Another issue, we'll look at two more.

They may become too dependent on leadership.

Their loyalty is admirable.

But sometimes they're more loyal to a person than to the Lord.

They're more loyal to a movement than to the word of God.

And so someone who is gifted in the area of servanthood but filled with the spirit might look at a person and say, well, we can't call out that sin in that person because the movement might be hurt.

We might need to overlook certain things because we don't want anyone else to say that they have anything to throw against somebody.

So loyalty should not be to a Person, ultimately, the loyalty should be to Christ, not personalities.

So someone might become too dependent on a person to keep their eyes on a person, a leader instead of the Lord.

And then ultimately what that does become is they become more man focused than God focused.

And so serving becomes more about pleasing a person or people rather than pleasing God.

And Colossians reminds us, the book of Colossians reminds us.

And whatsoever we do, we do it heartily as unto the Lord.

We don't fall into the trap of being a man pleaser.

Now, if it pleases somebody else that I'm pleasing the Lord, praise God.

But if I please somebody else by my actions and service and it's not pleasing to God, I've got my priorities all flipped around.

My priorities are mistaken.

So that's just a snapshot of maybe what it would look like for a spirit filled servant to be serving within the body and then on the other side of the coin, a flesh filled servant serving within the body.

So you might say, okay, well, what are some examples that we can see in Scripture?

Well, one of the more popular examples is a lady named Martha.

And so we're going to turn to Luke chapter 10, if you will, with me this morning, Luke chapter 10.

And we're going to go to verse number 38.

Most of you know Mary and Martha in Scripture, Martha is a servant at heart.

She's willing to toil and to sacrifice for others within her home.

Mary is considered to be the one who's the worshiper, the one who's sitting at Jesus's feet.

And In Luke chapter 10, verse 38, we see that Martha is busy serving and she's serving for her own purpose.

And Jesus gives her a teaching here.

And I think that this is something for all of us who are gifted as servants.

If you're in the body of Jesus this morning in the church and you are gifted in the area of ministry or service, this is a lesson that we all need to learn and to understand and to grow in.

So Luke chapter 10, verse 38 says, now it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

So first and foremost we see that Martha is willing to display hospitality.

Martha is a servant.

She's ready to have Jesus come in.

This is going to be the way that Martha shows her love to Jesus by hosting him.

And servants are willing to do that.

They're willing to host, they're willing to get their place ready so that people can have joy within their house.

And then verse 39.

And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word.

Verse 40.

But Martha was cumbered about much serving and came to him and said, lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?

Bid her therefore that she help me.

Now we see Martha is doing the right thing by serving.

She's gifted in service.

She's serving Jesus.

But we see the problem and we see an indication that she's flesh filled.

Why?

Because.

Because she begins to complain to Jesus about her sister.

Instead of just serving and doing it right and worshiping Jesus that way she comes to Jesus and says, jesus, why are you not condemning Mary for what she's doing?

Shouldn't she be serving?

She's left me alone.

Now we know what Jesus says here.

We know that Jesus is going to respond to Martha with a teaching about Mary's desire to worship him.

And I don't believe that Jesus is telling Martha that service is wrong.

What he's telling her is that her priorities are wrong.

And I think that we have to understand that she allowed her serving to replace her worship.

And so we come to this passage here and Jesus answers and says unto her, martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.

Maybe, maybe you're Martha, maybe that would characterize you.

You're troubled and careful about a lot of things.

And that word careful actually has the understanding of being anxious or worried.

He says, there's this idea here.

You, you're troubled about a lot.

A lot of things concern you, Martha.

But what does he say?

He says, but one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.

So some people read this passage and say, well, Martha should have been like Mary, at the feet of Jesus and, and not serving.

I don't necessarily think that's what Jesus is teaching here.

What I think Jesus is teaching is this.

Get your priorities straight.

Don't, don't be so concerned with the material things and forget about the spiritual aspects of what it means to serve the Lord.

And the reason why we know this is because In John chapter 12, we see another indication later on that Mary is serving Jesus and she doesn't get condemned for this service.

So what we see here is that she's serving in the right capacity.

In John 12:2, she is once again serving.

This is right before Jesus is about to go to the cross and he goes to a place called Bethany where Lazarus and Mary and Martha were from.

And it says that he had come there in verse two of John, chapter 12.

There they made him a supper and Martha served.

But Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

So again, she's serving.

But apparently she learned her lesson.

What was that lesson?

Well, it wasn't to stop serving.

We know that because she continued to serve.

The problem was never her serving.

The problem was her priorities.

Are you serving for the right reasons?

Are you serving without bitterness?

Folks, I'm going to speak some hard truths here this morning, but I'm speaking to myself.

Sometimes what we see within the church is that people are willing to serve and do whatever they can to serve.

But there's a level of anger when other people aren't serving at the same capacity.

Instead, what Jesus says is, Martha realize what Mary is doing is what God has called her to do, and that is to worship.

You can serve, but you should also worship.

Folks, sometimes what happens within a church, specifically a church like ours, is we get so busy with service that we forget about the communion and fellowship with God.

Folks, I'm going to tell you, I. I am guilty of that.

I'm guilty of being so busy of serving the Lord that I forget about just communing with him and communing with other Christians.

Sunday morning should be a time of excitement.

Sunday morning should be a time of celebration.

Sunday morning should be a time of joy and of peace.

But oftentimes, because of all of our ministries going on, it becomes a time of being hectic and stressful and worrisome.

And though I think that we all have to understand that there should be a level of administration and accountability and planning and all these things that are good, we have to have a balance between service and worship.

And what we see is that actually service can become worship if our heart is in the right place.

So all those people that are not in the actual service today, they're serving by watching our children in the children's ministry and teaching them, or maybe even in the nursery or maybe insecurity or maybe wherever they might be, that doesn't mean that they're not worshiping.

The matter is the matter of the heart.

And so here this morning, what we have to understand is that Martha wasn't wrong for serving.

She was wrong because, number one, she was serving in a very selfish manner and then judging and very upset and not understanding what Mary was doing.

And so Jesus says, hey, look, it's about your heart.

She's doing the right thing.

She's doing the thing that is proving her love for me.

And so Martha could prove her love to Jesus by her service.

But there is that balance there.

And I think all of us, to some capacity have to understand the balance between service and sacrifice and love and in bitterness and come together and say, you know what?

Even if.

Now here's a hard statement to say, even if I'm the only person serving, I'm going to be joyful in that, because I'm going to realize that I can't do everything, but all I can do is what God has called me to do.

And then have a joyful heart and a joyful spirit so that maybe other people will want to serve and grow in that capacity.

There's other people that are characterized in Scripture as great servants.

Another lady named Phoebe, if you're familiar with Phoebe, and Romans, chapter 16, we're going to get there in our study in Romans.

But Paul is talking to her, and he says, I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is in centuria, that ye receive her in the Lord as become of saints, and that as.

As.

As she assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you, for she hath been a succour or basically a patron of many and of myself.

And also meaning this, Phoebe has been a wonderful servant in the church.

She deserves for you to serve her.

Paul publicly commends her ministry and then challenges other people to serve her.

And that's sometimes what often gets forgotten about who serves the server, who ministers to the minister.

And that's the challenge with us within our church.

We have to not only identify, yes, that person's a great servant, but who is serving them.

Who.

You know, I get this all the time.

I preach a lot, which I'm not complaining about.

I love to preach.

But folks, if I'm the only person preaching to me, that's not enough.

I need to get preaching, I need to get exhortation, I need to get teaching.

It's the same thing with a minister.

Don't think that it's selfish to have somebody else serve you.

Because that's sometimes one of the aspects of a minister, a servant.

A servant is somebody who says, you know what?

Don't serve me.

I don't want you to serve me.

That makes me uncomfortable.

There is that level of saying, look, I do need that service, and I need to have some humility to say, you know what?

I'm going to let you serve me.

And that's sometimes a hard thing to do.

But the Bible says that all of us need that faithful sowing into our lives.

Just as we're faithfully sowing to other people.

So it takes balance, it takes, it takes patience, it takes humility.

And so we see Phoebe here, she's a faithful servant, but the call is to serve Phoebe.

There's another guy in the Book of Acts, some of you know Stephen with the first deacon.

He was chosen to serve tables there and he was faithful in that practical ministry.

Eventually he became a bold preacher and the first, first church martyr.

God often opens greater opportunities through humble service.

Who knows, maybe someone just starts out by saying, you know what, I'm just going to serve at this behind the scenes capacity within the church.

Praise God, that's a great start.

But maybe God has someone to grow in that ministry to eventually move and change and get to another ministry.

We don't know for sure.

For Stephen, it started out with just serving tables and then it moved all the way to preaching the gospel there in Jerusalem and then eventually being martyred for his faith.

Truth is, is that God does change our path sometimes.

But it's that faithful first step of service that we all must be willing to say that we are open to in our lives.

A lot of times people want to do the great things for God, the one thing that might be remembered forever.

But many of us are not willing to do those faithful things today of service that might not ever be noticed by anybody else.

So we see examples of that throughout Scripture.

We see guys like Philip.

He was a man consistently bringing people to Jesus.

He was serving where it was needed.

Throughout the New Testament.

There was a guy in Philemon named Onesimus.

He was a servant that was not profitable earlier on, but we know that later on because Jesus changed him.

He was a profitable servant.

And we're reminded of that.

That grace can transform anybody from being an unprofitable servant, flesh filled, to a spirit filled, profitable servant for the Lord.

It's not a matter of working harder.

It's not a matter of being more humble.

It's a matter of having more Jesus and allowing Jesus character traits to work through us to be a humble servant.

There's another really interesting servant in scripture.

We don't know her name, but we know that she was Peter's mother in law.

I want you to see this with me.

Matthew, chapter 8, verse 14.

This is really cool.

I was reading this and I know the story, but it really stuck out to me when I was studying it through the lens of faithful service.

If you remember, Jesus comes to Peter's house and he sees Peter's wife's mother laid up and she's sick.

It says here in verse 14 that she's sick of a fever and he touched her.

Verse 15.

So this shows Jesus's compassion.

He heals her.

And it says, and the fever left her.

Verse 15.

And she arose.

So remember, she's like, basically on the verge of death.

Jesus comes and heals her.

What's her first response?

My first response would be like, go get a glass of water and get something to eat and, you know, make sure I'm cleaned up.

No, what does she do?

It says, she arose and ministered unto them.

So she's sick.

Jesus heals her.

Instead of taking care of herself, she probably turned around and said, okay, are you guys hungry?

You guys need anything to eat?

I'm going to get that set up.

I mean, that's a true servant.

She's willing to come from being in pain and suffering to be healed.

And she's like, all right, I gotta go into default mode and start serving.

That's a beautiful example of someone who's serving maybe not at the most opportune time, maybe not at the most convenient time, but yet she's willing to put that foot forward to say, that's how God has called me.

And so what we see here is this, that it's the gratitude that naturally produces service.

Really, if you think about it, one of the major reasons why we should serve is, is the gratitude of what God has done for us.

When we say, lord, remember Romans chapter 12, verse 1 and 2.

It's our reasonable service.

It's only natural, it's only logical that we would serve others and serve the Lord because of what he has done for us.

It's when we start saying, well, you know what?

That person doesn't deserve my help.

That that person was never thankful for what I did for them.

Think about Jesus.

Think about what he did for us.

Aren't you thankful that he did what he did for us not because we were thankful, but because he loved us?

I mean, the thankfulness is a blessing.

Think about the story of the ten lepers.

Jesus heals the ten lepers, and he says, go and show yourself to the temple.

I would think that all 10 of them would come back and thank Jesus.

But you remember, it was just the one that came back.

And Jesus says, where's everyone else?

And obviously we know that they were so busy about taking the blessing from God and they didn't want to come back and thank the Lord.

But ultimately Jesus still blessed those other nine leopards with the healing.

What I would say is this.

God has blessed us with so much.

And though we can live in selfishness and still be beneficiaries of his love, we should desire to go back to him and serve Him.

And the Bible says the way that we ultimately serve him is by submitting to him and serving others.

And so though you might not be supernaturally gifted by God's grace to see the joy and service, we're all called to have some level of gratitude that produces service in our life.

There's so many other examples in Scripture, and if we had more time, I would look at them.

But the greatest example of a servant, the greatest example of all of these character traits is our Savior, Jesus Christ.

And we could go to scripture after scripture to demonstrate that.

But one that I think all of you might be aware of is Mark, chapter 10, verse 45.

Jesus gives us the two things that should characterize a life of someone who was following Christ.

If you know anything about this passage of scripture, Jesus is telling them a perspective to have.

And he says, don't have the perspective of the Gentiles.

The Gentiles exercise lordship over them.

And the ones who are great say, you know what, we're going to boss people around.

We're going to move those parts that we think are needed and aren't needed.

And basically the way that an unsaved person sees leadership is by moving people around like chess pieces.

People are just objects.

And I, people have to serve me.

If I'm a leader, people serve me.

But what Jesus says is something different.

He says in verse 43 of Mark 10, he says, but so shall it not be among you as a believer, as someone who has been changed, you should not be like the world.

He says, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister.

Says, you want to be great, you want to serve God.

You want to be a loyal follower of Christ.

You want to be seen as someone who is successful.

He says, you be a minister, you sacrifice, you serve.

And he says, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all.

For even here it is, and even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

The two words that you could think about in that verse are service and sacrifice.

Jesus says, you want to be like me.

You want to see what it's like to be a faithful minister.

He says, serve and sacrifice.

Jesus came to serve others.

He washed people's feet, he washed his disciples feet.

He fed crowds, he touched lepers, he served his Disciples.

And so Jesus never asked us to do what He Himself was unwilling to do.

Jesus says, I'm going to do it first so that you can do it next, so that you can follow me in this.

But we know that ultimately Jesus didn't just wash feet and heal sickness and feed people.

We know that ultimately he served all of us by giving his own life on the cross for our sins.

And so the cross is the greatest act of love, but it's also the greatest act of service and sacrifice.

And he says, hey, I'm willing to give everything for you.

What are you willing to give me?

What are you willing to give others?

A word of caution here.

Your motivational gift never limits your obedience.

Say, what are you talking about here?

Some of us in this room today are maybe going to be guilty of this, because I know I've been guilty of this.

I hear a preacher talking about service, and I go, I'm not gifting that.

I'm a gifted teacher.

I'm not a gifted servant.

So.

So serving isn't my gift.

That means I don't have to serve.

That's.

That does not excuse us from a life of service.

Because a servant might say, well, teaching isn't my gift.

But yet if God calls a servant to teach, they're supposed to teach.

So if God calls a teacher or a prophet or a giver to serve, we are to serve.

The call of God always supersedes our.

What we would say as our proposed or our perceived gifting.

God equips those who he calls.

So what does that mean?

That means this.

You might have always been a teacher, but maybe God is now calling you to be a servant, or maybe both.

The Bible says that he's going to give us everything that we need in our life to do what he has called us to do.

Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

You've heard me quote this before.

This doesn't mean I can do whatever I want to do.

And God will bless it.

If you know the context of Philippians, chapter four, Paul is talking about going through hard times and good times, being fed and being hungry, having people who love him and hate him.

He says, I've been called to all different things in my life, but God will give me the strength in that moment to do what he has called me to do.

So our gift describes our natural motivation, but it never limits God's supernatural calling.

So some people think, well, I don't.

I could never do that.

If God is calling you to do something, he will give you the means in which to do it.

I could never teach.

Well, if God's calling you to teach, he's going to give you the gift of teaching.

If God's calling you to serve, which, by the way, he calls all of us at certain capacities and certain times and certain circumstances to serve, he's going to give you that grace so that you can serve in the proper capacity to honor him and glorify Him.

So basically, with all that being said, none of us are off the hook.

None of us can say, well, I'm not spiritually gifted in service, so I don't need to serve.

No, God's going to open your eyes for certain situations, and he's going to give you the tools needed to serve at that capacity.

Because if you think that you're only gifted by one gift and that's it.

The Bible says that there are individuals that we've seen, like John the Baptist and many others, that are gifted in multiple capacities.

So maybe you can be a teacher who has the gift of service.

Maybe you're a giver who has the gift of service, whoever it is.

And however God calls us to work within the body, he's going to give us the proper needs and the proper equipping to do the things that he has called us to do.

So in conclusion, the servant may never preach a sermon from behind the pulpit.

The servant might not ever receive public recognition or have some kind of reward on this side of heaven.

But eternity will reveal that many of the greatest works that God has ever done through people were seen through faithful servants happening quietly behind the scenes.

That made ministry possible today.

That made ministry possible 200 years ago, 400 years ago, 200 years from now.

We think about people that might not ever be written down in history, that might not ever be recorded as heroes of the faith, but they were able to serve people and might not ever receive reward on this side of heaven.

But the Bible does tell us something very, very interesting, that one day Jesus is going to say certain things to certain people.

And there is a statement that Jesus says.

He doesn't say, well done, thou great preacher.

He doesn't say, well done, thou amazing giver.

What does he say?

He says, well done, thou good and faithful servant.

So at the core of everything that we do, it's the heart of service.

It's the heart of faithfully serving God at whatever capacity that he has called us to do.

A good servant doesn't look at his master and say, well, master, I think I can do it.

Better.

I think I have a better plan.

I think I have a better purpose.

No.

A servant looks at his master and says, master, what do you want me to do?

How can I make your life better?

How can I do everything in obedience to you?

And that's what a servant of the Lord does.

Oftentimes we look at the Lord and we say, lord, I wish I was called to another ministry.

I wish I was gifted in that way.

I wish I had that person's talents.

I wish, I wish I was living here.

I wish I had this.

And there's always that desire to have more.

But, but what we understand as Christians is that we have everything that we need in the Lord and we should be joyful and excited for the thing that God has us to do today.

Folks, there's times in my life where I get my eyes off of the Lord and put it on to things and people and movements and my own life.

And I say, you know what?

Is it worth it?

Is it worth it?

No one noticed what I did.

No one came up to me and said, good job.

Now that's not excusing people that overlook people.

I think we should give honor to whom honor is due.

But the reality is, is that there's certain ministries that will just never get the praise that they should.

But ultimately, at the end of the day, we have to say, I'm not doing this because of a person's recognition.

I'm not doing this because someone will eventually put my name up in lights.

I'm doing this because this pleases my Lord.

And one day he will see it and he sees it today.

And one day we will see that he sees and he will say, well done, thou good and faithful servants.

May that be the desire of every believer, especially those that are gifted to serve.

May we be spirit filled servants and not flesh filled servants.

So a couple questions that I have for us today and then we'll close.

What practical needs do you naturally notice that others often overlook?

Maybe you say, you know what, I just see a lot of things.

I see a lot of things and I see a lot of needs.

Folks, the reason why you see those needs is because God has gifted you to see those needs.

But the second question is, is what are you doing about those needs?

Oftentimes a flesh filled servant perceives the needs but wants to complain about the needs instead of doing something about the needs.

What I'm going to tell you here this morning is that if God gives you the eyes to see the need, he most likely will give you the means to help in that need.

If you don't have the need, the means, then there's a gospel driven way to share that along with other people.

The other question would be this.

Do you find greater joy in serving publicly or behind the scenes?

Some of you might say, well, I don't find any joy in serving behind the scenes, or I don't find any joy in serving publicly.

The reality is, is that God is going to give us joy at certain capacities, in different capacities.

So the question is, is if you don't find joy in serving privately, why?

Because the truth is, is that many times people find joy in serving when people notice, but behind the scenes there's like no joy there at all.

That might be an indicator of our motivation of why we are serving.

Another question would be this.

Have you ever allowed ministry tasks to become more important than your relationship with Christ?

Have you ever allowed getting work done be more important than your relationship and your worship of the Lord?

I know for me, that's been the case.

I've reduced the Christian life down to a checklist.

I've reduced it down to a to do list.

And once I get that done, I'm good.

I've done my devotions today.

I prayed my prayer, I gave my tithe, I'm good, I can step away.

But folks, yes, there are levels of steps that we have to take within our life, but we have to understand that ministry task and doing work in the church never, never replaces that fellowship and the communion that we have with the Lord.

Are you serving people?

Are you serving projects?

Where is God calling you to serve in your gift of service more intentionally within the church?

Are you balancing faithful service with proper rest and care for yourself and for your family?

And then last but not least, how does the example of Jesus reshape our understanding of true greatness, true biblical spiritual greatness?

These are all thoughts that I had as I was studying this passage.

It's convicting for me.

Oftentimes as a pastor, I get a chance to preach.

I get a chance to stand up in front of people.

There's a whole month that's called Pastor Appreciation month.

And sometimes there is that, that creeping lie to think that, hey, this is an important role and therefore I don't have to do the other things that might be behind the scenes.

But folks, no matter where God has called you to serve, whether it be a public ministry where you get recognition or behind the scenes where you don't get recognition, never get so prideful or egotistical to say that's beyond.

I'M beyond that.

That's below me, folks.

There's always an opportunity for us to serve God.

And it might not be a very pleasant situation.

It might not be a glorious moment in which we're doing something to free somebody else up.

But it's vital for the body of Christ to identify needs and to help each other out.

Servants need to serve.

Servants need to be served too.

But ultimately all of us need to look to the joy of the Lord as our strength to say, lord, we are serving you.

And so one of the challenges that I would have for you, one of the challenges that I would have for me is this.

We're coming up on different things in the church.

One would be vbs.

Some of you are serving in vbs.

I don't know about how.

I don't know.

Many of you maybe have had this experience.

I've served a lot of children over a lot of years.

The vast majority of the kids that I've served have never said thank you.

Usually they look and kids are honest.

They'll tell you how you look.

They'll say that you look funny or you said something funny or make fun of you or run around and cut up.

We're not serving at VBS for the kids to say thank you.

Even though it's a beautiful thing for them to say thank you.

I shed a tear when they say thank you.

And that, that does give us some type of confirmation that we're doing something good for the Lord.

But even if that child doesn't thank you, realize that you're not doing it just for them, you're doing it for the Lord.

Some of you don't have children's ministries, but you have.

Maybe there's a shut ins ministry or a nursing home ministry or a ministry that you might not have anyone ever thank you for doing what you're doing.

Maybe you're in the nursery and you're changing diapers.

That's a very thankless job.

But some people in this room are thankful that you do that.

The reality is this.

No matter what might be the case, no matter what you might be facing, no matter what lies Satan is putting in your mind, it is worth it.

It's worth it to serve the Lord.

It's worth it to lift other people up.

And I want to encourage you to think about ways in which you can serve the Lord.

Yes, in public ministries.

But what if.

Let's just think about it from this perspective.

What if no one ever saw it?

Would there still be the joy of the Lord?

I hope so.

And that's something that I'm challenging myself on to say.

I don't need credit, I don't need applause, but at the end of the day, it's Jesus getting the glory.

Matthew 5:16.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works in your service and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

So as we go through each one of these gifts, may we recognize the God given grace that he gives and the equal importance and value to these gifts.

Yes, I know what's preached behind the pulpit is so important.

The gift of teaching is so important.

But so is the gift of service.

So is the gift of giving.

So is the gift of administration.

So is the gift of compassion and mercy.

Because if everybody in the church was a proclaimer of the truth of God, there would be no one there to serve behind the scenes.

If everyone was serving, there would be no one preaching.

If everyone was preaching, there would be no one teaching.

If everyone was teaching, there would be no one giving.

So I hope you understand that as we come together, yes, we look different.

Yes, we're gifted differently.

Yes, we have many different ways in which God has allowed us to serve within the body of Christ.

But we all come together.

And that is what makes the body of Christ so unique, is that we can be different, that we can serve behind the scenes in front of the scenes, that we can serve by speaking, by serving with our hands.

And all of that comes together with the beauty of what the Gospel is and the beauty of the Holy Spirit's guidance in our life.

And you know what happens?

What Satan wants us to do is he wants us to fight.

He wants the giver to be upset with the server.

He wants the server to be upset with the teacher.

He wants the proclaimer to be upset with the administrator.

And we all fight against ourselves thinking, hey, I know better, I know better.

But at the end of the day, think about this.

Think about this, please, with me.

I, I, I, I think that this is so often overlooked within the church.

If I say that I'm being led by the Spirit and you say that you're being led by the Spirit, and we come together and we're at odds with each other and we're fighting against each other, there's either a problem with the Spirit, which I know there's not a problem with the Spirit, or it's a problem with how I'm following the Spirit in my life.

Folks, it's okay to disagree.

I'm proud to be an American.

I'm excited to Be an American.

I'm thankful to be an American, but I don't agree with everything that America does.

I mean, maybe you hate me for that.

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with every single thing that we do.

But I can still walk in unity with my fellow Americans to know that we have a bigger purpose.

It's the same thing within the church.

I might not agree with everything that you say.

I might not agree with everything that you do or everything that you wear or everything that you entertain yourself with.

And there might be room for discussion there, and there might be times to call out sin.

There might be times to deal with it in confrontation.

But at the end of the day, if we're walking in unity, we're going to be able to come together and say, hey, we're in the.

In the same team.

We're not going to fight against each other.

How can we work this out?

Hopefully we can work it out.

You know, there.

There.

We.

I'll give you this one last analogy, and then we're going to be done.

We.

We went.

When we were in Rwanda, we played a soccer game.

We all got together, and I don't play soccer a lot.

It drew me to want to play soccer more here at the church.

Well, we got together with these guys from Rwanda.

They played against us, and they weren't even talking.

They were just doing.

They were doing plays, and they weren't even talking.

They were like.

It was like he was going over here and they were going here, and they were working in tandem.

And I was sitting there trying to just not fall down on the ground because the field was on the side of a hill, and there was rocks and there was dust, and I was slipping and falling.

And I almost for a second said, I don't have the right shoes on.

And then I looked and I saw a kid that was barefoot.

And I'm like, I can't say that because I actually have shoes on.

So.

So the point that I was trying to make is this.

Maybe it was just me, but I was disjointed.

I didn't know where I was supposed to be.

I didn't know what my position was.

I didn't know where I was kicking the ball, but that other team did know, and they were working as a team.

And sometimes you see our team do that out here.

Think of the church as a team.

Not all of us are in the same position.

Some of you don't know it's World Cup.

So I'll give you a little bit of soccer Breakdown.

You have a goalie.

A goalie isn't the same as a striker.

Striker's down on the field.

He's trying to score a goal.

Okay?

The goalie's back here.

He's trying to protect the goal.

And then there's basically guys in the middle.

There's defense and there's guys to get the ball to these people.

Okay?

When the soccer guy scores a goal, the goalie didn't score it, but he's on the team and he's celebrating.

He stopped the ball, moved it to this guy, moved it to this guy, and they scored a goal.

They're all part of the same team.

The goalie doesn't run down and go, why, I should have scored that goal.

I'm mad.

I'm not going to stop the next ball that comes.

They all have their role.

They all work together.

They all have their understanding that, hey, if you score, I score.

If you stop that ball, I. I stop that ball, I'll help you.

You fall down, I'll be in your spot.

That's what the church should be.

The church should be this.

I might not be the one leading that person to Christ, but I was able to serve that person, to relinquish them from their struggles and their burden so that they could lead them to Christ.

And we should celebrate.

It's not a prideful thing.

I led 10 people to Christ at VBS.

Well, that's great.

But what about that person that was behind the scenes with working hard to get you free so there weren't distractions from that?

What about the person who gave water to the people that were working outside?

So you see how that goes when someone gets saved.

At our church, it's all of us working together for the cause of the gospel.

When five people go to Rwanda, even though you might not have flown on that flight for 15 hours and got there, you were there because you were praying and serving.

We were doing it as a team.

And that's what service looks like within the church.

We're doing this together.

We're one body.

And so may we think about it that way.

And maybe we act like that in our lives when we serve the Lord here at Middletown Baptist Church, I'm going to ask you to stand every head bowed, every eye closed, as the music plays here this morning, we'll have a time of response.

God spoken to us this morning about service.

This isn't a message about, hey, we gotta get more people serving within the church.

I know that our church is a great church that serves at many capacities.

But the question might be this.

Am I serving effectively?

Am I serving spirit filled?

Am I serving with the joy of the Lord as my motivation?

Am I serving with that selfless attitude of not needing to be the center?

Maybe this morning God's working on your heart.

Maybe you've been fighting against the gift of the spirit of service.

Maybe God has called you to do something, but yet you know what that's going to take and you're not willing to do that.

Maybe you're not ready to do that.

Folks, there's no better time than now to submit yourselves to the Lord and ultimately know that Jesus is the one who served and sacrificed himself for us.

And he calls us to give a sacrifice.

But it's a reasonable sacrifice because it's a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God.

It's our reasonable service.

Maybe you haven't trusted in the Lord.

Maybe it's been something else that you've been trusting in for many, many years.

Today is the day in which you can trust in him and believe in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross and believe that God rose Jesus from the dead and that he is ruling and reigning today.

If you believe in that, the Bible says that you can be saved.

And so if that's something that you need here today, we've got folks up here that are willing to walk you through what it means to know Jesus as your personal Savior.

Want to thank you for all the folks that are here that serve in our church.

If you go unnoticed, I. I apologize.

But I want you to know that even though we do see you, most importantly God sees you.

Stay faithful.

Don't get weary and well doing.

For in due season you shall reap if you faint not.

Stand strong in the Lord.

Continue in his spirit.

Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation working hearts and lives.

We thank you for this time.

We pray that you lead us in the way of service and we ask all these things in Jesus name.

Amen.

As the music plays falls the Lord leads here today.