1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,440 All right, if you're watching online, welcome. 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,240 So glad that you've joined us, whatever platform you found us 3 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,960 on. And we invite you to come be 4 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,600 with us in person at 115 E Main Street, right here in Gaylord in 5 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,360 the old downtown area, 115 E Main. 6 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,480 And our service times are at 9:00 and 10:30. 7 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,400 And this is your invitation. We'd love to see you soon. 8 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:23,120 Those of you in the room, if you would take your Bible, please, 9 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,200 and turn to John, Chapter 13. This morning's message will be a 10 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,640 little shorter than normal since we had communion and the 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,080 announcements with Alex and Taylor, but jump in with me very 12 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,240 excited about what God is going to speak to us through the Holy 13 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:38,400 Spirit this morning. John chapter 13. 14 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:41,360 If you're new to the Bible, John is in the New Testament, 15 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,280 probably around maybe 85 or 90% through your Bible depending on 16 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,200 how much information you have in the back of your Bible. 17 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:54,400 The Gospels are the stories of Jesus, his life, and they were 18 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,840 found in the New Testament. So Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 19 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,640 And I'm going to reach you from John chapter 13, and let me just 20 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,680 give you context of where this is. 21 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,080 This is the story of the night that Jesus has betrayed. 22 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,360 We celebrated communion this morning. 23 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,240 So in the context of Jesus showing his disciples and how he 24 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,360 wanted them to remember him, this is the context of the story 25 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,760 that I'm about to read. So, and maybe you forgot that 26 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,160 these two events happened in the same night. 27 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,760 OK, so the night of communion, the night that Jesus is 28 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,120 betrayed, this also happens. I'm going to start reading in 29 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,880 verse 3. Jesus, knowing that the Father 30 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,360 had given all things into his hands and that he had come from 31 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,000 God and was going back to God, rose from supper. 32 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:41,720 And he laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, he 33 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,840 tied it around his waist. And then he poured water into a 34 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,640 basin. And he began to wash the 35 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,840 disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped 36 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,840 around him. And he came to Simon Peter, who 37 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,280 said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? 38 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,080 And Jesus answered him, What I'm doing you do not understand now, 39 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,520 but afterward you will understand. 40 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,120 This morning I'm going to talk to you about why we serve. 41 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,200 Why do we serve? What inspires us? 42 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,720 What is the motivation of our serving? 43 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:20,240 Let me pray for us, God. Thank you for your word and 44 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:26,720 thank you for this event that gives us so much to emulate and 45 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,280 so much inspiration on what type of people we should be as 46 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,560 followers of Christ. So speak to us greatly as we 47 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,440 look to motivation, reason behind serving. 48 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,280 What is it? What should look like and the 49 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,000 life of a follower of Jesus speak to us. 50 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,640 We pray in Jesus name and everyone said Amen. 51 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,160 We're winding down the summer, which is, you know, it went by 52 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,600 fast. It felt like this year that the 53 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:53,640 summer came late because of the ice storm. 54 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:57,720 If you were like us, we were still cleaning up and catching 55 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,560 up from the big ice storm. So summer, but it seemed like it 56 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,600 snuck up on us. But it's been a great summer and 57 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,160 I'm thinking through some of the messages that we've had the 58 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,200 summer. Last week, Tyler and Jasmine 59 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,000 were here and they spoke on relationships. 60 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:12,920 Again, if you missed that message, you go back and find it 61 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:15,400 online. But they talked about valuable 62 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,080 relationships in our life, like you need a mentor, you need 63 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,080 someone to train and to lead and, and to inspire you. 64 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,400 You need a mentor, you need peers, you need friends, and 65 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,080 then also you need to be disciplined, someone else. 66 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,400 So that was a great message. I appreciate that. 67 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,120 Then the week before that, I talked about why do we sing? 68 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,840 And singing, of course, is a big part of who we are as a church, 69 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,520 but why do we sing, right? What's the, what's the reason 70 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:42,920 why what we're commanded in Scripture to sing. 71 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,440 So we, we looked at that subject because this is important to who 72 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,800 we are as a church. And this morning, in the same 73 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,160 fashion, I want to talk about why do we serve kind of 74 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,800 connected to that idea. Again, I will remind you that we 75 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,240 do have a podcast that you could catch now. 76 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,800 Our podcasts are on all platforms and that's a great way 77 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,400 to invite people to the church. By the way, maybe you want to 78 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,440 send them one of the messages. I interestingly enough, went and 79 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,720 looked recently to see what are the most watched podcast that 80 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:11,960 we've had. And I did a series earlier in 81 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,480 the summer on toxic people. And the first week I talked 82 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,079 about just run in the mill. How do you deal with run in the 83 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:20,240 mill toxic people? And then I talked about what 84 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,040 about tragically toxic people? What if you've gone through 85 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,680 abuse or something really terrible? 86 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,560 How how do you deal with that? And then the final week, I 87 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,880 talked about what about when you've been toxic? 88 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,000 What about when you've been the one that that has hurt others? 89 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,720 How are we to respond? So I found that those messages 90 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:37,480 were the most listened to messages that we've had. 91 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,080 So if you want to go back and find those again, you can find 92 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,400 those online. Encourage you to do that. 93 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:43,640 And again, maybe send it as an invitation. 94 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,120 We will see lots and lots of more people coming back to 95 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,320 church in the fall. People kind of check out often 96 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:51,280 for the summer months, but then come back in the fall. 97 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:53,800 So anticipate lots and lots of new people. 98 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,560 That's a great time for you to invite others to church. 99 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,840 Now this morning I'm talking about why do we serve? 100 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,240 And of course, serving is a big part of who we are as a church. 101 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:10,040 Jace mentioned that, you know, a couple times in this message, I 102 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,120 do want to be very direct and very pointed with you. 103 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,960 And I want to say right from the start, if you are part of our 104 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,880 church family and you attend and you worship and you receive 105 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,400 ministry here, then you should be serving in some way, 106 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,560 somewhere in this church. We were family and being part of 107 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,760 a family means that you contribute, you serve. 108 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,960 If you're at your home, at your house, surely you contribute 109 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,560 there also, right? There are roles and 110 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,320 responsibilities that you have. And it's the same at church. 111 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,680 And if you if you find yourself just coming to church and just 112 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,120 receiving, then I call you out as your pastor in this church to 113 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,680 say, listen, you have you need to be serving. 114 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,320 There needs to be a place inside the church and also outside of 115 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,320 the church. Kirk Swarbrick has done just 116 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,920 such a great job with organizing our outreach teams. 117 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,640 They were out this past week at the food pantry and serving in 118 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:02,240 other areas around our town. So serving is a big part of who 119 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,560 we are as followers of Jesus. And how do I know this? 120 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:10,160 I know it because Jesus goes to this great extent to illustrate 121 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:14,440 how important serving is when he washes the beat of his 122 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,520 disciples. And again, this is the same 123 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,080 night as the same night that Jesus was betrayed when he gives 124 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,840 us the gift of communion. Right now we can remember what 125 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,200 Jesus did for us. It's the same night that Jesus 126 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,600 also gives us other gift. And this is this ultimate act of 127 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,560 humility. Now Jesus, interestingly enough, 128 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,280 it, it, you know, it doesn't really translate into our 129 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:40,040 culture, the idea of washing someone's feet because it's not 130 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,880 something that we do anymore. But it was a lowly servant's 131 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:47,840 role in a home to wash the feet of someone who had entered into 132 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:51,480 the home with dirty feet. And Jesus in this occasion is 133 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,920 putting on display his incredible humility for all to 134 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:58,360 see. And it bothered Peter. 135 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,920 Peter was like, Jesus, you're going to wash my feet. 136 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,640 It bothered Peter. It seemed below Jesus. 137 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,520 But Jesus wants to present himself as a servant, and seeing 138 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:13,360 Jesus in this way leads us and inspires us to be like Jesus. 139 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,680 We want to be like him. And if we want to be like Jesus, 140 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:21,880 well, then you must adopt and welcome the responsibility of 141 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:23,880 serving. Jesus does this. 142 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,480 And again, he does it right at the end, right before he's about 143 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:28,600 to be crucified. And they struggled with the, 144 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:33,080 with the lowliness of it, but Jesus was putting on display the 145 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,800 act of serving and how important it is. 146 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,960 So I have just some really basic, this is a very simple 147 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,760 message, a very simple message. But I want to remind you, why do 148 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,240 we serve? Well, first, we serve to be like 149 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,040 Christ. We serve to be like Jesus as 150 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,600 when you make a decision to follow Jesus, you are becoming 151 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:52,920 a, a you. The goal is to become like 152 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,560 Christ, to become like Jesus in every facet of your life and 153 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:58,600 particularly in the area of serving. 154 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,680 So Ephesians 5 encourages us in this. 155 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,280 It says verse one of Ephesians 5. 156 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:08,880 Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in 157 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:13,160 love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant 158 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,400 offering and sacrifice to God. As followers of Jesus, we 159 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,200 imitate him. We want to be like Him. 160 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,280 And if you want to be like Jesus, one of the first things 161 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,360 that you want to tackle is becoming a servant and finding 162 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,640 what are seemingly lowly things to do, things that you might 163 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,520 feel are below you. Those are the those are, you 164 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:34,400 know, it's interesting, I didn't mention this in the first verse, 165 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,840 but years ago I was in a band and we went to was in this band 166 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:37,760 called Mirror, not the praise band. 167 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,200 And we went to Korea. And it happened on that 168 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,200 particular tour that this guitar player that went was really 169 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,920 renowned, really accomplished guitar player, just an amazing 170 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:49,280 guitar player. Michael Hodges, his name. 171 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,760 And so we got to Korea and he asked, he said, hey, where's 172 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:54,920 your guitar? And it's, this might seem like 173 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,000 an odd thing, but he, he, he took my guitar and he changed my 174 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,560 strings for me. Now that might, if you're not a 175 00:09:00,560 --> 00:09:02,720 guitar player, you don't understand, but it's a guitar 176 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:03,840 player, man. Changing strings. 177 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,040 It's just a pain. It's just a pain. 178 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,880 But here he was doing this. I remember being so impressed 179 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,280 with this simple thing. It was a lowly thing that he did 180 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,680 to present himself as a servant. And guitar players of all things 181 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:18,800 often do not come across as servants. 182 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,240 So you want to find ways in your life where you can present 183 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:27,360 yourself serving, find lowly things like Jesus washing the 184 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,400 feet of the disciples. There's a hymn in Philippians, 185 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,760 chapter 2. I did a series on Philippians a 186 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:34,040 couple years ago and taught through this. 187 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,920 This is the Apostle Paul writing to the Church of Philippi. 188 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,960 And he takes a familiar hymn and he inserts it into his letter. 189 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,200 And the scholars think it wasn't his own writing. 190 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,720 He actually took the song and put it in Philippians. 191 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,720 So I'm going to start in verse verse 1 of chapter 2. 192 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,800 He says so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any 193 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,160 comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any 194 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:01,360 affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same 195 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,440 mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one 196 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,760 mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition 197 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,400 or conceit, but in humility count others more significant 198 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,720 than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to 199 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,600 his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 200 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,400 Have this mind among yourself which is yours in Christ Jesus, 201 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,600 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality 202 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,240 with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself by taking 203 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:31,400 the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of 204 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,480 men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by 205 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,800 becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the 206 00:10:39,800 --> 00:10:42,720 cross. Jesus is the ultimate servant 207 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,920 and he does lowly things. Even him presenting his life for 208 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,280 us, for our forgiveness, is an act of serving. 209 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,000 Jesus served. We're called to be like him. 210 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:57,240 You were called to be a servant, and Jesus put on humility. 211 00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:59,840 Now humility is kind of a hard, hard, hard thing to put your 212 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:01,360 hand on, right? It's hard to grasp. 213 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:03,480 It's like mercury, right? If you try to touch it, it 214 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:07,840 moves. So a couple years ago, I, I find 215 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,120 that a lot of times our attempts at humility can end in pride, 216 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:13,840 right? So for me, about 5 or 6 years 217 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,240 ago, I found myself having at the time an old phone. 218 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,760 It was a couple years old. And when the original iPhone 219 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,920 came out, I was there in line lined up to get the original 220 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:25,240 iPhone all those years ago, right? 221 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,400 What was it 1718 years ago or so? 222 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,800 So I got to a point in my life, it was an, it was an attempt at 223 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:33,520 humility. I got to a point in my life, 224 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,600 it's like I don't need the new iPhone anymore. 225 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,880 I'm past that. I want to be humble and it's an 226 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,200 attempt at humility. I just kept the phone and year 227 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,360 after year went by and finally my phone was like 5 or 6 years 228 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,520 old. And I found, oddly enough, that 229 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,120 people would notice that I had an old phone and they would say, 230 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,880 wow, that's an old phone. And I found that I kind of liked 231 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,200 people noticing how humble I was with my phone, Right. 232 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,120 All of a sudden, initially, it was an attempt at humility, but 233 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,200 I found myself being proud of how humble I was. 234 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,480 So then my phone, not only was it old, then it got to point 235 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,080 where it broke. I broke the screen on it. 236 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,360 So now I had a broken old phone. And people like, wow, man, what 237 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:12,640 an old phone. And it's broke. 238 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,440 And like, yeah, it's, I don't need the new one, you know? 239 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,160 And so eventually, I was proud of how humble I was. 240 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,440 It initially was an attempt at humility, but it went awry. 241 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:23,880 And this is what can happen in our lives. 242 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:27,640 So we were out with the Steve and Cheryl Sheer and like the 243 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:31,080 Dixon Lake ones. And I had my phone in my pocket. 244 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:32,480 And I went to get out of this pontoon. 245 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:35,680 And when I did, my phone went plunk into the water, my broken 246 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:37,880 old phone. And it was only like 3 or 4 feet 247 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,440 of water. So I, like, scoured the water 248 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,200 and found my phone. I put it in a bag of rice. 249 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,000 And I was so hopeful. Hopeful that this phone would 250 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:46,600 turn back on eventually. It never did. 251 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,400 And I remember thinking, and again, I'm being facetious, but 252 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,400 I remember thinking, man, I'm going to look so proud now with 253 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,040 the new phone. My humility button is gone, you 254 00:12:55,040 --> 00:13:00,000 know, So The thing is that when you attempt humility, a lot of 255 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,480 times it can end in pride. And that's a challenge for 256 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:05,760 Christians, right? Because Christians pick up these 257 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,600 disciplines and often again, it's with good motivation from 258 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,280 the beginning. I'm going to serve and I'm going 259 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,800 to do this particular thing as an attempt at humility. 260 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,920 But you have to be careful because eventually we can become 261 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,560 proud of our humility and it messes us up. 262 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:23,560 Jesus never gets to that place. He walks in humility to the 263 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:26,560 point of death and the point of washing the disciples feet. 264 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,520 And you and I are called to be imitators of Christ. 265 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,920 So very good. So #1 we want to be like Jesus 266 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,360 #2 why do we serve? We serve to show our love for 267 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:41,240 Christ. Revelation 2, verse 4. 268 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:46,200 This is Jesus speaking to John. John has this revelation. 269 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,360 The heavens open up and John is going to see into the heavenlies 270 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:51,640 and see end times and all kinds of stuff. 271 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:53,800 But at the beginning John is writing. 272 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,360 Jesus is instructing him to write to seven churches and one 273 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,200 of those churches is the church at Ephesus. 274 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:01,560 And this is what Jesus says to the church. 275 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:05,240 He says, but I have this against you that you have abandoned the 276 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,680 love you had it first. You abandoned the love that you 277 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,720 had at first. Interesting enough, some of the 278 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:15,000 modern translations will say oh you, you forgot your first love. 279 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:16,880 But I love the way the ESV interprets it. 280 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,160 You abandoned the love that you had at 1st and I look back at my 281 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:23,280 own life and maybe you will relate to this, is that there 282 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:27,560 was, I can remember being like 1819 years old and getting my 283 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,640 first like job in a church. I was leading worship for this 284 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,840 little church in Shreveport, LA called Life Tabernacle and I 285 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:36,760 became the youth director like 19 years old. 286 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:38,560 It's crazy. I look back now and think, how 287 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:41,680 was I at that age, man? It was like parents would like 288 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,080 put their kids on a bus and I would drive the bus around. 289 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,800 You know, it's crazy. When I was 19 years old and it 290 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:50,480 was manual transmission. I remember once I went on a 291 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,640 youth trip and and the the the bus wouldn't start. 292 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,800 So I had someone pull start me with a truck and a chain and his 293 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,520 kids are just jumping the bus after I got a pull started. 294 00:14:59,880 --> 00:15:01,760 So it was just crazy. But I look back at that season 295 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,600 of my life and man, things were so simple. 296 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,080 I made like very, very, very little money. 297 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,680 And the church had this old dilapidated house that they had 298 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,240 Royal Rangers in for some years. Anybody remember Royal Rangers? 299 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,840 It was like Boy Scouts, right? So it was still called the Royal 300 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,160 Ranger Hut, right? And I lived in, it was rat 301 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,120 infested. It was dirty and terrible. 302 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,440 But I just remember it was that love that I had at first for the 303 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,200 Lord. Let me do this serving fervently 304 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:34,280 with little expectation and the older so often I kind of want 305 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:35,920 to. I want that love that I had at 306 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,840 first. I want to recapture it and I 307 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,800 don't want to become jaded. I don't want to become cynical 308 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,360 and life can lead you to becoming a cynic, right and 309 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,240 jaded. And it can do that even in our 310 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:52,480 acts of service. So I look back and the same our 311 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,720 daughter Jasmine. So last week she went to a 312 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,920 school called Christ for the Nations and I went to college or 313 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:01,120 Bible school there sometime. And when I was there, when we 314 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,640 took Jasmine to go to school there, I remember just pulling 315 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,080 onto the campus and just weeping and remembering. 316 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:08,480 It's like, OK, that that love that I had at first for the 317 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,440 Lord, You have to have a discipline to recapture it 318 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,080 because the world around you and maybe you've served before, 319 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:18,360 maybe you've been serving in different areas, but but life 320 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,600 brought challenges and disappointments and struggles 321 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,120 and maybe you've lost the love that you had at first. 322 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,720 If you can get back to it, it will affect the way that you 323 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,960 serve. So we serve to show our love for 324 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,200 Jesus. And in my early ministry days, I 325 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,000 especially look back and remember fondly serving and I 326 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,720 still want to operate and flow from that same heart. 327 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,840 Next, we serve to show our love for others. 328 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,760 So we serve to show our love for Jesus, but we serve also to show 329 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,760 our love for others. Galatians 513 and 14 says for 330 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,000 you were called to freedom. Brothers only. 331 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,680 Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but 332 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,880 through love serve one another, for the whole law is fulfilled. 333 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:02,920 In one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 334 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:05,280 Now watch this. The commandment is love your 335 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,160 neighbor as yourself. And how do you show your 336 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,079 neighbor that you love them? According to Galatians, you show 337 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:12,520 them that you love them by serving them. 338 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:14,319 You want to show others you love them. 339 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:17,160 And this is true in our church, it's true in our families, it's 340 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:21,240 true and and your relationships at work, wherever you are, you 341 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,760 can find opportunities to adopt again, humility and doing things 342 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,240 that seem below you. It will show your love for 343 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,960 others according to Galatians and then forth. 344 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,320 I came up with this Matthew 516. I say that we serve so that and 345 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:40,200 it's kind of like dot dot dot in Matthew 516. 346 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:43,880 Jesus is speaking and teaching and he says in the same way, let 347 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:49,240 your light shine before others so that they may see your good 348 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,400 works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 349 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:57,320 It is OK to serve. And again, you have to navigate 350 00:17:57,320 --> 00:17:59,600 through this as far as humility, but Jesus is saying the 351 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,920 motivation for you doing good deeds for you, serving for you 352 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,760 doing this is so that God can be glorified. 353 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:12,840 Your acts, your good deeds, your serving brings honor and glory 354 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:18,560 to God so that you serve so that God will be exalted, God will be 355 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,040 magnified. These are just simple ideas. 356 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:25,080 I would also say this is that we serve for the common good. 357 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:27,080 Why do we serve? We serve for the common good. 358 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,840 This is First Corinthians chapter 12 where the apostle 359 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:34,480 Paul is writing about spiritual gifts and he mentions when he's 360 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,320 talking about like miraculous spiritual gifts, even he says, 361 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,800 now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit and 362 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,360 there are varieties of service, but the same Lord and there are 363 00:18:44,360 --> 00:18:47,480 varieties of activities, but in the same God who empowers them 364 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,160 all in everyone, to each is given the manifestation of the 365 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:56,560 Spirit for the common good. Your gifts and your talents 366 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,640 together are for the common good of your church, of your family, 367 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:02,280 of those that you have relationship with. 368 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,400 It's for common good. Now let me just unpack a basic 369 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:06,800 idea when it comes to spiritual gifts. 370 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:09,960 As a as a follower of Jesus, you receive the Holy Spirit. 371 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,080 At salvation, you receive the Holy Spirit. 372 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,120 Additionally, there are gifts that you receive that come from 373 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:19,960 the Holy Spirit and those are listed in First Corinthians and 374 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,960 Paul is saying in Romans also. So Paul lists these spiritual 375 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,400 gifts and we believe that those spiritual gifts are still 376 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,440 available to us today. OK, They're still available to 377 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,520 those who follow Jesus. And the point of those spiritual 378 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:34,960 gifts is for the common good, right? 379 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:37,840 You flowing in your gift. Now, if you don't know what your 380 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:39,600 spiritual gift is, maybe you didn't know there was such a 381 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:41,040 thing. I encourage you, just you can 382 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,760 just do a basic go to YouTube and just find teachings on 383 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,160 spiritual gifts. OK, you learning your spiritual 384 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,520 gift, you can even go online and do an inventory like this. 385 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,640 Google spiritual gifts inventory and you might be surprised to 386 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:54,200 find out what your spiritual gifts are. 387 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:57,120 And it's, it's interesting for spiritual gifts because 388 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:00,360 sometimes we elevate some of them over other gifts, right? 389 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,080 So let's say like mercy is a spiritual gift. 390 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:04,800 Did you know that mercy is a spiritual gift? 391 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:06,800 But there are also gifts of healing. 392 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,080 And often we take healing and we, we make it, you know, more 393 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:11,920 important than mercy. No, they're equally as 394 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:13,680 important. Sometimes people deal with 395 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:16,160 spiritual gifts like like like a poker hand or something. 396 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:17,920 You know, it's like, I've got aces. 397 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,440 Aces are like gifts of healings and tongues or whatever. 398 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,480 And Oh yeah, mercy, it's like a deuce or a three or something, 399 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,360 right? But that's not really the case. 400 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:28,400 They're all valuable. They're all for the common good 401 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,440 of those who follow the Lord. So we should use our spiritual 402 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,720 gifts to serve. Now, it's important also that 403 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,160 you know that you have talents and you have spiritual gifts. 404 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:39,720 This comes in play often. Let's say, for example, 405 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,360 musicians. Musicians will often talk of 406 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:45,440 their music as if it's a gift, but it's not listed in the 407 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,360 spiritual gifts. It's a talent that you have to 408 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,320 work at and develop. So what you should do is you 409 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,600 find out in your life what are your talents and what are your 410 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,320 spiritual gifts and you combine them. 411 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,800 And when you combine them, it makes you even more of an 412 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:03,760 effective servant for the common good, using your spiritual gifts 413 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,000 and using your talent. But don't over spiritualize your 414 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,320 talents and think them spiritual gifts. 415 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,320 Because let's say that let's say if you think, for example, music 416 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,480 is your spiritual gift, well then if it's not, it's not a 417 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,840 spiritual gift, it's a talent. But if you think of a gift, 418 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,240 you'll never really find out what your true spiritual gift 419 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:22,640 is. You should know what your 420 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,320 spiritual gifts are, and then you use those for the common 421 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,920 good of those that you love and those that you serve. 422 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:34,880 So we serve for the common good. Now I love this when I think 423 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,920 about how Jesus will address us, how the Father will address us 424 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:39,520 when we enter into eternity with him. 425 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,560 There's a picture of it in the parable of the talents. 426 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:44,920 How will God address us when we stand before him? 427 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,360 This is the story of of of of a master with his servants that 428 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:51,160 he's given these talents to invest. 429 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,640 But it's a picture of our heavenly Father and look at how 430 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:55,920 our heavenly Father will address this. 431 00:21:55,920 --> 00:22:00,920 Matthew 2521 his master said to him, well done, good and 432 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,040 faithful servant. You have been faithful over 433 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,200 little and I will set you over much enter into the joy of your 434 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,680 master in the end. I mean, this is the goal, right? 435 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,920 The goal is standing before God someday and him saying to you 436 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:23,640 and me, well done, faithful good and faithful servant to aspire 437 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,680 to that and to hear God speak that over us will be, I think 438 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,840 meaningful and beautiful. Now I want to just end with some 439 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,680 things to remember about serving. 440 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:36,600 Hebrews 610 says, For God is not unjust as to overlook your work 441 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,640 and the love you have shown for His name and serving the Saints 442 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,040 as you still do. And we desire each one of you to 443 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,840 show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope 444 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,920 until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators 445 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,440 of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 446 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,320 God is not unrighteous to forget where you serve and how you make 447 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,800 a difference. God remembers, and He will call 448 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,840 us good and faithful servants when we enter into eternity with 449 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,760 them. And then finally, Matthew 23. 450 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,640 This is Jesus speaking and he says the greatest among you 451 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:17,120 shall be your servant and God's economy in the Kingdom of 452 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,120 heaven. The servants, those who are 453 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:23,120 serving are the most valuable and the most revered according 454 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:25,560 to Jesus. Now, let me just give you some 455 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,840 application. Fall is coming and this time of 456 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,400 year what happens at our church in the fall again, lots of 457 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:34,440 people come back to church or lots of people will be. 458 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:36,760 You know, there will be more people I'm believing in 459 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:41,360 September and October. And that being the case, you, 460 00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,160 you guys are the Labor Day crowd, right? 461 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,680 You guys are the faithful ones. You're here on a Labor Day 462 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:47,680 weekend, right? Which is really cool. 463 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,400 OK, so it's, it's kind of like preaching to the choir, right? 464 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:53,320 If you say, you know the old saying, so you're the Labor Day 465 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,040 crowd, you're the faithful ones, right? 466 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:58,640 And I'm saying to you, if you are part of this church family 467 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,280 and you have not found a place to serve yet, then you need to 468 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,320 find a place to serve. You should be serving somewhere. 469 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,240 There's needs in the Cafe, There's certainly needs upstairs 470 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,000 with tech, there's music, musical needs. 471 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:10,680 There are greeters. We need greeters. 472 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,600 And areas of where we really need people to serve are in 473 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,920 children's ministry and in youth ministry. 474 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:18,760 This summer particularly, we had some events and we didn't quite 475 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,720 have enough youth workers a couple of times. 476 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:27,440 So if you, I, I'm just challenging you and calling you 477 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,320 to a higher place. If you are part of this church 478 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,760 and you have been here for a while and you're not serving, 479 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,240 now's the time to find a place to serve. 480 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:37,800 And you can e-mail me my again, my e-mail is 481 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:43,680 supereasyitsjustkurt@northlifechurch.org, curt@northlifechurch.org. 482 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,720 Find me, e-mail me and let's find a place for you to serve 483 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:52,320 and to make a difference for the common good for the sake of 484 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,960 God's Kingdom. OK, so I'm challenging you. 485 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,360 I'm challenging you. Jay said that in the first 486 00:24:57,360 --> 00:24:59,920 service, she said a couple times it felt like really direct, like 487 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:01,960 Ouch. I want you to feel a little Ouch 488 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:03,920 this morning. I want you to feel a little 489 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:05,680 Ouch. It's like, OK, if you're if you 490 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,720 receive, let's say you come here and you receive and you're 491 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,080 encouraged and you're inspired. Well then just to come and 492 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:17,040 receive is not, it's not right. You should be coming and finding 493 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:19,000 a place to serve. So there are areas that like 494 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:21,600 even there are things around the church that need to be fixed. 495 00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:25,240 If you're handy, then if you're a Carpenter, you have those 496 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:26,600 skills, then that would be great. 497 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,360 I have no skills, man. When it comes to like fixing 498 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:32,240 stuff, I am terrible. I did buy a chainsaw this past 499 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,720 week and I have not started it yet because I'm still afraid of 500 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,160 it. So I talked Matthew Lesl in this 501 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,040 first service. Matthew and his wife were part 502 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,480 of our church. He, he's a force Ranger, right? 503 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:43,760 He's AI think he's a force Ranger. 504 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:48,040 And so Matthew says he trains workers for the state on 505 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,480 chainsaws and he offered to help him. 506 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,480 Like that's a really good idea because man, I like my fingers, 507 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,560 I like my face and I don't want to lose them, right? 508 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,240 So, but I had some work around our house that I need to do so, 509 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:03,760 so, but I all that say I'm not handy, I'm terrible. 510 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,000 But if you're, if you have skills in that area, then 511 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:08,360 there's things to be done. There are places to serve. 512 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:10,720 And again, I just reiterate children's ministry, youth 513 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:12,960 ministry. We have so many kids in our 514 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,000 church. That's such a great thing. 515 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,160 All the kids that we have. That is sign of a church that is 516 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,560 thriving and growing. I'd like to mention the 517 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,600 statistics often is that the average church in America that I 518 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,040 understand, they have one child for six adults. 519 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,960 OK, that's the average. And they say that let's say a 520 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,000 church has 10 adults for one child or 20 adults for one 521 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,520 child. That's sadly evidence of a dying 522 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,920 church when there are no children, right? 523 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,760 It's evidence. But but to the contrary, a 524 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,280 church that has lots and lots and lots of children, our ratios 525 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,560 are sometimes like 4 to one. We have tons of kids, right? 526 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:49,520 And we need to train and grow our children up in the ways of 527 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,240 the Lord. And you might be part of that. 528 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,920 So I'm challenging you. If you're part of our church 529 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,280 family, find a place to serve. There are good reasons why we do 530 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,760 serve. Let me pray for us, God. 531 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,520 I pray that we are challenged and that God, that you will 532 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:11,120 bring for the common good a culture to our church. 533 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,280 It's already here. But God, in an even greater way, 534 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:15,840 bring us a culture where we serve. 535 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,080 We serve. We serve like you Jesus. 536 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:22,840 We take on even the ideas of like washing feet. 537 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:25,880 God, whatever, whatever is humility, God lead us into that 538 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,360 place where we find places to serve inside our church and 539 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:33,360 outside our families at our workplace. 540 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:35,120 Let us have the mentality of a servant. 541 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:41,600 So God challenge us, grow us as a church, ready us for the new 542 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,520 people that will be coming to worship with us and to be part 543 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:47,080 of us. Help us, God, to be hospitable 544 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,840 and to be gracious and to have a culture where everyone, 545 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,600 everyone, everyone who's part of this church family is serving in 546 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,920 one way or another. We pray for it. 547 00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:58,960 Give us insight, God, and we're serving. 548 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,680 We're to best use our spiritual gifts and our talents for your 549 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:06,960 Kingdom and for your honor so that you will be exalted in our 550 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:08,920 lives. And Jesus name and everyone 551 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,840 together said, Amen. Let's all stand together. 552 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,600 Thank you so much for being here again on a Labor Day weekend. 553 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,360 I hope that you enjoy. I hope most of you will have the 554 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:20,040 day off tomorrow. I hope that you enjoy your time. 555 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,440 Before you go, I want to say a blessing over you. 556 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,240 So if you would prepare your heart to receive this blessing 557 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:31,560 before you go. And now may the Lord bless you 558 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,320 and keep you. And may he make his face to 559 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,240 shine upon you. And may the joy of the Lord that 560 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,120 is unspeakable and full of glory made abound to you. 561 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:44,080 And may the peace of God that passes all understanding, may it 562 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,600 surprise you in the midst of all of the challenges that life 563 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:48,760 brings. And then may the mercies of the 564 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,800 Lord, in other words, the forgiveness of God, that's new 565 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:53,920 every morning. May it be especially new to you 566 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,560 and your mornings to come. And now may the Lord Jesus 567 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,080 Christ guard your heart and your mind. 568 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:03,200 You are salt and your light. Go now and be salt and light 569 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,560 under the world. You are blessed. 570 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:06,240 We'll see you soon.