Available to Serve

We are in the early side of a sermons series that covers a core of who SRC is and what we do. We are exploring what we are here at SRC when we say we are a F.A.M.I.L.Y. church. Let’s remind everyone what that means here at SRC.

*F*aith in God- Romans 5:1,2
*A*vailable to Serve- Joshua 24:14
*M*eet Together Often- Acts 2:46
*I*nclusive to All People- Galatians 3:28
*L*oving God and My Neighbor- Matthew 22:37-39
*Y*ou First Attitude- Matthew 5:41

Last week we talked about Faith in God, and that is where everything starts. We talked about having unity in Christ, Liberty in non-essentials, and charity in all things. This week we will focus the A in FAMILY. A is available to serve. First, where do we get that?

*Joshua 24:14
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. *

Joshua is in his last days, and this is part of a final warning from him to the Israelites before he dies. Knowing their history, and knowing how forgetful and rebellious they could be, Joshua issues a final warning about making sure to serve God and not other gods or things.

Looking at today’s sermon, let’s look at how this applies to you and me today. We are called to serve God, and not to do things, or worship other things and serve them. We will get into that more in just a bit, but the first part is we are called to serve God, which means we serve others, not ourselves.

1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Romans 12:11
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Wow, 3 verses about serving, are there more? Yes, but I will stop here for now, because if we see an example of what we should do, or something God is telling us what to do, then we should do it. If this is repeated multiple times, what do you think? It is normal to be self-serving. To try to think about how does that benefit me, what do I get out of it, how can I use this to my advantage? That is normal, but you and I are called not to be normal, but to be the salt of the earth, the light that shines on a hill. We are to be the example of God’s way, not to be the representative of the world’s way.
We are called to be an example of Christ, and Jesus was a servant.

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

If Jesus, who is God, Lord of all, creator of everything, savior of mankind, author of life came to serve, what do you think that means for you and me? If He is the greatest and He served, you and I are called to serve. I hope this has established the premise of what we should do. Now, I wish to cover what this looks like and how do we serve?

Point 1- We are called to serve God

In everything you and I do, we are called to serve God. He is the focus.

Matthew 4:10
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”

Quoting Deuteronomy 6:13
At Gethsemane, not my will, but Your will be done.

Is there any doubt we need to serve like Jesus?
Colossians 3:23-24
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

Point 2- We are called to serve others

Galatians 5:13
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Ephesians 6:7
Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,

Point 3- We are called to serve with love, not to do things

Luke 10:38-42
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

We can’t get distracted by doing things, we need to be serving as God leads in love. It is easy for us to lose sight of the fact we are serving God, by then focusing on the thing we do.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

Just because we are doing something, doesn’t mean that is what God is calling us to do. We can’t begin to let pride, identity, or even comfortability be the thing that rules us. It must be God and allowing Him to lead us to serve.

Now practically, how do we serve? I should do a whole series on this, but for today, start serving your family. How can you bless them?

Serve at work, who can you serve there?

How can you serve at SRC?
Children’s ministry- over 20 youth on Sundays for almost a month
Greeters

Response team

Youth Group

Potluck

Communion

Don’t see your desire, come talk to me or one of the pastors and we can explore that with you

This is part of our core, we serve. We serve our families, we serve our church family, we serve our community, but most importantly we serve God. How is God calling you to serve? Will you obey Him or not?