Called to Serve
August 28, 2022

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Message Notes

Philippians 2:3-7 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.


Philippians 2:5-7 - Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. (CSB)


What can happen to us when we don’t serve?

  • We can become comfortable.
  • We can become consumers.
  • We can feel disconnected.
  • We can develop a critical spirit.
  • We can fall away and leave.


What do we gain by choosing to serve one another?

  • We get the opportunity to use our spiritual gifts.


1 Peter 4:10 - God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you. (NLT)


What is a spiritual gift? A special ability that God gives His people to build up and edify the church.


What are some of the benefits of using our spiritual gifts in the church?

  • We get to be connected to something bigger than ourselves.

  • We get to develop meaningful relationships with others.

  • We get to see life change happen firsthand.

  • We get to live out the mission of Jesus.


“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” —Mark 10:45 (Jesus’s Mission Statement)


“Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God. So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.” —John 13:1-11


What lessons do we learn from the life of jesus?


  • Lesson #1 - We can risk serving others when we realize that God is in control of our lives.


“Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God.” —John 13:3


What did Jesus know about Himself?

  • He knew who He was
  • He knew whose He was
  • He knew where He was going


Key Thought - When you realize that God is in control of your life, you can take big risks. You can risk being a servant.


  • Lesson #2 – We can impact people in a powerful way when we are willing to pick up the towel of servanthood.


“Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.” —Luke 22:24


How did Jesus handle the dispute?

  • He decided to model His own teaching.

  • He revealed the disciple’s greatest need.


“He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, ‘Lord, are you going to wash my feet?’”
you will later.” —John 13:6


“‘You will never wash my feet,’ Peter said. Jesus replied, ‘If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.’ Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.’” —John 13:8-9


  • Lesson #3 - We Are Never More Like Jesus Than When We Are Serving Someone.


“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” —John 13:1


“He now showed the disciples the full extent of His love.” —John 13:1 (NLT)


“His entire message and ministry on earth was to show selfish, power-hungry people what love really looks like. As He knelt before Judas, Jesus showed us a love that no human can conceive on his own: a love that is brutally honest about what is going on but still kneels before us to lay down his life so we can be free from the sin that infects us. Jesus loves you as he loved Judas. If you miss that, you have missed eternal life.” —C. Gene Wilkins


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