Welcome to church!!
We are so excited you’re joining us for worship. Whether you’re here with us in person, or tuning in online, we believe that God has a word for you today. If this is your first time visiting, or maybe you’ve been coming for a while but haven’t taken a next step to let us know, we can’t encourage you enough to fill out Connect Card at the first time guest tent at the church entrance, or go to the Next Steps tab at the bottom of the screen in the Life Church app and fill a digital Connect Card in the Connet section. As always, never hesitate to let us know if there’s any specific way we can be praying for you!
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
John 13:1-5
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
John 13:14-15
Who is a Servant?
* Doulos: bondservant.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
Mark 9:35
Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.
Romans 1:1
Principle: Lifetime commitment.
* Diakonos: deacon.
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:26-28
Principle: Focused on the needs of others.
* Huperetes: under-rower.
“Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.”
Acts 26:16
Principle: Magnify Jesus, not me.
A lifetime commitment to serve people’s needs in such a way that magnifies Jesus, not me.
The Heart of a Servant
1. A servant puts service over status.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Philippians 2:3-4
2. A servant honors God.
“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people.”
Ephesians 6:7
3. A servant puts we over me.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
Acts 2:44-45
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:31-36
4. A servant puts worship over wealth.
Because God has called me to serve my generation. I will value worship over wealth, we over me, character over comfort, service over status, and God’s purposes over possessions, positions, popularity, and pleasure.
To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say: “However, whenever, wherever and whatever you ask me to do, my answer in advance is yes! Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I’m ready anytime, anywhere. I want to be used by You in such a way that on that final day, I’ll hear You say, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come on in, and let the eternal party begin!’”