Serve
Galatians 5:13, I Peter 4:10-11
Aim: Serve with willing hands.
Intro.: I am thankful for the numerous volunteer service organizations in our nation. Our nation benefits greatly
from these various organizations. Perhaps thy most visible and well-known is the American Red Cross founded in
1881 by a school teacher named Clara Barton who had a burden for caring for wounded and missing soldiers and
their families. The service of the American Red Cross spread to include not only service to the military but aid in a
huge variety of disasters. Today there are 700 chapters of the American Red Cross with over a million volunteers
and 30,000 employees. The Red Cross have helped people in over 67,000 disasters and is the world's largest
supplier of blood to over 3000 hospitals. There are a number of other service organizations and it might surprise
you that several service organizations are headquartered right here in Illinois. The Rotary Club was started by a
lawyer named Paul Harris in 1905 that met weekly in Restaurants to fellowship and work together on service
projects. Its headquarters is in Evanston and currently has 33,976 clubs with 1.22 million members. I always
wondered what Rotary meant and the name comes from the simple fact that their meetings rotate from place to
place. But I also really like their motto, "Service above Self, " which fits really well with one of our Scriptures
today. Illinois also is home to Moose International with a million members and 2000 lodges which is headquartered
in Mooseheart, IL where they have a huge children's home type facility. The Elks organization founded in 1868 is
also headquartered in Chicago. It is amazing how many service organizations call Illinois their home like the Lions
Club which is headquartered in Oakbrook, Illinois with 1.3 million members in 206 countries and 44,500 clubs.
Lions Club was formed by Chicago businessman Melvin Jones back in 1917 when he asked fellow Chicago business
people, " What if these men who are successful because of their drive, intelligence and ambition were to put their
talents to work improving their communities?" One of his favorite sayings was "you can't get very far until you
start doing something for somebody else." The motto for the Lions Club is "We Serve." This month we have been
looking at four words that describe what our church is to be about and four words that consequently help us to be
what Christ is calling us to be individually as well. These four words I hope are more than a motto but a model for
life and ministry. Those four words are Connect, Grow, Serve and Go. Today we are looking at the third of these
words - Serve. As great as the American Red Cross is and these other organizations are, the church was gifted by
God to be a people who serve the Lord and one another. I've chosen two passages this morning that focus on our
call to serve in Galatians 5: 13 and I Peter 4:10-11. Let's look for a few minutes at Galatians 5:13.
I. We have been set free to serve one another in love.
Paul was writing telling Christians that they had been set free from bondage to the law and sin. The people he was
writing to had been told they had to observe certain Jewish laws and customs in order to be saved. The truth is that
no one has ever been saved by doing good deeds and keeping the ten commandments. The law didn't save people.
In verse 1 Paul wrote "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Then here in verse 13 Paul once again points out "you were called to be free
that is free from trying to get to heaven by keeping the ten commandments and the law. Paul went on to warn them
not to use their freedom from bondage to the law to indulge the sinful nature. In John 8 Jesus said, "If you hold to
my teachings you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." He went
on to say however that "everyone who sins is a slave to sin." Christ came to set us free from sin and death. Those
who however use their freedom as Paul says her to indulge the sinful nature become a slave to self and sin. In
Romans 6 Paul wrote we should no longer be slaves to sin. In Romans 6: 18 "You have been set free from sin and
become slaves to righteousness." The choice of service is between serving sin and self or serving the Lord and
others. Slavery to self and sin is slavery in the truest sense. You have forfeited freedom for bondage to sin that you
cannot escape. But Christ comes calling and setting us free. He calls and sets us free to serve one another in love.
Two weeks ago we saw that this call begins with a connection where you enter into a personal relationship where
you love the Lord with your all. Last week we looked at grow, growing away from the world to be transformed by
the renewing of your mind so that you might test and approve what God's will is-His good perfect and pleasing
will. Remember as you grow and are being transformed you become more and more concerned with what God
wants rather than what you want. In the process you find that God's will is good, perfect and pleasing. As you
grow and are transformed to be like Christ you will learn the high calling of service. Christ came to serve. In Mark
11:45, Jesus said, "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." Jesus taught that the path to greatness with through service. In Luke 22:27 Jesus said, "But I am among
you as one who serves." Jesus knew and set the example of serving others. Even the night before he died on the
Cross He washed the disciple's dirty feet. Jesus was the perfect example of serving one another in love. The word
here for serve is "doulete" which means to serve as a slave. Those who have been set free from slavery to sin and
the law are called to willingly lay their lives down as slaves to others. Harriet Tubman grew up as a slave in
Maryland. At the age of 29 in 1849 she escaped to freedom. But after finding freedom herself she returned 13 times
to lead other slaves to freedom as well. She laid down her life so that others might be set free and later worked with
the Union Army to set hundreds of others of slaves free. We who have been set free from slavery are called to serve
others in love. The word for love here is of course agape the highest form of unconditional sacrificial love the same
kind of love that Christ demonstrated to us when he gave his life for us. The motive and the method of serving other
is love. Paul went on to write in verse 14, The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor
as yourself." As we connect with God's love we in turn are empowered to love others as He has loved us to love our
neighbors as ourselves.
II. God has given you a gift to serve others.
There are many great examples of people who serve others. I believe in America we have the finest example of
those who serve others in our armed services where we have near 1.5 million active duty personnel and another 1.5
million in reserves. Their example of sacrificial service speaks to me. Another example of those who voluntarily
serve that impresses me is the volunteer fire departments and rescue squads. Did you know that 73% of firefighters
in America are volunteer. I am thankful for those who drop everything and even get up in the middle of the night to
save others. But I want to challenge the church this morning that the greatest group of those who serve needs to be
the church. Listen to the Christians' call to serve in [ Peter 4: 10-11. "Each one of you should use whatever gift he
has received to serve others faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." God has given each of us a
gift to serve others and He expects us to use it. Two months from tomorrow will be Christmas Day. Have you ever
received a gift you have never used? I mean when you received the gift you may have been excited that it slices and
dices or it's the perfect tool that will take care of everything but then one day you are cleaning out your closet or ..
straightening your workbench and there it is the gift you never used. Well God has given each of us a gift as part of
the grace he bestowed on us when He saved us. The word here for gift is charisma. Typically we think of someone
who has charisma as somebody who has a lot of energy or is a dynamic speaker or leader. But I want to tell you this
morning that God has given each of you a dynamic gift a charisma with which you are to serve others. ABC has a
new show out this Fall called "No Ordinary Family." It caught my attention though I haven't watched it yet but I
looked it up to see what it was about. The Powell family is on an airplane that crash lands in the Amazon River.
Soon thereafter, the Powell's discover they have different superpower abilities. Mr. Powell finds he has incredible
strength and can leap tall buildings. Mrs. Powell is blessed with incredible speed and can run the mile in six
seconds. The kids have super abilities as well. "No Ordinary Family" is just a fantasy fiction show but I want to tell
you that once you become a member of God's family it is no ordinary family and God has gifted you to serve others
in various ways. It may not be jumping buildings in single bounds but I want to tell you it is eternally more
powerful in bearing eternal fruit. The word administering means being a faithful steward. It is the word we get
economy from. We are called to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us to serve. It is God's will that we
use these dynamic gifts to serve others. It is our privilege and responsibility to serve others. The last phrase of
verse 10 says faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. The word here for various forms means
multicolored. We are saved by the gift of God's grace his love that saves us not based on or works by God's
unconditional mercy and love. When you receive this gift of grace or God's salvation it expresses itself in
multicolored ways. You look at a rainbow it is this word multicolored expressions of light. When you are saved by
God's grace it is expressed differently through the different gifts God has given each of us. Some of us might
express God's Grace through various gifts of service or mercy or teaching, or wisdom. There are so many ways god
has gifted each of you across the spectrum but whether you serve others through teaching, or serving through
cleaning or singing or whatever way it is all a beautiful expression of God's grace being lived out through your life.
Just as we wouldn't want to subtract any colors from the rainbow your particular gift is just as meaningful as mine.
As a church every gift is important in serving others in love. Know that God has gifted you to serve Him as an
expression of His grace in your life.
III. God choreographs our service by His great power and for His glory.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Colossians 3: 17, ?"And whatever you do whether in word or deed, do it all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." That verse reminds me a little bit of
this verse. When we serve others whether through speaking or serving we do it to the glory of God and in the name
of Jesus. When you exercise the gift God has given you to serve it is like and in fact it is God Himself working
through your words and actions. That's why Paul says if anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very
words of God. Now I don't know about you but that gets me excited and ifI apply that to me speaking right now it
gives me the shivers that God might be speaking to you through me right now. And it is not just me but as you teach
a Sunday School class or as you speak to a friend a word about the Lord that God has given you to say then as you
speak you are speaking the very words of God. Sometimes when the President or some other public speaker is
speaking they use a teleprompter. People on the news do the same thing. But if God has given you something to
say, speak as one speaking the very words of God. You don't have to be up here behind this stand to do that. You
might be given words to text someone or facebook a message. God might give you a gift of speaking His Word to
those who need to hear it. Then Paul wrote "If anyone serves he should do it with the strength God provides so that
in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ to Him be the glory and power forever and ever Amen." Now
folks when I was studying this passage this past week and got to this verse it gave me the chills about what happens
when we are serving the Lord. If anyone serves He should do it with the strength God provides. The power for
serving comes from God. If He has gifted you to serve He will give you the power. It doesn't matter how you are
serving across the cast spectrum of gifts that God gives his people to use to serve Him and others. He will give you
all the power you need for the purpose of that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. The strength
God provides in a fascinating phrase that is key to understanding how we are all called to serve. That word for
provide is choreogei. It is the word we get choreography from. Choreogei was the word used of the person who
directs a chorus. A choreographer is one who design and arranges things in a performance such as group of dancers
or a stadium filled with people holding different colored cards at the Olympics or Super Bowl. It is also a picture of
one leading a chorus of voices or instruments to present a song. In this case it is to bring praise through Jesus Jesus
Christ to God the Father. God provides the Words and the strength to all of us who are part of his great symphony.
He is choreographing providing different gifts through each of us that He works through for His praise and Glory so
that the world will see how great He is and the lost will turn to Him. Notice it says all things. All the varied ways
that God works through the people to serve Him He is choreographing. Now imagine if God were giving direction
here this morning and He said I want you to stand here or do this or say that, would you question Him or would you
say I will do it knowing that He will get the glory and that lives will be changed. The truth is God is standing here.
He first of all wants to connect with your life. Then He wants you to grow to be more like Jesus and then like Jesus
He has gifted you and called you to serve Him. On Sunday night November 7th we are going to do a special
training on gifted to serve to help you discover how God has gifted you to serve. But it all starts with saying yes.
The gift that He has given you wasn't meant to stay on the shelf but meant to be used as part of His choreography
His symphony. Will you say yes to serving Him however He has gifted you?
