We Serve with Humility and Helpfulness

amen you can go ahead and have a seat good morning church good morning we'll go ahead and dismiss my kids to their classroom for today for the rest of us if you've got your Bibles go ahead and grab them open up to Mark let's see where are we yes Mark chapter 10 uh Mark 10 is where we'll be we've got two sermons left in the vision series and so um as we've kind of been using that illustration of building the cathedral um this is just kind of in some of that monotonous work where you're like we're almost there but we're still like talking about the

same thing we're getting there um still cutting the stones but uh today is one that you've probably heard a lot on because the Bible speaks about it so much um but at the same time is one that maybe sometimes we'll hit the snooze button on maybe sometimes we'll be like well I already engage in this I already do this and so it's not that big a deal um but I want to just kind of pull you in a little bit more and just pull you in to to really consider not only what we do in serving but how we serve and and sort of why

we serve um so that's what we're going to be talking about today is our third value which is the fact that we serve with humility and helpfulness and so as we talk about humility and helpfulness in the idea of serving I wanted to first kind of just give you a broad um recap of of why we serve and and where that even comes about because actually the the most fundamental principle of what it means to be human is the fact that we were created to serve like that is the very like that is the most important component to us being truly human is that God

created us to serve him and so you see this when you talk about Genesis 1 and true one and one and two um and you walk through the creative narrative like God created mankind to be image bearers of him to reflect honor and Glory back to him to serve him for his pleasure I mean that's like the whole purpose of it he he didn't create us because he he needed us as if he was lacking something or if he needed um a bunch of little minions to do something that he needed to be get done like like he created us to serve him not because

he needed it but to serve him for his pleasure to experience him in a way that actually brings us pleasure and so it's this Mutual um interaction that we have with God where he is creating us and serving us in a way by experiencing or expressing himself to us us where we receive satisfaction we receive joy we receive pleasure in that but in response to that we also then Echo back and serve back to him his honor and His glory and his reflection we're basically telling him how awesome he is and in that he's honored and glorified but in telling him how awesome he is

he in return is satisfying Us by doing that and so this idea of why we were created was to ultimately and this is again the Westminster Confession the first question of it is what is the chief end of man why did God create us well he created us to enjoy him forever to worship Him and enjoy him forever and so this idea of serving and enjoying God are so connected to one another that if we don't realize that then when we serve if we don't serve from that mindset of it actually being the most fundamental thing that we were created to do then we will

serve out of a separate bucket or category that is um well this is just my duty this is just what I'm supposed to do this is just what they ask me to do and you will then in that vein run dry like you will burn out you will find ways to complain about serving because again it's not ultimately connecting it to why God created you in the first place and so if you kind of just look at the the creation narrative the first 12 chapters of Genesis you get God who creates all of mankind and again as um I think it's Kirk wellum who says

this in an essay titled serving God Genesis 1 and two explains that God the Creator made all things out of nothing by the agency and power of his word and that he as The Sovereign of the universe did so for his honor and Glory Glory so everything he created is serving the purpose of his honor and glory in other words all of creation nature and Mankind was created to serve God's pleasure and find it themselves pleasing so it' be similar to like the poet who creates a poem for others to read not only is it sharing their imagination with others to enjoy but in turn

it pleases the poet serves the poet's pleasure for others to enjoy them and again this is the chief end of mankind and so as he's created us he's created a people to be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it and as they are doing that as they are filling the Earth and subduing it as they are exercising dominion over it they're doing it in a way that is reflecting who God is what his nature is the fact that he exercises dominion over everything the fact that he is creating and being fruitful and multiplying the fact that he is doing that and then

ingraining that so that we are able to rightly see we call the book of nature we look at the mountains and we look at the mountains and we say this has come from something else like these did not just spring up on their own out of a big bang and they're like wow look at that chaos produced that no chaos did not produce that logos produced that we look at the ocean for the first time and we see its expanse and how terrifying it is that it's only really been like 5% discovered and we look at that and we think wow like there's something greater

than that bigger than that but if we begin worshiping the mountain or worshiping or serving the ocean again that's the idolatry that's where we continue to run into the issues of humanity is we don't serve God by honoring him and glorifying him in what he has done we then kind of created into our own and that's exactly what Adam and Eve did and so they sinned and they fell by worshiping creation over Creator and then God just continues serving Us by restoring and trying to pull us back into what a right relationship would be it's getting us back to his whole reason for why he

created us is so that we honor and glorify him and in that we receive the most joy we receive the most life that is to be had and so for example by using the mountain in the ocean if you're like the mountains are so inspiring I want to move there I want to move there and I want to live among them well after six months you're going to be like I need a bigger Mountain like this one wasn't good enough so like maybe you mooved to the Smokies we were just talking to Gabe about Gatlinburg like maybe you mov to the smokies and you're like

this is amazing this is awesome and then you're like ah maybe I should have went to the Rockies because the Rockies are where it's at and it's like ah you know what the Alps really look good this time of year and so like you just keep keep moving around because it's not good enough and then you're like you know what I really hate flat land but I love flat water so let me move to the ocean and like let's go there and it's like we went to Miami we lived there for two years and and I remember like the first year it was like every

other weekend we're like let's let's drive four miles that takes us an hour to get there because it's Miami but let's do that and let's go spend some time at the ocean and so we were doing that like every other weekend and then all of a sudden there was this span of like six months where we didn't go to the ocean at all and I was like why are we here like we're we're living in a destination spot but why it's because like the ocean lost its it's like it we didn't care about it anymore and so that's what happens with humanity is sin and

our fallen nature takes what God has created and when we when we don't see Creator and we only see the creation it loses its lackluster like it's it's no long longer serving its purpose anymore and we've got to get to a place where we're seeing the purpose of Creation in the book of Nature and we're able to see the Fingerprints of God we're able to see all that he has created to serve that purpose of us seeing him and his Beauty and his majesty and his creativeness his imagination and what he has done in the creation while at the same time then honing in on

one another and seeing how God has created us for for the purpose of again serving him so so that when we see people honoring God and reflecting God and glorifying God with their lives that actually also begins serving Us by saying look how wonderful and Majestic and beautiful God is because of how this person loves like Jesus because of how this person teaches like Jesus because of how this person serves like Jesus has served and so he's been doing this whole thing all the way up to Genesis 12 where he then creates um the the Covenant relationship with Abraham and again Abraham has a son

Isaac and then Isaac has a son Jacob and Jacob they change his name to Israel because he has 12 sons that become the 12 tribes of Israel but what do they do those 12 sons continue to do the exact same thing that everyone before them did they keep falling they keep falling they keep sinning they keep sinning they are no longer serving God the correct way and what it actually does is when you see the 11 Sons sin against Joseph um whom again Abra or who Jacob loved they sto him in or they tried to kill him they try to bury him I mean you

can see the imagery of Jesus here he ends up getting sold into slavery in Egypt but what does that do for them does that make them flourish in Canaan does that make them flourish in in the land that God has provided for them no it becomes a desolate place because that's what sin does like no longer are they Experiencing God serving them and no longer are they serving God and it just creates desolation it creates destruction and what happens they then go to Egypt because where Joseph was where Jesus Is there is flourishment there is Source there is life there is him serving us as

we serve him and that's exactly what Joseph is picturing in his story where he WR like U creates or climbs the ranks of the Egyptian culture and policy there to where he becomes essentially the right-hand man to to the king there and and rules over all of it so that when the uh when the Israelites eventually come to Egypt because they're like that's where life is right now Joseph forgives them and grants them life he grants them Source he's like here's a place where you can live be fruitful and multiply like it is bringing back in the exact same mandate that God started with in

the first place with Adam and Eve and the Israelites flourish I mean they flourish in that I mean they they become it says at one point 600,000 men not counting the women and children I mean they are a large Nation at this point which is exactly why the Egyptians get scared and then they say we're going to enslave them and that's what they do the Israelites find themselves enslaved and then you come to Moses and Moses gets risen up and God calls Moses and he says I want you this is this is moving into Exodus now he says I want you to free the people

because I want to like I remember the Covenant that I gave to Abraham that I'm going to give them a land that is Flowing with milk and honey that I'm going to continue to have them be a city on a hill so that other nations will look at them why because he's pulling them back into honor and reflect me glorify me so that others can see it and come to know who their creator is that was the whole purpose they can't do that while they're enslaved just like we can't do that while we're enslaved and so he calls Moses like Jesus to come and free

the people people and and deliver them from the hand of Sin from the hand of pharaoh and so as they are coming out one of the most interesting things that you'll see every single time Moses goes to pharaoh and requests for him to let the people go is so that they may go and serve their God like it's getting them back to the most Central component of their relationship with God is that they are meant to serve him to serve him the beautiful thing about seeing the Exodus and and even just playing that out in the imagery of our Salvation is that in order for

them to get to a place where they are able to serve God again God has to first serve them God has to First intervene because Pharaoh is not going to let them go they're enslaved they they aren't rising up themselves to try to free themselves to try to take over I mean you got to remember the Israelites how many many times are referred to like sheep they're dumb they're dumb they do outnumber the Egyptians which is why the Egyptians put them into slavery they had any moment could say all these tools that we're using we could just use them on the Egyptians like we could

just totally take them over but again they're dumb and so they just don't do that but Moses comes in and with the honor and glory of God and the signs and the wonders of God showing up and what God executes and the 10 plagues ultimately is what creates the opportunity for them to be released and then again he still has to even serve them that much more even when they're released they come to the Sea and they're at the sea and they're like I mean I don't know if we're good swimmers or not we've been in the desert this entire time and he says I'm

going to take care of this as well I'm going to serve you to get you to the other place so that when it comes to Jesus Jesus is able to look at us and say all the work done needed to be done in order to redeem you and and save you and deliver you that work is on me and it's finished at the cross and so all of this is to pull us back into the reality that to worship and belong is actually driving us into our truest form of humanity which is a relationship that is serving God as we are also serving one another

so that when we get into that place we are then able to like the Israelites and like as Christians with the Mandate of the Great Commission we are to be fruitful and then go and multiply which again is what we'll talk about next week but it all leads to this idea of us becoming once again the very thing that he created us to be in the first place which is people who serve God because he served us in in his creation of us and so we serve because God created us to serve now as we dive in that was just kind of like a Biblical

Theology of where of why we serve in the first place when it comes to how we serve and why we serve there is humility and helpfulness and again I think this is so important because again Jesus models this for us he models it when you see Philippians chapter 2 and how he emptied himself and became the form of a bonder servant in order to come and serve us by taking on the form of a man um and then ultimately dying his death and as a entire service in order for us to be redeemed why because we couldn't do it ourselves when you think about going

and serving it's not because someone can do it themselves but most of the time it's because it's something that they can't do for themselves they can't they don't either have the money for it and so you provide them that and service to them they can't um perform I mean it's why when you think about Automotive companies like or Automotive garages they call them service departments why because most of us don't know how to serve our own vehicles and so it's this idea of doing something for someone else that they cannot do for themselves and therefore we serve them which again is why it all begins

with God first and foremost he serves Us in something that we cannot do for ourselves we cannot create ourselves so it was a service of God to create everything out of nothing and then from there when we send it is a service of God to then redeem us because we could not do it ourselves and so when it comes to this idea of humility that's where it begins with is we cannot do this ourselves but Jesus came and served us by humbling himself and therefore cause us to Humble ourselves but because we are human not in the truest form of it but because we are

Fallen humans and we've been discipled by culture and we've been discipled by sin we've been discipled by our upbringing that is in contradiction to God's design which again is why why he's discipling us why he's transforming us to become more like his son and and be conformed to His Image so that we rightly reflect him but be as that is happening we are still not fully reflecting him in the way that we serve and so what what allows for the world to kind of trickle into that is serve serving with pride serving with status serving with I do this because I want others to look

at me I do this because I want others to to see me and and and whatever it might look like and so I want to show you a passage here in Mark 10 where Jesus kind of draws this idea of serving back into it but again just reminds them that when we serve we don't serve for the purpose of creating a um well we don't serve for the the purpose of getting to the right hand of Jesus we we don't serve for climbing the ranks of status we don't serve so that we can be seen but we serve because again it is to enjoy God

ultimately in the end and so Mark 10 I'm going to read 35 through 52 um or actually 35 through 45 to begin with from this idea of humility and and again this one is one that as as I read through this I see the comic relief in it of just I mean these guys were like they were with Jesus um but yet still are so Fallen that like are willing to ask these questions to him where it's like I mean you just don't ask these types of questions and this is Jesus that you're sitting in front of but it just shows you how dumb we

are which is okay and it's a good thing not that we're dumb but we have the space and freedom to be in jesus' presence ask these dumb questions and he still loves us and corrects us so starting in verse 35 and James and John which so I'm going to do this but already have like incredible access to Jesus like if if there's the 12 disciples yes but there's the more time that Jesus spends with Peter James and John like they're already getting more time with Christ than what some of the other Apostles and disciples were able to have but yet still have this posture in

their and James and John the sons of Zebedee came up to him and said to him teacher we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you which again is just so bold it's so bold like now I want to give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that because of what they've experienced with Jesus and him so serving them and being so ready to help them along in this three years years of ministry that he's spending time with them in I want to believe that they feel completely safe to go to him and say hey like you are so serving us

that we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you like there's a confidence there um that I I would actually wish we had that same confidence in just our prayer lives like hey God I want you to do this for me now again we got to work with the heart issue here but at the same time they felt they could have that type of confidence like that access to Jesus and ask him hey we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you and so Jesus then said to them well what do you want me to do for you and

they said to him grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory and Jesus said to them you do not know what you were asking are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I I am baptized which again he he there is drawing in the um the truth about the New Covenant and what it's going to take in order to enter into that Covenant and they said to them we are able and Jesus said to them basically it is true the cup that I drink you will

drink and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized but to sit at my right hand or at my left hand is not mine to Grant but it is for those for whom it has been prepared which is Jesus's way of saying like the father is determining where you are in glory right like is it is not for anyone on Earth to kind of say like hey if I if I do x amount of things then I'll get the right hand seat at Jesus or if I do x amount of things I'll get the larger Mansion um again it's it's God

is working out the father is working out through our lives and how we serve and where we serve and what we experience in suffering and basically if you're thinking in your head and this is something that I was taught in growing up is like every time you do an act of service it's shooting a brick up to heaven to just add on to your Mansion um and and so I had that kind of understanding and mentality that yeah like like the more I do the more I get and there there's some truth to that if you remember a sermon I preached on a few months

ago but again it comes back to the heart posture of why am I doing it like am I doing it to to essentially gain there in a prideful way similar to how secular culture here serves themselves and what they do in their lives and how they you know I want to make as much money as I can to be as rich as I can to buy as much as I can and just have that lifestyle well like if that's my mentality of heaven then I'm no different like it's just sinful so there's got to be something different to it and that's what kind of Jesus

is drawing out here he's like God's going to determine all of that so don't put your mindset there don't think about it there which is just Pride he he's trying to draw that out in them but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to Grant but it is for those for whom it has been prepared and when the 10 heard it which is great because they also had the boldness to ask these questions in front of the like hey Jesus can we sit at your right hand and your left don't worry about these other dummies like don't worry about

the other 10 that can hear us right now like it's like an open meeting that they're having with Jesus um and Jesus called to them and said to them oh wait I skipped apart but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to Grant but it is for those for whom it has been prepared and when the 10 heard it they began to be indignant at James and John rightfully so and then Jesus called them to him and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them and their great ones exercise authority

over them but it shall not be so among you so here's where he's getting to their heart he's saying those who are ruling secularly which is their way of saying Gentiles so that'd be like our way of here saying like those who are non-Christian and the way that they lead others the way that they rule the way that they run a company the way that they run a country the way that they um exercise authority over others is by posturing themselves in a way that is saying you are lesser than me and you need to listen to me I carry all authority um and so

you just need to do what I say like they lorded over them I am your lord and you will trust me you will follow me you will do what I say and he's looking at James and John and he's saying what you're questing in Pride is essentially you are greater than the other 10 disciples right here like you're better than them you're lording your position and posture over them and it shall not be among you like he's saying I'm I'm cre like you're you're essentially taking the idea of Roman Empire and you're now trying to syncretize it you're trying to pull it into what we're

creating in the New Kingdom and you're trying to those two things together and he's saying that's not how this kingdom is going to operate and function that's not the way God is is creating this new Christendom like it's not going to be those who are in high positions make sure that everyone else understand that and make sure that everyone else get in line and follow that he's said that's not how we're going to do this this is not Bishop is Lord this is not Pastor is Lord this is not Caesar is Lord Lord but rather whoever would be great among you must be your servant

if someone is going to be in a position of leadership they must first serve and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all he's saying this is this is really the creation of servant leadership where it is a posture that is saying we are equal though we may be in our roles and skills and and what God has called us to do in the functioning of the body of Christ but we are not more than you we are not greater than you and that's why he fin finishes it off with 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 and so he's giving them this posture of you are called to serve but in the way that you serve don't try to put yourself at the top as a place to be served that that's not what he's creating in Christendom so he's trying to um essentially establish that there's no there's no room for pride in Christendom there's no room for it it's got to be operating from a place of humility willing to be the servant of of all just as Jesus the son of man came not to be served but to serve

and give his life as a ransom for men and so we serve with that same mindset we serve with having the mindset of Christ in Philippians 2 we serve based on the fact that we're nobodies we're we're nobodies I think again I I I don't uh I'll quote him because he said it a long time ago and it was a good quote but Mark scho one time said we are a bunch of nobodies telling everybody about somebody like that's what we are doing as Christians we're a bunch of no buies telling everybody about somebody and that is beautiful that's beautiful there's a reason why you

hardly remember anyone who were profound Christians a 100 years ago because it's good to be forgotten it's good to be forgotten it's good not to be known it's good to do the work that is pointing people to Jesus and I think this goes all the way back to John the Baptist he must increase I must decrease like when we spread this church and we engage the community around us it's not for the sake and Renown of the District church it's not for the sake and Renown of Dwayne or ransford it's not for the sake of renown of our ministry team it's not for the sake

of renown of our members it's not for that it's it's for Jesus again we are God is serving us and redeeming us rescuing us saving us forgiving us he's serving Us in that so that we then serve him by making everything in our lives about him he he didn't serve us so that we can get puffed up and say look how awesome we are like again I think that's one of the biggest um um criticisms that Christianity gets is that we posture ourselves as better than the community around us and again I would say it's predominant unfair in the critique but I think there are

areas within our Christianity that has rightfully earned that critique because again we're trying to make a name for ourselves right rather than making a name for Jesus and so why that's why we instill this into our values and what we want to be cultivating in our church is that we serve with humility one of the best places for you to be is someone who serves your entire life for the sake of the gospel and people coming to know Jesus so that hundreds if not thousands of people come to know Jesus but don't know you that's like if you get to the end and you stand

before the Lord and when you're standing before the Lord there's a sea of hundreds thousands of people behind you coming to know the Lord but none of them know your name well done that good and faithful servant well done that's what it's about that's what it's about and I think that's what Jesus was telling James and John here it's not for you to determine where your status is where your posture is where your position is God's going to work all of that out trust that what you are to do is to be considered least among your body and then serve in that way serve from

that place and then the second thing that we do is that we serve with humility and helpfulness so we serve with helpfulness we look for opportun unities to fix things to improve things to build things because God is restoring and making all things new God is doing this work he is restoring and making all things new and it's essentially like going to work with Dad like that's what we are doing when it comes to serving God with helpfulness if you look at the literally the the next part of Mark 10 verse 46 is an opportunity of helpfulness for an individual and they came to Jericho

and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd bmus a blind beggar the son of timus was sitting by the roadside and when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say Jesus Son of David have mercy on me and many rebuked him telling him to be silent which I just wonder if like who was it that was rebuking this man from trying to cry out to Jesus like in the context Jesus is saying he's being followed by his disciples and a great crowd like were were it the people who are professing to be followers

of Jesus who are rebuking this man and saying don't bother Jesus it wouldn't be out of the norm remember when the little children tried to come to Jesus Jesus and what did they do hey hey you lesser thans get away from him and Jesus is like what are you doing the Kingdom of Heaven is for these like let them come to me like why would you go out of your way to keep anybody from coming to me and I just think it it it is consistent In this passage this blind beggar probably to degree and I I think again even just the writer of Mark

putting these in in next to each other is driving the point home that hey if you're prideful you're going to rebuke the blind beggar who's trying to get to Jesus there's going to be someone in your culture in your sphere of of of influence where you're going to look at them and say we don't want you to be a part of our church like you don't fit you're you're a [Music] nuisance you're a nuisance and we don't want you to be a part of it Jesus Son of David have mercy on me and many rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cried out

all the more son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call him and they called the blind man saying to him which I love that Jesus didn't just go to the man and say it's kind of like the ones who were rebuking this man saying saying hey um you know don't bother Jesus Jesus tells them hey you go tell him like again Jesus could have just said it himself but he employed the ones who were rebuking the man to then go and experience what it would actually be to serve this man to serve this man he gave them an opportunity to

be corrected he gave them an opportunity to then engage what would bring them Joy rather than a heart posture that is greater than or better than call him and so they called the blind man saying to him take heart get up he's calling you all right so now take heart why because they probably had to change of heart take heart get up he's calling you and throwing off his cloak he sprang up and he came to Jesus and Jesus said to him what do you want me to do for you again kind of that same question that Jesus had with his disciples when his disciples

said hey we we want you to do something for us Jesus here is is showing that again he with verse 45 the son of man came not to be served but to serve and so this man is coming to him and Jesus is serving him Jesus is saying what what do you want me to do for you and the blind man said to him Rabbi let me recover my sight and Jesus said to him go your way your faith has made you well and immediately he recovered his sight and Then followed him on the way followed Jesus I love that Jesus could have in the

moment just been like hey you know what um I see that you're blind that's obvious you know what just follow me I I don't need to help you with that just follow me just trust me and I think sometimes with Christianity we this is going to sound heretical but follow me here sometimes we say um we just need to just preach the gospel we just need to tell them about Jesus that's all they need true but sometimes we use that as an excuse to not look into our resources to help to help and so I think there's something to that where Jesus is calling us

in our service to him and in our service to others for the sake of him that we need to Steward better what he has provided for us so that we can actually help others with practical Deeds of helpfulness we can look around us I mean when Jesus was looking at the 5,000 people who needed to be fed we know he can drop Mana from heaven right he could have just said you know what they ran a play back in the Old Testament one time where it just fell from the sky everyone's hungry they're all grumbling right now let's just let's just do this miracle but

instead he finds this boy who has a lunchbox with some fishing loves and he says you know what I'm going to see if this boy I'm going to have him come up I'm GNA have him provide I'm going to take from his resources and I'm going to multiply that out and I think that's exactly what he is calling us to do he's saying like let's look at your resources again that he's already given to us he's already provided to us and he says when you look out at the community around you and you start asking the questions what does it need how can it be

helped the reality is that the needs are already provided for it's just we've not released them yet that's that's the reality all the resources that are needed in the entire world are already provided for like there doesn't need to be a recreation of Mana falling from Heaven it's here it's just whether or not we're prideful and holding it or whether or not we're humble and releasing it and this is what he's called us to do he's called us to go in and be fruitful and multiply and spread the Earth in the earth as the waters cover the seed the glory of God in the proclamation

of the Gospel but in doing that treat it like it's our family where we take care of it we serve it we provide for it we fix things we clean things like Christianity if you think about a household like right now obviously y'all know I've got three boys that every single day they want to renovate the house what I mean by that is they destroy things that it's just every day is demo day and so every night is me coming behind them and before they go to bed saying hey guys we're going to clean up a couple of things all right but again they they

clean up messes by smearing things you know it's it's this it's like okay they they did one thing but then it created another thing and so after after they're finally in bed after they've done a little bit of kind of helping trying to get them on this place of taking responsibility for their issues and their their Brokenness by hey we made a mess you know and we want to we want to come to God with our mess and we want to ask for forgiveness for our mess but you know what we're going to help in the process of picking this up but in that after

they go to bed it's 30 minutes every night it's 30 minutes of just walking around and just restoring our home you know putting things back in the places that they're in well as Christians as Christendom that's what God has essentially called us to do in our world in our world like non-christians are the toddlers who are making a mess of things it's just true all right now we make a mess of things too because we're still falling as well but everyone's making a mess of everything and we're called to cultivate our culture around us us for the sake of Jesus in his name we're called

to clean up the mess we're called to serve in this way and so we're called to go out and beautify what has been broken this is what God has called us to do and so if as a Christian or as a church as as a new kingdom that's here in this Kingdom if we only stay within our walls and we only do the business in the walls of be being disciples who are growing in the knowledge of God and who are growing in our worship of him and who are um working on our songs and working on our um intellect and working on our Bible

studies and working on those things but we never get outside of that and go into the world not be of the world but go into the world to Steward it to cultivate it to clean it up if we don't serve it with the gospel we're bad parents as a church we're a bad Church Church we're a bad Christianity and we're actually not reflecting God fully it's just true he came into the form of a bond servant to serve him not to be served but to serve and he's called us to do the exact same thing he's called us to go into the mess and begin

cleaning begin cleaning again with you know both with practical Deeds of helpfulness But ultimately with the gospel ultimately with the gospel and that's why again I think he grabbed the five loaves of bread because he's saying hey I'm going to feed you with this but I need you to also know that there is a greater bread the bread of life just like with the woman at the well hey I'm going to help you draw this water but I need you to know that there's a greater water there's Living Water he still drew the water for her he still provided that for her but also gave

her something greater than that and that's what we're called to do as Christians as Believers is serve with humility but also serve with helpfulness we are to go into our society and look for the areas where they are thirsting for water and they are hungry for bread and we provide those things while also providing the living water in the true bread of life Jesus Christ himself so we got to do it we got to do it and that's why again we are to to to engage these conversations in our community groups that's going to be one of the biggest kind of routes right now we

will do some things as a church like together we're looking to do a big thing this summer um over here with the school and potentially even with Gabriel Missionary Baptist Church which is about five doors down that way um they're going to partner with us and we're going to do a work over here with the school that is engaging the community with again intellect we want them to know who Jesus is and so we'll do some like Bible study clubs there um but at the same time looking for practical Deeds of helpfulness for the community around and so we're going to do that we're going

to take a week and we're going to do that this summer it's going to be great we need to do that but we also don't want to just say we're going to do it one week a year and so we wanted to work in some extra rhythms of what it looks like to serve and so as community groups you're having conversations and discussions about how your group can engage with that can serve that and so you're maybe looking for organizations around um the community maybe even you're just looking at where your community group meets and you're saying what like we drive around this neighborhood all

the time how can we go around that 30 minutes at nighttime and just restore this like honestly one of the easiest things is is when I'm driving around my house um outside of our neighborhood it just seems like everyone believes that the the street is just where you recycle and so you just whatever you got you just throw it out you just throw it out and so it just it just looks like it's snowed but it's just paper and everything um but like what would it be to just hey I'm gonna go I'm gonna be a good parent to this culture around us I'm going

to be fruitful and multiply I'm going to go I'm going to serve the community and I'm just going to clean up I'm going to take a trash bag is clean up I don't it doesn't have to be seen but we're called to Steward we're called to cultivate we're called to beautify what's broken because that's exactly what Jesus is doing so look for ways in which you can do that maybe as a group you go around your neighborhood you get some trash bags and you go you clean up your neighborhood and as you're cleaning up the neighborhood you pray for each house God knows who they

are you might not you can look it up the Deeds online but at the same time just pray for them if you see them outside hey can we pray for you right now I know that might sound weird but can we pray for you is there anything that you're anxious about right now and most the time nine times out of 10 people are like well I'm not a Christian I'm not a Believer I don't go to church I don't do that but ABS sure you can pray for me most of the time people are willing to allow you to pray for them and then you

say would it be all right if I like followed up on that prayer like in a couple of weeks like okay yeah maybe they're not going to think you're going to come back but then come back hey we've been praying for that how how's the job hunt been going you know how's your how's your son's leg you know whatever it is like follow up with it let's do this again this I just want to drive that so much more this year that don't just hear this as I'm so glad that we value serving as a church or I'm glad that we value serving as a

church I'm going to go serve I'm going to go serve and there's so there's thousands of way you were created to serve so you can serve in your home you can serve in your work you can serve in your church you can serve in your community you can serve because that's how God designed you and created you there's a plethora of ways to serve so if you're asking how do I serve in the church come talk to us we'll figure out a way how do I serve in the community figure it out just start just do it it's what he's called us to do do

it with humility and do it with helpfulness and as I've been saying we model it primarily after Jesus because that's exactly what he did for us as Philippians 2 says like he took the form of the bond servant and he came and he dwelt Among Us he humbled himself to the point of death on a cross like the the most the biggest need you and I had how do we pay off our debt of sin to God like sure we're Liars sure we're we're thieves we're you know adulterers we're we're all the Ten Commandments broken we're idolators like we what we're supposed to do we

don't do God I I have needs I need to get those things fixed God like I I don't Ste well and so I need help with Finance God I need you to serve me but at the end of the day the greatest need of God serving you was dealing with your Deb of sin because what the payment of it is is death and so if I'm coming to God and saying hey I owe you a debt I want to pay it off God's saying all right if you want to do it yourself here's what it is you're going to spend eternity in hell like that's

that's if you want to do this yourself if you want to pay it off that's what it's going to take you're going to spend eternity in hell because of your sin that's his just punishment and he's rightfully so to do that all right God Is there is there another option is there another application I can feel out I don't want to pay it off I don't want to do that he says absolutely I knew you couldn't do it and so I sent my son Jesus he humbled himself and he went to the point of death on a cross and all of my anger toward your

sin all of my wrath towards it all of my hatred of every broken thing that you've ever done the mess that you created that frustrates me to no end I poured it out on him he broke his body he shed his blood and I'm satisfied with it God is satisfied with it and and so then he says if you'll believe in him if you'll believe in what he accomplished and what he did and you trust that it is finished that his work is good enough to forgive you of your sins I'll save you I'll save you and then because he's satisfied he resurrects Jesus and

he makes him into a glorified body and he says guess what I'm going to do the exact same thing for you I'm going to make you a New Creation because your old creation it can't reflect me rightly it can't serve me rightly it it it cannot be what I created it to be so I'm going to make you a new creation and in this new creation you're going to work that out you're going to figure out what that looks like for the next however long you're alive on this Earth but you're going to learn to test drive you're going to learn to drive this new

creation that you are and it's going to be one that worships through prayer and God's word it's going to be a new creation that belongs to an authentic and diverse community and it's going to serve with humility and helpfulness that's what you're going to do and I'm going to empower you to be able to do that because of what Jesus did at the cross so you're welcome that's what God's saying you're welcome and that's where we again we we receive that with joy and excitement like we receive that with complet complete thankfulness why because there was nothing we did for it nothing we did fruit

of gracei 2 810 free gift of Grace not anything that we did to deserve and so we come to him with thankfulness which is really what produces humility I didn't do this Jesus did it for me man I don't deserve this but he granted it to me freely thank you Jesus J thank you Jesus so if you believe that I want you to goad and stand we partake of communion together because we come around that one truth that Jesus did it all for us he served us in this way making it possible for us to as true humans the new creation to serve him with

our lives and so if you believe that I want you to come down grab the elements and then we will partake together