Shaped In The Shadows
Message Moments & Highlights
Character Is Forged
Serving God is never about titles, positions or microphones. As Pastor Fua shares, it is about the condition of your heart when no one is watching. In the quiet and unseen places, God shapes your character and does His deepest work. What matters most is not what others see, but how faithfully you serve in the background.
Trust Is Built Through Small Things
God's calling is never random or rushed. As Pastor Fua shares, it was not ambition that prepared Joshua to lead, but years of humble, unseen faithfulness. Trust is not built overnight. It grows in the shadows, through obedience in small things. In God's Kingdom, He rewards those who walk steadily with Him, not those who chase the spotlight.
Connection in Jesus’ Heart Grows
True strength is not about staying hard or hiding your struggles. As Pastor Fua shares, when you stay connected to Jesus, He softens the hardened heart. In the quiet places, where no one else sees, He removes shame and pride and replaces them with purpose and devotion. You begin to care less about appearances and more about serving God with your whole life.
Shaped In The Shadows
In his message “Shaped in the Shadows,” Pastor Fua challenges us to dedicate our entire lives—not just our spare time—to serving God. Rooted in Joshua 1:1–9, the sermon reveals that the most profound spiritual transformation often occurs in hidden moments, far from public view. It is in these unseen spaces that God forges the qualities of humility, compassion, integrity, patience, and faithfulness—traits that cannot be rushed but are developed through long-term commitment and obedience.
Pastor Fua teaches that the journey of true leadership begins with small responsibilities, where God builds trust and tests our character. Promotion in the Kingdom doesn’t come from ambition, but from years of faithfulness in quiet service. More importantly, when we serve without seeking recognition, we position ourselves for deeper intimacy with Jesus. This connection helps guard our hearts against pride, bitterness, and unhealthy comparison.
The key to meaningful service lies in staying connected to Christ, examining our motives regularly, and remembering that true greatness in God's eyes comes not from being seen—but from faithfully serving when no one else notices.
Related Bible Verses
📖 1. Joshua 1:1-5 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.1.1-5.NLT
“After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.”
📖 2. Exodus 33:11 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://bible.com/bible/116/exo.33.11.NLT
“Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.”
📖 3. Matthew 25:23 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.25.23.NLT
““The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’”
📖 4. Joshua 1:6-7 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.1.6-7.NLT
““Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.”
📖 5. Luke 10:39-42 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.10.40-42.NLT
“Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.””
📖 6. Matthew 20:26-28 (NLT)
🔗 Read on Bible.com: https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.20.26-28.NLT
“But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.””
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Shaped in the Shadows: Finding Purpose in Serving God
True service to God goes far deeper than just showing up on Sunday mornings. It's about giving your entire life to serve Him, not just your spare time. When we serve with our whole hearts, God shapes us in powerful ways through the private, behind-the-scenes moments that no one else sees.
How Does God Shape Us in the Shadows?
There are three key ways God molds us when we serve Him with our whole lives:
1. Character is Forged
Just as Joshua served as Moses' assistant before becoming a leader, God uses our seasons of humble service to build our character. In the quiet moments when no one is watching, He develops traits like:
Humility
Compassion
Integrity
Patience
Faithfulness
These character qualities can only be truly developed over time through faithful service, not overnight.
2. Trust is Built Through Small Things
God doesn't immediately entrust us with major responsibilities. Instead, He gives us small tasks first to build trust and dependability. Being faithful in little things prepares us for bigger assignments.
The kingdom of God doesn't reward ambition - it rewards faithfulness. Leadership emerges from years of loyal service and doing the small things well.
3. Connection to Jesus' Heart Grows
Most importantly, serving in the shadows connects us deeply to Jesus' heart. When we serve with pure motives, not seeking recognition, we position ourselves to experience intimate relationship with Christ.
Like Mary who sat at Jesus' feet while Martha busied herself with tasks, we must remember that connection with Jesus matters more than accomplishing things for Him.
What Happens When We Lose Focus?
When we become disconnected from Christ's heart in our service, negative attitudes can emerge:
Bitterness
Pride
Comparison with others
Feeling unappreciated
The solution is returning to Jesus' feet and remembering that service flows from relationship with Him.
Life Application
This week, examine your heart and motivations in serving:
Are you serving to be seen or from genuine love for Jesus?
What character qualities is God trying to develop in your private moments?
How faithful are you being with the small responsibilities He's given you?
Are you staying connected to Jesus' heart or just going through the motions?
Make a fresh commitment to serve God with your whole life, not just your spare time. Trust that He is using the unseen moments to shape you for His purposes.
Remember: True greatness in God's kingdom comes through humble, faithful service - even when no one else sees.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Ah, church this morning I want to share with you a message on serving. Serving. An act of love, a sacrifice, a commitment, a small thing done with a heart of love. To see a smile on someone, a well brewed coffee. Welcome shown car park shown to you worship walked in presence of the Lord.
Welcoming team meets you brother sister. Welcome morning tea team. Come and have a feed all on the house. Small acts of kindness, love and commitment to see lives change. And we love serving, don't we?
Yeah. And for each and every one of you that are serving, being a part of serving, thank you. It's meant with a heart of gratitude. But the serving that I want to share with you runs deeper than a Sunday morning, runs deeper than the 10 to 11:30, runs deeper than my name's on here this week and I believe serving God is a great thing and continue to do that. But where does it stem from?
Stems from a greater heart to say, I give my life to serve God, not I give my free time a couple hours a week to serve God. That's not the running deep part. The running deep part is I give my life to serve God and every aspect of it.
I believe that through your serving and through giving your heart to serve the Lord with all that you have. There are hidden, hidden things. Hidden, hidden power of transformation through serving. See, we always put serving with spotlight public right? Serving, serving everyone serving.
We always put those two together. But I believe it's in the background, in the shadows, in the places that no one sees in the private time, in those moments where you really hurt and you weep, but no one sees in those private times where you shout out to the father, where are you I've given my heart to you for so long. Where are you in those private times where you can just sit with the Father and be yourself in private. And I believe it's in the private, in the shadows and in those places that no one sees as where God molds you, shapes you, refines you, tweaks you, takes that out, takes this out. You don't need that.
You need humility. You don't need comparison. You're good enough. What's that? You need to be educated.
You're good as you are now, right? That's what he does in the shadows and behind the scenes.
Before God ever uses us publicly, he refines us privately. That's serving God with your life. It is not a position, a power, a spotlight or a pulpit. It's the life behind the scenes, in the shadows, where you grind away, just like footy players like myself. As you can see, it's just.
We grind away. There's one percentage, there's one percenters, right? My brother in law at the back there, right, He's a. He was a professional volleyball player. He'll tell you, the first training session I went with him was the last.
Couldn't even breathe. So thank you very much. Right, but it's those extras, those 1%, those things that people don't see is what matters. And we're going to look in the book of Joshua, the beginning of Joshua, the Lord calls him up. This is time to lead the people, lead his people.
Moses has died, right? And we're going to unpack this and we're going to see why Joshua's life, especially in this place part. Why is it so important? Because before he inherited Moses mantle, he was a faithful assistant. Before he even led Israel across the Jordan, he was servant and a serving in the shadows, behind the scenes.
And no one saw. So here we go. Church Joshua, Chapter one.
After the death of Moses, the Lord's servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua, son of nun, Moses, assistant. He said, moses, my servant is dead. Therefore the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan river into the land I am giving them. I promise you what I promised Moses. Wherever you set foot, you'll be on the land I've given you.
From the negation wilderness in the south, of the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Eustrates river in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Including all the land of the Hittites. No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you. As I was with Moses.
I would not fail you or bandage you. Church titled my message this morning, Shaped in the shadows.
It is behind the scenes, the areas that people don't see in private is where the Lord shapes you, is where you make the biggest difference in people's lives. It's not in public. It's not out in the open. Now, church, I want to tell you about a certain someone in our. In our congregation, in our family.
I'm going to embarrass this person because he's about to go on met leave. That's my gift. And this person is not a pastor. This person doesn't preach. This person doesn't make coffees.
This person is not out in the car park. But this person is here every week.
We don't care too much about this person. Right? It's the truth. We don't. If you know me, Pastor Fu, well, here it is.
We don't. We only care about this person, and we acknowledge this person and we turn around to this person when the microphone doesn't work, when there's a buzz in the speakers, maybe the live stream, there's a buzz coming through. Oh, yeah. We all whip around and we look at. Actually do that right now.
His name's Dylan. He's right there. I told him I'll say, hi, Dylan. He's about to go on maternity leave, so I thought I'd give him a farewell.
No one notices the sound guy, not until the microphone plays it. But when everything runs smoothly, when the transitions are seamless, the volume's perfect, the worship in merciful silence, no applause, no complimen problem is just quiet faithfulness.
Here's the truth, church. Our services work smoothly because of many of you who serve in the background to make things happen in the private, in the shadows. You don't need a thank you. You don't need a thank you. You didn't come here to get praised up and get a thank you you and leave it and go, oh, yeah, I feel refreshed.
You came here because you have chosen to serve God with your life. With your life. You're not here to impress anyone or anything like that. You're here to serve God with humility and love. There I go spitting again.
Every single time, man.
And I believe that's often exactly how God works. Not only through us to impact others, but within us while we serve in the shadows, in the hidden places, in the roles no one claps for, but heaven values deeply. Serving church. Serving, I'm talking about, is not just the serving within these church walls. It's not just the serving that we see here.
It's a life we live, a life of service. A pathway to leadership. Leadership. It's not a step towards greatness, but the soil in which greatness grows. In the background and in the shadows.
Just like Joshua. Your unseen seasons are not wasted. They are seasons of great change, seasons of purpose. Work done in the background, shaping your life. Are you with me, Church?
So I want to give you three. Three ways God shapes you behind the scenes. Not just in serving, but in the quiet places of our lives. Serving God with our lives. Here's the first thing.
Here's the first thing that happens in the shadows is character is forged. Character is forged.
Verse 1. The Lord spoke to Joshua, son of nun, Moses assistant. I love that because it doesn't say Moses, the next leader, Moses, the Joshua, Moses assistant. It doesn't say Moses successor. Moses, assistant, his servant.
And before. Joshua held a sword, he carried water. He learned, he grew, he served. He was close with Moses. He was taken in everything.
Moses had it taught onto submission. Serving in humility, reshaping his pride, building a trustworthiness for God. See, in the shadows, church, and in the background of our lives, serving God. He reshapes your life. He changes the things in your Life, right?
Exodus 33:11. It says this. The Lord will speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend. Afterward, Moses would return to the camp. But the young man who assisted him, Joshua, son of nun, would remain behind in the tent meeting.
What I love, that is, he remained behind. He sat behind. He waited. He had his own relationship with the Father. After Moses had gone, he waited.
He didn't wait to clean up. He didn't wait, wait for the caterers to finish up. He didn't wait to lock up that evening. He waited because he had his own relationship with the Father. A faithful servant.
Here's the great thing about character, right? We need it, that we need to be humble. We need to be humble, don't we? Compassion and mercy. Honesty, integrity, patience and self control.
Faithfulness, love, forgiveness. See, Joshua didn't inherit leadership. He inherited the weight of it. The weight could only be carried by someone whose character had been forged over time, over years, right? Wasn't 0 to 100 just like that, right?
Over years of assisting and serving God in the background. Only then where God will present to me what a humble heart looks like. What a humble. What a giving heart looks like. What a receiving heart looks like, right?
And I shared the story last night. I mean, years ago, Pastor Adrian actually shared it. Yeah, about last month, there was a time where Pastor Fu walked out from the worship team. We were in rehearsal. We were in rehearsal at one point, and it got the best of me.
And I was frustrated and I was prideful, and I packed up all my gear and I walked out. Many years ago, a young fool. Prideful, right? Twice. Prideful, Prideful.
Bitter. Prideful, bitter. These guys kind of. They're not even on my level. They can't play music like me.
They can't keep up. And I got frustrated to a point where I walked out on the team.
You know what they gave me the team that very day. They gave me grace, gave me love. You know what I learned after that? Didn't learn very much up here. It's what I learned behind the scenes.
I learned what grace was, man. Didn't the Father work on grace with me?
Humility, humility. Become. Be humble in your giftings. Be a servant. Don't be a servant in the spotlight.
Be a servant behind the scenes and all these things back then. And I've learned them over the years and over the years, but I didn't learn them on here. I learned them behind the scenes where no one saw.
That's the joy of giving your whole heart to the Father. It's not a spotlight thing. It's a private thing. Work done in the shadows, character formed. I've never met anyone say, hey, Fua, how are you?
I'm good. How are you, brother? He goes, look, I'm bits, I'm angry and all that, but I'm here to serve the Lord.
Maybe it's the case. Maybe that's the case with some of you here right now. And if it is, maybe you're going through something like that. Can I encourage you in the shadows, let the Lord shape you, change you. Because if you don't, if you don't get fed, if you don't get reshaped and molded and refined in those private spaces, you come out in public and you go, woof.
Here it is, all of it. My pridefulness, bitterness. I'm not happy. You're looking at me funny. You dress differently, whatever the case may be, right?
But that's the power of character forged in the shadows, right? And it's interesting because we see this pattern, this tent pattern, right? Or this Jesus when he was 12 years old and his parents left him. Parents said, where was he? In the tent.
His parents were trying to look for him. He was in the tent with the leaders, sharing, learning, right? Speaking to them, right? And Then we see in scripture as well. Well, what does he do?
He withdraws himself from everyone and he goes to a quiet place. He goes to a quiet place and just chills in the presence.
What does that look like for you, Church?
What does your shadows look like?
What character? What character things is God working on in your life? What things are you asking him to change and to shift?
You know, learning curve in terms of character is. When I was an apprentice, first day placement, my first restaurant, I thought to myself, my first ever restaurant that I worked at, I've made it. I've made it to the top. Top Master chef, here I come, Here I come. I've made it.
Got my wife, told my mom and dad, I did it, Mum did it, dad made it. Walked in there, had my nice bag like that, met the head chef. And the head chef goes, oh, you won't need that. I went, okay, okay, I see where this is going. Every single restaurant, you will see chefs, right?
That's called the pass. Right now, the pass area, the front line, that's like your main. Made it like, you are next level. You're not down here, you're here. And he's walking me towards the corridor and I can see the pass and going, man, first day on the pass must be really good.
Then he turns left and he goes to a small little area and there's a dishwasher. There's pots and pans, there's all these. I'm like, oh, man. I'll be honest, I was so shocked. I was supposed to be a chef.
I was supposed to cook stuff. I didn't wash up.
I was a Kitchener for about two years. Two years straight. Yeah. There were times I would have given up. There were times where I would have just exploded and handed my knives and my whites and go, that's it.
But you know what it taught me, right? Taught me life lessons. Taught me character lessons, right? Taught me character lessons, right? That if you want to achieve a goal, work hard for it, brother.
Work hard. You, you, you want to place them on the path with the big boys, you got to start here, right? And then month and week after week, I'm scrubbing, I'm getting spoken to in good language. I'm not going to say it here. They're loving people, and they are.
Chefs are loving people. People. And I copped it left, right and centre, every single thing. And then years later, I get the opportunity to go to the past. And every time I walk past a kitchen hand area, I'm reminded.
I'm reminded I'M reminded that the work in the background hasn't been lost. I'm reminded where I've come from. You hear that saying, remember your roots. Who remembers that remembers their roots? Who actually remembers their roots?
Who remembers their roots in Jesus? When Jesus first took you, when Jesus first grabbed you, when you didn't even know about him. First time Jesus grabbed you, when you were busy doing something else. But Jesus, that came to you trying to change something. Character.
Character inside you and all that. And you wouldn't let. Do you remember that Jesus in the shadows is where your character is forged. Where no one sees your hurt, your pain, your determination, your love for the Lord, all forged in the shadows. Are you allowing them to shape your inner life while no one is watching Church.
That is the first thing character is forged. Are you still with me? Second thing we see in the shadows is it creates trust for your future. Creates trust, doesn't just go, here's trust. Here you go.
I trust the Lord. Finish. It creates trust through small things in the shadows. Small little things. This wasn't a sudden calling.
When the Lord said in verse two, the time has come for you to lead this people. It wasn't a sudden calling. It wasn't on accident. It was all planned long before. It was the culmination of years of service and obedience, building a path of trust and faithfulness.
The kingdom of God does not not elevates ambition, but rewards faithfulness. The calling to lead emerged only after Joshua had spent years following years of being faithful. God entrusts more to the impressive, but to the dependable trust built off many years living a life of service, doing the small things as assistant and staying faithful.
Small things. There is power in the small things that you do.
Music as you know, I do music there in the past, in the years, and that I've taught music to kids in that. Here's the thing about kids. They always want to go. They want to be here. I've never met a kid that's here, right?
So I'm teaching them piano or whatever that story may be, and I teach them something. Something simple, something small. Yet they go, no, I want to play like you. I want to play like you. Well, you can't play like me.
You got to do this part first. He goes, no, I don't want to do that part. I want to do this part like you, right? They struggle to do the small, simple things. Consistent, right?
We live a life of 0 to 100 right from here. And then next day you expect it to be here. But can I Tell you church, it's through those simple small things that you are faithful in. Only then, years and years and years of grinding away without temptation, without anything deviating from left to right. Only then, when the Father will present you something a lot bigger than what you dreamed of, he's not going to come to you and say, hey, listen man, go plant a church of 2000 and you only just gave your life yesterday.
Years and years of grinding away, chipping away.
Jesus says this in Matthew 25, well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount. So now I'll give you many more responsibilities, possibilities.
Sometimes we want the big things, yet we're never faithful in the small.
If you look at these musicians up here, they will tell you years and years and years of learning music, of studying, of grinding away. They didn't just show up and go past the four I would like to play guitar are years and years of it. The kingdom entrustment comes through years of service. Being faithful in the little. Being faithful in the things.
We sometimes think we are above or too good to serve. And faithfulness and serving becomes the foundation of fruitful leadership. Being faithful in the small things. Serving leads to leadership.
Sometimes God will place something small in your life to see what you will do with it. Sometimes our response is, nope, not me. I'm too good for that. Sometimes he gives you small things to be faithful in. Your response is hope.
I'm above all that. I want something bigger. I'm way above that. But the thing about working in the shadows and letting God fill your heart and you serving the Lord of all your life is that whatever he places in front of you has a purpose, even if it's something small. But yet many of us might go through something, go through seasons.
They'll go, oh, this is too small. It's worthless, doesn't need my attention. But I can tell you now, it's those small things that matters. Those small things, whatever that may be, small inklings that the Lord will put his hands on, that he will help you see in there. And sometimes we get caught up in ourselves because we think that serving is all about us.
It's never about us. It's about serving the Father and what he places in your heart and in your hand. You go, thank you, Father. Let me take this. Let me be faithful, this small thing.
And whatever it may be that you would call me on next, I will be faithful in that. You believe that church verses 6:7 for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land. I swore their ancestors I would give them them. Be strong, very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.
Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Joshua, for you, it's his time. The time has come now. He's been faithful.
It's come now.
Are you faithful in the small things that Lord has given you Church?
How long are you willing to serve in the little things?
How are you going with the little things God has entrusted you with?
Trust is built over years and years of serving God with your holiness life. We'll get Pastor Margaret here talking to her outside. And I said, man, you look so colorful. You just bring the sunlight into the room. She'll tell you.
She'll tell you years and years of grinding away the sacrifice, the commitment and the small things and the little things that the Lord gives us and plants us. And yet we get so caught up in what we do for others. We get so caught up in what we do in our serving, how good we are in serving others that we actually miss the moment that God has presented us. To go here is a small mustard seed. Take this with you.
What are you going to do with it?
There is power when you give your heart to the Lord. When you serve the Lord with all your heart. Character is thoughts. Trust is built. And the third thing is this.
And the most important thing is the connection to the heart of Jesus. We want to be connected to the heart of Jesus. Yeah.
Verse 5. I will be with you as I was Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you. I will be with you.
The Word's with you. You'll see it in scripture. With you. He's not just, ah, yeah, I'll come hang out with you. Yeah, I'm just there.
Nah, he's with you. The Lord's solid as they come. He doesn't deviate left to right. He doesn't pick and choose who gets the blessing and who doesn't. He doesn't see how good you are or just because you got to edge education and you don't.
One favors the other. He sees you. He sees your life. He sees a calling. He sees a connection.
Serving in the shadows in the background. Connects us to the heart of Jesus. It positions us, keeps us grounded. Two feet on the ground. Grounded, humble, right here.
Keeps us on the right path, knowing that he won't leave us, nor will he forsake us.
And yet, even in our service and our lives in that we can sometimes deviate Left to right and you can deviate all you want. Pastor Fu has deviated on the streets many years. But do you know the Lord is. Eventually you find your way back. He's here.
He's here. Hey, I'm with you. I'm here. I've never left.
When we are disconnected, certain things start to come up.
I knew this would happen. Happened last night too. And started to get a bit watery. Just going there. Maybe turn the heaters off or something.
The thing when we become disconnected from Christ, you know what happens, happens. Bitterness. Prideful. We compare. Why is that person not doing what I'm doing?
Why are those guys just walking over there? And yet I've been here since 7:30 in the morning. Why aren't they helping me? Starters is not about you. It's about the Lord.
And we see the life of Mary and Martha. The story of Mary and Martha. Martha. Who knows that story? What a great example.
Huh? Great example. Luke 10:39. Her sister Mary sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing.
She came to Jesus and said, lord, doesn't it seem unfair that. Doesn't it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here, here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me. But the Lord said to her, my dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details. There is only one thing worth being concerned about.
Mary has discovered it and it will not be taken away from her. How powerful is that? Sometimes we can go, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. I've got to do this.
Actually, I've got to do that. Got to do that. And we missed the opportunity to sit at the Father's feet, Remember? Shaped in the shadows. Busy doing this yesterday?
I had to. This weekend's been one of those weekends. Yesterday I had to cook dinner for the service, play keys, and I preached. This morning I called out to play keys last minute and preach. But that's just the doing.
What happened is shaped in the shadows. I'm like, huh? I'm ready for this. I'm made for this. And so are you.
You don't look at the practicals and there's so much to do and there's not enough hands and I don't know what to do. Ah, sit at the Father's feet, brother.
Let that place be a place where your character is forged. Let that place be a place where trust is built. Let that be the Start of a connection to the heart of Jesus.
Sometimes our serving can be all about us. What I do, what you do, what we do and how much we do. Sometimes they get to us and start becoming prideful, comparing our serving to others.
But here's the thing about that. And if you're here now and you've gone through that, you're here now and you're in. You're in a bit of a rut, you don't know what to do. Maybe you're here now and you go, you've served God for so many years and you've just deviated somewhere from bit, whatever the situation may be. But can I tell you this?
Can I tell you this Church, he never forgets what you have done. He never forgets.
He never forgets the humble heart. SA of God. This morning saw someone out in the foyer after rehearsal.
I'm not going to mention this person's name. I don't want to embarrass him.
This person. We used to serve together many years ago here when the stage used to be there.
We served together for many years.
We worked together for many years. Working, helping community in the indigenous space.
And whatever happened back then to brother, he left the church four years ago, maybe, maybe five years ago.
He's here, he's here because of Hebrews 6:10.
He will not forget how hard you have worked for him, how you have shown you loved him by caring Fathers thing about serving God church, it is not a position, a title, it's not a table, it's not a microphone. It's not this.
It's your heart in the background where no one sees in the shadows.
It's where he forges your character. It's where he does real work when no one else is looking.
Serving God is more than just what you do. It's more than what you do on a Sunday morning, a Saturday night.
It takes away the shame, takes away the guilt. When you're connected to the father, it gets rid of those things. You're no longer bothered by those things. I'm not ashamed to weep up here. I met a couple last night and the mother said to me, my husband wants to burst out crying.
But he holds it back.
The amazing thing about being connected to Jesus, it softens. The hardened heart softens up. There is nothing tough about just being tough.
But when you let him do a work in your life behind the scenes, watch those things disappear. No longer ashamed. You're not worried about that, you know, what you do care about is I will serve God for the rest of my life that I will give him everything that I. Why don't we give him praise? Why don't we give the Lord Praise?
In Matthew 20, 26, 28 says, Is this. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. He came to serve, to serve you.
And I.
My wife here. Is my wife here. Put up your hand. Wife.
She's been in church a lot longer than me. She's been with Christ a lot longer than me. Planted church with her parents when she was 12 years old. And I said to her, how have you lasted this long serving God? And she goes, well, in the beginning, it's just because mom and dad said.
I said, oh, yeah, yeah, just. It's just a need. And I just did it right. And then she goes to me. It wasn't until I got to my 20s and I made a decision that would change everything.
I said, what's that? I made a decision for myself.
For myself.
See, we make decisions sometimes based off our culture. We make decisions sometimes based on our family dynamics. We make decisions because mom and dad said that's the best thing for you. My mom and dad is not Jesus, and culture is not the kingdom.
A decision made for yourself is a decision that will change your life. And I look around this place, man. Beautiful faces from all different parts of the world, all gifted in many areas, visiting for the first time, being here, like Pastor Margaret forever. You have a chosen path to serve the Lord. And he wants to use your private space, your shadows.
He wants to use all those areas that no one sees to mold you, to shape you, to refine you. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to trust with you. When it says, I am with you. He doesn't just want to just come along.
He wants to speak into every single part of your life. He wants a connection with you. Do you want that for yourself? Church? Do you believe in that for yourself?
Here, we're going to do. We're going to. We're going to worship the Lord. We're going to worship the Lord. We're going to give him more the glory before we finish up.
So I get everyone to stand. We're just going to. Whatever it is that's on your heart that God wants to. You want God to work in, why don't you give it to him? Why don't you give it to him?
Holy Holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb Holy oh you are holy Holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb for you are holy Holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb for you are holy Holy Holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb for you are holy Holy are you O God Almighty Worthy is a lamb Worthy is a la Hallelujah for the Lord God Almighty Reign.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah for the Lord God Almighty Grace. Come on, let's just sing. Holy, holy, holy are you oh God, just the voice. Worthy is the Lamb for you are holy Holy are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb Theory Eye closed. You know, if you're in this place right now and you're new to the faith, I'll be at the front here if you need prayer.
You want prayer? We would like to give you a free Bible as well.
Can I encourage you that a life of service is for everyone. And I pray that you will take this and make a decision for yourself to follow. Christ, Father, in this place, would you have your way as you continue to do your work behind the scenes, Lord, that you will continue to show your people things, Lord, to build character. That you will continue, Lord. To show them what trust looks like built over many years, Father.
That you continue to give them strength and courage over the small, Father. That maybe one day you would give them something big. Say, Lord God, I thank you Father. You continue to stay connected to us. I pray, Father, that we also stay connected to you.
So in this place right now, Lord, we thank you Father. We give you all the glory and honor and praise in this space. You are the good, good Father. And we thank you Lord for all that you have done and continue to do. That you never forget who what we have done in the past, Father.
Only to give you you glory and all the praise. And we thank you Father. In your precious name we pray. Church. Amen.
Amen. Give him praise.
Thank you very much, Church. We see you next week for Mother's Day. Hang around for morning tea. Thanks guys.