Why I Serve The Saviour
Why I Serve the Saviour
Have you ever wondered what God could do through your life? Many people go through seasons feeling empty despite having everything they thought they wanted. The answer might be simpler than expected - it could be found in serving others and serving God. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:5-11 that we must have the same attitude as Christ Jesus, who didn't cling to His divine privileges but humbled Himself, took the position of a servant, and died on the cross for humanity.
Serving can feel overwhelming and stressful, pushing us beyond our comfort zones. However, it's also selfless, fulfilling, joyful, powerful, and life-changing. When we use our gifts to serve God and others rather than just for personal gain, we discover profound purpose and fulfillment. God has given each person unique gifts and abilities that were never meant to build our own name but to build His kingdom. Serving alongside others creates beautiful community - you don't just join volunteers, you become part of God's family, building relationships through shared mission, vision, sacrifice, and stories of God's faithfulness.
One of the most challenging yet rewarding aspects of serving is how God uses it to refine our character. Through serving, our weaknesses become apparent, but God doesn't expose them to shame us - He refines us to shape us into Christ's likeness. Ultimately, serving is our response to the One who gave everything for us. Romans 12:1 calls us to give our bodies as living sacrifices because of all He has done. You don't need to have everything figured out to serve - you just need a willing heart ready to be used by God.
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Why I Serve the Savior: Finding Purpose Through Service
Have you ever wondered what God could do through your life? Many of us go through seasons where we feel empty despite having everything we thought we wanted. The answer might be simpler than you think - it could be found in serving others and serving God.
What Does It Mean to Have the Same Attitude as Christ?
Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:5-11 that we must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He didn't cling to His divine privileges. Instead, He gave them up, took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being. He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on the cross.
This passage reveals something profound about serving - it's not just about filling roles or meeting needs. It's about adopting the same heart of humility and sacrifice that Jesus demonstrated.
Why Serving Can Feel Overwhelming
Let's be honest - serving can be stressful. Whether it's preparing food for hundreds of people when you only planned for 180, managing parking for unexpected crowds, or dealing with technical difficulties during a live stream, serving often pushes us beyond our comfort zones.
But here's what makes it worthwhile: serving is also selfless, fulfilling, joyful, powerful, and life-changing. These are the qualities that keep us going when the stress mounts and challenges arise.
How Serving Changes Lives
Finding Your Purpose Through Your Gifts
Many people have talents and abilities but feel empty using them only for personal gain. There's a profound difference between performing for applause and serving for God's glory. When we use our gifts to serve God and others, we discover a deeper sense of purpose and fulfillment.
1 Peter 4:10 reminds us that God has given each of us gifts from His variety of spiritual gifts, and we should use them well to serve one another. Our gifts were never meant to build our own name - they were meant to build His kingdom.
What Gifts Do You Have?
Take a moment to consider: What gifts has God given you? What abilities have you perhaps neglected or used only for personal benefit? God wants to use whatever you have - whether it's musical ability, organizational skills, a welcoming personality, or practical hands-on talents.
How Serving Builds Community and Family
When you serve alongside others, something beautiful happens - you don't just join a group of volunteers, you become part of a family. Ephesians 2:19 tells us we are no longer strangers and foreigners, but citizens along with all of God's holy people and members of God's family.
Serving creates shared mission, shared vision, shared sacrifice, and shared stories of God's faithfulness. It moves you from simply attending church to truly belonging to God's people.
Building Relationships Through Service
Some of the deepest, most meaningful relationships are formed through serving together. When you work alongside others for a common purpose, you see their hearts, witness their character, and build bonds that often last a lifetime.
These relationships become a source of strength during difficult times and provide accountability and encouragement in your faith journey.
How God Refines Your Character Through Serving
One of the most challenging but rewarding aspects of serving is how God uses it to refine our character. When we serve, our weaknesses and areas needing growth become apparent - pride, comparison, impatience, or perfectionism might surface.
But God doesn't expose our weaknesses to shame us; He refines us to shape us. Through serving, He teaches us humility, grace, love, and patience. If Jesus, who was Lord of all, chose humility, how can we hold onto pride?
The Refining Process
This refining process isn't always comfortable. You might find yourself frustrated with others who don't meet your standards, or you might discover areas of your heart that need work. But this is exactly how God shapes us to be more like Jesus.
Serving doesn't just change the church - it changes you. It shapes your character and helps you develop a servant's heart.
Why Love for the Savior Motivates Service
Ultimately, serving is our response to the One who gave everything for us. Romans 12:1 calls us to give our bodies to God as living and holy sacrifices because of all He has done for us. This is truly the way to worship Him.
Serving is about surrender - being real and authentic with yourself and having a surrendered heart. You don't have to have everything together to serve God. You just need a willing heart that says, "Here I am, use me."
Living as a Sacrifice
When we serve, we're choosing to live in a way that honors God. We're making room in our lives for His presence and purposes. This requires sacrifice - giving up comfort, convenience, and sometimes our own preferences to serve others.
What's Stopping You from Serving?
Maybe you think you need to have everything figured out before you can serve. Perhaps you're waiting for God to speak more clearly, or you think you need a specific position or title. The truth is, you don't need any of these things - you just need a heart willing to serve.
Jesus said in Luke 22:27, "For I am among you as one who serves." Even in His darkest hour, facing betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus identified Himself as a servant. If Christ humbled Himself for you, will you humble yourself for Him?
The Ripple Effect of Faithful Service
Your serving has power beyond what you might imagine. It impacts not only those you directly serve but also your family, friends, and community who observe your commitment and faithfulness. Sometimes the people who initially oppose or question your faith become the very ones encouraging you to stay faithful to God.
Mark 10:45 reminds us that even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many. This is our example and our calling.
Life Application
This week, take time to honestly assess how God might be calling you to serve. Don't wait until you feel completely ready or qualified - step out in faith with whatever gifts and abilities you have right now. Whether it's a small act of service or a larger commitment, say yes to God's invitation to use your life for His glory.
Consider these questions as you reflect on your calling to serve:
What gifts has God given me that I could use to serve others?
Am I trying to walk with God alone when He has designed me for community?
What areas of my character might God want to refine through serving?
How can I move from simply attending church to truly belonging to God's people?
What's really stopping me from saying yes to serving - fear, pride, or simply not knowing where to start?
Remember, serving changed lives - both the lives of those you serve and your own life. When you serve the Savior, you discover that it's not just about what you can do for God, but about what God wants to do through you.
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A discussion guide for the sermon can be found here.
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Good morning, church. Good morning.
It's great to be here. It's exciting. And share with you about serving and my journey. My journey and why I love serving, why I love serving now. Not just because it's my role or it's my job or because I'm a pastor, because serving changed my life.
And I want to share with you a testimony, snippet of my life many years ago. A different life. A life of partying, a life of violence, a life of alcohol and nightclubs and playing gigs at certain places and late nights and early morning.
And I never really knew what serving was, never really cared. Until a moment, an opportunity came where I got to step foot in a church for the first time and actually discovered who Jesus was and started to serve and started to understand more about Jesus and why he humbled himself and why he sacrificed his life. Didn't know everything, but I knew that I had purpose for my life, that there was something greater for me. What can God do through me? Maybe this morning something stirred in your heart going, what can God do through me?
How can God use me? Serving is more than just putting your name down on a piece of paper. It is a life lived, a life to give honour and glory, to know who he is and to have a bigger why on why we serve. That is my heart. That is what I've learned.
And this morning, Church, my desire is to serve God, not because I have to, but because he first served and sacrificed for me. I want to encourage you this morning. Start off. Paul reminds us of a truth here. In Philippians 25:11, he says this.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on the cross.
Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour. He gave him a name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I learned very quickly in my early years, I need to have the same attitude as Christ. Through serving, I learned that. What is that? So this morning, church. The title of my message, why I serve the Savior.
Here's one thing that I didn't tell you about serving church. It's stressful.
I'll tell you what about growth nights, right? You're not stressful about it. I only cooked enough. I only prepped and cooked enough for 180. That's it.
That's all I had now. 180 and a half. Nah, just 180. 220 people rocked up. Everyone got fed.
Praise God. Praise God. Give me. Yeah, praise God. There was no possible way.
And during that whole time, I'm stressed out in the parents room. There he goes. Back in his old days in the commercial kitchen. Yeah. Boiling point is coming.
It's coming. Nah. God's grace. God's grace. God's grace.
Faithful volunteers. Stressful but faithful. We look at our frontline team, you know, our frontline team, they're awesome, man. You know how many times that Kernan goes back and forth? So many times, man.
Watching him, right? And on time. People coming in, people leaving. Seats have got to be, you know, water bottles, all these types of things. It's stressful.
Car park team, 200 people turn up at one time. Where do you park them? Down the road somewhere. Stressful. Stressful.
The media team, the tech team, you know, spent many years back there. That is stressful. When the live stream doesn't work. This didn't work. That didn't work.
We call it a tech issue. We'll be back in five minutes.
Nah, stress. I've been there and I've been part of the reason why it is stressed. No, I love the team back there, but can I just say this? Do you know how many people have come to Jesus through our livestream? And if you're watching online, we love you.
You know how many people that come through, you know how many messages come through our socials? There are people here right beside you, you have no idea about that, are serving God right now because they saw something online. And here's the thing about serving church. It's stressful. But you know what else is?
It's selfless, it's fulfilling, it's joyful, it's powerful, it's life changing. That is a serving. I know that's a serving. Those are the things that keep me going. Yes.
Time and time again, you get stressed out here and there, but you're reminded of why do you serve? What is the Big why in your life? What can God do through you? What gifts do I have to serve one another? How much do I love the Saviour?
I've been challenged and I'll do my best, Church. As I share my story, my journey. I'll try and do it without weeping a tear.
I'm doing pretty good so far. But here's my story. Here's my story. Church. And can I just add, this is my story.
Not as pastor for. Not as the creative pastor for, but as a volunteer. Someone that's lived that life and through serving God has transformed me. That is this story. Here's why I love the Savior and why I serve the Savior.
First thing is I wanted to. To change lives, our vision. Love God, love people, change lives. That's our vision. I wanted to impact lives, to see change.
You know, there was a season there where I'm doing piano lessons of Ella and drumming lessons of Vijay, and they're getting annoyed at me because they couldn't understand. And we got through it. You know, I wanted to use my gifts to impact lives.
I wanted to make a difference. I didn't want to just fill a roster or a need or a gap. I wanted to make a real difference with the gift that I have. My gift, you know, this a musician for many years, right? And many years ago.
A lot of hair back then stuff. No white hair back then.
I was in a band, Played gigs every weekend. Every weekend playing gigs, whole night. Finish up. 3 o' clock in the morning. Oh, I loved it.
You should have seen the crowd. They were cheering. They were cheering. They were yelling out the band's name. Encore.
One more, one more, one more. It was like five o' clock in the morning. Go home. That was a scene. That was my life.
I loved music so much and I got caught up in that crowd. I was like, yes, I'm loving this. The cheering, the applause, all of the delights, the wow.
But I felt empty.
Empty. I don't know what it was at that time, right? I was on a high. I was in that moment. Look at them praising me.
Look at them praising the band. Look at the screaming and the applause. But I felt empty. The first time I served in church. First time ever.
Total opposite. You know what happened? I served on key, on. On the guitar for the very first time. I was nervous, a nervous wreck.
Some weekends I had a panic attack.
And this is in front of 10, 30 people. Not like this. I would sweat through some of my clothes and Alex would give me a spare T shirt and stuff. I Was nervous reading core charts. Where's aj?
Aj? I was reading core charts at one point, And I didn't even need it. I only put it there so I didn't have to look at everyone. So I can just. I'm here.
I was nervous. It was tough, man. But I tell you what, it was fulfilling. For the first time in my life, when I served God, I'd go here. It was hard.
It was difficult, it was uncomfortable. But there is a stirring. It's stirring my faith right now. It wasn't like these gigs, small moments of praise and worship to people. That's nothing compared to being uncomfortable.
But the glory goes to God. That's what I felt. It was a stirring in my heart to say, I'm serving God with my gift. Yes, I'm nervous. Yes, I'm having panic attacks.
But, man, it's fulfilling. It is fulfilling. And the best decision you can make in your life. I look around this room, and he's here today. I saw him.
Gavin, the brother Gavin, who serves on our Connect Together team. You know, he's a gifted musician if I've ever seen one. Paired up with love and grace and easy to talk to. He sends me a photo of a piano, sends me a photo, a message back. Beautiful messages back with emoji.
And our communication was fairly quick. For you guys, who wouldn't understand? For me and him, we're basically saying, awesome, great work. The keys are looking good. You're looking good.
We love each other. We love serving the Lord. That's what all that means, right?
But no doubt Gavin's gone through his challenges, his ups and downs, and yet what does he do? Serves the Lord. Not just in here, you know, the Connect Together team. Aged Care. That's why he bought a new keys.
Aged Care to see lives change. You know, our youth and our young adults. We've got a camp coming up, right? You know what else they do on a Friday? They're not just sitting here wrecking the place and putting holes in the walls.
They're not doing that stuff, right? They actually head out to the schools. They're heading out to the schools, right? They're not just up here preaching and singing and praising. They are on the ground impacting lives, right?
And every Friday where I see them, they will be in a circle, and I walk past them, you know, doing their praying before they even leave. They pray together before they even leave. Why is that? Not in my strength, but in the Lord's. But he goes before me.
They serve the Lord.
1 Peter, 4, 10. God has given each of you a gift from his variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well. Use them well to serve one another. Don't just use them, use them well.
Our gifts were never meant to build our name. They were meant to build his. They were meant to lift his. When you used to serve, when you use your gift to serve Jesus and others, you see lives changed. That was my heart of serving.
I didn't just want to serve just for the sake of it or because my friends and my family served. I didn't have that revelation for myself of going, what can God do through me? How can lives be changed through me? And I want to encourage you this morning is what gift do you have? What gift do you have right now in your life to go, you know what God use this.
What gift this morning that you're reminded of that you've neglected? And the Lord's going, it's there. You have it. It's there. Step into it.
You have it. Step into it. You've got it. You've got it.
How are you using your gift to impact lives? Are you using your gift to build your platform or his kingdom?
Your serving not only changes your life, but impacts the lives around you. That was a start. Started to get the stirring of having a deeper purpose. More than just playing music. It was like, use me.
And that leads me to my second thing on why I love serving and why I love serving. The Savior is I found a family.
Connect church. Give yourselves a hand. I found the family. You found the family. The brother right here, Jack, he's welcome to the family.
It's his first time, so give Jack a hand. Welcome, brother.
I found a family. When you serve with others, it's more than just a group of people who signed up for the same thing. It's a family, a sense of belonging. We belong to God together in Ephesians 2:19. So now you are Gentiles.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family. Someone once told me years ago, hey, for sometimes your church family is closer than your real family. Who's heard that one?
Raise your hands if you believe that. Yeah, somebody. Oh, my wife's next to me. Oh, my brother's looking at me. Oh, I just do a half.
Just do a half.
I never understood it then, never understood it, that my church family could be closer than my real family.
But in the church that I served in, for the very first time, I watched, I observed, I Watched them put the chairs out one by one early in the morning. I watched them turn the lights on. I watched them clean the bathrooms. I watched them set up morning tea. I watched them set up to worship.
And that every single week. I watched. I watched. And I made a decision. I want to be a part of that.
How can I be a part of that? I'll help with anything. And I did started off in a small thing, just helping out, just helping out. And so, you know, worship came knocking on the door. And that particular time there was a small church.
They had an interest meeting for the worship team. So everyone is welcome, you can come and join in.
And I joined in. I went in there and I met a young lady. I met a young lady. That's right. For the record, I didn't go to church to find a girlfriend.
Girlfriend found me.
That's a good one, eh? Actually, I went there to try and save my life. If I'm being totally real, I went out. Bigger things to think about, not. Not girlfriends.
I need a change in my life. I needed to go, well, how I'm going to do it? I can't do it by myself, right? I've tried that. The greatest thing about being in the world is you can be Superman and Batman at the same time and still feel empty.
You can have everything you want, the treasures of this world, the riches in that, and still feel lost.
Not here, not in God's family. I wanted to be a part of that. So I met this young lady, right? And let's just say that she thought I couldn't talk, right? My sister's laughing because she knows this story really well.
She thought I was a mute and I couldn't understand anything. I couldn't talk. So she would look at me as someone is. You know when someone looks at you and they're just. They're not saying it, but they give you their face off.
Can I help you? Can I do something for you? It's that face on top of an angry face, angry resting face, right? While she's thinking of me that way, I'm looking at her going, man, I really don't like you. That's the truth.
Because I wasn't interested. I'm thinking of Jesus and I don't know what she's thinking of, right? So we're both communicating in this weird way. She looked at me one way and I'm trying to look at her another way.
We ended up serving together. We ended up serving on worship together, right? Here's my jumped on worship. How is this going to play out. How are we going to communicate during the song?
We served each week, we served, we served. We got to know each other. We served, we served. We kept on knowing each other. We kept on speaking about Jesus.
She kept sharing her testimony. I heard her speak, I heard her pray. I heard her worship. I started to delve in, in my serving to go, what can God do through me? It wasn't just a keys play.
I started to really step into it many years later. She's my wife and the mother of my three kids. Pastor Alex.
Who would have thought? God has a funny way of connecting people and family. But I can have. I promise you, church, when you put your hand up to serve, it is not to fill a roster or sign a piece of paper. God wants to connect you with someone else.
Right, young people, wherever you are, if you want a girlfriend or boyfriend, serve.
No. Serve the Lord. Serve the Lord. Serve the Lord and watch what he does. See examples here.
I've been fortunate to be a part of the worship team for many years. Church, family. Here early in the morning with me, up here with me. There's been many times where we've done worship here in the morning and we raced down to Hastings and did worship there. And then we came back here, did worship here, and we did it together.
Church, family. I look around this place. Jocelyn Murta over there. Outreach team. Watch them as they pray.
They pray before they leave. Family, connection, Community. I look at the frontline team. First people to welcome, to say hello, smile, direct them to the coffee machine, whatever it may be. Community, family.
Serving creates a shared mission. It's shared a shared vision, a shared sacrifice, shared stories and testimonies on how great our God is. Can I ask you, church, what does your church family look like in your life?
Are you trying to walk with God alone when he has designed you for community?
Are you living like you belong here?
Serving moves you from attending church to belonging to God's people.
Serve. Connect. Connect with each other. Build relationships. Find out what your church family means to you.
Amen. Third thing is this.
He refines my character. I was not perfect. Far from it. Nope. Even in my serving in those early days, I was far from perfect.
And what helped is God did a work through me during those serving moments. I have things to work on. Pride, comparison titles, positions, experience. And I went through this about 10 years ago, actually close to 10 years ago, part of the worship team here at Connect. One day it got too much.
I got frustrated, I got angry because the team just weren't getting It. They weren't on my level. Right? That's the real. Gotta be real with you guys.
They weren't on my level. Accomplished muso muso since the age of six, right? We're talking about songs of four chords. You tell me you can't get that. That was my mentality.
You didn't come prepared. Your guitar is not tuned. You got strings from two years ago. You didn't change them. That was my mentality.
Problem was it got to me more than them so much. That particular day, I walked out of the worship team.
Your worship pastor, your lead pastor. I walked out of the worship team, packed all my stuff, and I left without saying a word.
Angry, frustrated, prideful.
I eventually came back. But during that. During that moment, I felt God just really refining my heart, really refining my heart, really getting rid of the things that I didn't need. And why are you holding on to this? Let go of that and I'll give you this.
Make room, make space. 21 days of fasting. Make room, make space. Seek me more than what you have in your hand. I walked out of the team, and you know what?
I spoke to every single member in that team at that moment, and they responded with love, grace, humility, as if nothing happened.
He refined it. He refined me. Areas in me that I needed work on and through serving. And maybe I'm going to challenge some of you here. Maybe you've been in this church for a while and you're not serving because of this.
Because you're not looking forward to the refinement, because you're not looking forward to the authenticity that comes out from serving. You're not looking forward to when God goes, I'm going to unveil this. We're going to work on this. Pride. We're going to work on that.
When he refines your heart, it softens. That's a servant heart. It softens your heart. It helps you to let go, let go of things and grab onto humility. In Philippians 7, he gave up his divine privileges.
He gave it up. He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. He appeared in human form. He humbled himself in obedience. Isn't that powerful?
He had a right to be served. The King of Kings, Lord of Lords, had a right to have everything he could ever want. Yet he gave it up.
And he takes hold of humility.
If Jesus, who was Lord of all, chose humility, how could we hold on to pride through serving? God has been teaching me humility, comparison, love, grace, and he doesn't expose our weakness to shame us. He refines us to shape us. That's the truth about serving. If you keep on serving long enough, you'll see small things happen and small things change.
And there are many in this room. There are many in this room that I see when I look at their lives. I see a change on their lives. I see a refined change on their lives. I see people like Steve Funke.
He's not here right now, but over the years, that guy's changed. He's developed. He has the joy of the Lord. So people like Cam and Jen. Cam and Jen, faithfulness over the years.
People like Ray and Shona, their faith to step out. Justin, he's not here right now, but hope for the next generation.
How do you snuck in? You know Justin, right? Justin, stand up. Justin, stand up. Give him a hand.
He's a funny story about Justin. You know, we're talking about serving stresses out everyone. Last night, everyone's in here and I was stressing everything. Justin was next door trying to tip out a bucket of rice into a bin. He done well.
He got two grains in the bin and half a million on the floor. You want to talk about serving? That's serving. People don't see.
God refines us through serving, through correction, through community. Serving doesn't just change the church, it changes you. I want to encourage you with that right. Whatever it is you choose to serve in doesn't just change the church, it changes you.
Serving shapes you to be more like Jesus. Amen. And here's my fourth and final thing. Point. Why I serve the Savior is because I love my Savior.
I love my Savior. Serving as my response to the One who gave everything for me. Serving God with my life. Romans 12:1. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because all.
All of. Because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
Serving is about surrender.
Surrender. Being real and authentic with yourself and just a surrendered heart. I don't have it together. I don't have everything together. My life's not 100%.
But I will serve my Lord. Living, sacrifice, living in a way that honors Him. Choosing to live for God. Serving is simply lifting up the name of Jesus through our lives. A sacrifice, a cost.
Are you willing to move things in your life and shift things in your life to make room for him, to make room for his presence?
Philippians 2:9 2:9 11.
He gave up his divine privileges. He took up a humble position and God elevates him. And the Word says this God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. When you serve God is to glorify the Lord your life a sacrifice? We're not perfect.
Not a perfect, but a sacrifice. And I've asked the brother, I've asked one of my good friends and someone I call a brother who I've served on worship team for a while now. I've asked him to come up and share his story and share his heart to go, you know what? You guys are not just here hearing it from pastors. There are people, one of the many people in this place.
You have a heart to serve the Lord and many powerful stories. So why don't we give Etsy a hand as he comes up? Church.
Morning. Church. I'm normally much more comfortable over there with the base, but Fuaz asked me to share this morning why I serve the Saviour. I started off serving as a young kid. I was fortunate to grow up in a Christian family and started serving in the worship team when I was 13.
And through, you know, serving, I was fortunate enough to meet my wife at a young age.
Yeah, initially it started off just as a response to the gifts and talents that God gave me. But through that I've met many people that's profoundly impacted my life.
Many volunteers that's volunteered with me on worship team or in other ministries have become lifelong friends, mentors, people that I've turned to in the darkest days. It's helped me to be an example to my family. I've served many times through difficult times where stuff's not working at home, things are difficult at work. But I stayed committed and it taught my kids discipline. Dad showed up when we had to do Christmas Eve services.
And you have to spend time away from your family. The kids saw dad was there, he was pitching up, he was committed. Young guys that are here today, that's got young kids, if you want to keep your family plugged into a church, start serving, start serving.
It's helped me to worship through the worst and most difficult times of my life. There's been times where I've drifted away from God and it was difficult to pray, difficult to read my Bible, but I served in the worship team. And when you have to prepare and go through the songs for a Sunday, it gives me Opportunity to just shut down a little bit and just forget about everything and worship and connect to God while I'm serving. At connect at the moment, you know, I'm probably the oldest guy in the worship team, but when God moves, it requires a response from us.
When I come on a Wednesday night and people are standing in a queue to getting to learn about Jesus and to do a Bible course, it has to have an impact on your life and you have to make a response to that. And if I can encourage you today, if you're not involved in a ministry, get involved because you don't have to be a musician or you don't have to be the pastor that stands here before, before a new person hears the sermon on a Sunday, he's had to pass the guy in the car park, the coffee team, the welcome team. And each of those people have an impact. Each one of those people can feel someone, feel seen. And I just want to encourage you today, if you're not serving, now's the time.
Now's the time.
How good was that?
It's. He and his family have got great hearts to serve. Apart from the rugby, he's not bad. It's alright. It's alright.
Each and every one of you have a powerful story of serving. Whether you're serving here for 20 years plus or you maybe you're deciding for the very first time there is a powerful calling on your life. Every gift to serve the Father and others. And I was reminded in the book of Luke 22, 25, 27, the story of the Last Supper. And the disciples are arguing, but who would be the greatest?
Judas is about to betray Jesus. But it's Jesus response that really hit home for me. After all that and in the upcoming events they're about to unfold and even in this moment, what is on Jesus heart is something so powerful. He says this in this world, the kings and great men lord it over their people. Yet they are called friends of the people.
But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank. And the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important? The one who sits at the table or the one who serves?
The one who sits at the table, of course, but not here. For I am among you as one who serves.
Even through a moment of betrayal.
Even through a moment of betrayal. And what is about to unfold?
For I am among you as one who serves after knowing that truth Church Why do you serve your Savior?
What's stopping you from serving your Savior?
You don't have to have it together. You don't have to wait till God to speak. You don't need a position or title, just a heart to serve God. Here I am. Here I am.
And this morning, church. I want to do something as if you have been a servant, faithful servant or servant in this house, whether for six months, six days, six hours, or 25 years. Can I ask you to stand for me? Can I invite you to stand? Yep.
It's not a trick question. There we go. Stand tall. Stand tall. Why don't we give him a hand?
Give him a hand. Stay up, stay up.
I just want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You are impacting lives.
Your serving goes a long way. We thank you. And if you're manning one of the tables, can I ask you to make your way outside?
Yeah. I waited for you guys to sit down, and then I did it.
If Christ humbles. If Christ humbled himself for you, will you humble yourself for him? If he gave up heaven, can we give up comfort? If he served to the point of the cross, can we serve to the point of inconvenience? How can God use me to serve?
Let that be your truth. Let that be your truth. What can he do with you? What's in store for me? How can I be a part of it?
Where do I belong? All these questions and things in there can ask you to serve God and find out, just like me. And my story ends here. My story is serving changed my life.
Serving changed my life. And the biggest.
I never shared this in the other services, but the most powerful thing I've seen serving do was really shift and impact the lives of my close family.
Right. Years ago, I preached my first message. Some of you may not know this, but on that very day, I was persecuted.
From my own family.
Hey. Some of you nodding your heads, you've been there.
You know what I did?
I served. That's right. I served.
Kept on serving. Kept on serving. Kept on serving. That was my response to the Father on why I served the Savior.
And you know the most powerful thing those very people now in my family, you know what our conversations are like now. Don't forget to go to church for. Don't forget to take the kids. My mom will be on my back. Did you go to church?
Okay. Make sure you pray, make sure you take the girls, make sure you look after Alex and you do everything. I was like, I'm not sure about that last one. Right?
My conversations of my family, that's what it's like now. I Give all honor to God.
All honor to God. See you guys have something special.
This is the power of serving. Not just to see your life change, but the lives around you change. And I want to leave you with Mark 10:45.
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.
Let that be your truth. When you leave here today, when you head out there and serving expo, talk to someone you haven't met before. Talk to someone, hear their stories, share your stories. How can I be a part of it? I spoke to so many people out there after the nine o' clock service, and one of the brothers come up to me and he goes, fu, I've been mucking around for too long.
I say, yep, okay. He goes, so I've signed up for the front line. I said, good on you, brother. Good on you. He goes, yep, I've been putting it off and I'm gonna go for it.
I'm gonna do it. You never know the power of your serving. Church, what are we saying.
In this place right now? I want you to believe in something. Believe that your serving refines your character. Believe that you're serving directs you to a family. Not the family I place, a belonging.
I have a part to play. Your serving sees lives changed. Your serving shows your love and your glory for the Father.
Whether you serve it in something small, whether you're going to put up your hand to serve. This morning, I want us to spend some time to give glory to. To the Father and his strength, not mine. And my journey is only the one out of the many stories that you have.
So this morning, before we finish up church, let's sit in this space. Let's make space, let's make room.
Glory it's all for your glory.
Jesus.
Sing it out Church what are you believing for?
How can he Use your gift, Jesus?
All for your glory it's all for your glory.
It's all for your glory Me.
Christ alone.
Give him all the glory Church Christ alone Cornerstone we make strong and save his love through the storm Jesus.
Just the voices.
Strong.
Christ alone no one else Christ alone.
We.
Some of you here have got dreams and visions and. And things that God's been speaking to you about. And he wants you. Now I want you to know that he calls you by name. He wants to use that to see lives change.
If the same God can move my life and use serving to impact others, imagine what he can do through yours and how much of an impact you can have. So, Father, we lift up your name. We glorify your name. We serve for you, Father. We serve to give you glory.
We serve your people. We give you honor and praise, Father. We thank you, Lord, for the many faithful hearts in this place, Father. That they say, yes, Lord. And I pray for each and every person in this place, Father, that you would.
You would speak to them. That you would give them words of wisdom, courage, fear. Met with a heart of gratitude and humility. That they will not just serve, but they will see lives changed. That they will lead others to know that this is a place where they can belong, to have freedom to express their authentic nature.
That they can share their love for you, Father. And we thank you, Lord, that we are not distracted by the many things in this world. That we are constant reminder of that truth. Not here. For among all of us, you are the faithful servant.
So, Father, have your way, Lord. Have your way. This morning. Lift your hearts. Lift their hearts, Father.
In Jesus name we pray. Church. Amen. Amen. Why don't you give him a hand?
Let's praise God.
Get the lights up. Serving Expo if you want to tick all the boxes, tick them all, man. Give it a go. I love you guys. Pastor Asia will be back in the Word.
We'll see at Growth Nights and we'll see you out there. God bless you, Jesus.
Related Bible Verses
Key Scriptures – "Why I Serve the Saviour"
Philippians 2:5–11 (NLT)
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Click here to read Philippians 2:5–11 on Bible.com
1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
Click here to read 1 Peter 4:10 on Bible.com
Ephesians 2:19 (NLT)
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family.
Click here to read Ephesians 2:19 on Bible.com
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Click here to read Romans 12:1 on Bible.com
Luke 22:25–27 (NLT)
Jesus told them, "In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called 'friends of the people.' But among you it will be different. Those who are the greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves."
Click here to read Luke 22:25–27 on Bible.com
Mark 10:45 (NLT)
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.