(This message adapted from The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren)
SERIES: “THE GROWTH FACTORS”
TEXT: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11
TITLE: “THE DETERMINATION FACTOR”
INTRODUCTION: A. Chuck Colson has observed that when the Communists took over Russia in 1917,
they did not make Christianity illegal. The Soviet constitution, in fact, guaranteed
freedom of religion.
What they did do is make it illegal for the church to do any “good works” or works
of service. The church was no longer allowed to do what it had always done: feed the
hungry, educate children, take care of widows and orphans, or care for the sick. This
mandatory failure to serve the needs of those around them caused a very stunning
result – within seventy years, the churches became basically ineffective in the
communities in which they lived.
1. How would Washington, IN be effected if FCC were to be no more?
2. Would anyone even notice?
B. We’re deep into our series, The Growth Factors
1. Last week, we started to look closely at the purposes of the church
2. The message last week was The Exaltation Factor
a. We looked at the importance of corporate worship
b. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love God with all of your heart,
soul, mind, and strength
--that commandment expresses itself in worship
3. This morning we’re looking at The Demonstration Factor
--What is it that demonstrates our love for God?
a. It’s our love for others
b. Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was closely tied to the first:
to love your neighbor as you love yourself
C. The Bible teaches that we’re not saved to sit
--We are saved to serve
1. Not teaching salvation by works
a. We can’t earn our salvation
b. Eph. 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
c. The verse that follows those two verses says that we are saved to serve
--Eph. 2:10 – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do
good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
2. The world may never see Christ until they see Him through our service
D. The biblical term for service is “ministry”
1. What do you think of when I say the word: “minister”?
--You probably think of a professional person in a dark suit that preaches, teaches,
makes visits, and does weddings and funerals
2. However the Bible teaches that EVERY Christian is called to be a MINISTER
--Not everyone is called to be a preacher but everyone is called to be a minister
3. Being a minister simply means using what God has given me to help someone else
--Anytime you use your talents, your abilities, your experiences, your time, to help
somebody else, you are ministering
4. In the New Testament, “service” and “ministry” are the same word
E. Not only did God save us to serve, He also gave us a model for ministry
1. Mt. 20:28 – “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to
give his life as a ransom for many.”
2. What did Jesus’ ministry teach us about being servants?
--Phil. 2:3-11 – “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your
own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same
as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality
with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in
appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even
death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the
name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
I. SERVING LIKE JESUS MEANS BEING AVAILABLE
A. Mt. 20:30-32 – “Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going
by, they shouted, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ The crowd rebuked them and told them to be
quiet, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ Jesus stopped and called
them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked.”
1. Notice the word “stopped”
--To be a servant means that you must be willing to be interrupted
2. Most of Jesus’ ministry was interruptions
--Think about all the people He healed: the blind, the lame, the sick, the paralyzed, the dead child; they
were all interruptions
3. Prov. 3:28 – “If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, ‘Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help
you.’”
4. There are hurting people all around us and the wounded will not wait
--They need our help now
B. What keeps us from being available?
--Three main barriers that keep us from being available for service:
1. Barrier #1: self-centeredness.
a. Phil. 2:4 – “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of
others.”
b. Whenever you see a need right in front of you, guess what?
--God is giving you the opportunity to practice serving like Jesus
c. Self-centeredness obstructs our compassion
--Compassion is essential in being a servant
d. Most of Jesus’ ministry, His days were quite demanding
1). It’s hard to be compassionate when we feel overwhelmed
2). But Christ was always compassionate to someone in need
e. Because I’m too busy, I don’t have time to serve
a. I’ve got my agenda, my plans, my dreams, my goals, my ambitions.
b. We hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door of our heart.
--That sign says, “I’ve got my safe little life going here, so don’t disturb me for the needs of
other people.”
2. Barrier #2: perfectionism.
--wanting every thing to be perfect.
a. Folks, I’m very familiar with this obstacle.
--This is one of my biggest hurdles
b. We say, “When things are right and when things settle down, then I’ll serve.”
c. Eccl. 11:4 – “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
--One paraphrase gives the basic meaning of this statement: “If you wait for perfect conditions,
you’ll never get anything done.”
d. Real servants, Christ-like servants, do the best they can with what they have for Jesus Christ today.
--They don’t wait.
3. Barrier #3: materialism.
a. Basically, you have to decide if you want to serve God or collect stuff
--With materialism, things become more important than people
c. Lk. 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
--Notice that it’s a matter of impossibility. You “cannot” serve God and something else.
d. The question is: “Am I going to be a kingdom builder or a wealth builder?”
4. Serving like Jesus means being available; not allowing anything to hinder your availability.
II. SERVING LIKE JESUS MEANS BEING GRATEFUL
A. To serve like Jesus, we have to serve gratefully, grateful that we get the opportunity to serve.
1. The Bible tells us a story in John Chapter 11 of Jesus serving in an incredible way. His friend
Lazarus had died, and He went there, some people thought for the funeral, but Jesus had a different
idea in mind. He went there to do ministry, to raise Lazarus from the dead.
2. Now, He could have walked up and prayed a prayer and not said anything to anybody, other than
Himself and His Father. But He decided to pray the prayer out loud so that we could still read it
today and see what He had to say and so those people could hear it.
-- Jn. 11:41-42 – “Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I THANK you that you have heard me. I
knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they
may believe that you sent me.’”
3. Jesus had an attitude of gratefulness in everything that He did.
a. You might think, “I’d be grateful too if I could raise people from the dead.”
b. However, Jesus was grateful in the tough times.
--Jesus was grateful when He was criticized. Jesus was grateful when things were not easy in
ministry
B. Ps. 100:2 – “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
--Why should we serve God with gratefulness?
1. 2 Tim. 1:9 – God “has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done
but because of his own purpose and grace.”
2. We should serve with gratefulness simply because God has saved us through His Son Jesus Christ.
--If He never did anything else for us, salvation is enough to be grateful for the rest of our lives and
show it through our service to Him.
a. We shouldn’t serve through duty but delight
b. Not out of a sense of obligation but a sense of great opportunity.
3. An attitude of gratitude will always make a difference in the way we serve
C. Barriers to gratefulness:
1. Barrier #1: comparing and criticizing.
a. Rom. 14:4, “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls.
And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
b. We’re all HIS servants.
--And so it’s a matter of HIS opinion, not my opinion or your opinion of someone else that matters
c. Competition with each other in service, it just doesn’t make sense when you come right down to it.
1). We’re supposed to be on the same team and we’re supposed to have the same goal.
2). We’re supposed to showing the world how good God is and not how good we are.
d. You may not have the skill that others have
--But God doesn’t ask you to BE the best. He simply asks you to GIVE your best.
2. Barrier #2: wrong motivations
a. Matt. 6:1 – “Be careful not to do your ’acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you
do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven..”
b. Self-promotion and servanthood don’t mix
1). If we’re honest with ourselves, we tend to be self-serving in our servanthood.
--We serve to get others to like us. We serve to be admired. We serve to achieve our own
goals. We serve as sort of a bargaining chip with God.
2). Sometimes servanthood is just our way of trying to manipulate
--God, I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine
c. How do we know our motives are pure?
--Gratitude
1). When we do it because we know what Christ has done for us, we have the right motivation
2). When we do it for any other reason, we have the wrong motivation.
III. SERVING LIKE JESUS MEANS BEING FAITHFUL
A. What does it mean to be “faithful”?
1. It means you don’t give up.
--You keep on going. You don’t quit in the middle of your assignment.
2. How many of you know the name Jim Carter?
a. It’s not the former president
b. How many of you recognize the name Tiger Woods
1). Even if you don’t like golf, you’ve probably heard of Tiger Woods
2). Jim Carter and Tiger Woods play the same sport
c. In Feb. of 2000, Jim Carter won his first tournament.
--He’s been a pro golfer since 1983 and played in 292 tournaments before he ever won one.
d. Which one is the most impressive?
1). To me, it’s Jim Carter.
2). Tiger’s talent is amazing.
--But Jim Carter’s faithfulness is impressive.
e. That’s the kind of faithfulness to which God calls us.
3. No matter how dismal the circumstances of everyday life, you stay faithful
B. At the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, Jesus said this in John 17:4 – “I have brought you glory on
earth by completing the work you gave me to do. “
--How did Jesus bring glory to the Father? By completing the work He was given to do
a. When you reach the end of your life, will you be able to say, “I completed the work that God
gave me to do.”
b. The apostle Paul at the end of his life said it this way in 2 Tim. 4:7-8 – “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to
me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
3. Jesus was faithful in fulfilling His service
a. He didn’t give up. He didn’t give in. He was persistent.
b. If you’re going to be like Jesus, it means you’re going to serve as long as your alive.
--You may retire from your job but you never retire from ministry because God wants you to
serve the rest of your life.
c. 1 Cor. 4:2 – “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful..”
C. What motivates us to be faithful to God through the long haul?
1. Motivator #1: gratitude
a. We talked about that just a few minutes ago.
b. Simply restate: remember what Christ has done for you
--If you don’t think it was all that much, make sure you get a copy of the move The Passion when
it becomes available in August. See just how much blood was spilled because of your sins and
mine
2. Motivator #2 – what we do in service to God will last for eternity
a. Let’s be brutally honest this morning: Most of what we do in life doesn’t matter.
b. It’s not going to matter next week, next month, next year, next decade, or next century.
c. But what we do in Jesus’ name, no matter how small, matters
--1 Cor. 1:58 – “Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for
Him is a waste of time or effort.”
1). Circle “nothing”
--Because in God’s eyes, there is no little service
2). Jesus said, “Even if you give a cup of cold water in my name, that counts.”
3. Real servants do every task with equal dedication because they know it all matters.
CONCLUSION: A. When you boil it all down, you can do two things with your life: You can waste it, or
you can invest it.
1. The best use of life is to invest it in that which is going to outlast it and is going to
pay dividends over the long haul.
2. One day you’re going to stand before God and He’s going to ask you, “What did you
do with what I gave you: the talents, the abilities, the experiences, the freedom, the
education, your upbringing?”
a. Are you going to say, “Well, God, I was a little busy with my ambitions and plan. I
never got around to serving You.”
3. And God’s will say, “Wrong answer! What were you thinking? Do you think I put
you on earth to live for yourself? I put you there to serve Me by serving others.”
--Jesus said, “If you’ve done it for the least of these…you’ve done it for me.”
B. One day Napoleon pointed at a map of China and he said, “There lies a sleeping giant. If
it ever wakes up it will shake the world.”
1. You know, every weekend I look at the First Christian Church family and I say,
“Here’s a sleeping giant. If everybody who came here served like Jesus, I wonder
what kind of enormous, spiritual awakening would we see in Washington, Daviess
County, the state of Indiana, and the world?”
2. I make no apology in saying to you that the most important thing you’ll ever do with
your life is serving God in ministry.
a. It’s far more important than your job, it’s far more important than your hobbies,
it’s more important than ANYTHING else you can think of because those things
won’t last. They’re not eternal.
b. However Jesus said in Mt. 6:19-21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and
where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.”
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