Sermon Central
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Developing A Servants Heart
Contributed by Chris Beam on Feb 4, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: As Christians, we have a responsibility to serve (physically and spiritually) - both at home and abroad. If we want for our world to know Jesus like we do, then we need to serve and sacrifice like he did.
Developing a SERVANTS Heart
INTRO.
This morning, I want to share a message with you in acrostic form about what the are youth are doing today…which is being a SERVANT. As Christians, we have a responsibility to serve (physically and spiritually) - both at home and abroad. If we want for our world to know Jesus like we do, then we need to serve and sacrifice like he did. So let’s look at how we can “Develop a SERVANTS Heart”.
Read Scripture
SERVE others.
ILLUS.
There was a man who worked at the post office whose job was to process all mail that had addresses that couldn’t be read. One day a piece of mail came across his desk, addressed to God in a shaky handwriting. He thought to himself, "I better open this one and see what it’s all about." So he opened it up and it read:
"Dear God, I’m an 83 year old widow living on a very small budget. Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had a hundred dollars in it which was all the money I had until my next retirement check. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with. I have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope. Can you please help me?"
The postal worker was moved, and went around showing the letter to his co-workers. Each one dug in their wallet and came up with a few dollars. By the time he made his rounds, he had collected 96 dollars, which he put into an envelope and sent to the return address she had left on the envelope.
A few days later, another letter came from the elderly woman once again addressed to God. All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened. It read:
"Dear God, How can I ever thank you for what you did for me? Because of your generosity, I was able to buy the groceries that I need for the month. By the way, there was 4 dollars missing. It have no doubt that it was those thieves over at the post office."
What’s the moral of the story? Even when you do good for others you may not be properly appreciated. Or you may even be accused of doing something wrong! In most cases, however, there’s always a blessing in serving others.
Remember the words of JFK? He said, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Being a servant means that you understand that God didn’t place the church in the world to serve you, but for you to serve Him and follow His command to serve others!
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
While it’s true that a servant should indeed serve others, we need to remember that we only get our orders from the Lord. We should’t get wrapped up in allowing what other people think to interfere with doing what we know is right based on the truth of God’s Word.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others
A servant has only one agenda: Their heart is advancing the cause of Christ, not seeking how the church can serve their own personal interests.
ILLUS.
Someone once called the pastor of his local church to say that he was interested in joining the church. But, he went on to explain that he didn’t want to: commit to coming to church every week, tithe, or serve in any aspect in the church.
The pastor commended him for his desire to become a member, but told him that the church he was looking for was located in another part of town. The man wrote down the address and hung up.
When the man arrived at the address given to him by the pastor, he came face to face with the reality of his own attitude of not wanting to be involved. Standing before him was an abandoned church building, boarded up and ready for demolition. YOU CAN’T BE A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST WITHOUT BEING A SERVANT, AND YOU CAN’T BE A SERVANT WITHOUT SERVING!
Be an EXAMPLE.
There was once a parrot who lived in a bar. Well the barkeeper decided to sell the bar to a newly planted church looking for a place to meet for worship. So after the bar closed down after it’s last night for business, people came in and redecorated the bar to look like a church. All the while the parrot was asleep. On Sunday morning the parrot woke up and saw the people coming in for church. The parrot squawked, “Same old crowd, just a different look.”
