Opening: This evening I want us to do a little reflecting on what is taking place in our lives. Some of you may have found yourself adjusting to being in a church that is without a Pastor. This may be nothing new for some of you. Maybe some of you have been through this before.
I have found that the churches that are the sincere with their faith experience healthy growth. Many saints of God discover a stronger relationship with God as a result of being without a Pastor for a short time.
Many Christians who are timid, or not sure of their self, become strong Servants of God. God sometimes allows adversity in His church so that new believers will mature in their walk with Christ.
Situations like the one you are in today will let you know where you are with God. You will discover things like:
· Who you really are
· Where you have come from
· Where you are going with your faith
· What you want to do differently in being a Servant of God
· How you can improve the quality of your relationship with your Heavenly Father.
Being without a Pastor has made it so that some of you have had to rise to the occasion with talents you didn’t know you had.
I want you to know that the assurance you have is that Christ is your example. And as Christ as our example, you do have a calling from our Heavenly Father to be responsible for your brothers and sisters in love and in deed.
You will share in what is called the Servant Hood of Christ.
As we will find in God’s Word, (tonight) the responsibility of God’s people was, and actually still is, an important priority for His Son, Jesus Christ.
And this responsibility (for God’s people) must be our priority and calling.
Text: Phil 2:1 through 11
· Who are you?
Do you belong to God’s kingdom?
· Where have you come from?
Have you found your life becoming easier to live and enjoy?
Or, are you struggling harder than ever before with the frustrations and complexities of life?
· What will you do differently in being a Servant of God?
What will it take to make your life more fulfilling?
· How can you improve the your relationships?
With the God of this universe?
With your friends and relatives?
Some, or most of us may not be able to completely answer these questions of life.
Personally, I have always found the answers to life’s toughest questions to be found in the truth of God’s Word.
I sincerely mean that.
It is the life of Christ that has proven, time and again, to many how to live a better life in the here and now.
As many of you know, Jesus has provided for us the ultimate in quality of life (to come) in the glorious heavens that awaits us. And, I look forward to that day when we can be with Him for all eternity.
But, at the same time, I also believe that he would have us to live today (that is, every day) in the quality of this life.
We must remember – Christ was sent here to make life better for all of us.
That is, He gave His life for each of us.
My friend, the Bible tells us that Jesus died so that you would have life, and have it more abundantly!
We have much to learn from the life of Christ. When we look closely at His life, we can see that Christ made Himself responsible for you and I.
In that He humbled Himself from His heavenly glory, came down to earth, and took on the flesh and blood of mankind.
Certainly Christ is everything. He is the purest example we have of being responsible.
Consider the miracle that took place in Bethlehem (that Christmas morning). This should have been enough to convince you and I of His love for us.
We should also know that in His death and resurrection He was glorified even greater.
But wait there’s even more! In the life He lived (in the form of a mere man) we can see how Christ demonstrated an enormous responsibility for the:
· People living in His day – it didn’t matter to Jesus whether you were among the desperate and among the disciples; He loved and accepted you
· People who would be of the ages to come (present day) – whether they would receive Him, or whether they would reject Him (as their Savior)
· People who lived and died before He came to this earth – the saints of the Old Testament were ministered to when Christ, Himself, descended into Hades
No greater love has ever been demonstrated to anyone, at anytime, in all of history. No one could ever measure up to that level of love and responsibility for any one.
And why is that? Because there is only one King of Kings, etc…
There is only one man that:
· Was ever a descendent of the Creator of the Universe
· Could have ever been holy enough to sit next to the Father in His Glory
· Was the “only begotten Son of God”
· Worthy enough to be the sacrificial Lamb of God
Question: How was it that Jesus purposed Himself to be a Servant of God?
Verse 6 – “authority”; He knew that he had been sent and empowered by the Creator of the universe.
Verse 7 – “Humility”; He didn’t concern Himself with what the people were saying about Him.
Verse 8 – “Submissive”; He did exactly what God had ordained for His life, no matter how lowly or difficult
Question: Should we, or could we, allow Christ to be solely responsible for the well being of those we know as our loved ones and friends?
According to our text (Phil 2), we cannot. We must not.
Although Christ took on the sins of every man, and although we believe Christ to be our all in all for every man, woman, boy and girl, I do also believe this –
God does expect His children to accept the responsibility of the other people in your life.
I know this to be true in that He gave to us the “Great Commission” Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Consider this:
Forgiveness for us, no doubt, began at the cross.
Eternity for us, no doubt, began on Resurrection Morning.
Many Bible scholars say that Christianity began when Jesus gave to all of mankind His manifesto, His instructions, His Vision for us in Matthew 28.
What I see is that Christianity actually began when Christ made His decision at the Garden of Gethsemane. “Father not my will, but Yours.”
Jesus did not have to go through with His death on the cross for you and I.
He became the first Servant of God.
Likewise, we must also become Servants of God for others.
God’s Word says your well being is important to me.
Your well being includes –
· your physical health,
· your emotional health,
· and, the destiny of your soul.
Before any of us can become anything else in our day to day life, anything else in this body of believers, we all must first be responsible members of the Bride of Christ.
What does that mean?
That means - although we are accountable to God, we must be responsible for one another.
This is just as Christ made Himself responsible to the church.
Let me show you what I mean in Heb 2:17 & 18
My friend if you are here today and you are not sure if anyone out there cares about you, you have been deceived.
Jesus made Himself to be like you so He could share in your frustrations, heartaches and disappointments.
Jesus is responsible for you! He cares about you!
When the disciples were with Jesus they saw what He looked like. He looked and walked just like them. Until one day (in Matt 17) He changed back into what Who He really was. It was only for a few moments. The Bible tells us that Jesus – “was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”
Jesus suddenly took on His heavenly countenance long enough for the disciples and all of the world to see and record exactly what and where Jesus came from.
There are many reasons for the Mount of Transfiguration. One of those reasons was so that the disciples could really see and record exactly:
· Who Jesus was
· Where Jesus came from
· What Jesus would soon look like
· How wonderful His relationship was with His Heavenly Father
Close:
Psalms 116:12 thru 16
