10/30 SERMON: THE CHALLENGE OF SERVICE

Friends,

Below you will find the scriptures that I preached on in yesterday's message about service as well as some thought questions to help your group dig deeper into the topic should you decide to use the sermon as the basis for this week's discussion. Have a great week and I'll see you on Sunday as we dive into the Challenge Of Generosity.

-Kev

THE CHALLENGE OF SERVICE:

• On Sunday, Pastor Kevin said that if he were pushed to pick one word to describe what it means to have an encounter with God and be a follower of Jesus, he would use the word SERVANT. Is this the word that you would use? Why/Why not?

⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45 – NIV)

• Our goal as Christians is to be in an ever increasing process of knowing God and becoming more like Christ. In Mark 10 we see that one of the defining reasons that Jesus came to earth was to serve. Why do you think Jesus came to earth to serve?
• One of the benefits of serving others is that it pushes us outside of our comfort zones and opens the door for for spiritual growth, and builds our character. How have you seen this play out in your life?

Philippians 2:5-11 gives us a great picture of Jesus as a servant when it says:

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

From Philippians 2 we see three actions that a servant must take:

• A servant puts God first in life.

¹³ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Luke 16:13 – NIV)

• What does it look like to give God control of every area of your life?
• How do you know if you have given God complete control?
• What do you do if/when you realize that you have not given control of some area of your life over to God?

• A servant protects their attitude.

 ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8)

• The key to protecting our attitudes is to empty ourselves of our rights the way that Jesus did. We have the "right" to do a lot of things that are not helpful for our relationship with God, but if we want to serve like Jesus did, then we need to take on his attitude of HUMILITY.
• What does the word humility bring to your mind? 
• How can you protect your attitude by having a mindset of humility?

• A servant chooses to plant daily seeds of love and kindness that become lifestyles of service.
•  Mother Theresa once said "there are not great deeds, only small deeds done with great love."
• Why does God call us to plant daily seeds of love and kindness?
• What are some ways that you can plant daily seeds of love and kindness? 
• Who are some people that you can plant seeds for?

Kevin closed Sunday's message by saying that our destiny begins today with a single choice. That choice leads to an action, the action leads to a habit, the habit forms our character, and our character leads to our destiny. 

How do you want to be remembered? What kind of destiny do you want to leave? Are you making choices today that are leading toward that ultimate goal?