SERVANTheartline #7

In order to understand servanthood and service according to Jesus, it is necessary to grasp the concept of being part of the body of Christ.

When a person accepts Jesus as his personal Savior, a number of things occur along with God's forgiveness of sin and His gift of eternal life.  His Holy Spirit comes to dwell forever in the new believer, seals his soul eternally as God's possession, and baptizes him into God's family, giving him the right to be called a child of God.  The Holy Spirit's indwelling also brings the assistance and power for living the disciple life, including particular abilities of the Spirit that He imparts to believers as He chooses.

One of the figures the Bible uses to describe the interrelationships that come with believing in Jesus is that of belonging to His body.  Jesus is the head and each of His disciples are the parts of His body, the church, with different functions assigned to each one as God has arranged them in the body. The Holy Spirit manifests His power and abilities in the life of each believer, enabling him to fulfill the functions he has been assigned in the body.  This is what we call spiritual gifts.

From that point on, all service to or for God takes place in the context of the body for the good of the body in its performance of ministry.  Ministry then, or service, is not an option.  It is a natural consequence of claiming Jesus as Savior and Lord. 

Are you serving in Colonial Heights according to God's assignment?

SERVANTheartline #6

The Vision Statement for Servantheart is “Every believer a disciple; every disciple serving”.  I would like to take a closer look at that this week to set the background for some blogs in the near future.

In Matthew 28:19 Jesus gave us a command to “go and make disciples of all nations”.  In his Pioneer Evangelism training, Wade Akins gives us a compelling description of a disciple. 

“Being a disciple affects every area of one’s life.  A true disciple is one who loves Jesus more than any one else or any thing else in his or her life.  A disciple wants to follow Jesus and put Him first in his life.  He is growing in his relationship with Jesus every day.  He wants to obey Jesus and has given up all his rights over to His control.  This is a disciple.” 

And this is what Jesus commands us to make.

As an individual comes to Christ, it is one of the functions of the church to provide all he needs to grow in his relationship to Him and to enter into the lifelong process of discipleship.  Servantheart’s vision then is that no believer will be stagnant in his newborn spiritual life, but will, with the help of his spiritual family, the church, immediately find himself in the developmental process which leads to spiritual maturity.

There are several objective ways to observe the spiritual maturity of a believer.  For example: his general lifestyle, his ability to feed himself on the Word, the way he deals with different relationships in his life, and the priorities he displays as he makes decisions.  However one of the most significant marks of a mature believer is his attitude toward serving and his obedient response to God’s call to participate in his assigned role in kingdom endeavors. 

My earnest prayer is that every member of CHBC will become a serving disciple.

SERVANTheartline #5

“Created for Good Works”

When I was a child participating in “Sword Drill”, now known as “Bible Drill”, one of the scripture passages I learned was Ephesians 2:8-9.  “For by grace you are  saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.  It is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no man should boast.”  (NASB) Years later on the mission field in Colombia, I relearned those same verses in Spanish, particularly as part of the intentional presentation of the Gospel.

About 40 years would pass from the time I first learned those verses until I memorized the verse that follows – verse 10.  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

This verse is extremely important to help us understand the significance of the previous two verses.  Although we are not saved by works, but by faith, the immediate purpose for God’s workmanship in making us a new creation is that we should walk in the good works which He decreed and appointed beforehand.  These words may also be read “to which God has before prepared us”.  That would indicate that by His grace He has so changed us, equipped us, and blessed us with the knowledge of His will that with the assistance of His Holy Spirit we can participate fully in the service to which He calls us.

In other words, when you are born again, you don’t just get to sit back and loll around in the new life – you are  God’s special design to serve Him.  God’s grace is not cheap!

SERVANTheartline #4

More Like the Master

In our last Servantheartline we were reminded how Jesus said that a servant should be like his master.  The Apostle John said it this way, "This is the way we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:5-6 NIV)

Again we are confronted with the question: Who is your Master?  Is Jesus Christ Lord of your life?

Paul told the Romans that those who are saved are to be conformed to the likeness of God's son. (Romans 8:29-30)  He told the Philippians that they should imitate Christ.  He said, "Let the very spirit which was in Christ Jesus be in you also.  From the beginning He had the nature of God.  Yet He did not regard equality with God as something at which He should grasp.  Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men.  And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; and that to a death on the cross." (Philippians 2:5-9) Weymouth

On several occasions Jesus Himself warned His followers that a sacrificial price was to be paid in order to be His disciple.  In the 6th chapter of John He told the crowd that they must come to Him, partake of Him, and depend on Him as the Bread of Life.  But many found that teaching too hard to accept and turned away and no longer followed Him.

Where are you in your walk with Jesus?  Are you truly grateful that He became a bondservant obedient unto death on the cross for your sake?  Is He your daily Bread and is His Spirit helping you to become like Him in His servanthood?  If you haven't already done so, when will you step up (or down) and ask, "Lord, where would you have me to serve?"

May the words of this old hymn be your prayer today:

More like the Master I would ever be,
More of His meekness, more humility;
More zeal to labor, more courage to be true,
More consecration for work He bids me do.

More like the Master is my daily prayer;
More strength to carry crosses I must bear;
More earnest effort to bring His kingdom in;
More of His Spirit, the wanderer to win.

More like the Master I would live and grow;
More of His love to others I would show;
More self-denial, like His in Galilee,
More like the Master I long to ever be.

Take Thou my heart, I would be Thine alone;
Take Thou my heart and make it all Thine own;
Purge me from sin, O Lord, I now implore,
Wash me and keep me Thine forevermore.

SERVANTheartline #3............

Choose Whom You Will Serve!

 In the days of the Old Testament, Joshua's final official act as God's servant leader of Israel was to call the people to a renewal of their covenant with God.  He said, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,.......  But as for me and my household, we wil serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15)

In Matthew 6:24 Jesus tells us that we too must make a choice.  He says, "No one 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."

Is your heart divided?  Do you wish to serve God, but find your talents, time, energy, and resources absorbed by other "masters"?

When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, He gave them authority and power along with instructions and a warning.  He told them that serving Him would be hard and to expect persecution and conflict.  He said, "A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for the student to be like his teacher and the servant like his master." (Matthew 10:24)  He meant they would suffer as He suffered.  But He also said, "Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."  (Matthew 10:38)

Are you serious about your relationship with Jesus?  Then choose today whom (or what) you wil serve.

If you choose Jesus, remember: The servant should be like his master.

SERVANTheartline #2............

Once upon a time there were twelve disciples and two of them tried to get on a fast track.  Let's see what happened....

According to Matthew (in 20:20-25), the mother of James and John went to Jesus with her sons, knelt before Him and made a special request.  She asked that one son might sit at His right hand and the other at His left hand when he established His Kingdom.

(Now Mark says it was the sons themselves that asked the favor, but nontheless, the three of them were in it together.)

Jesus told them they didn't know what they were asking and then asked them a question.  Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?  They answered, "Sure, we can."

But did they really know that Jesus was telling them they must one day walk His path of suffering?  Even so, Jesus refused their request, explaining that to grant those sought after places of prestige was not His, but under the authority of His Father.

Then the other ten disciples heard about sneaky James and John, and boy, were they mad!  Probably because they each had an eye on one of those important seats.

Then Jesus got the whole bunch of them together and made some things clear:

1. In the culture of the times rulers and officials lord their authority over people.
2. You are different!!!!
3. If you want to be great, you must be a servant.
4. If you want to be first, you must be a slave.

He said, "Just like I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many people."

With this teaching, Jesus really did overturn the value system of His day - and of our day too.  Have we learned yet about the emptiness of the world's prestige and position in the face of the complete fulfillment we can find in selfless service for the building up of the body of Christ?

SERVANTheartline #1............

What did Jesus have to say about serving?  A LOT!!!  For instance he told his followers this story:  

"Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'?  Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'?  Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "  Luke 17:7-10 NIV

In Jesus' time slavery was a fact of life.  The word translated “servant” in this parable, refers to a “slave” owned by his master.  The double duty field and household slave that Jesus describes was very common.  Jesus invited His listeners to imagine that they had such a slave to work for them and then used three rhetorical questions to define the servant-master relationship.

• If you had such a slave, would you fix his supper for him after he came in from the fields?  Of course not. That would be unthinkable in the culture of that day.
• Wouldn’t you have him prepare your supper and only afterwards tell him he could eat his own meal?  Absolutely!
• Would you thank (feel indebted to) the servant because he did what he was told?  Now things really get interesting.  The word “told” means ordered or commanded.  The last word of the story translated “duty” comes from a word that means to be obligated.  So why should there be any expectation of reward or thanks for doing what one is obligated to do?

Jesus concludes that when His followers had done all they were told they should still humbly recognize that they had gained no worth or entitlement, but were still dependent on the unmerited favor of their master.

In the beginning, we identify with the master/owner, but Jesus challenges us in the end to see ourselves in the servant/slave role.  He expects us to accept servanthood.  Jesus also wants us to know that such service does not entitle us to special rewards and recognitions.  Nor can we ever think, no matter how virtuous or “faithful” we are, that we can put God in our debt.  We are only doing what we ought to do.  So any reward He chooses to give flows out of His grace.

So what lessons can we draw from this parable?
1. We are completely God’s, made and bought by Him at a great price. We are not our own. He is our Master with all authority to tell us what to do.
2. Our service or tasks for Him are not finished as long as His revealed will is before us.  Our service to Him is continual and unending.
3. The service we perform in fulfillment of what he asks brings no special merit and will never put God in our debt.
4. We are blessed to be in the service of THE Master who graciously allows us to participate in His work. 

May the driving force of our service for God be that we love Him so much that we can’t help but serve Him…… and because of that, may He be glorified.