WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.799 We're going to turn now to God's word to 1 Peter chapter 4 and the passage we read. 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:12.200 If you're visiting with us today, if you haven't been here before, on our Sunday mornings, 00:00:12.200 --> 00:00:15.300 over the next number of weeks and over the past number of weeks, we're looking at a theme 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:17.559 of discipleship. 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:29.920 We are seeking to just develop a discipleship model within the congregation in a gentle yet 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:31.800 intentional way. 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:38.640 And we're looking at some of the core themes of discipling one another. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:41.120 And that's a great thing to do. 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:44.840 And today, it coincides with what we call serving Sunday. 00:00:44.840 --> 00:00:50.079 So we have a Sunday, once or maybe a couple of times a year, when we just highlight the 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:56.240 importance of serving as a Christian and serving in the church. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:00.280 I'll speak a little bit more about that during the sermon. 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:08.000 But we're going to look particularly at the verses 7 to 11 of 1 Peter chapter 4. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:13.719 So if you have your Bible, do keep it open there and we'll look at that passage today 00:01:13.719 --> 00:01:22.840 in the context of serving because it speaks very much about how we should serve in the 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.240 church in the context of 1 Peter. 00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:32.800 So we find that a common cause, don't we, has a great uniting power, whatever that cause 00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:34.600 might be. 00:01:34.600 --> 00:01:39.800 And you could think of lots of different common causes that unite people together. 00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:43.960 But as Christians, we actually have that in buckets. 00:01:43.960 --> 00:01:47.600 We have a tremendous common cause as believers. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.759 And in St. Columba's, we're seeking always to unify around that cause, which is really 00:01:54.759 --> 00:02:02.519 to glorify God and to promote relentlessly the greatness and the urgency of our theme, 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:06.879 which is being rooted and growing in Christ as Christians. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:11.840 And encouraging people, if they're not Christians, to become Christians and to be rooted and 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.039 growing in Jesus Christ. 00:02:14.039 --> 00:02:20.680 That is what we recognize as what is at the core of being a disciple because every Christian, 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:24.959 you could just name it differently, is just a disciple of Jesus. 00:02:24.959 --> 00:02:34.120 And so we want my task and my calling and our calling as leaders in the church is to 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:40.359 enable us all to be grace freedom fighters, is to be people who live by and who serve 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:46.920 together the God who, in whom we've put our trust, and who is a God of grace, to be fruitful 00:02:46.920 --> 00:02:47.920 Christians. 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:52.080 That's really what we want to do and to focus our attention on. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:56.320 So Jesus says in John 15, no branch can bear fruit by itself. 00:02:56.320 --> 00:03:00.680 If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:01.920 Apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:03:01.919 --> 00:03:09.959 So that's really, in many ways, the clarion call or the words that we want to focus on, 00:03:09.959 --> 00:03:12.279 apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:03:12.279 --> 00:03:15.000 And we do that individually as Christians. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:18.799 We remain in Jesus and we seek to do it together as a community. 00:03:18.799 --> 00:03:19.799 We need each other. 00:03:19.799 --> 00:03:22.599 There's all kinds of battles that we face. 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:26.759 And you know what it's like if you're struggling with something, it does help when you know 00:03:26.759 --> 00:03:31.079 that either other people are struggling or have struggled and who goes through the same 00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:34.680 battles, we battle our own selfishness and doubt and pride. 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:40.400 And we battle with the thinking that is pressed upon us from the world in which we live. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:45.320 And we have a spiritual enemy, the devil, who is a malevolent enemy, who would love 00:03:45.320 --> 00:03:48.480 nothing more than for us to abandon our faith. 00:03:48.480 --> 00:03:57.040 So today's theme is related to how we are disciples by serving each other in a loving 00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:03.319 way that we would love each other and serve one another. 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:08.919 Use our gifts as each has received a gift to serve one another as good stewards of God's 00:04:08.919 --> 00:04:09.919 varied grace. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:13.199 We have that in chapter 4 and in verse 10. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:18.360 So what does it look like then to bear fruit as a Christian in the context of serving one 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:20.360 another? 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:21.839 How do we do that? 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:25.360 How do we do it here in St. Columbus? 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:30.360 You know, people often ask, and if you've come fairly recently to the church, or as 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:35.000 people often come to the church, and they'll say, well, what can I do? 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.680 How can I serve? 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:38.680 How can I be involved? 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.080 And that's a legitimate question for us. 00:04:42.080 --> 00:04:48.759 I think sometimes we can make that the be all and end all, almost kind of like a badge, 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:53.879 or we need a title, or we need a position, or we need something clear cut, a plan, or 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:59.079 a diary, or something that's organized that shows that we're involved in the church. 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:02.079 And I'm going to argue this morning that it's something more than that. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:06.519 It's something much more significant than that, although that is involved. 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:13.040 Because 1 Peter here is speaking to the Christian church and to individuals within communities, 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:20.439 and he's encouraging them to live out their faith together and serve one another as part 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:23.439 of their understanding of love. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:24.560 And the love of Jesus Christ. 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:33.040 So I'm going to argue this morning from the Bible that we serve one another in two ways. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.600 It's organic, okay? 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:42.120 And there's organic serving, and there's functional serving, okay? 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:46.879 So really, there's something that just comes from within us naturally. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.720 It just comes organically from our life as Christians. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:55.160 And there's something that's just a little bit more functional, just enabling the Christian 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:56.840 community to work together. 00:05:56.840 --> 00:05:58.920 Do you see the difference? 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:02.560 So, but organic really is the most important. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:05.160 It comes from our very beings, in other words. 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:10.760 It comes from who we have become as Christians, because in Christ we're told we are a new 00:06:10.760 --> 00:06:12.260 creation. 00:06:12.260 --> 00:06:18.960 We are new people, and we are to do everything as it says here, through Jesus Christ. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:22.560 He's our strength, and he's our motivation, and he's our example. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:28.680 He said, I have come not to serve, not to be served, but to serve and to give myself 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.719 for others as a living sacrifice. 00:06:31.719 --> 00:06:38.799 And that's what we've experienced from the living God, is that he has sacrificed himself 00:06:38.799 --> 00:06:39.879 on the cross for us. 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:44.159 We're born again into that reality, and we are saved by His grace. 00:06:44.159 --> 00:06:47.599 We have a new King, and he is our identity as children. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:53.720 And so we love one another out of the great grace and out of the great reserves of His 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:55.520 love for us. 00:06:55.520 --> 00:07:02.879 So what I'm saying that is that so organically or fundamentally we serve because of who we 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:10.840 have become, who we are, rather than serving because we feel it's a duty who we want to 00:07:10.840 --> 00:07:13.080 be regarded as, maybe. 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:19.599 It's the core of who we are as people, in other words, that who we are enables us to 00:07:19.599 --> 00:07:27.079 be those who are serving others and who are in relationship because we're in relationship 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:28.079 with Jesus Christ. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.479 Can I just say, well, what does it look like? 00:07:30.479 --> 00:07:34.759 What does that organic serving look like for us in our Christian lives? 00:07:34.759 --> 00:07:39.000 Well, I'm going to go back to the same analogy that we used at the beginning of the series, 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.199 roots and fruits. 00:07:41.199 --> 00:07:46.680 So in other words, kind of what we are under the surface will be reflected in the fruit 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:48.319 that we bear with one another. 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.800 So and that happens as we unpack this passage. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:59.680 In verse 7, therefore it says, the end of all things is at hand, therefore be self-controlled 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.199 and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:09.279 And so that really links into an understanding of what we are beneath the surface and what 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:14.079 we understand, what our perspective, what our worldview is underneath the surface in 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:15.579 our own hearts. 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:22.599 And it's saying, as we have the right understanding of who we are in Christ, then that influences 00:08:22.599 --> 00:08:24.599 everything we do. 00:08:24.599 --> 00:08:26.159 And I would argue that there's three things here. 00:08:26.159 --> 00:08:31.399 There's urgency, there's discipline and there's prayer in terms of how we live our lives, 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:33.199 you know, the end of all things at hand. 00:08:33.199 --> 00:08:37.959 There's this recognition, the perspective that we have is because we recognize this 00:08:37.960 --> 00:08:42.400 isn't all there is, you know, it's not just we only live what, you know, this is what 00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:45.080 we do and this is how we live. 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:48.240 We recognize that the end of all things is near. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:52.879 In other words, we recognize that this life that we have is only a very short introductory 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:59.280 chapter to something much greater and something much bigger and our lives are a fragile gift 00:08:59.280 --> 00:09:01.040 within that context. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:08.039 No guarantee of tomorrow because we know who Jesus is and we know his reality and that 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:11.959 this is not all that life is about. 00:09:11.959 --> 00:09:16.679 And so there's a sense of urgency about loving and serving and following Jesus because of 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:21.539 that, because the end of all things is at hand. 00:09:21.539 --> 00:09:27.199 Also it involves discipline within that, therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:32.840 And it's a great picture here of being clear-headed as a Christian in the root of your life and 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:38.360 the way you think that you're guided by the, that we are guided by the Holy Spirit in our 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:44.400 lives, almost like, he's like a diaphragm around us regulating and protecting how we 00:09:44.400 --> 00:09:50.680 breathe spiritually and there's a sense of self-control in that and a self-discipline. 00:09:50.680 --> 00:09:54.640 And what Peter is saying here is that as Christians, underneath the roots that we're 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:58.639 not, we're not intoxicated in our lives. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.120 We're not intoxicated and under the influence. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.439 He says he's being sober-minded. 00:10:04.439 --> 00:10:07.799 It's much broader actually than just alcohol here. 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:12.000 It's just not being intoxicated under the influence of power or lust or selfishness 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:22.639 or any drink or anything that leaves us spiritually and sometimes actually literally gibbering 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.679 irrational and thoughtless. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:30.159 That there's that discipline within our lives that we know what matters to us and we have 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:37.439 a self-control and a sober-mindedness that recognizes that, that lives in that way, that 00:10:37.439 --> 00:10:44.679 focuses and we're not infatuated or we're not intoxicated by what sometimes the world 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:48.519 regards as important or what sometimes we think as important. 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:54.480 There's an urgency and a discipline in our hearts that leads us to being prayerful for 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:57.079 the sake of our prayers. 00:10:57.079 --> 00:11:03.279 If our life is filled, if we're infatuated or intoxicated with everything else in life, 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:08.279 then there will be no, a gante, there will be no time for prayer for us or a sense of 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:09.720 urgency. 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:17.360 And this rooting our life in service comes from recognizing the priority of being in 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:21.159 a living relationship with God through prayer. 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:26.120 And that daily prayer and that daily walk of prayer and life of prayer is so significant 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:27.120 for us. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:28.519 Without me He says you can do nothing. 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:30.320 He keeps saying that. 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:32.480 Without me we can do nothing. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:40.120 And it's that which provokes our great love of others and our great love of serving. 00:11:40.120 --> 00:11:44.480 And so you ask and I ask, what's it that pushes out prayer? 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:50.120 What's it that pushes prayer to the peripheries, to the edges of our lives so that it's just 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:51.840 at best perfunctory? 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:53.200 We're just going through the motions. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:54.200 It's not really that. 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.200 We don't really feel that without me you can do nothing. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:03.120 It's just, it's just something that, oh, it's a ritualistic thing that I should do. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:11.560 So I think as we're rooted in Christ that that sense of perspective, self-discipline 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:16.759 from the Holy Spirit and prayerfulness is what is the roots that enable us to serve each 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:18.959 other well. 00:12:18.959 --> 00:12:28.359 And then the fruits of that is given really in verses 8 and 9 about above all, keep loving 00:12:28.359 --> 00:12:31.959 one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins, show hospitality to one 00:12:31.959 --> 00:12:36.559 another without grumbling as each, as, oh, well, we'll just do these two verses there. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:42.599 Because that's the fruit of being rooted in Jesus Christ in terms of service. 00:12:42.599 --> 00:12:46.959 So what does organic serving of the Lord look like? 00:12:46.959 --> 00:12:48.719 You know what it looks like? 00:12:48.719 --> 00:12:51.000 It looks like making friends. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.839 That's what it looks like. 00:12:52.839 --> 00:12:56.199 That's what organic serving of one another looks like. 00:12:56.199 --> 00:12:57.399 It's about making friends. 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:07.480 That's the core of how we want this church to understand what serving one another means. 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:11.439 It's about loving others because God loves you. 00:13:11.439 --> 00:13:16.480 It's about being able to make friends. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:23.840 It's freeing us up to give of ourselves in a, not primarily in a planned or organized 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.799 or monitored way, but in a very real way. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:32.079 It's about loving other people deeply, love one another earnestly or deeply. 00:13:32.079 --> 00:13:35.599 And you know, I'm going to take the next bit there which talks about hospitality. 00:13:35.599 --> 00:13:42.199 You know this because I've mentioned it before here, is that hospitality means the love of 00:13:42.199 --> 00:13:43.199 strangers. 00:13:43.199 --> 00:13:46.919 It's much broader than it's not talking about a dinner party. 00:13:46.919 --> 00:13:53.000 It's talking about making people you don't know, people you do know, making friends. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:54.000 That's what it is. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:01.399 It's about, probably it's not a great word, we should use a different word today, but 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:05.600 it's making people who are strangers, no longer strangers, it's making them friends. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.879 And that's the core of serving one another. 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:10.600 It's about recognizing that's what we're doing. 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:17.559 We're actually, we're loving people deeply by becoming friends with them, opening our 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:21.759 time, our heart, our home, our life, our souls to others. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:28.600 Having a listening ear, prayerful support, intangible, sacrificial, not something that's 00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:33.159 organized or monitored or regulated within a church context. 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:34.159 It is organic. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.960 That's what I mean by organic. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:45.240 It's recognizing that discipleship is about making strangers friends, making people you 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:49.759 don't know, people you do know, befriending others. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:57.360 That is what is a huge, significant and important part of gospel community together. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:01.879 It's a huge part of what we're striving and have striven to do because, you know, we're 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:03.879 not, we're not a natural community. 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:07.679 Well, no church is, but we're not even a natural geographic community. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:14.200 We're all from all over the place, so we've worked hard to try and develop a sense where, 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:22.680 as Christians, we express our service by simply befriending other people that beforehand 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:23.680 we haven't known. 00:15:23.680 --> 00:15:29.120 That's why we do things like bake and roll Sunday, which is next Sunday, by the way. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:37.280 It's an opportunity to invite people or to go and to be in a place where you're becoming 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:39.960 known and becoming friends. 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:54.320 So the fruit of being rooted in Christ is hospitality, a deep, earnest commitment to 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:55.320 other people. 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:56.320 And what does that mean? 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.680 What does, you know, what does deep friendship look like? 00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:02.400 You know, how deep? 00:16:02.400 --> 00:16:03.400 What does it look like? 00:16:03.400 --> 00:16:05.320 Well, I'll tell you, one thing that it looks like. 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:10.600 It means that we make the effort not to grumble, okay? 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:16.320 That's one of the ways in which we become deep friends with others is by showing hospitality 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:19.960 to one another without grumbling. 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:24.520 You know, and that's one of the keys to making a deep friendship, isn't it? 00:16:24.520 --> 00:16:31.000 Is we're not saying, well, I suppose I'm a Christian, I better make friends. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:34.920 Really the friendships that I make, I can't be bothered with the people because they're 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:42.479 so sinful and grumbling about the type of people we have to spend time with and finding 00:16:42.479 --> 00:16:46.399 faults with them because there will be. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:50.799 There'll be faults with all of us as we get into a relationship with one another and there'll 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:54.559 be sins that you'll simply want to grumble about. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:59.240 But it's a love that says here that covers a multitude of sins. 00:16:59.240 --> 00:17:03.399 That's the two come together without the grumbling and covering a multitude of sins because 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:06.519 there are sins to be covered that you could naturally grumble about. 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:10.960 It's not saying that you're going to be sinless and it's not going to be saying there's not 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.240 maybe human reasons for grumbling, but it's saying that to love one another deeply is 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:23.879 to do it in a Christ-like way that works against finding fault or grumbling or doing it with 00:17:23.879 --> 00:17:24.879 an unloving attitude. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:33.560 So it's really a challenge to our attitude to how we serve one another. 00:17:33.560 --> 00:17:40.480 You know, and I guess within that there's a challenge to us to make friends with those 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:45.480 or to be hospitable and to be loving and to love each other deeply, not just with those 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:52.960 who we regard well and not just with those with whom we have no complaints about. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:58.319 And that maybe goes for the way that we think about in that reacting church as well because 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:00.079 there's lots of things. 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:04.279 There's lots of sins and there's lots of rubbish that goes on in the church, but love covers 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:06.279 over a multitude of sins. 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:12.440 It's not saying that sins don't matter, but it's saying how we deal with these things. 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:21.000 We love people and cover over a lot of things and we don't grumble. 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:22.640 We don't grumble. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:30.960 That's the great thing is that if the faults and failings of others are so great that you 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:36.759 feel you can't cover them over, then the response is not to grumble about them. 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:42.000 The response is to in love, loving deeply deal with these things. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.880 And sometimes we're not so keen to do that because ultimately it's probably not such 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:47.120 a big thing after all. 00:18:47.120 --> 00:18:49.200 It may be more about us than about others. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:56.200 So the great challenge to serve one another in a loving way, in an organic way, is to 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:01.600 wrestle with all these things, the selfishness and the grumbling and the complaining and 00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:09.840 the exposing of other people's failings and rather do it in a Christ-centred spirit. 00:19:09.840 --> 00:19:17.480 So we do it by making friends and we do it also, I think, by serving others well and 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:23.680 faithfully, show hospital, eat, receive whatever gift he uses, good stewards of God's grace 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:27.599 and to do it in a strength he supplies. 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:33.720 And we should remember that we are to be good stewards and to be good, a good steward is 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:40.240 to be a faithful steward and it's such a beautiful characteristic that we serve one another well 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:46.599 by serving one another with the gifts God has given us in a faithful way. 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:52.399 Show that in church, in the relationships, in the community, your word is your bond. 00:19:52.399 --> 00:19:56.319 If you say you're going to do something, if you're going to meet someone, if you're going 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:03.879 to help in some way, that your word is your bond, that you don't forget, that you're conscious 00:20:03.879 --> 00:20:10.480 about using your gift to serve others graciously, not to be praised or not even just because 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:16.359 it comes naturally because you do it in the strength and the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:28.039 And that kind of friendship, which is so often unseen, is the root and the key to a fruitful 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:33.919 and Christ-centered community. 00:20:33.919 --> 00:20:38.879 So it's organic. 00:20:38.879 --> 00:20:40.839 It's what we do. 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:42.959 It's what we are. 00:20:42.959 --> 00:20:45.599 It's what we are because of who we are. 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:50.039 And it's something that comes from within us. 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:54.799 But it's also much more briefly functional, okay? 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:59.319 And the same way we functionally serve one another as an organization, as it were, as 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:07.480 a family, as a people lovingly and faithfully, because, you know, the church needs lots of 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:13.399 people to serve in order to make it function in terms of worship and in terms of community 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:19.560 and in terms of doing things, we need to functionally use one another's gifts. 00:21:19.560 --> 00:21:23.040 And that's hugely significant also that we serve in that way. 00:21:23.040 --> 00:21:28.800 Part of discipleship is to enable the community of the church to function as a church, whether 00:21:28.800 --> 00:21:35.120 it's admin or IT or music or welcoming or teaching or leading or hospitality or catering 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:39.000 or cleaning or organizing or preaching or counting. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:45.720 If there's an area of need and there's an opportunity to serve in that way, then it's 00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:47.920 great to be able to do that. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:50.079 And so today we've got a table at the back. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.519 Roger and Laura happened to be sitting on it just because they came in late. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:55.680 But that's one of the things about coming in late. 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:58.680 You end up in the table that you shouldn't be on. 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:00.319 But we love them with all our hearts. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:05.200 And someone else is going to be there at the end of the service and we'll have a list 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:06.440 of all the things you can use. 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:10.559 In fact, probably Roger and Laura could do it because they're great servants. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:11.840 And we could just have a big list. 00:22:11.840 --> 00:22:16.680 And if there are areas that you would like to be involved in in service that you're not, 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.680 that there may be an opportunity for you to serve in that. 00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:26.000 Or if there's a gift that you feel you have that isn't being utilized, you can say there's 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.160 an express that and we'll take note of that. 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:32.920 Or if there's a need that you feel isn't being fulfilled, then...and you feel you can 00:22:32.920 --> 00:22:33.920 fulfill that need. 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:38.039 And if it fits in with what we are and what we're doing in terms of our character and 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:41.680 our vision, our priorities and our goal and our commitment, then we'll look at these things. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.080 So it's a great opportunity. 00:22:43.080 --> 00:22:48.759 And also, if you've been serving in an area for ages and you're absolutely knackered and 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:53.279 you want to take a break, just go at the table and say, I would really love if someone else 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:55.120 could do this for me now. 00:22:55.120 --> 00:22:59.480 Because we don't want people to feel enslaved or that they can never give up something that 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:02.279 they've been doing for a long time out of guilt. 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:07.839 We would love people just to feel free to say, I've served in this area and now I need 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.839 to step back. 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:13.160 Because we're here to support and encourage and help each other. 00:23:13.160 --> 00:23:17.960 We're not here to beat anyone with a stick of service. 00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:21.119 It is to be organic, but also to be functional. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:28.160 And so there is that...that will be that table today after the service, which you can go 00:23:28.160 --> 00:23:31.119 to and look at. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:35.719 So can I just conclude then by just saying a couple of things? 00:23:35.719 --> 00:23:37.199 There are two questions. 00:23:37.199 --> 00:23:41.039 One is, what's the opposite of serving in love? 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:46.359 Because we look in our discipleship, and so discipleship is about serving because it's 00:23:46.359 --> 00:23:51.679 about loving one another deeply, organically, functionally, okay? 00:23:51.679 --> 00:23:54.839 What's the opposite of serving in love? 00:23:54.839 --> 00:24:02.480 Well, it's the opposite of all the things that are in this passage really. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:07.559 It looks like living in a way that reveals that we love lots of other things before Jesus, 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:12.399 that we don't recognize in any way our dependence on His grace and our need for prayer, but 00:24:12.399 --> 00:24:14.240 rather we're kind of self-assured without Him. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:17.599 And I'm like, I can do everything in my own strength. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:18.720 It's about living for the day. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:24.439 It's about spending lots of time being critical and grumbling about the church and about other 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:26.279 people. 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:28.640 That's the opposite of serving in love. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.680 It's about saying, well, you know, the church doesn't appreciate me. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:33.720 Other people don't appreciate me. 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.480 They make so many demands. 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:36.960 They don't appreciate my gifts. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.160 Why can't others be on time? 00:24:39.160 --> 00:24:42.559 Why can't others serve better and be more like me? 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:43.960 I always give my best. 00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:46.519 Why don't other people give their best? 00:24:46.519 --> 00:24:52.080 I'm offering my time for others, but they're not really my type, my age, my kind of people. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:25:02.559 We crumble, we give up easily, we cancel enough whim, and it's all a bit, ugh, do I have to? 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:03.559 Really should I? 00:25:03.559 --> 00:25:07.720 And you know, do you know the worst people have offered that? 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:12.759 Ministers, apart from Thomas. 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:14.319 Ministers like me. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:22.279 So easy to serve out of duty or to serve out of ritual, to serve out of guilt, or to serve 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:28.519 out of pride, or to serve for all wrong, manner of wrong reasons. 00:25:28.519 --> 00:25:35.279 And this is a reminder to us that when we serve like that, we're ignoring our own heart, 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:41.119 and we're ignoring our own soul, and we're ignoring the need to do what we do through 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:49.959 Jesus Christ and for His glory, and because of His service to us, I came not to be served, 00:25:49.959 --> 00:25:51.559 but to serve. 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:58.399 And it's this amazing reality of knowing and needing His amazing grace. 00:25:58.399 --> 00:26:03.039 So it's sometimes good to look at the opposite, isn't it, of what's in the Bible, to remind 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:09.199 ourselves of what it is to serve Jesus Christ the wrong way in a way that will be kind of 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.440 ultimately destructive. 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:17.039 What's the opposite of serving a love, and then why ultimately bother? 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:20.000 Well, why would we bother? 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:21.240 Why bother serving? 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:23.400 Why bother being vulnerable? 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:33.640 Why bother giving and expending our lives in the service of other people that's so fruitless? 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:35.279 Sometimes we think. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:41.079 And yet we know ultimately it's the most fruitful way that we can live. 00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:49.920 It brings praise to Jesus, and that we see that in everything God may be glorified through 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:53.559 Jesus Christ to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 00:26:53.559 --> 00:27:00.200 We find that in the last verse, but also in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 16, Jesus says, 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:05.039 in the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works, 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:08.360 and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:14.000 Now that's really interesting because I think that is telling us that our community is not 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:21.840 to be insular, but we share our community with others who are not Christians so that 00:27:21.840 --> 00:27:26.880 they will come to know Jesus and praise Him. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:33.520 By all men, by this, all men know that you're my disciples if you love one another. 00:27:33.520 --> 00:27:38.840 Therefore to serve one another in love this way is actually missional. 00:27:38.840 --> 00:27:42.280 It is to have an outward look. 00:27:42.280 --> 00:27:50.080 It means that it's important that we are introducing our people, our friends who are not Christians 00:27:50.080 --> 00:27:52.000 to our gospel community. 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:59.680 And with the confidence to do that, that they'll not be beaten down, criticized, ignored or 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:00.680 rejected. 00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:09.680 And that's a huge challenge to us all, that we recognize the significance of that. 00:28:09.680 --> 00:28:14.759 I hear a lot of people praying, and a lot of people praying for revival in many different 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:16.680 contexts, and that's a great prayer. 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:24.799 But I do wonder sometimes, because revival isn't happening, is God saying, you know, 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:32.600 why would I send a people to a cold, grumbling, inhospitable community? 00:28:32.600 --> 00:28:39.920 And it's a challenge to us as to God's sovereignty in these things. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:43.519 I'm not saying that that is ever the case, and I don't think that's the case here, but 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:49.240 it's always, isn't it always a challenge that the gospel always starts in our own heart? 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:55.119 And it's always not necessarily asking God to do lots of things that He hasn't necessarily 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:01.680 promised, but that we can ask for, but it's also asking that we'll repent and return and 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:03.400 be renewed and refreshed every day. 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:08.200 So it brings praise and glory to Jesus when we serve one another in love. 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:14.000 And it brings glory to God, you know, in that passage, just that we read in 1 Peter, it 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.799 speaks about it being to the glory of God. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:23.559 And that just means it's weighty, and it's worthy of the living God. 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:27.240 It's the heart and core of who God is. 00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:30.519 When you think of a weighty God and the glory of God, what do you think of? 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:36.880 Deep theology, new truth that you've never found out before. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:39.800 All these things are significant and important. 00:29:39.800 --> 00:29:43.560 Holiness itself, this is holiness. 00:29:43.560 --> 00:29:49.960 This is what it is to be holy, and this is what gives weightiness and glory to the living 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.840 God when we live like this. 00:29:51.840 --> 00:29:59.520 He has made us to serve in love, and our vision of discipleship in St. C's is to help one 00:29:59.520 --> 00:30:02.920 another to do this. 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:08.560 And if you're not a Christian, can I just encourage you to think of Jesus Christ and 00:30:08.560 --> 00:30:16.240 consider Him who didn't come to be served as the King of Kings, but to serve and to 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:23.640 give His life a ransom for you so that you may know His grace and forgiveness and glory. 00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:24.640 Let's pray. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:29.840 Father God, we ask and pray that you would help us to serve you in love, and that you 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:37.679 would help us to do that naturally in a spiritual way, if that makes sense. 00:30:37.679 --> 00:30:43.720 That it would be through our dependence on Jesus and our need for the strength of God 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:50.399 and the Holy Spirit to take away that grumbling spirit which often lies behind our witness 00:30:50.399 --> 00:30:54.879 and our work and our service and our Christian life. 00:30:54.879 --> 00:30:59.599 Help us not to grumble at you and help us not to grumble at one another but to love 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:07.399 each other deeply, earnestly, committedly for the glory of God. 00:31:07.399 --> 00:31:15.919 Father, we pray and ask that you would help us to live for your glory, that you would 00:31:15.919 --> 00:31:20.039 forgive us when we make mistakes, and we thank you that you are a forgiving God and that 00:31:20.039 --> 00:31:28.279 we can come to you in a fresh way every day to serve you and to serve one another in love. 00:31:28.279 --> 00:31:33.319 We pray for the church here, we pray for all the… and thank you for all the people who 00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:39.359 spend so much time and energy serving, and we pray that they would do so with love, that 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:44.639 they would enjoy serving you here, that they would work hard at praying through it so that 00:31:44.639 --> 00:31:49.399 it doesn't become a weighty burden or a cause for grumbling. 00:31:49.399 --> 00:31:56.000 Thank you for the unseen work that is done by so many opening homes, going for coffee, 00:31:56.000 --> 00:32:01.799 spending time with people, loving them, giving them lifts to the air, all kinds of things 00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:09.640 that are just very simple, gentle and unseen ways in which they love their brothers and 00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:10.640 sisters. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:14.000 And we thank you for all the work that is done here to make this service happen on a 00:32:14.000 --> 00:32:20.960 Sunday and all the hospitality and all the work that is done. 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:25.960 Lord God, we commit it all to You, we thank You for it, and we pray that You would help 00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:34.079 us to love one another deeply and both functionally to enable us to work as… and grow as a church, 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:39.640 but also organically in our lives, just as something that comes from our relationship 00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:40.640 with You. 00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.640 We need You, and we pray that You would help us. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:58.720 Amen.