The Church is Not a Restaurant!

Here are two good words on the church. Make the time to listen to both.

1. Driscoll (about 7 minutes)


2. DeYoung's NEXT message calling us to love the local church, can be downloaded here.

Becoming a Gospel-Motivated Servant

I really loved studying and preparing for the sermon on John 13:1-20 this week. I was rebuked daily by Jesus' example of humbled-hearted service. This is one of the clearest passages on the relationship between the gospel and how we serve one another. Jesus' washing away of our sins on the cross is the source and pattern of our service to one another. The only response to the cross is to be a gospel-motivated servant of others.

Here was one of the questions that challenged me this week: When you enter a room with others (i.e. church on Sundays), who is the least important person in the room? The answer should always be the same no matter who else is present in that room. Paul said we are to look out for the interests of others and consider others more important than ourselves (Philippians 2).

Do you immediately see yourself as the least important person, there to serve others? Or, do you subtly think that everyone else should recognize how blessed they are to know you?

So, what are some ways we can grow in actually becoming a servant?

I'm Guilty

"The reason most of us do not see opportunities to serve is that we are continually thinking about ourselves instead of others."

-Jerry Bridges, The Crisis of Caring

How can I serve today?

A challenge for you today:

Figure out one intentional way to serve your church today. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

1. Call a member of your church that was not at church on Sunday (for whatever reason). Tell them you missed seeing them and summarize your pastor's sermon for them.
2. Call or e-mail a family in your church with young children and offer to babysit for a few hours on Friday night. If Friday is not a good time, suggest another night you are free. You can't go wrong investing yourself in the marriages of your church.
3. Call an older member of your church and offer to bring lunch over to their house tomorrow.
4. Ask one of your pastors for a list of specific and intentinal prayer requests regarding the ministry of the church.
5. Consult your budget and figure out how you can give an extra $100 as an offering this month. Is there something you can give up for just one month to make such an offering?

If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments section. Also, if you actually did something like this, tell us what you did and how it went.

Serve One Another

Galatians 5:13: "Through love serve one another."

Some reflections on the command to serve one another:

1. It seems as if every other "one another" command fits under this one. In other words, every other way we are to relate to each other is to be a means of serving one another. If how we are relating is not an expression of serving one another, we are not relating to one another properly.

2. Martin Luther said to serve one another means, “performing unimportant works such as the following: teaching the erring; comforting the afflicted; encouraging the weak; helping the neighbor in whatever way we can; bearing with his rude manners and impoliteness; putting up with annoyances, labors, and the ingratitude and contempt of men in both church and state; obeying the magistrates; treating one’s parents with respect; being patient in the home with a cranky wife and an unmanageable family, and the like.”

3. There are thousands of practical ways in which we can serve each other. However, the most important way we need to serve each other is by reminding each other of the gospel. We need to serve each other by preaching the gospel to each other every day. Friends, we do not love merely by caring for someone’s physical needs to the neglect of their spiritual needs. Every person on the face of this globe needs one thing: A Savior. I need people to serve me by reminding me of my great need for Christ.

4. Ways in which we can practically serve one another in love:
-Pray for one another.
-Encourage one another by identifying evidences of grace in each other.
-Volunteer for various responsibilities in the church (Nursery, Set-up, etc.).
-Giving someone a book that has helped you grow in Christ.
-Offering to cook or buy a meal for a busy mother and her family.
-Offering to baby-sit so that a couple with children can go on a date.
-Use a skill or resource to save someone else time and money.
-Write a note of encouragement.
-Show hospitality to visitors at church.
-Invite someone to lunch who you have known for a long time but never shared the gospel with.

5. Other texts that command us to serve one another and build one another up:

John 13:14; Romans 14:19; Phil. 2:3; 1 Thess. 5:11; 1 Peter 4:10

In what other ways can we serve others in the body of Christ? How have people served you for the glory of God?