Sunday Sermon Summary-Share God's Love

Matthew 20:20-28
Jesus Teaches about Serving Others

20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 “What is your request?” he asked.
She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”
“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

In this passage, would you consider this mother to be an overbearing mother? Is she a mother who doesn't mind embarassing her sons to get what she thinks is best for them, OR do you think her sons convince her to do something on their behalf? Either way Christ gives them a very straight forward answer. First He asks them if they are willing to martyr themselves ("drink from my bitter cup") to which they reply that they are. Do you think they really realize what He is asking them? Do they really realize what He is going to do for us? He then tells them that it is not up to Him who sits beside Him in Heaven, but that decision is made by His Father. Christ then tells all of the 12 that if they want to be great, they need to serve others.

Proverbs 24:3
Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. Pastor Ken said, "Greatness is not found in power but in service."

Romans 15:20
20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else.
Paul doesn't want to go into a church where people already know about Jesus, but his ambition is to establish new churches and reach out to the unchurched. His attitude is one of serving others. Ken says that service turns our lives from an inward experience to focusing on others. If we do this, we find meaning. I believe this to be so true in my own personal life. A famous mommy quote that I often say to my children is....."it's not all about you", but I often have to remind myself of that quote as well....."it's not all about me". I believe that teaching our children to serve in their very early years will help them share the love of Jesus, it will help them thank our Lord for providing for us, it will let them see that there are people in the world who really don't have everything they need; and it's our privelege to help those people. I want their lives to have meaning. I don't want their ambition to be for power or money but for a relationship with Jesus, their own personal relationships, and serving others through Him. I believe serving has helped me realize that "stuff" isn't important, don't get me wrong, it's nice to have "stuff"; but how much stuff we have is not important to God. What's important to Him is our relationship with Him, our love for Him, accepting His love for us, and taking that love and sharing it with others. Our "stuff" is not part of His plan....it's just part of ours. He created us all equally, so whether you live on the street or in a nice comfortable home; He wants a personal relationship with you. He longs for it. We make the choices about the "stuff"....not Him.

Our church has had many ups and many downs. About 4 years ago, there were many circumstances that literally had me on my knees for the survival of my church. I saw it crumbling right before my eyes, and honestly I was scared. Cindy, the pastor that had been my shepherd, had resigned. Katie, one of our other Associate Pastors whom I greatly admired, was moving to lead another church. Members were leaving, the church was falling apart. Then 3 1/2 years ago, we had a change of leadership in the form of a few new pastors. Our church still has ups and downs, but the difference is the focus of the church. Before our new leadership came on board, the focus of our church was more inward (by the choice of our former Lead Pastor); now the focus is outward. Our church is focusing on serving....serving those close to us, in our state, in our country, and abroad. For me, it is a wonderful blessing to be able to serve in so many different ways. A recent survey that many churches in our area completed, in order to find out how to help people grow spiritually, revealed that once a person accepts Jesus Christ....if they are not serving, they won't grow spiritually. Serving does help you find meaning, at least it has for me. Ken's right when he said, "It's not about being good enough but about God's goodness".
AMEN!