START THERE: DO SOMETHING!
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Pastor Jonathan Falwell
Last week, we discussed two of the six values that undergird our ministries at TRBC. We talked about a culture of prayer and a lifestyle of worship. Today, we’re going to spend some time on the final three values by using Jesus’ own actions as an encouragement to us all.
John 13:4-17 (CSB) So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. 5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10 “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you. 16 “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
Values:
- A Commitment to Scripture
- A Culture of Prayer
- A Lifestyle of Worship
- Connected in Community
- A Heart for Serving
- A Passion for Sharing
– Phil 2:3-4 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
1. Do Something Unexpected
Vss 4-5 So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. 5 Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him.
– Don’t wait until you feel you are equipped to serve, serve now!
– He didn’t wait for an invitation to serve, He simply served
2. The Eternal Impact
vss 6-8 He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.”
– we are all uniquely gifted in certain ways and can use those gifts and that knowledge for the Kingdom
– we must recognize the value and importance of the message we carry
Matthew 25:40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
3. Christlike Service
vss 13-15 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.
– Jesus stepped out of the role of leader/teacher to serve the Disciples in a way that the world would have looked down upon, yet He did so not just to teach a lesson, but because it is the right thing to do
– None of us are too good to serve others. In fact, when you believe you’re too good to serve you can guarantee you are the least like Christ
Phil. 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
Where do we get started?
1. Pray – Pray about what opportunities are around you every day where you can serve
2. Don’t wait for the invitation – Take a step of faith and simply offer to serve
3. Don’t wait for the right fit– If at first you don’t “like it” try something else! Practice makes perfect!
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