Directive Concerning Mutual Service

Driving home: Jesus never conned people into making a, quote, decision to trust Him or to follow Him.

Jesus and the apostles never 'conned' people into following Him but laid out both the privileges and liabilities, calling for radical discipleship and counting the cost.

one thing among many other things becomes unmistakably evident, and that is this, that neither Jesus nor His apostles were ever dishonest in setting forth both the privileges and the liabilities of becoming a Christian. They were never conspiring to become true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus never conned people into making a, quote, decision to trust Him or to follow Him. On one occasion people were pressing in as His apparent followers and He turned and said,

2:59 - 3:44 Read in full sermon

The point: When looking at the church, ask not what the church can offer you, but what you can contribute to God's people with your gifts.

Every gift is a call to humble service, symbolized by Jesus wrapping himself with a towel and washing feet, rather than a pedestal for self-parade or drawing attention.

as we are enabled to identify our gift, or gifts, we are to think of that gift, or gifts, never as a pedestal, on which we stand to parade ourselves, but think of it in terms, of the Lord Jesus in John 13, who wrapped himself, with a towel, took a basin, and washed the disciples feet. Every gift, is a call, to the towel, and to the basin. Never, never, the wood, and the nails, and the saw, and the hammer, to make a pedestal, on which to parade yourself, to draw attention to yourself,

28:37 - 29:21 Read in full sermon

The point: When looking at the church, ask not what the church can offer you, but what you can contribute to God's people with your gifts.

Quoting John F. Kennedy's 'Ask not what your country can do for you...' to illustrate the mindset of asking what one can contribute to the church, not what the church can offer.

We ought rather to be asking, what have I got, to contribute to God's people? Now you won't often find me quoting, former President John Kennedy. But there's one thing he said, that's worthy of being quoted. Ask not, what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do, for your country.

30:43 - 31:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Soberly discern what your gifts are and stand ready to use them as a call to the towel and basin, prepared to minister to God's people.

A modern, secular understanding of a 'steward' (cruise ship or airline) is contrasted with the biblical meaning to highlight the need for understanding the historical context.

What in the world is a steward? The only thing I know about a steward, is I saw in a movie, or a television program, someone who keeps people happy, on a cruise ship, and he's called a steward. And they used to call, female stewards on airplanes, stewardesses. Now they're called flight attendants, because that's gender neutral.

33:25 - 33:45 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Believers are to exercise their gifts as 'good stewards of the manifold grace of God,' understanding stewardship as faithfully administering a trust according to the Master's…

A brief aside on the shift from 'stewardess' to 'flight attendant' to illustrate a broader societal effort towards gender-neutral language.

It's gender neutral. I never thought of that. Well, you think about it, and you start listening and looking, and you'll find right through our whole society, there's a concerted effort, to get everything gender neutral. That's just a little aside, I had to get it out of my system.

33:57 - 34:12 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He does not give a call to a lessened commitment to healthy, vigorous churchmanship. He gives a call to an augmented and an intensified churchmanship in the midst of the sufferings.

God's manifold grace is compared to white light passing through a prism, breaking out into the full spectrum of beautiful colors, representing the diverse gifts within the assembly.

His grace has perceived the need for those gifts within the body of God's people. His grace has conferred them, some from the womb, some in the period of maturation, some supernaturally with an endowment of the Spirit, but whatever they be, in whatever way they function, they are all subsumed under the grace of God. The many-colored, the multi-faceted grace of God. God's grace is like the white light that passing through the prism of that assembly breaks out into the full spectrum of the beautiful colors in that white beam of light.

45:20 - 46:04 Read in full sermon

The point: When serving, constantly remember the words of Christ, 'Without me, you can do nothing,' and serve as of the strength which God freely and lavishly supplies.

The Greek word for 'supplying' (chorēgeō) is explained by its original meaning of securing and providing lavishly for a choir in a stage production, illustrating God's abundant provision of strength.

And then with serving gifts, notice what he says, strange, we would think it would be perhaps something else. And those who exercise serving gifts as of the strength which God is supplying. And most of the commentators point out that this word for supplying is a fascinating word. It originally meant someone securing a choir for a stage production and then securing the choir they had to provide for them.

57:13 - 57:41 Read in full sermon

The point: When serving, constantly remember the words of Christ, 'Without me, you can do nothing,' and serve as of the strength which God freely and lavishly supplies.

Babysitting for couples to allow them a romantic evening is given as a practical, 'menial' example of a serving gift exercised with God's strength and for His glory.

Any gift of service, be it caring for the sick, visiting the sick and needy, babysitting for couples so they can have a romantic evening, as some of you did. I want to commend you. I never heard of anything like that before. I'm thankful.

58:41 - 58:57 Read in full sermon