YOU FIT HERE – WEEK 2 – CRAIG AM 10 FEB 2013
It’s the darkest night in Jesus short earthly life; for once He is all alone. He prays to the Father, “Let this cup pass from me; never the less not My will but yours be done.”
In this moment of decision, pain and dread the master chooses to die for others. The immense pressure of the decision and all that it entails weigh heavily upon His soul. So much is the pressure that great drops of blood ooze from the pores of His furrowed brow.
Php 2:5 Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:]
Php 2:6 Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained,
Php 2:7 But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. (AMP)
Have you found you calling?
Have you found your reason d’être?
Your highest purpose in life is that for which God has called you.
Straight away our minds go to the stage of successful acclaim as we wow the audience of life. But God has called us to serve. The old ways of seeking recognition and significance make us dream of prominence and lives that make the entry in of Who’s Who in the tabloids of church history. But God calls us to obscurity, to secret tasks, to unrewarded and unrecognised mission, to servanthood and to death.
Death to selfish ambition, death to control, death to the strokes of praise that come from the lips of well meaning others.
WILL WE SERVE HIM?
WILL WE FIND OUR PLACE AND OBEY THE CALL OF GOD?
WHERE DO YOU FIT? WHAT IS YOUR PLACE OF PURPOSE? WHAT IS YOUR PLACE OF BELONGING, WHERE THE DIVINE PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE IS OUTWORKED AND YOU AS THE JIGSAW PIECE ARE PLACED BY HIS MIGHTY HAND RIGHT INTO THE PLACE MADE ONLY FOR YOU THUS COMPLETING THE PICTURE GOD PAINTED SO LONG AGO.
Or will that place go empty, the picture spoiled by the absence of the one piece that didn’t make it to the perfect place?
What passion drove Jesus to complete His calling, His mission? Such a love for you!
Consider this love. This love that now resides within you. You are now the vessel of His unending love. You are the hands, the feet, the face of Jesus in this world.
To love not merely those who love you, but the unlovable. To serve, not merely the noble and deserving, but the ignoble, ungrateful and rude, who we once were.
We take courage, empowered by the example Jesus set for us.
We are spurred on by the inspiration Jesus gives us in His selfless life.
We are bold to obey the calling given to us because this is the highest calling to be the lowest of all.
How will you serve Jesus? What is it that you are gifted to do for God? Consider how your life is formed and fashioned as a vessel in His hands.
There are forces that will try and stop you serving God.
Even Jesus experienced such opposition to His calling…..
Mat 16:21 From that time forth Jesus began [clearly] to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised from death.
Mat 16:22 Then Peter took Him aside to speak to Him privately and began to reprove and charge Him sharply, saying, God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You!
Mat 16:23 But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.
Do well meaning friends deter you from serving God in the church and in the community?
Luk 8:19 Then Jesus’ mother and His brothers came along toward Him, but they could not get to Him because of the crowd.
Luk 8:20 And it was told Him, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to have an interview with You.
Luk 8:21 But He answered them, My mother and My brothers are those who listen to the Word of God and do it!
Are you offended at the idea that kingdom comes before blood?
You were born for greater things than just worldly success. You were designed by God for a purpose that has eternal significance.
Eph 1:4 Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.
You are unique, gifted by God and designed for purpose. This purpose has power and significance when working in concert with the body of Christ.
1Co 12:27 Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].
If you’re not sure of your right place or calling, begin to serve anywhere and you will discover what you are good at and where you function best.
We have a gift questionnaire that will help you discover what you are gifted for and called to in God’s work. Please take one home and complete it and bring it back next Sunday. We will be happy to sit down with you and discuss how you can serve and make a difference with your gifts and abilities.
Consider serving in the church and also more importantly serving outside the church, that is, serving in the community, serving in some way that reaches lost people.
Chose where you will serve this year.
Fill in this opportunity questionnaire. We need lots of new workers.
You were born for greater.
Servanthood…
It’s part of your walk with Jesus, your development that you embrace servanthood and become His servant more and more.
Rom 6:20-22 (Jer) When you were slaves to sin, you felt no obligation to righteousness, and what did you get from this? Nothing but experiences that now make you blush, since that sort of behavior ends in death. Now, however, you have been set free from sin, you have been made slaves of God, and you get a reward leading to your sanctification and ending in eternal life.
1 Pet 2:16 (NIV) Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Mat 24:45-47 (NIV) “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.”
Next week we will be praying for and anointing with oil each person who is serving God in and through this church. We will be teaching about the power of the Holy Spirit to equip you for His purpose.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Describe the servant aspect of Jesus death on the cross
2. What does Paul mean when he says in Phill 2:5 – Let this mind be in you?
3. How can someone find out what they are good at in serving in God’s Kingdom?
4. What is the one way to figure out where to serve in the local church?
5. What is the difference between serving inside the church and serving outside the church?
craigmanderson 