cultivating covenant community, and we've been looking at the one another commands of Scripture to see how we should love one another in the body of Christ. And tonight we're looking at serve one another, and you'll see some overlap with the last study we had with bear one another's burdens. So one application of bearing one another's burdens was to serve one another. So some of the material overlaps, but there's a little bit more we have to go into when it comes to serve one another. So let's start with, you see your key scriptures at the top. Let's read through those. And then we'll go through this as we've been doing topically, but turn first to first Peter chapter four, first Peter chapter four. verses 10 through 11, which says, 1 Peter 4, 10 through 11, as each has received a gift, Use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. And then let's flip over to Hebrews 5, Galatians, sorry, 5.13. Just a single verse there, Galatians 5, 13. For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. And he goes on to say, for the whole law is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. And then one more, lots of flipping, sorry. John 13, verses one through 20, where Jesus washes his disciples' feet. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments and, taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet? Jesus answered him, what I am doing, you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, the one who is bathed does not need to wash except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you. For he knew who was to betray him. That was why he said, not all of you are clean. When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garment and resumed his place, he said to them, Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but the scripture will be fulfilled. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me. I am telling you this now before it takes place, that when it does take place, you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity we have to enjoy good food together that has been lovingly prepared. We thank you for the opportunity to sing your praise and the musical gifts that you've given to those who lead us. We thank you, Lord, for the time we have to spend in your word. And we ask that your Holy Spirit would give us understanding, help us to see where we can grow in loving and serving one another in the body of Christ. We pray that you would convict us of sin, that you would encourage us where you're at work in our lives, and that you would help us to mature and to grow as individuals, but also as a church body. May you speak to your servants, for your servants are listening. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I went to Chick-fil-A for breakfast recently with a member, church member, and I went to the cashier and she said, which you all know they are taught to say, how may I serve you? And it just stuck out to me. I mean, we've all heard that when we go to Chick-fil-A, it's kind of distinctive of them. They teach their employees to say, how may I serve you? And you've probably gone to McDonald's or Zaxby's or somewhere else, and they don't begin that way, do they? They don't say, how may I serve you? Most likely that comes from the Christian worldview, right? It comes out of Truett Cathy's commitment to Christ and even just the way they've trained their employees, that they have a posture of service. And basically what we're thinking about tonight is that's the way it should be for us as Christians, not just if we work for Chick-fil-A, but in our interactions with one another, we should think, how may I serve you? How often is it that we go to church thinking, how may others serve me? Even the way people are taught to church shop these days, it's all kind of geared towards, how may I find a church that's going to serve me and meet my needs? But how can we serve one another? How can we care for one another in the body of Christ? It's a simple question. but it's one that we should think about regularly. And I don't know if it's always on our radar. So let's start just simple outline tonight. We're gonna look at two things front and back of this page. One kind of what does the Bible teach about serving one another? And then the second part is, well, what does that mean for me? Where should I serve within the body? And we'll discuss more of that tonight in our discussion groups. But you notice here that at the heart of the gospel, Jesus came to serve us. So the famous passage there is Mark 10 45, even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. That's why Jesus came to serve us. And in that context, what he's talking about when he says serve is giving his life a ransom for many. And that is dying on the cross to pay the ransom, to pay the price, to set us free from our captivity to sin. But ultimately, that message of the gospel of Jesus coming, loving sinners, serving sinners, dying for sinners, shows us that service is integrally tied up with who Christ is and why He came. And when you understand that Christ came to serve you, he came to save you, he came to die for you, that affects your whole posture in life. There's an illustration of this in Mark chapter one, in verses 29 to 31, early on in the gospel of Mark, where Jesus heals Simon Peter's mother-in-law, who was sick with a fever. And in Mark 1, 29 to 31, we read this. And immediately Jesus left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her. And then what happens? And she began to serve them. And obviously there's a literal story about what happened to Simon Peter's mother-in-law, but it kind of shows us an illustration of how God wants to work in our lives. Jesus serves us, He gives us life, He saves us, He raises us up, and then when He does, we want to serve others. Just like Simon's mother-in-law immediately got busy serving those who were there after the Lord healed her of her fever. Now, Jesus shows us the way to serve one another in John 13, when he washes his disciples' feet. And, you know, you've heard this taught before, but basically, you know, in that culture, people would often walk from place to place, very dusty. country and their feet would get really dirty. And so a common act of hospitality was when someone came over to your house, that their feet would be washed as a kind of a common service. But the person who did the foot washing was the lowest person in the household. If you could afford a slave or a servant, that's the person who did it. And so on Thursday night, when the disciples are having the last supper, And Jesus is showing them, it says, what does it say there in John 13, the full extent of his love. He gets up and he strips down and takes on the form of a servant. He dresses up as a common slave and he starts washing their feet. And there's a lot of different aspects to that. Obviously by Jesus washing their feet, he's showing them that he loves them. It says in the text that he loved his own who were in the world and he loved them to the end. So certainly Jesus is showing his love for his disciples. You also could say that he's also giving them a spiritual object lesson. You see that the water almost takes on a picture of like cleansing, because, you know, Peter says, why are you washing my feet? And then Jesus has to say, well, because I'm cleansing you essentially. You need to be cleansed to have part with me. And you have that interchange, exchange with Peter, which shows the cleansing side to it. But then, of course, you see that it's also a moral example. He's showing them an example of how we love one another. How do you love and serve one another? You humble yourself. You roll up your sleeves. You're willing to do the lowest task for the sake of serving others. So, you know, I don't think this passage is instituting a third sacrament. You know, you have churches that, you know, they regularly have literal foot washing services. But I do think he's showing us here is an example of what Christian service looks like. It's an expression of love. It's a humbling of yourself. It's a willingness to meet someone in a practical need, even if it means you debase yourself. So Matthew Henry says, to wash one another's feet is to stoop to the poorest offices of love for the real good and benefit of one another. So it's kind of like when you serve others, you've got to be willing to do something that maybe makes you feel small or makes you feel insignificant or makes you have to humble yourself, debase yourself. And that's what Jesus did. And you see how that's, tied to the heart of the gospel. In fact, people see parallels between John 13 and Philippians 2 for that reason. Jesus in John 13 humbles himself, takes on the form of a servant, washes his disciples' feet. Philippians 2, the Son of God came, he humbled himself, he took on the form of a servant, he became obedient even to the point of death, death on the cross. So the gospel's a message of Jesus humbling himself to serve us, to save us. And so that becomes a pattern for loving each other. And notice in that John 13 passage, it says in verse 17, if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. So we all know this, right? I mean, it's not a problem of not knowing that we're just called to serve one another. Often it's a matter of not doing it. The blessing is not in just knowing that we should serve one another, but it's in actually following through and doing it. And it's interesting when Jesus washed his disciples' feet here, there's no statement that would exclude Judas. So even Judas, you know, Jesus washed the feet of his own betrayer. Now he says he's not clean, you know, we would say he's not saved, he's not a genuine convert, but Jesus even served him and washed his feet. So, Jesus is showing us the way by doing that. The other aspect of the teaching that we looked at tonight was the role of spiritual gifts in 1 Peter, that was the 4, 1 Peter 4 passage. Notice the language there, and I'm gonna turn back to it, I don't have any of your notes, but it says, as each has received a gift, as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. So the implication there is that every believer has a spiritual gift. No believer has all the gifts, but every believer at least has one. And so God uniquely gifts us for different areas of service in the body of Christ. Notice that it says there God's varied grace. We could say God's multifaceted grace. God's grace has many different forms as it shows up in the gifts that he distributes to his body. And we use those gifts to build up the body of Christ. But notice that in this passage in 1 Peter 4, it kind of groups the gifts into two sections. Some are speaking gifts, you might say in verse 11, whoever speaks, he's to speak as if speaking the oracles of God. So you might say the preachers and teachers and that kind of thing. But then the other category is whoever serves, serves by the strength that God supplies. And so pretty much all the spiritual gifts that God gives to his church are either speaking gifts or they're serving gifts. And you could even say the speaking gifts could probably be included in the serving gifts, really. And so the idea is the spiritual gifts are not for ourselves. but therefore the body of Christ. So God has equipped us to do these one anothering commands, especially serving one another by giving us these abilities to help each other out. So look at Romans chapter 12 to flesh that out. Romans 12, where it's also amplifying this idea of spiritual gift. Romans 12, verses four through eight, It says, for as in one body, we have many members. So one body is the church, right? The many members are the individual members of it. And the members do not all have the same function. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members one of another. Now notice the language there in verse five. We're not just members of Christ. but we're members of each other. We're actually spiritually connected to one another. And then these gifts serve different functions. So it says that different members have different functions. And it says, we though many are one body in Christ, individually as members of one another, having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them. If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. So there's a variety of gifts. No one has all the gifts. Each of us has at least a gift. to use, it's meant to be used, we're not meant to sit on our hands or sit on our spiritual gift, we're to use it for the edification of the body of Christ. And so this helps us see how we're to serve. The other passage, 1 Corinthians 12, where it talks about the spiritual gifts a little bit more. And it says, 1 Corinthians 12, verse four, Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all and everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between Spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. So no matter what the gift is, it comes from the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit decides who gets what gifts and how they already be used. It goes on later to say to develop this imagery of the body in 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 14, and it says the body doesn't consist of one member, but of many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. If the ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, what would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, what would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." And he goes on to say, you know, the eye can't say to the hand, I have no need of you. The body interacts with one another. And every part has a different shape, a different function, different abilities to benefit the whole. And so when we think about serving one another, we can ask, you know, what is my spiritual gift? And there's a lot of different ideas about how you figure out your spiritual gift. It was very popular one time to say, you need to take a spiritual gift inventory. You ever taken one of those? And you take a test, and you go, they have all the gifts listed there, and you figure out what your gift is. What's the problem with that? Well, one thing is it treats the list of gifts that are in Scripture as if they are intended to be exhaustive, whereas that's probably not true, because you have different listing of gifts, and if you take Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and the other passages, 1 Peter 4, they don't all list the same stuff, and so it seems like they're being suggestive not exhaustive. And if you take those as if those are the only gifts, and then you make an inventory on it, you might be leaving somebody out that the Holy Spirit wants to empower and use. So sometimes that's a problem. The other thing too is, you know, how are we to learn what our gifts are? Most likely by serving. You discover what they are as you are serving, as you are involved in the body of Christ, as you are loving other people, you find out there are certain things that God has uniquely enabled you to do. and you find that you enjoy them, you find that you're good at them, you find others are blessed when you do them. That's the kind of thing that we're being spoken of. I'm not opposed to spiritual inventory or something like that, but I think, you know, if we really needed that, you know, why isn't it in 1 Corinthians 17? It's not. We figure it out by doing and by seeing the body of Christ validate that. One helpful way to think about how God has shaped us to serve one another is this acronym SHAPE, and just to think through how has God equipped you, how has God empowered you, worked in your life to help you serve others? Because when we think about just in terms of spiritual gifts, we sometimes leave other things out that are part of what God made us to be. So, S, spiritual gifts. Arch, H, arch. H is heart. And there we go, it's all blurred together. That's what a southerner says when he says it, it's heart. And heart is like, what is your desire? What do you want? What do you enjoy? What are you passionate about doing? That sort of thing is that what, you know, Eric Little said, when I run, I feel his pleasure. You know, there are things that God has uniquely called you to do where you feel like that's what really drives me. I love to do this. I feel like I'm serving the Lord. and others when I am doing this, your abilities. That might not be a spiritual gift. That may be a natural talent. That might be something you've learned by life experience. It might be an education that you've developed an ability through experience. Your personality. Everybody's different, right? Some people are a little extra different. But everybody has a different personality. Everybody has a different way of looking at the world or a different approach to things. Some people are more emotional and sensitive. Some people are more cognitive and theoretical. And all those kinds of things, they affect the way that we relate to one another. and you might find that there's a certain aspect of your personality that makes you more of a behind-the-scenes person. You don't want to be up front and seen or you might be more outgoing and that can affect where you're supposed to serve and what you're supposed to do. And then you think of E, your experiences in life. What's What has God done in your life providentially to shape you, to mold you in the way that you are? And so thinking through that grid can be a little bit helpful for thinking about how we love and serve each other. Moving on from gifts here, notice that another thing the Bible is very clear about, something Jesus was very clear about, and that is the Lord honors even the simplest act of service to other members of his body. So what did Jesus say? Mark 9 41, truly I say to you, whoever gives a cup of water to drink, gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. How hard is it to give someone a cup of water? It's not that hard, right? if you have water, and if you have a cup. And so, I mean, this is a simple act of service. It's a little thing, you might say. But it's a significant thing. Without water, someone's gonna, you know, they're gonna die. They're gonna die of dehydration. And so, meeting a practical need doesn't have to be complicated. It doesn't have to be big. It doesn't have to be something that's glamorous. Give a cup of water to someone, because they're a disciple of Christ, and that you will by no means lose your reward. So you think about on judgment day, the Bible indicates that we'll receive rewards for the things that we've done in the body, faithful acts of service. Jesus is going to acknowledge this. He's going to acknowledge little things that we do to love and serve one another. And that should motivate us to not say, because sometimes I think we say, well, that's just a little thing. I don't see why I would do that. Why bother doing that? It doesn't really matter. But it does matter because Jesus dignifies even the most mundane task. You know, you think washing disciples' feet, that even sounds more glorious than just handing someone a cup of water, but he's acknowledging even the simplest thing. And then in that first Peter passage, we must serve God in his strength and for his glory. He had said in 1 Peter 4, whoever serves, we're to serve by the strength that God supplies. So not our own strength, His strength, not our own giftedness, gifts that come from the Spirit, from Him. In order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. So it's about the glory of God. It's about honoring Him. It's about serving His church and His body. So, All of that's very simple, right? None of that's our study of Revelation, really complicated, deep stuff, right? There's a time and place for that, but all of that's very simple, straightforward stuff. But the question is, what did Jesus say? If you know these things, what? Blessed are you if you do them, if you do them. And so what does it look like for us to serve? Well, I think one thing we can say is being perceptive. What that means is, where do you see needs in the body of Christ? Where do you see there are people who need help? Where do you see there are people who need a practical act of service? Have open eyes and notice that. Now, one of the things that could happen is that you can develop a perception of a need and then go tell someone else about it. But it's been wisely pointed out that normally if God is showing you that need, He wants you to meet that need. Right? It doesn't mean go tell an elder, go tell the pastor, go tell, you know, a staff member of the church. But if it's a need that God is showing you, it's something that God is equipping you to, if you can't meet it, find someone else who can come alongside and help. But the reality is, are we looking for the needs? Are we looking for opportunities to serve others? Are our eyes open to those who have dirty feet? So we can humble ourselves and wash their feet in whatever way that might mean in a given situation. Another thing that we can do is be hospitable. In the context of that 1 Peter 4 passage, where it was talking about using our gifts to serve one another, it said, right before he said all that, he said, show hospitality to one another without grumbling. I'm like, wait a second, I can't show hospitality and grumble? No, you have to do it joyfully. You have to do it without grumbling because you want to. I mean, imagine, how is that serving one another? Well, we're loving each other, we're providing a meal, we're providing an opportunity to fellowship, to relate, to feel included, or whatever it might be, all of those things. Hospitality actually means welcoming a stranger, so even not just having your friends over, but having someone else in the church over to your house for a meal that you don't know very well. And it seems to me that 1 Peter 4, 9, that's a command that's for all Christians. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Notice, it doesn't say, show hospitality to one another if that's your gift. It doesn't appear to me like it's saying that. It seems to me that that's one of those commands that's given to the whole body. that we're all supposed to be showing hospitality. Now, does that mean we all have to do it with the same frequency, or the same skillfulness, or the same level of, you know, just, this is really, some people are just really gifted to hospitality and it's amazing. No, I don't think so, but we all should be trying to love and welcome one another into our lives and serving one another in that way. What about opportunities to serve each other in the life of the church? Now, this isn't exhaustive. These are just some of the kinds of things that I thought that people are, a lot of people are doing in the life of our church. You know, we have a security team, and this is more geared towards men, but there are men who sit at the desk and they watch the security cameras. How are they serving us? They're keeping us safe, right? And what does that mean? Well, there's a cost to it, right? They have to miss a worship service because they're out there washing the security tapes to keep us safe. And that's something, that's a simple way to serve, right? And so that's not an upfront and everybody see me or anything like that. We don't give out plaques or awards for doing that sort of thing. It's just a humble way to serve the body of Christ. nursery rotation. I mean, I think, you know, maybe you see that, that, that, that mailer that goes out and it has your name and you're like, joyfully serving, right? That's one of the ways we love our parents who have small children to volunteer to help out in the nursery. We're always in need of children's Sunday school teachers. Now there's a more of a serving by speaking or by teaching, but there's always a need for that. And even if you're at a point where you think, well, my children are grown, why would I do that? Well, maybe because now you have the freedom to do that and help and teach and invest in that way. Audio video team, you know, there's opportunities to help with that, you know, to be on the rotation, so the same kids aren't always up there, or same person's not always on the camera, or whatever it may be. There's opportunities to serve. There are, how you serve, you say, wait, how am I serving in that? I'm just doing the camera. Well, there are some older members of this congregation who watch it, and they benefit from it. They can't get to church, and they feel included by watching that on Facebook. Set up and clean up on Wednesday nights. These tables don't clean themselves. And so volunteers who do that sort of thing on Sunday morning, sometimes you'll notice there's some men going back and forth, back and forth, getting out these tables after I've preached that long sermon, trying to get everybody out of the way. And they're trying to get all these tables out, right? That's an act of service. It doesn't have to always be the same men. Help out, those kinds of things. Tons of stuff aren't even on the list here, right? There are sick and shut-in people who would appreciate just a meal being brought to them, or yard work being done around their home. If you have any questions, I mean, I'm sure the diaconate could give you a lot of things. They could be, well, you could do this, you know? There's a lot of different ways we can serve in the church. And so the important thing is that it's normally not convenient. It's normally not comfortable, and you normally don't get a lot of recognition for the things that are calling for service. And yet Jesus shows us the way. He took on the form of a servant. He didn't say, line up and wash my feet. but he actually humbled himself, took on the form of a slave and washed the feet of his disciples. And so if we are true followers of Christ, if we truly understand what it means to be part of the body of Christ, if we truly know the gifts he's given us, our heart attitude will be, how may I serve you? What opportunities do you have to serve others in the body of Christ? This is pretty vital for church life. You can't have a church of all. Everybody in the church is just a teacher. Imagine what that would be like. Everyone was a teacher. Everyone had the same gift. But rather, how do we love and care for one another? How has God equipped you to do that? Let's pray together and we'll go to our discussion groups. Father in heaven, very simple, straightforward teaching tonight, just about what you've called us to be in relationship to one another, and that is humble servants. We pray that you would show us the way, help us to discover what our spiritual gifts are, help us to discover the ways you have uniquely equipped us to love and serve each other and we pray that you would convict us of areas where we can grow and lead us to opportunities we thank you for the good acts of service that are going on we're all beneficiaries of different acts of service even even tonight the meal that's been prepared the music that we've enjoyed the the fellowship, the opportunity to be together, all of this because of your grace. And so we pray that you would help us to labor together, to love well. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.