Notes to accompany "Discipleship, Week 6"
SERVING
1) Created to Serve
Exodus 19:6, Luke 4:18
"God loves the world through you and me."
- Mother
Teresa
The call to serve allows God's love to flow through us into a
needy world.
Christians are called to be a priestly people, those who serve
others on behalf of God.
1 Peter 2:9
When we serve we find freedom and joy. We receive so much more
than we give.
Acts 20:35.
Made in God's image.
God loves to serve. Look at
creation.
Jesus came to serve.
Matthew 20:28
God calls you and me to reach out to people with acts of love in a
way that affirms every individual's eternal value.
Need to heed Jesus' words. Matthew 25:35-36.
2) Serving God's People
Mark 10:43-45, Corinthians 12:4-7
"God sends no churches from the skies
Out of
our hearts they must arise.".....Anon.
Every Christian is gifted.
Your gifts, talents and passions need to be set loose for ministry
within the church and outside, and by so doing you're serving Jesus and
others.
3) Meeting Needs
John 13:34-35
"A church is a hospital for sinners not a museum for
saints.".....Abigail Van Beven
When the Church serves and meets real human need we change the
world one person at a time.
4) Bringing Justice to Others
Micah 6:8, Matthew 23:23
" Make us worthy God to serve our fellow men throughout the
world who live in poverty and hunger."...Gandhi
Disciples of Jesus are, sooner or later, led into the public arena
to seek justice for others.
Christians are called to be salt and light.
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness
in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the
work."......Abraham Lincoln
The church that lives to serve only its members has stopped being
a church and become a club.
Christians are called to so all they can in the cause of justice
and truth and compassion.
We can serve because we have been served and loved by God in
Christ. Our security and worth is in Him as Christ's was in the Father.
John 13-3-5
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