The Discipline of Service

1) There are six acceptable motives for service:

A) Obedience—“It is the lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him. (Deut. 13:4)

B) Gratitude—“But be sure to fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you (I Sa. 12:24)

C) Gladness—“Serve the Lord with gladness” (Ps. 100:2) Serving is a privilege

D) Forgiveness, not Guilt—“Here am I send me” (Is. 6:6-8)

E) Humility—Jesus washed His disciples feet (Jn. 13:12-16) and humbled Himself in coming to save mankind (Phil. 2:3) Self-righteous service requires external rewards

F) Love—“You My brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (Gal. 5:13)

2) Spiritual gifts are the major facility God gives us to serve Him

A) Every Christian receives at least one spiritual gift

B) God’s purpose in giving the gift(s) is for use in serving in His kingdom

3) Foster says service is “a way of living” and suggests nine ways to live out our service

A) Service of hiddenness—Doing things behind the scenes that the one served never knows about

B) Service of small things—simple assistance in small things but which require constant sacrifice

C) Service of guarding the reputation of others—holding one’s tongue; not being party to slander, backbiting and gossip

D) Service of being served—graciously receiving the service of others

E) Service of common courtesy—keeping the rituals of relationship in our culture

F) Service of hospitality--

G) Service of listening—compassion and patience

H) Service of bearing each other’s burdens

I) Service of sharing the word of Life with one another

4) Serving is hard work—“To this end I labor (kopio), struggling (agonizomenos) with all his energy (energeian), which so powerfully (dunamei) works (energoumenen) in me” (Col. 1:29)

5) One of our greatest blessings and often a source of some of our greatest challenges is living together in community with other believer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer address our life together as believers in his book Life Together.