Not to Be Served

Worship Service for May 30, 2021

WELCOME

Good morning, welcome and thanks for joining CrossPointe Community Church’s online worship presentation. As does the Apostle Paul in his letters to churches, I thank God for all of you and pray that as a result of participating today, you will draw closer to the Lord’s presence and grow more and more into His likeness.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP

As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

II Thessalonians 2:13-14

OPENING WORSHIP SONGS

As We Gather

Coomes, Tom/Fay, Mike

As we gather, may Your Spirit work within us.
As we gather, may we glorify Your name.
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship,
We’ll be blessed because we came.
We’ll be blessed because we came.

(REPEAT)

We’ll be blessed because we came.

©1981 Maranatha! Music (admin by The Copyright Company)/
Coomesietunes (admin by The Copyright Company)
CCLI License No. 1843349

Arise

Moen, Don/Baloche, Paul

One thing we ask of You,
One thing that we desire,
That as we worship You,
Lord come and change our lives.
Arise, arise, arise, arise.
Arise, take your place.
Be enthroned on our praise.
Arise, King of kings,
Holy God, as we sing.
‘Arise, arise, arise, arise’.

One thing we ask of You,
One thing that we desire,
That as we worship You,
Lord come and change our lives.
Arise, arise, arise, arise.
Arise, take your place.
Be enthroned on our praise.
Arise, King of kings,
Holy God, as we sing.
‘Arise, arise, arise, arise’.

We lift You up,
We lift You up,
We lift You up on our praises.

We lift You up,
We lift You up,
We lift You up on our praises.

We lift You up,
We lift You up,
We lift You up on our praises.

We lift You up,
We lift You up,
We lift You up on our praises.

Arise, take your place.
Be enthroned on our praise.
Arise, King of kings,
Holy God, as we sing.
‘Arise, arise, arise, arise’.

Arise, take your place.
Be enthroned on our praise.
Arise, King of kings,
Holy God, as we sing.
‘Arise, arise, arise, arise’.
ARISE!

©2003 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music
CCLI License No. 1843349

Father I Adore You

Coelho, Terrye

Father, I adore You, lay my life before You,
How I love You.

Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You,
How I love You.

Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You,
How I love You.

©1972 Maranatha! Music (admin. by The Copyright Company)
CCLI License No. 1843349

OPENING PRAYER

Our heavenly Father, we are so grateful that you love us so much You sent Your Son to die for us, and then Your Spirit to live in us, for the purpose of becoming like Him. Now that we have gathered here to worship You, may Your Spirit work within us, changing our lives in such a way that we will become more and more like Jesus, and, therefore, sharing in the glory of Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.

THE GIVING OF THE LORD’S OFFERING

For those of you who participate in the Lord’s offering by giving through the mail, our address is P. O. Box 126, Chippewa Lake, OH, 44215.

As we consider once again our calling to give, I remind you of something Jesus said. It’s interesting though that these words weren’t recorded in the gospels. Rather, in the Book of Acts, the Apostle Paul is completing his third missionary journey. On his way back to Jerusalem, he stops briefly to speak one last time with the elders of the Ephesian church. And in Acts 20:35, he concludes his final remarks to them by saying, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’

PRAYER SONG

Change My Heart O God

Espinosa, Eddie

Change my heart, O God,
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God,
May I be like You.

Change my heart, O God,
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God,
May I be like You.

You are the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me,
This is what I pray.

Change my heart, O God,
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God,
May I be like You.

©1982 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing (admin. By Music Services)
CCLI License No. 1843349

MORNING PRAYER

Robyn Tresch

Dear Lord,

We thank you for this day we’ve been given and those around us we get to share it with. As we enjoy this long weekend and celebrate Memorial Day, let us turn to you, Lord, in remembrance of the fallen. Guide us towards a harmonious existence as we honor those who were willing to give up their lives so that we may gather here today.

Help us, Lord, to be mindful of our hearts so that we may soften them for sympathy, soothe them for anxiety, braven them for courage, and most importantly, develop them to be more like the heart of Jesus. This day and every day as Christians, we strive not only to be the good but also do good in this world, so that others may be drawn to you through our actions and words. We know you accept us the way we are but you love us enough to never give up on our reformation. Help us to one day believe in ourselves as much as you believe in us.

In Jesus name we pray, amen.

SCRIPTURE

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to Him.

‘Listen,’ He said, ‘we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence Him to die. Then they will hand Him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day, He will be raised from the dead.’

Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. ‘What is your request? He asked.
She replied, ‘In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to You, one on your right and the other on your left.’
But Jesus answered by saying to them, ‘You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?’
‘Oh yes,’ they replied, ‘we are able!’
Jesus told them, ‘You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.’

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many.’

Matthew 20:17-28

Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:11-16

THE MESSAGE

Randy K’Meyer

Not to Be Served

A mushroom walks into a bar, hops up on the stool and says to the bartender:
“Barkeep, would you please serve me a beer?”
The bartender says, “Sorry I can’t serve you a beer.”
Misunderstanding the Barkeeps intent, the mushroom says, “Then can you serve me a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred with one olive, please?”
The bartender says, “Listen, we don’t serve your kind around here!”
The mushroom looks around and says, “Hey, c’mon man, you can serve me, I’m a Fun-gi.”

Speaking of serving, what comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘servant’? What feelings are invoked when you hear the closely related word ‘slave’?

Let’s face it, most of have negative images and feelings, when we hear either the word ‘servant’ or the word ‘slave.’ Because that’s true, some of us may have had a difficult time coming to grips with Jesus claim that “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave” (Matthew 26-27).

Leaders . . . servants? First . . . slaves? Servants and slaves, servant and slaves!? That doesn’t compute, not at first glance anyway. But if you could shed some light on this preacher, we’re all ears.

Okay, will do. First of all, without taking a breath from talking about servants and slaves, our commander-in-chief explains His reason for coming among us.

In doing so, He was simple and straight to the point “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

‘Not to be served;’ not to grab the spotlight in the center ring, not to make a name for Himself, though He did, or attract attention, though He did, or to become famous, though He did, or powerful, though He was. But to serve and to give.

And God has set His sights on building into us the same serving and giving qualities that made Jesus distinct from all others in His day. No! Yes!!

What did Paul write the Ephesians? “Growing in every way more and more like Christ” (Eph. 4:15b).

And in Romans: “For God knew His people in advance and He chose them to become like His Son” (8:29).

Or take Colossians 3:10 for example: “You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and becoming like the One who made you.”

Or again in II Corinthians 3:18: “God wants to change us “into His likeness.”

‘What me, like Jesus? Sure, if it means being more loving and kind, more gentle and patient. But a slave, a servant? That’s not the way this world operates. The really successful people in this world have people serving them.

Nothing new under the sun there, for that’s where James and John had in mind; having people serve them as they hold the privileged position of sitting next to the King.

I know you’re thinking it wasn’t James and John who made this request; it was their mother. She can be excused I suppose. What mother doesn’t desire great things for her children? And she doesn’t ask for her sons to sit at center stage she knows better than that, that’s where Jesus sits. But like any attentive mother who keeps her eyes open for the breaks in life that could lead to a nice promotion she pushes for James and John to sit right next to the King. But I don’t see James or John complaining.

When Jesus attempted to clarify the situation by asking, “Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” (Matthew 20:22). In other words, “We don’t know what you mean for sure about that cup of suffering but we’ll do whatever it takes to be Your right hand men.

And not just James and John; notice how the others respond to that kind of glory hounding. “When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant” (Matthew 20:24). You see, they were ticked that James and John were asking for this special favor, but not because it was wrong in and of itself, but because they were jealous, because they coveted the same thing.

So Jesus pulls them aside and spells out the sharp contrast between His philosophy and the world system in which they, and we, live.

Hey boys, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them” (Matthew 20:25).

That’s right, we have our President and Vice, our speaker of the house and majority leader and a whole host of other characters who have been voted into various positions of power and authority and who have all kinds of special privileges we peons don’t. In the military, there are officers and enlisted men and ranks within each. In the business world there are CEO’s and CFO’s who lord it over managers, who lord it over foremen, who lord it over laborers. That’s just the way it works! Right?!!

“But among you, it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28).

I know it doesn’t compute but for all who desire to be great; “servant and slaves” . . . “servant and slaves!” Forgotten words; even in many church settings. But Jesus says “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.”

“Servants and slaves.” J. I. Packer writes, “Both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master’s purchased property. Bought to serve his master’s needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave’s sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one’s Savior.” ¹

What does a 21st century servant/slave of Christ look like?

That’s exactly what I hope to explore over the next few weeks as we examine the mindset of a servant, the attitude of a servant, the tools of a servant and the servant’s reward.

And I promise you that if you will make the effort to listen and learn with an open heart and mind, your life will improve for the better because you will become more and more like Christ.

And just as importantly; when we as individual Christians grow, so does the church. How did Paul say that in Ephesians? “He (Jesus) makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (4:16).

As I conclude this opening salvo about serving, I want to remind you one more time, our Commander-in-Chief wouldn’t ask us to do anything
He Himself wouldn’t do.

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28).

Or as Paul wrote about it after the fact:

Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up his divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

But wait a minute; that’s not the end of the story:

Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

Sound familiar? Jesus also said, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

In other words, the truly great people are those who serve others.

They may not get their faces plastered all over Time magazine, but they will be exalted nonetheless.

Writer Philip Yancey notes that toward the end of his life, Albert Einstein removed the portraits of two scientists, Isaac Newton and James Maxwell, from his wall. He replaced those with portraits of Gandhi and Schweitzer. Einstein explained that it was time to replace the image of success with the image of service. ²

Nothing is more refreshing than a servant’s heart and a giving spirit, especially coming from someone many would tag as a celebrity.

Some of you may remember the name Colonel James Irwin. That’s right, he was one of a handful of astronauts who flew to and walked on the moon. In his book, Destination Moon, Irwin wrote, “Jesus walking on the earth was infinitely more important than any man walking on the moon.”

He also wrote about how on the return trip to earth as he was looking out a window watching the beautiful sight of our blue-green planet it occurred to him that he was going to be hailed a hero; a superstar, a celebrity. Being a Christian he felt uncomfortable with that. So he composed a little speech that he gave at every news conference and speaking engagement he was involved with over the next 20 years as he traveled around the world:

As I was returning to earth, I realized that I was a servant, not a celebrity. So I am here as God’s servant on planet earth to share what I have experienced that others might know the glory of God.” ³

The glory of God. That’s so good because that’s exactly what we as Christ followers are to be about; being like Jesus; serving and giving to others so that they might know the glory of God through you; through me, through us.

CLOSING PRAYER

[Please pray as you feel God is directing you.]

CLOSING SONG

In My Life Lord

Kilpatrick, Bob

In my life Lord, be glorified,
Be glorified.
In my life Lord, be glorified today.

In Your church Lord, be glorified,
Be glorified.
In Your church, Lord, be glorified today.

As we serve, Lord, be glorified,
Be glorified.
As we serve, Lord, be glorified today.

©1978 Bob Kilpatrick Music
CCLI License Number 1843349

BENEDICTION

(May you) grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

II Peter 3:18

---

1 James Packer, Your Father Loves You, (Daily Devotional) [Wheaton, Illinois:
Harold Shaw Publishers, © 1986]. Page for March 3.

2 Philip Yancey in Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 4
https://thepastorsworkshop.com/sermon-illustrations-2/sermon-illustrations-service/

3 James Irwin, Destination Moon, the Spiritual and Scientific Voyage of the Eighth Man to Walk on the Moon, [San Antonio, Texas: The Vision Forum, © Page