Hebrews 6:1, Let us go on to maturity. Today, we turn our attention to the seventh characteristic of spiritual maturity. Spiritually mature Christians are intentional servants of Christ.
Deliberate Haphazard
Willful Chance
Planned Purposeless
Voluntary Accidental
Philippians 2:5-7, Your attitude should be the same that Jesus who being in the very nature of God…make himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant. (NIV) Servanthood is essential to God’s being. In serving, Jesus was not disguising God, but revealing what God is really like.
Mark 10:45, For I, the Son of Man, did not come here to be served but to serve others.
Your spiritual maturity will be seen in your attitude towad serving.
Acts 9:1-6, And Paul said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’… ‘Lord, what do you want me to do?’ (NKJV)
Question #1 has to do with position.
Servanthood begins with the recognition that Jesus is Lord!
Question #2 is the obvious and natural response to the answer to question 1.
Lordship is not a neutral issue. It is not a lip service issue.
Luke 4:46, Why do you call me “Lord” when you won’t obey me?
Matthew 16:18, On this rock I will build my church and the powers of hell will not conquer it. (NLT) The Church is the community of the faith through which all believers are to live out the realities of the Kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 12:13, We have all been baptized into Christ’s Body by one Spirit. The work of God belongs to the people of God,
Ephesians 4:11, 12, He gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church. (NLT) Every believer is gifted by God to serve.
1 Peter 4:10, God has given gifts to each of you…so that his grace can flow through you. (NLT)
Ephesians 4:16, As each part does its own special work, it helps all the other parts to grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing.
Romans 12:2, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world. Consumerism is the spirit of the age. It turns people into takers not givers. Choices are made by one criterion: What’s in it for me. It is the spirit described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: lovers of self…lovers of money…lovers of pleasure…proud…no selfcontrol… self-promoting…dog-eat-dog…RELIGOUS