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Serving Like Jesus: Humble Leadership and Christlike Service · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. And so we are
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  going to be in a new episode this full month.
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  And so we are doing seasons and in May in a state
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  in action. And so welcome to Fostering Faith.
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  This month is all about putting what you believe
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  into motion. Faith is never meant to sit still.
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  It was meant to move, serve, love, and shine.
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  This month we learn what it means to live out
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  our calling in everyday life through serving,
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  generosity, kindness, and being the hands and
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  feet of Christ. And our anchor verse is James
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  2, 17. Faith by itself is not accomplished by
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  action is dead. And so in this episode, serving
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  like Jesus, there is a moment in the gospels
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  that still takes my breath away every time I
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  read it. It doesn't happen during a miracle.
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  It doesn't happen during a sermon. It doesn't
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  happen when Jesus is calming a storm or raising
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  the dead or multiplying bread. It happens in
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  the quiet, in the ordinary. In the moment that
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  no one expected, Jesus knelt down, grabs a towel,
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  a basin, and washes his disciples' feet. The
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  king of kings, the lord of lords, the one who
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  created the galaxies, the one who farmed oceans,
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  the one who holds all authority, the one who
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  commands the angels, the one who will return
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  riding on clouds, that Jesus got on the floor
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  and took the posture of a servant. If there was
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  ever a moment that revealed the heart of God,
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  this was it. Because Jesus wasn't just teaching
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  what to do. He was teaching who to be. Serving
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  isn't something Jesus did occasionally. Serving
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  is who God Jesus was. And if we follow Him, serving
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  becomes who we are. Serving isn't small. Serving
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  is spiritual. In our culture, serving is often
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  seen as optional, extra. Something that you do
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  if you have time. Something leaders delegate.
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  Something that people outgrow. But in the Kingdom?
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  Serving is greatness. Serving is leadership.
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  It's spiritual maturity. It's warfare. It's obedience.
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  It's being... Jesus said it clearly. Whoever
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  wants to be great among you must be a servant.
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  In Matthew 20, 26. Not might be. Not could be.
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  Not should be. must be. In other words, greatness
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  in the kingdom has a towel in its hand. And why
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  serving is so powerful spiritually? Serving is
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  not a random act of kindness. It is a weapon.
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  Serving destroys pride. Serving silences insecurity.
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  It kills comparison. Serving develops humility.
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  Serving strengthens your identity. Serving builds
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  compassion. Serving shifts your focus from yourself
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  to others. Serving expands your spiritual capacity,
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  and serving aligns your heart with God's heart.
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  And when you serve, you become more like Jesus.
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  And that enemy hates serving because building
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  unity, humility, and love are three things that
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  hell cannot compete with. and as we walked out
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  of the Christmas season and serving Christ and
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  helping people with gift giving and the angel
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  trees and just allowing and just being compassionate
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  and seeing people for what they have and what
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  they don't have and just looking at people like
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  they are children of God and that just to have
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  just the ability to help people and to serve
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  people and often in my office my nurse is busy
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  because we are a very busy practice and so I
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  will room patients a lot to the waiting room
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  get a patient, I'll do my own vitals, I will
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  room them. And it is so funny because I'm a nurse
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  just like she is. And we are the same people.
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  We're just same. We're just same. And then my
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  patients get so tickled. They're like, oh my
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  gosh, you came and got me? Yeah, absolutely.
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  I'm a nurse. I can take vitals. I can room patients.
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  I can put you on a bedpan. I can, you know, like
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  to serve somebody. And that's, I'm a nurse. I'm
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  a nurse at heart. I love to help people. I love
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  to love on people. Just to be able to... is to
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  serve people and make people feel better and
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  just like to just allow them. We give haircuts
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  and we shave people and we give baths and just
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  to walk out of there, just walk in and you're
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  filthy dirty. And God's timing is just wonderful
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  because He'll put that patient in the middle
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  of a day and then I will have a patient show
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  up or He'll put them at the end of the day or
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  near a lunch or whatever. So we have extra time
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  to love on them because He sees what they need.
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  And they need a bath, they need to shave, they
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  need their hair washed, they need their feet
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  washed. And so it's just, it's so great to make
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  someone feel seen, loved, heard, and just to
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  walk out of an office just making you smell good,
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  you feel good, and you look better. And so it's
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  just, it's just, I just love it. I just love
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  it. So in that same instance, just to serve people
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  and meet them where they're at. And it's just,
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  I just love it. Okay. So the most powerful servant
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  in scripture were not strong, but they were available.
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  And so God never said, Find the most qualified.
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  Find the most impressive. Find the most influential.
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  Find the most perfect. He didn't say that. God
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  looked for willing hearts. He looked for the
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  people that was willing to do the work. And so
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  David was a shepherd. Moses was insecure. Ruth
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  was grieving. Esther was afraid. Mary was young.
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  And the disciples were ordinary. David had a
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  past. But they were not chosen because they were
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  strong. They were chosen because they were surrendered.
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  And Paul was surrendered as he was going to kill
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  Christians. Yeah, whenever you have your eyesight
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  taken away from you, you turn to surrender. Servanthood
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  begins with one sentence. Lord, here I am. Use
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  me. And let's pause right there. Are you guys
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  willing to pray that? And to say, God, I'm here.
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  Use me as you need me. Here I am. And that is
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  a bold prayer. And so serving breaks the power
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  of self -focus. And so we live in a culture obsessed
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  with fighting yourself and being true to yourself
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  and putting yourself first, protecting your energy
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  and doing what benefits you. But Jesus teaches
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  the opposite. If anyone wants to come after me,
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  he must deny himself in Luke 9 .23. Not deny
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  your personality, not deny your purpose, not
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  deny your value, deny your self -centeredness.
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  deny your comfort obsession, deny the need to
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  be served. Serving isn't just about being less.
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  It's about becoming more like Jesus. Jesus served
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  people who didn't deserve it. And this is the
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  part that hits deep. Jesus washed Judas' feet.
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  He served the one who was going to betray him.
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  He served the one whose heart was wrong. He served
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  the one who didn't appreciate it. He served someone
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  who wouldn't change because of it. Because serving
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  isn't about them. Serving is about you being
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  shaped into Christ -likeness. And you will serve
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  people that don't thank you, that misunderstand
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  you. You will serve people that don't reciprocate
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  it. And you will serve people who don't see it
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  as a sacrifice. And you'll serve people who don't
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  clap for you. And guess what? That's okay. Jesus
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  sees it. Jesus rewards that. And Jesus honors
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  that. Heaven keeps records of all the things
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  done here on earth and that the earth overlooks.
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  Jesus sees your heart. He sees what you do behind
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  closed doors. He sees what you do and don't post
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  on social media. He sees what the right hand
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  does and the left hand doesn't know about. He
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  sees what you are doing and hiding, and potentially
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  you're hiding it from your husband. If my husband
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  knew how we serve other people, he may, and he
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  has a very generous heart, but my husband doesn't
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  know everything that I do to serve others. Why?
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  I don't think that he would care or mind. But
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  I also... He doesn't need to know. God knows
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  what I do, and He sees my heart. He's the one
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  that prompts it. And I'm pretty sure I probably
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  don't know what He does either, or what my daughter
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  does. It's just because you don't have to post
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  it on social media. You don't have to put it
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  on Instagram. That's between you and God. And
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  so serving is not about availability. It's about
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  priority. We don't serve because we have time.
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  We serve because Jesus is Lord. Serving isn't
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  a leftover. Serving is a calling. And listen,
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  your serving will look different than everyone
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  else's. Some people are serving by leading, by
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  praying, by teaching, by comforting, by giving,
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  by encouraging, noticing needs, helping quietly
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  through hospitality, by showing up, by mentoring.
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  There is no small service in the kingdom. In
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  the moment that you make God's house a priority,
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  God starts prioritizing your house. And so the
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  heart of the servant, I think that there's three
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  Christ -like postures. One, serve with humility.
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  Philippians 2 .3 says, Humility isn't thinking
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  less of yourself. It's thinking of yourself less
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  often. And humility says, I don't need credit.
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  I don't need an applause. Jesus sees me, and
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  that's enough. So take your heart. Would you
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  do all the kind things if you didn't post it
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  on social media? If you didn't credit for it,
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  if you didn't get credit for one more good deed,
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  would you still do it? Two. Serve with joy. Serving
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  without complaining. Serve without roll your
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  eyes. Serve without resentment. Joy -filled worship.
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  Joy says it's an honor to serve God's people.
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  So do you begrudgingly go to church and pass
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  the bucket? Do you grumble and complain that
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  you have to teach kids ministry? Or do you find
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  it an absolute honor that God has allowed you
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  this position and that you get to go serve and
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  pass the buckets? You get to go stand in the
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  cold weather and just greet people and be so
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  high energy whenever they're coming into your
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  church parking lot? that you are just so overwhelmed,
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  that they picked your church. This is the day
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  that they can meet Jesus and be so excited. There's
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  nothing too small for God to notice. Three, serve
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  with consistency. Anyone can serve once. Anyone
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  can serve when they feel like they can. Anyone
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  can serve when it's convenient. But Christ -like
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  servants serve consistently. Consistency is kingdom
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  maturity. Consistency is spiritual strength.
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  And consistency is what discipleship actually
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  looks like. And so what serving looks like in
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  the real life. And it doesn't have to be anything
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  spectacular. Serving like Jesus looks like showing
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  up early, staying a little later, being willing
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  to do the unseen tasks. like putting toilet paper
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  in the bathroom, scrubbing a toilet, making sure
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  the lights are turned off, noticing that people
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  that are sitting alone, praying for someone quietly,
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  or actually praying when you say that you're
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  going to, giving in, giving whenever no one knows,
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  picking up the trash on the church floor, helping
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  a new family find a classroom, encouraging a
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  teen who feels awkward, a text to someone that
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  God put on your heart. Be obedient. Be obedient.
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  That can literally change someone's life. And
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  so God has put something on your heart, put a
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  name, and you don't reach out. Please do, please
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  do. Making space for people. Doing things that
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  aren't your job and that, I think, is one of
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  my pet peeves. That's not my job. Oh, that eats
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  at my brain. Stepping up when there's a need.
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  Serving is not a role. It's a heartbeat. The
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  enemy cannot stop a servant's heart, and do you
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  know why? Because a servant's heart is surrendered,
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  and hell cannot compete with a surrendered people.
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  Surrender is the greatest spiritual strength.
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  Servanthood is the greatest spiritual weapon.
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  And whenever you serve, pride dies, unity grows,
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  and strength in church strengthens. Your character
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  matures, your calling sharpens, and your faith
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  deepens, and your joy increases. and your compassion
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  expands. Serving grows part of you and nothing
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  else can grow. And so in this week's workbook,
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  and so if you don't know, we have Fostering Faith
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  Media and we have a website and we have all these
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  workbooks for every month, every week. I've already
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  lined out. They're printable. They are black
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  and white. They're super clean and crisp because
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  I hate wasting ink. And so it is something that's...
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  We worked on, and so we guys can have a workbook
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  to get these action snaps done. And so in your
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  workbook this week, where is God calling me to
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  serve right now? Is it in kids ministry? Is it
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  in use? Greeting? A prayer team? Your workspace?
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  Your home? Your community? A person God keeps
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  highlighting in your eye? What is it? Why does
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  He keep putting this person on their heart? Someone
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  hurting? Ask, Holy Spirit, will you reveal it
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  quickly? And then write one specific way that
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  you will serve someone this week. And actually
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  do it. Please. If you say you're going to do
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  something, you do it. Bottom line. And that way,
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  you get out of the habit of signing up for stuff
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  that you don't want to do. And so, not beg, not
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  be nicer, not help more, be specific. Bring someone
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  a meal. Volunteer on Sunday. Text someone encouragement.
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  Pay for someone quietly. Pray for someone intentionally.
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  Offer help before asked. One act of service can
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  open your heart to God. And so as we go into
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  this prayer, we hope this message encouraged
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  you. We hope this message inspired you. And maybe
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  this acts of service will really open the door
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  for you to be a blessing to somebody else. And
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  leave a comment, write a review, help our podcast
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  grow because we're believing big. for this podcast
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  in this year. And so we would love to pray for
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  you. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much
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  for a servant heart. Thank you so much that our
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  hearts are humble. Thank you that you're opening
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  our eyes to see the needs. Thank you that you
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  are shaping us into the people who love deeply
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  and serve willingly. Thank you that our life
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  reflect your hands and feet in every place that
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  you send us. Thank you that we use your name
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  for glory. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen
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  and amen. We hope that you guys love this episode.
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  We hope that you guys return for next week as
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  we are gonna be in week two of generosity and
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  radical kindness. We have a great week. We love
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  you guys. Bye.