Saved to Serve

Welcome to the local church. If you're ready to worship and declare that you're never going back, put your hands together, come on. ♪♪ ♪ Goodbye, yesterday ♪ I'm living in the light of a new day ♪ I won't waste another minute in my old ways ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again ♪ Goodbye, yesterday ♪ I'm living in the light of a new day ♪ I won't waste another minute in my old ways ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again Come on. ♪ I've been born again Let's sing it out together. ♪ Again and again and again and again ♪ You rescued me out of the mess I was in ♪ You traded my sorrow for something to sing ♪ Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once let in ♪ Goodbye, yesterday ♪ I'm living in the light of a new day ♪ I won't waste another minute in my old ways ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again ♪ Goodbye, yesterday ♪ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ♪ I've got resurrection in my veins ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again Come on, sing it out. ♪ You rescued me out of the mess I was in

♪ You traded my sorrow for something to sing ♪ Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once let in ♪ Again and again and again and again ♪ You rescued me out of the mess I was in ♪ You traded my sorrow for something to sing ♪ Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once let in Let's go. ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ The world behind will cross before me ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ The world behind will cross before me ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ I'm gonna leave the world behind ♪ Will cross before me ♪ And I have decided to follow Jesus ♪ I'm gonna leave the world behind Cross before me ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ I won't turn back ♪ I won't turn back The world behind cross before me ♪ And I won't turn back ♪ I won't turn back ♪ I won't turn back The world behind You will cross before me And I won't turn back

♪ Again and again and again and again ♪ You rescued me out of the mess I was in ♪ Preyed in my sorrow ♪ Now dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ Again and again and again and again ♪ You rescued me out of the mess I was in ♪ Preyed in my sorrow for something to sing ♪ Now I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in ♪ Thank you Lord ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again ♪ Praise the Lord, I've been born again Yeah, make some noise, sir! Man, so, so good. Happy Sunday, welcome to the local church. How we doing, church? So good to see you. You can be seated for a couple of minutes. It is good to welcome you. My name's Johnny. It's a joy to welcome you to church today. If you're a guest in the house, just a special shout out to you. We love guests here at the local church, and we're so happy and glad that you're here worshiping with us, but we want to know that you're here worshiping with us. So if you haven't done so already, hey, there's a Connect card in the seat back right there in front of you. If you want to take that out,

check that first circle there. Give us a little bit of information. The best thing to do with it, as you exit today, turn left in the lobby, there's a Connect corner. It's really just a table, but we call it the Connect corner. Hand it to one of the team members. They're gonna put a gift in your hand. It's just our way of saying, yes, we love you. We are so glad you're up worshiping with us today. Something big coming up. We've been in this series for several weeks now about serving, and it's a great series. But we're going to give you an opportunity to follow through. CERT Team Weekend is coming up. It's actually this coming Thursday and Sunday, next Sunday, CERT Team Weekend. What is that? Well, we put tables out inside there for you. And we have CERT Team leaders that man those tables. So you can go and ask your questions. You can find out which team would be best suited for you to serve. You can do it as husband and wife. Some of those teams you can even serve as family with your older children. And so it's great. Listen, this is a way to step up and do it. We've talked about serving for a while.

We're going to have a great message today from Pastor Dan about Save to Serve. And so we're giving you a way. It's a built-in way to serve right here. CERT Team Weekend coming up. Hey, we're going to enter into a time of giving right now. If you are on the left side of your row, I promise you, there's a bucket right underneath your seat. Pick that bucket up and pass it to the right. And you may wonder, why do we pass buckets? Because not that many people give. Some do. That's why we do it. But also, I don't know about you, but my brain leaks. My heart leaks sometimes. And I need a reminder that it's good to give back to God. When that bucket passes your way, even if you're not giving or maybe you give another way, maybe you've automated it or you've already given some other way, it's still a good reminder that, man, it's good to give back to God. And it really is. And we just want to say thank you so much. It really, truly is your generosity and the goodness of God that make everything we do here possible. So we say it often and we mean it every time. If you're giving today, it's not just your bank account or the amount that's important. It's really not.

It's your heart. Give from a cheerful heart today. I want to pray for us. We call it familiar prayer. It's something we do each week and it's important to us. By the way, if you'd like us to pray for you this week, there's a prayer card in that same seat back in front of you there. Fill that out. You can give it to a team member later or if you don't want anybody necessarily to see it, put it in an offering box. We'll get it. We'll pray for you. We'll send it to some prayer folks that pray for you as well. But I want to pray for several that we got in this week. And so as always, if you're good with it, let's bow our heads and let's extend a hand in agreement. Let me pray for us right now. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for Sunday. God, I always like to pray for this, that it's the day your church gathers all around the world. And we're grateful for every church open in the name of Jesus. Remind us we don't compete, but we complete the body of Christ with all the other churches. And so Father, bless them, favor them,

fill them today with people and with you. And we're grateful for all other churches open today. Father, I pray for Jeanette, who's having surgery Tuesday morning. And Lord, I pray as people hear that in the auditorium or they hear that joining us online, they'll keep Tuesday morning in mind. And when they're driving to work or taking in the school drop-off line, Jeanette's name will come to their mind. And we'll just all lift her before the throne of grace and mercy Tuesday. But Lord, she's having surgery, got children that love her. And Lord, we just pray that it all goes well. She'll be in recovery for a while. She'll be in ICU for a while. Lord, would you watch over her, restore her completely and fully. Lord, for Lee, who's just come to this country, Lord, a refugee from South Africa and has been coming to our church. God, I pray for her. And I pray that she finds her way in this great country, Lord. I pray that this is a place that she can call home. And Father, would you bless her with all the things she needs? Lord, make her feel safe and welcome and wanted and loved. Thank you, God, for Lee.

And I pray for Rob, who had a really bad accident, Lord, and had surgery this last week that was successful, but there's a lot of things still to go, Father. And I pray that he's able to get up again. I pray that he's able to walk again. I pray for complete healing for him. So God, would you bless Rob in all of that? And Father, I pray for anyone here today that's dealing with loss or grief, Lord. And I've spoke to so many people, even today and through last week, that are dealing with loss and grief. And Father, I just pray, as only you can do, would you walk through this crowd slowly as you did in the gospels? And Lord, would you minister to hurting people that are down with depression or anxiety or some of those other really dark and heavy emotional things? God, would you lift them up? Lord, would your joy come in and take over, Father? We have a right to joy, we do. It's a gift of the, it's a fruit of the Spirit, Lord. It's not a fruit of our circumstances. So we have a right to it, Lord. I pray that we'd find ourself joyful, even in the midst of some of that stubborn darkness. So God, thank you. We trust you with all those things. We thank you for baptism today.

I thank you for every story represented today that's gonna be baptized. And so, Father, we lift all of these things before the throne of grace and mercy. We give you praise and glory, and we're trusting in that. Blood and the body of Christ, Lord, our Savior and our Redeemer. We love you in Jesus name. Let's say it together, y'all. Amen and amen. Well, hey, it's Baptism Sunday, church, and that means it's excitement. It really is. We again, all of these folks have wonderful God stories and baptism. Don't forget this. Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection. There's a reason we do it, because Jesus says to do it. Jesus did it. And it's your first step in obedience. So if you are here and you've said yes to Jesus, but you have not yet been baptized, but you'd like to be baptized, maybe after this service or in the next one, go out and see the people at the baptism table and they would love to baptize you. But hey, we're going to be back. We're going to baptize some folks right now during worship, because we just feel like that's where it belongs. And so let's stand together. We're going to continue to worship and be encouraging to these folks that are being baptized today. Amen. I know you've made this complicated More than it was ever meant to be Hasn't it always been about the same thing? Lord, bring us back to simple things

You be the center of it all My heart belongs to You My Savior of it all You're the one I'll hold on to For the beauty of Your name My soul will live to sing Jesus, I love You Jesus, You're the Son of God I need You to serve me I need to sit here at Your feet I was away for too much time I had a nightmare I chose the better thing You be the center of it all My heart belongs to You My Savior of it all You're the one I'll hold on to For the beauty of Your name My soul will live to sing Jesus, I love You For You are the center of it all My heart belongs to You My Savior of it all You're the one I'll hold on to For the beauty of Your name My soul will live to sing Jesus, I love You Oh, how I love You Oh, how I love You Jesus, I love You

Oh, how I love You Oh, how I love You Jesus, I love You My whole life for Your glory My whole world for You only Everything for the honor of Your name And if my days tell a story Let it be of You only Everything for the honor of Your name My whole life for Your glory My whole world for You only Everything for the honor of Your name ♪ Everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And in my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And my whole life for your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ For you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And in my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ And my whole life for your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ For you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And in my days tell a story, let it be ♪ ♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And my whole life for your glory, my whole world ♪ ♪ For you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ And in my days tell a story, let it be ♪

♪ Of you only, everything for the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh how I love you, Jesus I love you ♪ ♪ Oh for you are the center of it all, my heart belongs to you ♪ ♪ My savior all in all, you're the one I look on to ♪ ♪ For the beauty of your name, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Jesus I love you, my soul will live to say ♪ ♪ Yeah we love you Lord ♪ Father your name is power. There's nothing impossible for you. So as we worship and surrender our hearts, we trust that you are in control. Thank you Jesus. ♪ And I've tried so hard to see it ♪ ♪ Took me so long to believe it ♪ ♪ That you choose someone like me to carry your victory ♪ ♪ Perfection could never hurt it ♪ ♪ You give what we don't deserve it ♪ ♪ You take the broken things and raise them to glory ♪ ♪ You are my champion ♪ ♪ Giants fall when you stand undefeated ♪ ♪ Every battle you've won, I am who you say I am ♪ ♪ And crown me with confidence I have seen it ♪ ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ ♪ With the one who has conquered it all ♪ ♪ Now I can finally see it ♪

♪ You're teaching me how to receive it ♪ ♪ To let all the striving sins go ♪ ♪ This is my victory ♪ ♪ You are my champion ♪ ♪ Giants fall when you stand undefeated ♪ ♪ Every battle you won ♪ ♪ I am who you say I am ♪ ♪ You crown me with confidence I have seen it ♪ ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ ♪ With the one who has conquered it all ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ When I lift my voice. ♪ When I lift my voice and shout ♪ ♪ Every wall comes crashing down ♪ ♪ I have the authority Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ When I open up my mouth miracles start breaking out ♪ ♪ I have the authority and Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ When I lift my voice and shout ♪ ♪ Every wall comes crashing down ♪ ♪ I have the authority and Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ When I open up my mouth miracles start breaking out ♪ ♪ I have the authority, come on, say it out ♪ ♪ Jesus has given me ♪ ♪ You are my champion ♪ ♪ Giants fall when you stand undefeated ♪ ♪ Every battle you won ♪ ♪ I am who you say I am ♪

♪ You crown me with comfort as I am seated ♪ ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ ♪ By the power of your name I am seated ♪ ♪ In the heavenly place undefeated ♪ ♪ By the one who has conquered ♪ ♪ And all the earth will shout your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these fools will say, praise ♪ ♪ All you Lord, say all the earth ♪ ♪ All the earth will shout your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these fools will say, praise, praise ♪ ♪ All you Lord, all the earth, all the earth will shout your praise ♪ ♪ All you Lord, all the earth, all the earth will shout your praise ♪ ♪ Say all the earth, say all the earth will shout your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these fools will say, praise, praise, praise, praise, praise ♪ ♪ All you Lord, it's your praise in our hearts so we can sing, praise, praise, praise, praise ♪ ♪ Because it's your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to you oh! ♪ ♪ It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to you oh! ♪ Come on, sing it out, great are you Lord. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ There's no one like you, you are. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ You can just raise your hands right there, declare it and say, God, you are so great. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ He's put breath in your lungs, he's given you life. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪

He walks with you every day, he never leaves your side. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ Come on church, raise your voice and declare it, say, great are you Lord. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ You are beautiful Lord, you are so great. ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ Come on, let's sing it one more time. Jesus, you are great in my life. Great are you Lord. ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Great are you Lord ♪ Thank you, Jesus, for your presence. We feel your presence this morning, we know you are here. And so we focus on you, we focus on your greatness. Nothing else matters. When we sit in your presence, Father, nothing else matters, it's all about you. And so we give you thanks, Jesus, for choosing us, Father God, for forgiving us, for loving us, and never leaving our side. We love you, Lord, and we pray in your name, amen and amen. Awesome church, check out this video. I felt like the enemy was trying to have me doubt the dreams, doubt God's word. After praying for a church for about a month and a half, because things that was going on in my life and where I was, I was praying to God, asking him, and local church actually came across my Instagram.

You can pursue God's plan and still struggle. And just because we pursue his plan does not mean that everything goes well. One of the sermons that was posted actually spoke into my situation and into my life. I was like, I can't doubt, I can't, I gotta believe, I gotta keep my faith in. Literally going into the Thursday night service, that was his sermon. Because a daydream believer is someone who sees something before it happens. My first service at the church was the first Thursday, because it was very intimate. I felt the love and I felt just at home, something that I haven't felt in a while. Just being here pushed me to serve, pushed me to get involved, pushed me to love others, but also loving Christ and knowing he is the source. But with Thursdays, the intimacy, knowing that I can come on this night and it's out of the ordinary. Christ didn't call us to go with the ways of the world and it's a Thursday night. It's a great bit of us that go, but that intimacy is still there, that genuineness, that care, that concern. The love of Christ is still in that room. The Holy Spirit is flooding the place and I just can't talk enough about it. And I don't want to leave.

Amen. Amen. My heroes at the local church are people that serve and I am just blessed by them. by them, the guy who just shared the video, comes on Thursday night and serves, and then comes back on Sunday and serves, and it's just sweet to see. By the way, quick word, we started Thursday night just a couple months back with a limited offering in kids' ministry. We now have kids' ministry for every age, birth through elementary school on Thursday night. So, if that's a fit for you, help us out. More people, we moved Thursday night, more seats we have opened here. Turn to somebody nearby and say, you're better looking than you used to be. Hey, I'm Dan Southerland, one of the pastors here. My privilege to teach today, we're in week four of a series called Made for More, Improving Your Serve. And those two pieces of the title are on purpose. God has more for us, regardless of how long you've known Him, He has more. Regardless of how well you know Him, He has more. Regardless of what you've seen Him do, He has more. But the more is hooked up to how we serve, because the way you encounter the more that Jesus has is by joining Him in what He did, which is He came to serve. So, since this is week four, let's review for a minute the first three weeks. Week one, we talked about the definition of a servant. Here's how we define a servant. It is someone who serves God by serving others in His name. Now, check out the movement in that. We serve God, He's our audience, by serving others, that's what He calls us to, back to Him in His name. That's the definition of a servant.

And week two, we talked about the heart of a servant. And we discussed the fact that nobody can serve everyone, but everyone can serve someone. Here's the truth. Jesus wants me to be willing to serve every person in my life. He wants me to be willing to serve anyone He puts in my path. And we serve in so many different ways. Week three, last week, Pastor Johnny spoke. If you weren't here, wow, go listen online. He killed it. He always does that Oklahoma twang and that just fun humor and total integrity. He just slays it every time. Here's one of the truths he talked about. When Jesus is my audience, service will be my focus. If we claim we love Jesus, we serve others. If we claim we follow Jesus, we serve others. That is the idea. Today, our title is Saved to Serve. And here's what we're going to focus on today. For most of our history as Christ followers in America, we have focused on salvation from the personal side of salvation, from the side of what God does for us, and that's a great side to focus on. But there's a second half of salvation, which is how we serve God by serving others. So, we're going to focus on that second half today, but let's review the first half just for a moment. We need a definition, salvation. What does it mean to be saved? You ready? It's God's rescue of sinners. Write that in your notes. That's salvation, God's rescue of sinners.

Why do we need rescuing? Because of these truths. One, we have all sinned. Romans 3 says, everyone has sinned, we fall short of God's standard. We all make mistakes, we all mess up, we all sin, and we'd all like to tell somebody off that's sitting near us today. So turn to them and say, I'm a sinner, you're a bigger one. Go ahead. Tell them. Didn't that feel good? Yeah. We've all sinned. That is all of us. What's the problem with that? Sin separates us from God. That's the second thing. You've got a holy God who's never sinned. You've got mankind, womankind, childkind, all people that come out of the womb sinning. You ever notice you don't have to teach a three-year-old to be self-centered? You don't have to teach a 13-year-old to be self-centered. But you don't have to teach a 33-year-old that either. We know how to blow it. We are separated from this holy God. Isaiah says, it's your sins that have cut you off from God. The next thing, Jesus died for our sins. Well, there's the good news. Those first two things are not too good. I'm a sinner, and I'm separated from God, but Christ died for my sins. The Scripture says, for God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Jesus didn't say. You clean up your act, and I'll die for you. He said, I'm gonna die for you and help you clean up your act. Different thing. How does it happen? Last one, when we surrender to Jesus, he saves us. We're sinners, it separates us from God, Jesus died to fix it, but I still have to say yes to Jesus. I still have to surrender to him. And this is not in your notes, but surrender is two parts. It's repent and believe. That's what it means to surrender, Lord, I'm tired of leading my way, I'm tired of the messes I make, I'm gonna turn around and go the other direction and let you be in charge. I'm gonna believe that you can do it. If you wanna summarize the entire New Testament in three words, repent and believe are those words. Romans says, if you declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. What's the point? Write it in. Salvation is personal. It is about what God does for us. It's a choice you make. You say yes to Jesus and it changes the direction of your life. It changes your eternity. It changes everything, especially if you follow that first big surrender to Jesus with daily surrenders to Jesus. But that is only half the salvation story. It's the half that American Christianity has emphasized, but there's a second half, and that's what we're gonna spend our time on today.

Yes, salvation is personal. It's also purposeful. Write that in. Salvation is purposeful. Is it a choice I make for myself? Yes. Does it change my life for the better? Yes. Does it move me from headed to hell to headed to heaven? Yes. Does it move me from being in charge of myself to putting Jesus in charge? It does. All of that's personal, but there's also an equally big purpose. God saves me, not just for me, but for the kingdom as well. Look at Ephesians 2. Such a beautiful layout of both the personal and the purposeful. God saved you by his grace when you believed you can't take credit for this. It's the gift of God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Now, here's where it changes to purpose. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us new in Christ Jesus. Why? So we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Don't miss what God says in that verse. Write this in. God saves you by his grace. So you can do the good things he has already planned for you. He saves me by his grace so that I can do the good things that he has planned for me.

Is salvation personal? Yes. Is it for me? Yes. Is it also purposeful? Yes. Is it for the kingdom and for others? Yes, it is. 1973 was an interesting year for me. I was a junior in high school, and as I finished that summer, I watched several of my senior friends, the ones that had just graduated, get drafted during the end of the Vietnam War. Draft was not a choice. Draft was, we've chosen you. You're going to serve. And I knew where my draft number lay for the next year. If the draft had continued into 74, I'd have been drafted. I know that for a fact, and I would have served. My mother would have cried, but I would have served. But an interesting thing happened. The war in Vietnam ended, and the draft ended, and all of a sudden, Uncle Sam had to come up with a new way to get people into the military services. They had to shift from, we choose you, you have no choice, to a different plan, and this is the program. This is the promotion they used for the next 30 years. I'm dating myself, but some of you will know this. Picture, guys. You remember that picture? Kind of silly-looking Uncle Sam, pointing and saying, I want you, because now the military had to recruit volunteers.

I'm going to show you a much better one. Check this out. Don't miss this. The God of this universe, the creator of all that is, the Savior Himself. Wants you, wants me. It's volunteer. I have to choose to say yes, I have to surrender, but He wants us. Wow, that changes everything. Write it in your notes, Jesus wants you. Turn to somebody nearby and say, I can't believe it, but He even wants you. Go ahead, let's have a little fun. I mean, we know what family's like, we get it. He wants you in His family, He wants you in His business. Write it in. We are saved to serve. Yes it's for us, yes it's personal, but it's also for others, it's also for the kingdom of God. I grew up with great grandparents that I knew as a small child on both sides of my family. On one side of my family, they were farmers. Now if you were a farmer in southern Oklahoma way back then, you just scraped by. The ranchers on the other side of the family did a little bit better, but still, running cattle was hard work. And what you did a hundred years ago, 90, 80 years ago, if you ran a farm or you ran a ranch, is you had lots of kids. My grandmother was one of 13. You know why you had lots of kids? Because you needed lots of hands. You needed lots of workers. You needed lots of people in the family business. The bigger the business got, the more members of family you needed.

I want you to notice how Jesus tells us to pray for the harvest, for the spiritual work of God in this world. Look at His words. Pray to the Lord, who's in charge of the harvest, and ask Him to send more workers into the fields. More workers. More hands. More servants. We are saved to serve. But here's the challenge. You ready? Write it in. We're going to go for it today. Most Christ followers act like we're saved to sit. I mean, I grew up in a church setting where if you came fairly often, and once in a while you put an offering in the offering plate, and, you know, you acted pretty decent while you were at church, you were good to go. Check your box. Got it done. Saved to sit. Woo-hoo. I didn't realize there's so much more. I had never coached my kids in a sport until my son joined the Cooper City Optimist Club. Jamie, they're still around, in the 10 to 12-year-old soccer league. He wanted to play soccer. Turned out he was really good. The coach sent out a note to the parents saying, hey, our first practice is this night. Can you parents please be there at the end of practice? I have something I want to share with all the parents. So I went for the whole practice.

I watched them practice, and at the end of practice, the coach gathered the parents and the kids together and said to us, hey, I've got bad news. My job has just transferred me out of state, and I've checked with the league commissioner, and he says the team can continue, but we have to have a parent step up to coach. Would one of you like to volunteer to coach soccer? Now, my son's standing here, but I am not looking at my son. I'm looking at the coach thinking, you dog, seriously, you did this? Finally, after about 30 seconds of silence, I look at Jared, who's looking up at me with puppy dog eyes, and he says, dad, you could do it. And my hand went up. I didn't even know my hand went up. I said, coach, I'll try it. I have never played soccer. I don't know the rules of soccer. I don't know how many players are on the field in soccer. The only position I know is goalie. What do these other people do? Man, I went online. I started learning, and for the next several years, I coached my kids all the way through elementary and middle school and high school because I learned that we are saved to serve. It's about getting off the sideline and into the game, so I'm just going to say it plain. You ready, church? Here it is. It's time to get off my blessed assurance and find a place to serve. If you want to abbreviate blessed assurance, feel free. Get out of the stands, get into the game. We fall into this lazy habit. We surrender to Jesus, we invite Him into our lives, He saves us, we show up for church, we try to be good, and we think we're getting it all. No, there's more.

There's so much more. But you can't access the more till you start giving your life away in service. That's where the more is. Now, I want to make sure you're not hearing this as guilt-driven. I don't believe in guilt-driven anything. I don't think we serve a God who majors in guilt. We serve a God who majors in conviction. There is a difference. Write this in. We don't serve because we have to. Uh-uh. We serve because we get to. There's a big difference. I didn't have to say yes to coaching that team, but it changed my life. I watch soccer on TV now. I'm man enough to admit it. It's such a difference when you get in the game. We also, let's say it another word, another way, we don't serve because we're supposed to. We serve because we want to. Oh, that's the more. When I start realizing how much God has done for me, I want to do something in return. When I get grateful for what God has done for me, I want to find a way to serve. I grew up in a middle-class family in Southern Oklahoma, eventually North Texas. And one year for Christmas, I was entering the first year of middle school, my parents announced a new Christmas tradition. We had adopted a single mom and her four kids from the church. And this was a single mom that was between jobs, that was struggling to get by, and basically wasn't going to have any Christmas if we didn't provide it. So my parents announced, we're going to get them a Christmas tree, we're going to take

them a meal on Christmas Eve, we're going to give them enough food they can cook for Christmas Day, and each of you kids is going to pick out two gifts for each of their kids. We're taking Christmas to them. And I remember thinking, this is the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Now, I'm in middle school. Middle-schoolers know everything, right? I knew everything. I literally thought to myself, I've never been more embarrassed to be a Sutherland. So we went shopping, we got all our stuff together, we went out and bought the tree, and sure enough, early evening, Christmas Eve, we show up at this house and knock on this door, and this single mom and all four of her kids answer the door, they're excited. We bring in a tree for them, and we help them decorate the tree with the decorations we brought, and we've got food that's warm for them to eat that night, and something else for them to cook for the next day, we put that in the fridge. My job was carrying the food in and putting it in the fridge, and I remember opening that fridge and thinking, there's nothing here. There's nothing here. And when I saw the joy on those kids' faces, when all of a sudden there was a tree where there had been none, there were decorations where there had been none, there were gifts where there had been none, I'd never been prouder to be a Sutherland. And I went home that night thinking, that was really cool. Maybe I ought to find some more ways to serve. Jesus highlighted this the night before His crucifixion. We find the story in John 13. It's the Passover meal. If you've never experienced a Jewish Passover meal, I hope you will sometime. It is a crazy, awesome experience where they celebrate how God saved them back in Egypt on the night that the death angel passed over the Hebrew children. It's a phenomenal story. It's a phenomenal event.

And the reason this story is a big deal takes a little bit of background. In Jesus' day, you wore open-toed, open-area sandals, and you walked on dirt roads, the same dirt roads that the cattle and the donkeys and the sheep walked on. The same dirt roads where the cattle and the donkey and sheep do the things that they do. Do I need to be more descriptive? And you'd walk those roads, and that stuff would ooze up between your toes, and it'd get into your sandals. So, the tradition in Jesus' day and throughout that part of Hebrew history was that when you came to the dinner meal, the lowest servant in the household would circle through and there'd be two basins of water, one at the door to wash your hands. Everybody did that on their own, but once you sat down, one large basin that the lowest servant in the house or the youngest member of the family would carry around and wash everybody's feet. Here's the problem. On the night of the Passover that they're celebrating together, all the servants are home with their families, and Jesus and the disciples come in and there is nobody to wash their feet. If you've traveled that day five miles away into Jerusalem for this moment, there's nobody to wash their feet, their stinking, shag, nasty feet. So Jesus gets up, takes the basin, and wraps a towel around His waist and washes the feet of all twelve disciples, and then said these words to them. If I, your Lord and teacher, wash your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. We serve because the one we love most serves. That's why. My Jesus served me. How? He came to a cross, dying in my place, said, I didn't come to be served, but to serve, washed the feet of His disciples, still lays down His life for us, and I want to join Him in serving others. That's how this works.

We serve because the one we love most serves, and we join Him best when we serve others. My parents made an impression with us at Christmastime, and that tradition we kept for years, and I looked forward to serving a family at Christmas that had less than we had. But I was still having trouble catching on to the idea of serving on a regular basis. I was not yet a Christ follower. I was a Christian with a little c. We went to church on Sunday because Dad made us, and I made this plan as a senior in high school. I was coming to a fork in the road, and I knew it. My parents' plan was for me to go off to college and get a degree and come out and get a job. My plan was to go on tour with the rock band I was playing in, which meant I needed to drop out of school in January of my senior year. These plans were not in agreement. It all shifted when I gave my life to Christ in December, but I was so excited about playing keys in that band. I love playing keys. I love playing keys in a rock band. I gave my life to Christ. God burned some bridges behind me. The band fell apart. The tour fell apart. I went off to college thinking, I'll give it a shot. The first Sunday I'm at college, I go with a group of college kids to a local church because they've got a large group from our state campus who went to that church. I show up for the 8.30 service because I'm still in the get church over with early mode. Beat the Methodist to the cafeteria. That's my idea. We're sitting in that 8.30 service, and they had a piano on one side, like where Ricky is over there, and an organ on the other side because back then that's all the instrumentation

churches had. They did a song, and I noticed there was nobody playing the piano. Somebody got up to make announcements and said, by the way, you've noticed we don't have a pianist today. That person has moved. If you know somebody who likes to play keys, let us know. We're looking for a pianist. They started the second song, which I knew. I got up from my seat in the front row down front. I've always sat down front. I'm ADHD. I cannot sit in the back. If I sit in the back, I see everybody that moves. I walked up the stage. to the keys and began to play. Now I'm warning you guys, Ricky, there's coming a Sunday when I'm going to walk up and hand you this mic and you're going to come speak and I'm going to play keys, bro. It's happening. We can do it next service if you want to. Because my favorite thing to do in the kingdom is to play the keys and that was my entrance to serving. And all of a sudden it wasn't about the dream I'd given up to drop out of school and play keys in a rock band. It was about getting to play keys for Jesus. I've been serving ever since. Write this in your notes. The most blessed people you know are those who serve. They really are. Jesus said it this way, it's more blessed to give than to receive. He taught us it's more blessed to serve than to serve.

He taught us it's not about you. It's about serving God by serving others in Jesus name. So last thing for your notes and we'll pray. When Jesus saved you, it was personal. He rescued you from yourself and your sin. Thank you, Jesus. I'll be eternally grateful. But he also recruited you into his family and his mission. Don't just do the first half of the story. It's time for us all to find a way to serve out of gratitude, out of appreciation, out of love for the one who loves us more than we love ourselves. We're going to pray together in a minute. I'm going to ask our prayer partners to come on down front. If you want to talk to somebody about giving your life to Christ today, these folks would love to do that. If you just need prayer about something, just come and tell them. If you don't even know what you need prayer about, they know how to pray. They'll be glad to help. Let's pray together right now. Father, thank you for saving us. Thank you for dying for us while we were sinners. Thank you for overcoming the separation between us. Thank you for loving us that much. We choose to serve you today, Father, and we choose to do it by serving others in your name. So help us not be satisfied to sit in the personal side of our salvation, but help us to get into the game on the purposeful side of your mission, your family business. We love you, Jesus. That's why we'll serve. In Christ who loves us, we make this prayer.

Church, you can stand to your feet as we sing one more song and declare to God that we are here, that we surrender to his will, that he can use us as he wishes. Father, use us as an instrument in your hands. You are the pot, I am the clay. Fold me and make, Lord, every way. With my heart, surrender to your hand. You can use me as an instrument in your hands. With my heart, surrender to your hand. You can use me, Lord. Yes, you can. You can use me, Lord. Yes, you can. ♪ This game I got, I'd do it all again ♪ ♪ Oh, you can use me Lord, you can use me Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me Lord, you can use me Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, you can use me Lord, you can use me Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me Lord, oh Lord ♪ ♪ I'm right here Jesus, use me Lord, oh Lord ♪ ♪ Use me Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord, oh Lord ♪ Say, Jesus I surrender. ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪

♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ You can use me Lord, you can use me Lord ♪ ♪ You can use me Lord, my life is yours, whoa-oh-oh ♪ ♪ My life is yours, whoa-oh-oh, you can use me Lord ♪ Come on, let's hear it, you can use me, Lord. You can use me, Lord. Come on, let's raise our hands and declare, say, Jesus I surrender. ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ ♪ Jesus I surrender, my life is yours forever ♪ ♪ Here I am Lord, send me ♪ Thank you Jesus. Use us as you wish. We will serve you and your people Lord. Church Awesome Worship Group with us. We always ask two questions. One, is God teaching you? What are you gonna do about it? We'll see you here at the local church next week. Be blessed.