SERVE CAMPAIGN – Week 2 (May 29, 2016) Serve stories: BRANDON – 32 My life purpose as I now understand it is summed up in the words “living the reality of Christ.” This one statement has revolutionized my life. My personal values, giftings and experiences have led me to a passion for leading people to live the reality of Christ in every area of their lives. The lights are on! I see God’s purpose for my life and how every area of my life can help me reach it. JERRY-­‐ 42 I now see that God doesn’t waste time. It is apparent to me now that God is using all of my life-­‐ the personal and professional, the good and the bad-­‐ to accomplish his vision for my life. It has given me greater appreciation for some of the life experiences I’ve gone through-­‐ and if it was left up to me-­‐ I’d never have chosen to go through them. Now I have a better understanding of how I can leverage all of that experience for good where God has me today. Deidra – 28 As I documented my core values, gifts, and experiences, I prayed that God would reveal exactly what that meant for me. He answered my prayer! I’m here to make a difference in children’s lives! My life mission is to partner with parents in providing children with the skills, experiences, and resources that will enable them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. As I have continued to pursue God’s calling in my serving choices, He continues to equip me for better things. I feel so blessed to be able to bring honor and glory to God each day by fulfilling God’s calling on my life. Virginia-­‐ 59 When I was in the midst of a job transition with different opportunities before me-­‐ I revisited my earlier review of my life vision. One of my core values is relationships and fostering community through service. I am gifted in shepherding and leadership. And I had lots of experience leading teams of volunteers. This knowledge allowed me to see clearly that God was calling me to work in a very “hands-­‐on” environment. After a year-­‐ I can’t imagine doing anything other than what I have the privilege of doing now. Sam-­‐ 67 With my career coming to an end and a life full of memories behind me, I wondered what the next stage of life would hold for me. Would I be able to manage the transition out of the workforce? What would I do with my time? Did I still have value to add to this world? After much prayerful reflection-­‐ thankfully God reminded me that He was not finished with me yet! I think I enjoy life more today than ever before because I’m using the gifts God gave me and my life experiences to serve in ways that are extremely gratifying. Frankly-­‐ I think these are some of the best years of my life! These stories point us to a life well lived-­‐ a life lived on purpose-­‐ God’s purpose. To get there we’re going to have to ask ourselves some tough-­‐ heart probing questions. You know-­‐ the Bible is full of answers-­‐ but it also spurs some powerful questions in our minds as well. • What is my life adding up to? • What and who do I live for? • Who will remember me? • Did I make a difference? By spending some time pondering questions like these-­‐ it compels us to become intentional and purposeful with the little daily choices that all add up in the end-­‐ to define our lives. Unfortunately-­‐ many Christ-­‐followers today are going through life lacking a clear vision, a big-­‐idea, a God-­‐designed purpose for their lives. When asked, some might at least say that their “vision” is to be rich, to be famous, to have fun… but none of these visions for life reflect a Christian framework or understanding of living out God’s grander vision for their life. For many-­‐ life is reduced to going through our modern day motions and just trying to avoid the worst possible outcomes-­‐ let’s just pay the bills, stay married, and keep the kids out of jail! So let me ask you this morning-­‐ do you have a clear picture of God’s grander vision for your life? Could you articulate right now God’s calling for your life-­‐ the unique contribution you can make in this world? We want to help you be able to confidently answer that question-­‐ so for the next few minutes let’s begin to lay out a process of discovery that-­‐ with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit-­‐ can lead you to a greater understanding of God’s vision, the big idea, the personal mission-­‐ that God has for your life. Specifically, let’s talk about how you can get there-­‐ how you can find God’s vision for your life through serving. To help us-­‐ I have come up with an outline based on the word SERVE that might help us remember some of the key components to living out God’s vision for us. Key Verse: 1 Peter 4:10-­‐11 (NIV) 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. S E R V E S= Spirit’s selection. 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NIV) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. This might offend our modern day sensibilities a bit-­‐ but I have a newsflash for you-­‐ God is in charge and not us. Shocking I know. We probably understand this framework conceptually-­‐ but practically we live our lives as if we were in control of things and God is a distant observer-­‐ somewhere-­‐ out there. We don’t pick and choose our spiritual gifts. The distribution of the gifts we have are determined by God. The gifts we have are a manifestation of God’s grace, God’s presence, through us. Part of our task is to identify the spiritual gifts that God has placed within us. God is the creator-­‐ the designer of our lives-­‐ and in his design he has purposefully created us to express a part of who he is as we serve. So it is as we are serving that we are able to experience God more fully and reflect his will to those we are serving. The way that we serve is not just by some random choice we make-­‐ serving within out giftedness means living out the unique design God has for you! E= Spirit’s empowering-­‐ Acts 1:8 (NIV) …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you… It is the Holy Spirit that gives us super-­‐natural abilities to serve. These are beyond pure human capacities alone. Serving in our area of gifting goes beyond natural strengths and talents, and moves us into a mysterious partnership where God is actively present in us and through us as we serve. While some gifts get more press and seem more “spiritual” than others-­‐ all of the gifts we are given have their origins in God and are expressions of God through us. One of the greatest joys for a Christian is to sense that God is working through you to bless and serve others. It’s the fuel that drives our passion for living. It is no small thing to represent Jesus on earth in this day and time. There are so many needs within the church and in our community-­‐ and the world around us-­‐ it is imperative that Christians yield to the power of the Holy Spirit and serve in ways that reveal God in these situations. The world needs to see what Spirit-­‐empowered ministry looks like-­‐ where real needs are met and life change really does happen. I’d like to see us at OUMC re-­‐commit ourselves during this serve campaign to be a church that is serious about discovering and deploying our Spirit-­‐given abilities to bless our community. R= Our response-­‐ John 20:21-­‐22 (NIV) Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Serving is a response to God’s unique calling for us. Serving is not forced or coerced or strong-­‐armed. Serving is a yielding and loving response to the grace and forgiveness already shown to us. The Christian life is one that willingly yields to God’s leadership and empowering so that Christ can continue his work through us. How are you responding to the work of God’s Spirit in your life? Are you open, anticipating that God will work through you? Do you intentionally set aside time to draw close to God and listen for his whispers of wisdom and guidance about the direction for your life? When Christ calls you-­‐ what is your response? Remember-­‐ gifts must be received-­‐ God offers His Spirit to you but you must respond with receptivity and openness. V= Volunteer or called?-­‐ Matthew 4:19 (NIV) "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Language is important – because our language reveals some of the assumptions we hold that are so ingrained in our thinking that we don’t pay much attention to the significance of their meaning. One way we do this in the church is to talk about volunteers. Volunteering is not really a biblical framework. Serving is more than volunteering-­‐ serving is initiated by the work of God’s Spirit in our lives and includes our living out His design for our lives. Volunteering-­‐ did you know that the word “volunteer” is not used even 1 time in the Bible? But the word “serve” occurs some 220 times in its various forms in the NIV text. Serving is a more Biblical framework than volunteering-­‐ and in this case our words matter-­‐ because they reflect an underlying assumption we often have that is detrimental to our spiritual growth. When we use the term “volunteer” we are ingrained in the idea that the activity we’re engaged in is something we’ll get around to if we have some spare time. Volunteering is seen as an option-­‐ whereas serving-­‐ in the Biblical framework is a priority of the upmost importance. Serving is a natural expression of our relationship to God. It is an inseparable outcome of our faith connection to God. The Biblical framework for serving is where Jesus calls us-­‐ he initiates-­‐ and we respond to his call by allowing the Holy Spirit to develop us to become thoroughly equipped for every good work. They hymn “Here I Am Lord” – captures this idea: God says-­‐ Who will bear My light to them? Whom shall I send? Here I am Lord, Is it I, Lord? I have heard You calling in the night. I will go Lord, if You lead me. I will hold Your people in my heart. E= Spirit’s expectation. John 15:8 (NIV) “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Let’s reverse engineer that statement-­‐ We show or prove that we are Christ’s disciples as we bear much fruit. Bearing fruit honors God-­‐ and is an integral component of true worship. Serving is not an add-­‐on, upgrade or optional equipment in the Christian life. Serving is the normal expectation for a Christ-­‐follower. Serving is in our DNA as a Christian and is an essential element in the life of faith. Serving is an external and visible expression of an internal and invisible faith. God expects us to serve because that’s how he designed us to experience many of the blessings of life-­‐ serving is not so much something we have to do-­‐ rather it is a means by which we can experience a state of blessedness (life) that nothing else can provide. Serving is the way we are hardwired-­‐ so when we bypass serving we short-­‐circuit God’s pathway of blessing for us. We only hurt ourselves when we believe the false idea that being a Christ-­‐follower is just about this one hour on Sunday. Following Christ is an all-­‐in commitment of faith-­‐ where all that we are and all that we do reflects the faith that we have. Are you all in for Christ? Do you believe that God really expects you-­‐ as a follower of Jesus, to be serving in some capacity? Do you believe that serving is a non-­‐negotiable element in your relationship with God? Do you agree that without serving-­‐ you cannot fully realize the life God has for you? SERVE Next Steps: Reflection questions: • What do I live for? • What will I be remembered for? • What is God’s vision for my life? • Besides serving my family, I believe the number one thing God has called me to do is… Life Summary statements: • I made a difference in the world by… • God was glorified through my life by… • People know I loved them because I… Finding my fit: Do a personal assessment to identify your core values, past experiences, and your spiritual gifts. The intersection of these three areas is your ministry fit, and a great starting point to explore and discern your unique calling. CORE VALUES SPIRITUAL GIFTS PAST EXPERIENCES