Basics: Serving

We challenge the idea that church is a place to sit and instead call each other into generous service that flows from real faith and real love. We connect Scripture, practical habits, and local outreach stories to show why serving others is an investment in people, not charity. 

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_01 0:20

So this morning it's our privilege to uh have Pastor Will Grozkoff here. He is from Journey Church and he also serves here with us during the week, a couple days a week, as our maintenance uh facility manager. And then also he heads up Fight Club, which is a men's ministry that we get to be a part of, and uh it's countywide and the podcasts are global, and it's just a neat thing to see happen. So, Will, thanks for being with us this morning. Appreciate you.

What Generous Service Means

Built To Obey Work Love

Faith That Takes Action

Go Pray Pay Serving Roles

HABITS For A Strong Life

Feeding Families With Aaron McNeil

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Church. Hey, it is a privilege to be here. Uh, thank uh thanks so much, uh Pastor Todd, for letting me come in to speak to y'all. Um man, I'll tell you, y'all's church is full of wonderful people. Wonderful people. That's really they they they blessed me and my wife over the holidays. I thought that was just awesome. The loving and the generosity of this church is amazing. But man, y'all got some amazing people here. I'm telling you, y'all's praise and worship team did a killer job this morning. Uh in reality, y'all really don't know what you got. You know, Mick is an amazing, not just singer and uh full of talent, but he's an incredible speaker too. He gets to speak with us at Men's Fight Club. Uh, but also you got Scotty Hart, who is uh he's like um Jehovah Sneaky. He's the he's the he's the uh whatchall, the Christian ninja that just sneaks in and just, I mean, it's just he's done an incredible job with Men's Fight Club too, representing y'all well. I'm telling you, it's just amazing. God has been so good. I love the fact that God's arm is not too short, that he could reach anywhere. I know he reached into a pit one time in my life and pulled me out, and I haven't looked back since. I'll tell you, the best thing we could ever do is learn how to set others free. I love this uh series y'all are in. I have the wonderful privilege of being able to add to this. And uh we're talking about generous service today. When we're talking about generous service, actually what we're talking about is faith that works in love. When we mean a faith that works in love, I'm really talking about we need to have an attitude of servitude. Attitude of servitude. Serving, sometimes to some people is a dirty word because you know there's a lot of lazy people in this world. I know because this church is full of them, my church is full of them, every school, every household is full of them. It's when we get outside ourselves is when we reach that attitude of servitude. That's really what happens. When you start living for something greater than yourself, you actually have to serve greater than serving yourself, right? So I love the series you're in right now, and the title of this actually gives us something to aim for because it gives us a what? An attitude of servitude. It also gives us a meaning to the why. Why should we have an attitude of servitude? I'm gonna tell you why. It's because we're not saved by service. You know your works didn't get you anywhere, but you are saved for service. Because once you're saved, your works will keep you going. You know what I'm saying? It'll keep you going. We know this because of man's purpose from the very beginning. When God made man and woman, he said like this Adam was made and given three important things right off the get-go. These three things he was given. So this also applies to women, but this these three things he gave specifically to man right off the get-go. A will to obey, a work to do, and a spouse to love. This is in Genesis. You can read the whole chapter if you want to, but Genesis 2, 7 through 25, I'm gonna give you some highlights, uh highlight exactly what I'm talking about. This is Genesis 2, 7. Then the Lord formed the man out of the dust of the ground. He breathed the breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed man, placed the man that he had made. Now we'll skip forward to uh 2.15. The Lord God placed man in the garden of Eden to tend it and watch over it. So he made man and he gave him a job. He's gonna tend it, he's gonna watch over it. He's got something to do, right? And then he said, he warned him, You may freely eat of the fruit of every tree in the garden except for the tree of knowledge, good and evil. If you eat of this fruit, you'll surely die. So he gave him the will to obey. The reason why it's a will, because he has a choice to obey, right? So he gave him the freedom to not eat of it, and he gave him the freedom to eat of it. So it's a will to obey. That's what he gave him. Then, right here. Then the Lord God said, It is not good for this man to be alone. I will make him a helper who is just right for him. That's woman. So he gave him a spouse the love. That's where we're gonna start off. We'll go ahead and pray. God, we thank you for today. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity, Lord, to be in this wonderful church with these wonderful people. I pray, Lord, that you uh bless and anoint my lips, Lord, that what I have to say is strictly from you and for them. Lord, I pray, Lord, that me, being the first partaker of this message, also not just endures what you're giving me to speak, but also helps me to live out the words, Lord, that I say today. Lord, I thank you for this opportunity. We pray, Lord, that you bless the rest of this morning. Amen. We are to give of ourselves unselfishly and submissively. That is our will to obey. We're gonna give of ourselves. We are to give honor and find meaning in the labor we do. That's our work to do. We are to give our love for God and his people as an example in the way we love our spouse. That's our spouse of love. That's obey, work, and love. Every one of those are action words. Every one of those take and take action. If you used to tell your spouse I love you and never show it, you don't love them. Right? If you go to work and you just clock in but you do nothing, you don't work. Simple as that. And you know that 99% obedience is still 100% disobedience. That's it. I don't know about y'all, but I mean I'm a little bit different kind of speaker. I speak mainly to men. With Men's Fight Club, I'm able to do that. I speak a lot harsher because I expect more of men because I know God expected a lot of me. He put some great mentors in my life that push me towards where I'm at right now. And I know I cannot patty cake with men, and I cannot patty cake with adults. And last I checked, I'm looking around here. Every one of y'all look pretty seasoned. Even the youngest of you. Even the youngest of you. So I hope today that your skin is thick and you can handle what's being said. And if not, I'm really not apologizing. All right, so they're action words. And they're all service and they're all giving, right? See, we're all made in the very image of God. Therefore, we must reflect his image and likeness. I like how Paul said it best follow me as I follow the example of Christ. Some versions just say, follow me as I follow Christ. So that's good. You can walk in his steps, but following the example of Christ is what discipleship really is. So that means you show me what to do, then I do what you showed me. But when you become a disciple maker, now do you do what you showed me, but now you show others how to do it and you watch them do it. You got to pass that stuff on, right? So, so follow me as I follow the example of Christ. Not follow me as I believe in Christ. Churches are full of believers, but lack a lot of followers. And the American church is very crippled when it comes to that. He's talking about action, he's talking about serving because one thing for sure, Jesus on this earth was a servant leader. When he was here, that's what he did. He not just served, but he served by example. You wash feet because I wash feet. When you pray, you pray like this. He gave us an example, right? That's how he does. He led by serving. And I could tell you this if you're too big to serve, you're also too small to lead. Now he sits at the right hand of the Father because a lot of people think of Jesus in your heart. That's not right. Jesus is very plainly says in the Bible, he said he sits at the right hand of the Father making intercessions for you. What's here on earth with us now is the Holy Spirit. He enabled us to do this work. So if he's sitting at the right hand of the Father making intercessions, what is he doing? He's actively pleading and praying on your behalf. So that's the next thing you could do. Because prayer takes action. It takes action. I hate it when somebody says, hey, I got an unspoken prayer. Well, good, you've got an unanswered one too. Me, that's the way I think it. I mean, if you say you have not, because you ask not. Ask not means you didn't use your lips. Ask. If you want somebody to pray for you, tell them what you're praying about. Even if you say, hey, it's difficult for me to discuss, just pray for me. That's fine. But I'm gonna throw a blanket prayer out there if I don't know what it is. All right? But also Jesus was a disciple maker. Doing and teaching is faith by works. He showed by example. James 2.17. James is my favorite book because it's an action book, and I think every men are called to be men of action. I tell guys like this, you're called to be an action figure, not a Barbie doll. So that means do something. James 2.17, faith by itself is is if it's not accomplished, faith by itself, if it's not accompanied by action, it is dead. Faith without work is dead. That's a better version, I think. Some may say I can't go serve. Some may say I physically can't serve, or I'm physically unable. Some of us may even say I'm too old. Then some of us might say I'm too young to serve. But 2 Corinthians 9 8 says this God is able to make all grace abound towards you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have abundance for every good work. So even when you say you can't, you ain't got an excuse because he said, I will help you. I will help you. Well, I ain't got the brains, that's good. He calls stupid people all the time. I'm here. Mix here. Todd, you're the exception. I'm not gonna beat you down. I've done seen people beat you down before. I'm not doing that. I love you. Anyway, he said that have abundance for every good work. He did not say for every good intention. Do you notice that? That you're able to do every good work. See, there's three important three very, very important positions in serving. And we all know that Jesus talks about that way. He says the body is made of many parts, but I'm gonna highlight three really important ones, all right? You ready for that? Three important parts for serving. There's people that are the feet. They're the ones that go and do the work. They're out there, they're the missionaries, they're on the field, they're the ones boots on the ground, right? Feet. They are mobile and they can physically go serve. The second one is your hands. Your hands, those are the ones that put them hands together or put them hands in the air, or lay hands on somebody and they pray for the work. And let me let me let you know you are equally as important as the ones that are going and doing it. But then there's this other one. He's very important too. This barley port right here stands out like a sore thumb, and it's the butt cheek that holds the wallet. What about that person? They're important too. Because some of us can physically do the work, some of us could pray for the work, but if there's no funding behind it, what how much work do you think is going to get accomplished? We all need to know our place. Those that go, those that pray, and those that pay. And every one of them are important. All of them are equal. If you say, I can't do the work, okay. Well, can you pay for the work? No, can you pray for the work? Yes. Because I don't care who you are, whether you could go, whether you can't go, or whether you can't pay, you could always pray. You could always pray. Every one of those positions are highly necessary for the expansion of the kingdom. We must understand that we are never more like Christ than when we give, when we forgive, when we intercede, and when we serve. That's all four positions of Christ. And you're never gonna be more like Him unless you do all them. Jesus set you free so that you could help set others free as well. I use this scripture all the time with Men's Fight Club. I love this. It's Galatians 5.13 where it says, brothers and sisters, those who are called to be free, who's he talking about? All of us. You're my brothers, you're my sisters, and we're all called to be free, right? It says, do not use your freedom to indulge the things of the flesh, but rather use your freedom to set others free. That's my favorite version, but there is another version that says, to serve one another in love. Are you free today? Well, you're free to give, you're free to pray to pray, and you're free to serve. That's what you're free to do. And God has given you grace in abundance to be able to pull that off. So, what does that look like? At our church, we think a thing we we teach a thing called habits, habits. H A B I T S. We got a little uh slogan for each one of them. H is your hang time with God. Are you really spending time with God? Praying, meditating, or the big one, how about listening? Are you listening to the voice of God? One thing I know is for sure, this church hears it, because I know your leadership hears it. Are you spending time with God? Number two, this is a dirty word for most people, accountability. Most people are like, man, my demons are wrestling with it. No, you just have no accountability. Accountability is a big deal. B, Bible memorization. You can write this down, it's gonna be a great quote for you. Bible memorization is so important because I'm gonna tell you this. Two things you cannot be at the same time. You cannot be spiritually strong and scripturally ignorant. You got to know your word. Now, if you don't know that it's James 1-4, that's fine. But you if you do you know if it's in the Bible, that's all that matters. Know your word. Ah, this is where we're gonna get involved. Ah, involvement in the church. Are you actively involved in a church? And I'm not talking about being a pew sitter, because if you sit there too long, that's how it gets its name. Pew. Right? We ain't called to make bench warmers. Sometimes you gotta listen to the coach and get off the bench. Hey, even if you are the water boy, you know you're actually the most important person on a team? Because if you ain't doing your job, the rest of them can't play long. But serve. T. T is for tithing. Tithing is one of the most active ways you can be involved. Tithing is your will to obey. It's the simplest form of it. And know this, you don't pay tithes, you give tithes. Because you paid it, you gave it with the wrong attitude. God loves a cheerful giver. S. Here's the second one we're talking about today for sure. Serving outside the church. Do you know everything you learn from this pulpit, everything you learned from Wednesday night, and everything you learned in this church building is all to teach you what to do out there? To equip the saints, right? Here it is. Involvement in church is active participation with what is being taught on Sunday and Wednesday to use for practice. Ephesians 4, 11 through 12 says it like this, and he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and some teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. So, us, I'm gonna tell you, I know that Pastor Todd is a pastor. He's called to be a pastor. Me, I'm a different form. I actually am a teacher. I have a role of an associate pastor, but you don't see that in that list, but you do see teacher. So I'll give you a little example real quick. Everybody hold your hand up. See this right here, this thumb? This is the one that can touch all your digits. That's the apostle. You know what an apostle is? He's just a father to the church. He's a pastor to pastors. Then you got this one, your pointer finger. He's the one that points away, that's your prophets. Hey, you go there. You're that man. You know what I'm saying? Your longest one, that's your outreach, that's also the one that gathers them in. There's your evangelist. He goes out to bring them in. Then you got that one right there. The one that's married to the church. That's the pastor. And then your last one, the teacher, he's the only one that gets in your ear. That's me. That's me. All right. So service outside the church is where the work comes into play, utilizing the gifts, the talents, and the teachings to impact the world around us. So I'm going to introduce you to some amazing people, and I'm going to introduce you to some amazing ways for you to be able to get connected. And I think this is highly important that we understand what's going on around us because your church is actively involved in a lot of stuff that you may not even know about. I'm going to highlight a few ministries. I'm going to talk about one right off the get-go. Aaron McNeil House Ministry is a food service ministry where we have people that donate food and it's all canned goods, boxed goods, frozen goods, where we're able to distribute throughout the city. We all meet at the fairgrounds once a month. There's a group that comes in, there's different groups that come in every time to help serve, and they serve between 850 to 1,000 families. And I'm not talking about junk. I'm talking about good stuff. I'm talking about, I seen one time they're giving away two five pounds things of pork tenderloin. And when they're giving away whole chickens, when they're giving away bags, 10-pound bags of potatoes, 10-pound bags of onions. But I'm going to tell you, it's not just a great place to serve, but I'm going to tell you why we serve. I'm going to bring my friend Henry Jaco up here so he can tell you why he likes serving.

SPEAKER_06 18:23

First of all, thank you all. I think this is wonderful that as different churches we can come together as one because we all believe in the same thing, Jesus Christ. So it's wonderful that we get to communicate and share our experiences with one another. But that's not why Will asked me to come up here. But Aaron McNeil House, I've been serving with Aaron McNeil for a little over a year now. And it's only uh I think the second uh Saturday of each month. Uh takes maybe two or three hours to serve with them. But uh it's not the time commitment or the thing, it's the feeling that you get with serving these people. You know, it's it's amazing. You know, we watch these commercials on TV about uh hungry kids overseas and things. We've got hungry people right here in our city. And Aaron McNeil is doing something about that. You know, you see we serve over, you know, at a minimum 800 to a thousand boxes every month of food that goes out. Like Will said, that's not just a couple of canned goods and a box of crackers and things. With there's meat in there, there's fruits, there's vegetables. Um, and to see the look on these people's eyes when they come in there, the need that they have, that this might be the only food that they get that month. And you know, to me to come in there and and you know, you don't have to be a box carrier, you don't have to be uh, you know, somebody that can lift a lot of weight. If you can just raise a uh a soup can into a box, that that is help that is needed. You can direct traffic out there and not even touch a box and things. But the need is out there. Sometimes there's 20 of us, sometimes there's 50 of us, you know, but uh we always have enough to get by there. But once you come in and see that, there like I said, there we'll sometimes have uh, you know, so many cars that are lined out at the fairgrounds from the convention center all the way out to the road, and we're sitting there for hours loading boxes, and it just really touches your heart to see that many hungry people that's in this town, and that you can be a part of that to help them with their time because time is one thing that we all have fairly. We all have 24 hours of it. How do you use your time and what do you do to serve our commun community with that? But I just think Aaron McNeil is a very big part of our community, and I think it's something that um that is worth um serving.

unknown 20:46

Thank you.

Showers And Dignity For Homeless

SPEAKER_04 20:52

Also, we uh I'm uh I get to also get the privilege to serve with Aaron McNeil and with this other one, Living Water Shower Ministry, which is an amazing ministry that's actually held right across the street. Y'all CLC building actually hosts that. And it's where we're able to offer showers once a month to the homeless. We got several churches involved that is uh that's jumped in to do that. We have privileges where we could actually come in and not just not just be there for the shower, but we also have different churches come in to be able to uh serve food and to bring devotionals. But your very own Rich Leby is gonna speak about that. Look at this guy. I love him.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

Good morning, church. I'm gonna tell you something right now, get started. I love you, whether you like it or not. Welcome to First Baptist Church, and and I thank Will for the opportunity to get to talk with you for just a little bit. We just had her shower ministry yesterday, and let me tell you something. I have met some of the nicest people that are homeless. And let me tell you, it will touch your heart in a powerful way. And they're so appreciative just to have somebody to talk just to have somebody to smile. Ask them if they need anything. You see, we not only provide showers, but we provide a meal and a devotion. And we also have some toiletries and some sh clothes, some you know, new necessity things that they can get. And what I want you to know is this is the service that's provided. It really does change your life and the blessings you get. If you're in the mood for an extra good blessing, come on. We got them. And you're gonna get them. And it's very simple. It comes down to this do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As a small child, I was the oldest of five. And my mother called me into the kitchen and wanted to teach me that. I've never forgot it. And I've learned, even with talking with people who are struggling, especially those that are struggling, all you have to do is be kind, be Christian, and Jesus will take care of the rest. That's right. Amen.

unknown 23:36

That's right. Thank you, sir.

Recovery And Speaking Life

SPEAKER_04 23:42

Another group that Y'all's church is actively involved in is Redeemed and Restored. It's a men's ministry that pulls men out of addictions, whether it's drugs, alcohol, or those are the main two, but there's a lot of other stuff that goes with that. It gets people off the streets, gets people out of jail, gets people back into becoming active and productive members of society. And uh it's been an amazing privilege to be able to pour into that ministry. And I'm gonna have a guy, Mike Menzinaire, he's gonna come up here. Good friend of mine is gonna tell you about how Redeemed and Restored has affected his life and serving us well.

SPEAKER_03 24:25

Good morning, forever family. Uh my name is Mike. I am a grateful believer in Jesus. Um and I'll tell you that we you it it's the lineup that you got up here where you're giving showers or feeding people is what it all boils down to is the community as a whole. I heard this morning um that the statistics of the homeless population across this country is not just here in the United States, it's everywhere. It's better than 50 percent. Better than 50 percent of the people that are living on the streets are either uh addicted to alcohol or drugs. Almost every crime that's committed links into that somehow or another. If it wasn't for people, and it just this is the way God works because it's full circle, uh, that he's put in my path, then I probably speaking about Jesus jokes me up, I probably would have been one of those statistics. Right? But he put somebody in my path early on in my troubled teen years that just spoke to you guys. Right? That spoke he said something about God, the creator, that breathed life into Adam. But he also said in Genesis, He made us in his image. The power of life and death is in the tongue. We as Christians are called to speak life into other people. That's what we do there. You can see how it affects me. It makes me do cartwheels inside. It makes me stand up here and tremble and cry. At the presence of God. What he has done for me and what he does to others and to others. So if it wasn't for men like that and women like that, I wouldn't even be standing here. That's how important it is for you to pour into somebody. One? Ten? However many you can. Rich said it doesn't it doesn't cost you anything to be kind to somebody. And that's how I feel about it. Thank you guys.

Men’s Fight Club And Brotherhood

SPEAKER_04 27:07

I can tell you, um, redeem and restore really changed a lot in my life. I had a woman there that worked there, and she said, Hey, Will, can you announce at Men's Fight Club we need help at men's uh working at Redeem and Restore? I need some guys here to help. And I said, No, I'm not gonna announce that, but I'll come and work for them myself because I'm not gonna ask somebody to do something I'm not doing myself. So I started working there, and I'm telling you, I was one of those people that was always like, What is wrong with you? Man, get your life together. But after just a couple weeks, I'm like, hey, what's your story? What happened to you? Every one of us got a story. It put me into those moments where I'm like, you know what? The Bible's saying, as you do under the least of these, you've done unto me. You know, everybody here is a least of these. Everybody's been one at one time in their life. You know, we're only one decision away from becoming a least of these again. So we gotta help. We gotta help. With that, I've got Men's Fight Club. Men's Fight Club is a men's ministry. I started back in 2018, and it's gone global, and we're able to impact the world. But we're doing it even in this city. And in this church, you have an amazing man of God right here, Scotty Hart. Scotty's been with us now for two years, and I'm gonna tell you, man, I've been watching this guy grow. He's a corner man that represents y'all's church here. On Tuesday nights, we're able to do teaching series here, and we encourage all you men to come to this. I'm telling you, it's powerful. It's powerful that you have this in your church. You ought to utilize it, that it is here. But on Tuesday nights, we're also able to bring redeemed and restored in. So these guys are not just learning how to overcome addictions, but they're learning how to go from boys that shave to becoming men. And in that, we're teaching them to become men of God because that's their last step, that's where they need to be. How they impact the world matters, but we got to teach them that they're valuable first. So we'll let Scotty talk about that.

SPEAKER_07 29:05

So, men's fight club, one thing it's done for me, um, my anxiety is through the roof right now. But one thing it has done for me greatly is it's given me courage to be up here to talk in front of you all. Um also Tuesday nights with Redeemed and Restored, being able to teach those men and show them that we all have our own struggles. It may not be as deep as drug addiction or being in prison or anything else like that, but just showing them that we all struggle with something and we're all in this together. So um four things courage, love, growth, and belonging. Um being part of men's fight club has taught me how to love, and um, it has taught me that I am loved. Um, the group of men that we're part of is amazing. Without them, I wouldn't be up here talking right now. Um, I wouldn't be speaking at Trace Diaz coming up in a few weekends, and I wouldn't be speaking Tuesday nights. Last week I spoke on integrity, and this Tuesday night, all the men that are in here, if you don't have anything going on at six o'clock, come here. We'll be in the fellowship hall, and I'm speaking on forgiveness. Um belonging, that's another thing that I need. Um, being in the military, I had a group of brothers there. Stability, um, that was a different kind of brothers. But this group, um, we all love each other, we're always there for each other, and it's just amazing fellowship that um if you don't have, you need to become part of it, and you'll be amazed what it'll do for you. Um, and then what was the last one I said? Um courage, love. I don't know, I lost. So, but anyway, um, those of you that have known me since we moved here, this growth that I have received because of men's fight club um is amazing because I wouldn't be up here a few years ago. So um, men's fight club is a great thing. Every Tuesday night, you all can be part of it by just showing up and making it a priority for you. Thanks, guys.

Pregnancy Help And Healing

Grace And Mercy Women’s Restoration

SPEAKER_04 31:53

I tell you, it's made a world of difference in in a lot of men's lives. I started it because I needed it. You know, one thing I discovered a while back, Pastor Vince had told me this, and uh, it just really resonated with me. I mean, all men could agree that all women don't know what they want. Right? We know that just by asking them what do you want to eat? I don't know. But do you want to go get ride lobster? No. Do you want to get pizza? No. But they could tell you what they don't want, they just can't tell you what they want. But you know what? Men can't tell you what they need. And what they need is fellowship with strong, godly men. They need strong examples. That's what has to happen. And the world is full of a lot of lost, childish men that need godly examples. They're out there. You can find them. The next uh ministry I want to highlight is Alpha Alternative. Alpha Alternative is an amazing ministry. You know, one of the most important ministries here, because without a group like that, a lot of ministries wouldn't exist. Because the most dangerous place in America right now is a mother's womb. So many people are going through abortions that it's killing off the next generation. Thing is, there's also hope and healing for those that have done that because we worship a risen Savior. Alpha Alternative opens a door for women that are hurting that have had abortions. It opens a door for men who have paid for it to be able to have forgiveness. But it also offers a safe place for men, women that are going through trouble with pregnancies. It's an amazing ministry. I don't have anybody here to talk about today because they're all speaking in other churches. But I know enough about them to understand that, hey, every one of us here are a victory lap for some mother out there. Some mother that said, No matter what, I'm gonna go to the end with this one. I'm gonna raise a child the best I can. And those that can't still send you to life and allowed you to be raised by somebody else because you are valuable. Amen. This last one I want to talk about is a very important one because it's right across the street. Grace and mercy. Grace and mercy is an amazing ministry that helps women overcome addictions as well. Helps them to actually grow in their walk of Christ. And I don't think we could ask for a better representative or a better voice, because I'm telling you, she's got an amazing voice than Miss Joanna Mack.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Well, that light is bright. Holy. Okay. Uh good morning, church. You know, uh you serve us well. You really do, and um I am so thankful. I remember the first time that my women came over here, and you know, we decided that they would come over every first um Sunday. We're here more often than anything. But let me tell you, because they asked me, can we come back? And I said, Okay, you want to go to church? Yeah, let's do this thing, you know. So, you know, that tells me a lot about you because I'm very protective of my women. I'm not gonna take them to a church that is going to reject them because we have been there, and I've had to take them out and go somewhere else. But you have received them so well, so well. I mean, you you know, you don't uh you accept them as they are, you meet them where they are, and that's so good for me to hear that, and so good for them. And they're learning so much about the word, they're learning so much about who Jesus is because that's who Jesus is. He sat down with the sinners. You know, I have women that come straight from jail. You know, I'm in jail every Sunday morning, you know, and you know, this morning I had 22. Thank you, Lord. 22 women in there coming to hear about the love of the Lord. And you meet my women, you meet his women, his daughters, right where they are in the depths of despair. You don't, you know, you actually relate to them well. There is so much that can be done. And you know, I use this verse the other night at our graduation. Unless the Lord builds this house, they labor in vain, those who build it. And the reason that I say that is because it takes these ladies one brick at a time to rebuild their house. But then there's you. You're helping them build with one brick at a time. There's you're speaking to them where they, you know, feel isolated, they feel rejected, you know, abandon some of them. You know, the things are aimless what they've gone through. But then you meet them with love. And I am so thankful that you do that. There's so much that you could volunteer. Thank you again for the spaghetti that came yesterday. Whoever brought that, there's plenty. And you know, we feed so many, you know, uh Sunday afternoon is our biggest meal because we feed the families. The families come and there's never anything left. But that tells you a lot that the families want to come in because you know what, we feed them, we even minister to them, we speak to them, and they love coming to grace and mercy. So you're doing things that you really don't know that you're doing, and you're loving the unlovable. You know, the Lord is so gracious to grace and mercy, and I it that's because of people like yourself. So thank you for, you know, we've got a lot of work to do. We're gonna get that house ready. It's gonna look, it's gonna be the best house, best looking house on the street. And uh, I'm telling you, we are so excited about that. Um, you know, I've got meetings tomorrow with John and some builders tomorrow. So, you know, things are moving very quickly because I have to get these girls out and moved out so I can bring more women in. And that is how the transformation goes. You are catalysts for their transformation, and I just want to say thank you.

Invest In People Serve With Joy

Capacity Wisdom And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_04 38:53

Thank you. There's so many ways that we could get involved with what you learn here and take it out there. Matthew 28, 19 says, Go into all the world and making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them all that is taught to you. If there's a word in you, that means you got a word to give. Amen. And why is it so important? Because Jesus said it like this the whole world will know that you're mine. How? John 13, 35 says it like this, by your love for one another. We are his ambassadors, we are his representation of his love and kindness. How you live, how you give, and how you serve matters. Giving of your time and serving shouldn't be looked at as charity. We know this because the Bible says, lay up your treasures in heaven. Now, my Bible's pretty thick. From beginning to end, I don't see where anything else goes to heaven but people. If you got a different version that reads that, I'd like to see it. But nothing goes to heaven but people. And if you're gonna lay up treasures in heaven, it means you've got to invest in people. That's what goes to heaven. Invest in people. It's not charity, it's an investment. And just like a bank, you should expect a return. Not for them to give to you, but then for to repeat the process for somebody else. Remember, use your freedom to set others free. Invest in people. Serving God by serving others is the best thing to do, but make sure you have fun doing it. I believe that this word is the gospel. You know what the gospel means? Good news. If it's truly good news, tell it to your face. If you're gonna serve, serve with a smile. Last thing we need is a bunch of sour push Christians out there trying to serve. Because I want to tell you the most guilty thing we could ever have in our life is serving with a wrong heart. So tell it to your face first. Don't look at it as a job. Have fun doing it. Serve. Never forget where you came from. Never. Because any moment you can become the least of these again. Y'all go ahead and stand with me. There's a servant inside every one of y'all that y'all have to unlock. I don't know about y'all. I had the privilege of having some amazing tea given to me this morning by y'all's cafe. Because the people work in a cafe serve with a loving heart. They care. There ain't nowhere else I could go and get banana split sweet tea. Nowhere. Not only is somebody creative, but somebody loved me enough to say, hey, look, we'll put a little extra in it. What's that look like? What does it look like when you put a little extra in it? What does it look like when you could say, hey, it might seem common, but God gave me the ability to put a twist on it? Do you know if two of us were exactly alike, one of us ain't necessary? God made you uniquely you for a reason. So you could do something that only you could do through God. He's gonna use you. Amen. So I'm not gonna ask for an altar call. I'm gonna ask for you to pray for yourself as I pray over you. If you don't have a servant's heart or you're trying to grow one, be praying. God created me a servant's heart. If you don't know where to fit in, you don't know where to serve, pray for an opportunity. You've seen some representatives here, you could go and ask, How can I serve? If you don't know them and don't feel comfortable with them, you could always come to Pastor Mick, you could always come to Pastor Todd and say, Hey, how do I get connected in what this church is already doing? Because I'm gonna tell you, God does not need you to start something new, He needs you to jump on board with his plan and keep it going. Because our job is to train replacements. Because if we don't train the next generation, then what we do dies with us. Joanna, you need help. You need to raise up two Joannas because two are better than one. Pastor Todd, you need to raise up three, Pastor Todd, because three are better than two. We need that. If what we're doing is worth doing, it ought to be worth replicating. Amen. So I said, you pray for your heart. Pray for an opportunity to serve. And know this: saying no to serving is just as important as saying yes. I want you to understand this. Everybody has a capacity on which they can serve. Some people are doing a whole lot. Don't get so busy that you're not effective. If you some people can handle two or three things, well, that's good. But make sure you're doing them well. Make sure you're doing your best. And I want to tell you if you're doing your best, you know it. You don't have to worry about somebody else's approval. You know what your best is. But if you can't give it your all, say no. But do something. But know this just because you can't do everything doesn't mean you don't do anything. You gotta serve. See y'all for you. Pray with me. God, we thank you for today. We thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you, Lord, for Jesus being an example, Lord, to help us to learn how to serve and how to love well. We thank you, Lord, for giving us a will to obey, a work to do, and people to love. We thank you, Lord, for giving us the power, Lord, to invest in people, the only treasure that goes to heaven, Lord. We pray, Lord, that we see value in others, Lord, that we want to serve them and serve them well. We pray, Lord, that this church becomes a beacon of hope in this town as this big, bright white building where people can come in and be like, look, I know those people love people. I pray, Lord, that every seat here continues to fill up with servant leaders, with intercessors and disciple makers. I pray, Lord, that this church sees the abundance, Lord, of not just grace, but the abundance of growth. Growth in quality, way more than quantity. I pray, Lord, that you're creating us a servant's heart. Give us the opportunity to serve, Lord, and help us to walk this out, Lord, in a manner in which you see fit, one way that glorifies you and honors you, Lord. That when we're in our public presence, the people can say, I know that is a man or a woman of God. I thank you for that. Give us a heart of love. Amen. Thank you, church.