WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.519 Thank you, Jonathan, and worship team for being us into that kind of worship moment. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:06.719 Woo! Man. 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:14.400 Uh you all know that I attended a Christian college, Cumberland. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:20.879 And like any good Christian college student, during the summers, I worked as a counselor at Christian camp. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:22.079 Yeah? 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.519 That's uh the normal thing to do when you go to a Christian college. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:48.240 Served a couple of different camps along the way, but the first one that I served is a ministry called Appalachian Ministries, where as a at that point, a 19-year-old guy spent the whole summer serving kids and families that were in some of the most broken and difficult and impoverished parts, not of just our state in eastern Kentucky, but of our whole country. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:51.200 And we had an amazing time. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:01:19.120 We did uh projects on people's houses, we did Bible schools for young kids out in the communities, and we were really working in and around where Cumberland is over uh just on I-75, just the beginning of Eastern Kentucky, but one random week throughout that summer, we got in a van and we left Eastern Kentucky and home and we went to Kaskaskia, Illinois. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.840 Anybody ever heard of Kaskaskia in Illinois? 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:23.519 Yep, I hadn't either. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:33.599 We went to Kaskaskia because there was this long-running relationship with this uh just Christian retreat center camp that was there in Kaskaskia. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:46.879 And I don't know if you spent much time in Illinois, southern Illinois, but we literally are going out into the country in Illinois, and we pull into this Christian retreat center, and all around us is nothing but corn. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:55.519 Everywhere that I can see, there's like a farmhouse, there's like a couple of buildings there in this retreat center, and then everywhere you look around, it's just corn. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.159 And I'm thinking, what am I doing out here? 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.799 It was like almost like a scary movie. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:04.239 You know the scary movies where you're at the you know, the corn, you know what I'm talking about? 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:06.480 I'm like, what are these children gonna come out of this corn? 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:08.719 I don't know, I don't know what's gonna happen here. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:15.120 But needless to say, um, I didn't have a very good attitude going into it. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:29.919 And the week got kicked off, and a couple hundred kids came out to this uh retreat center, and you could tell that they were coming from kind of locally around that area, farm-wide. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.199 Some kids maybe even in some difficult circumstances. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:37.919 And we started off the week in a way that was truly an experience. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.400 Nothing like I'd ever done before. 00:02:40.719 --> 00:03:15.840 We went outside in this open kind of field area and put down these long pieces of butcher paper on the ground, and then the camp uh staff brought these huge pots of chocolate pudding and put the chocolate pudding all down the butcher paper, and at the end of the butcher paper was a chair, and they got all the kids in line in front of the butcher paper, and then they let them run and smash their bare feet toes all in this chocolate pudding. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:16.479 Yes. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.800 Oh, just imagine that, right? 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:20.879 They were having a blast. 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:38.960 And after they got their feet all nice and covered and gooey, chocolatey, nasty, the kid would come down and sit in the chair, and us as the counselors had a bowl of water and a towel, and we washed the kids' feet. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:45.599 And as we washed their feet, we as the counselors prayed over the kids. 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:47.919 I've never done anything like that. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:53.039 I'd never even really washed anybody's feet before, really, at that point in my life. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.599 Not even I didn't have kids or anything. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:59.599 And it really they really didn't need the pudding to make their feet dirty. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.240 You know, we're talking about like elementary, middle school kids. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.199 They had the funk. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:05.840 Some of them had the hand-me-down shoes. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:14.080 But as I sat there and on the ground and as I was washing kid after kid, my attitude completely changed. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:20.800 My heart completely changed as I began praying over each kid. 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:22.639 And it was kind of weird. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:25.519 Kind of a weird moment, not gonna lie. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.920 But man, did it do something to my heart. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:40.560 That I saw these kids in a completely different light, and as the camp went on, got to really build some relationships and even see some of them come to know Jesus. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.160 I think about this essential series that we've been in. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:48.639 We've talked about a few different things. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:51.120 We've talked about fasting and prayer. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.319 We talked about last week meditation and studying. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.519 Today we're talking about service and submission. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:26.959 As we think about what service and submission looks like from a biblical vantage point, I want to share with you when we say the word submission, a lot of times that can bring up some uh feelings of uh maybe some PTSD, some thoughts of when you talk about submission, that word has been wielded somewhat as a weapon over the years for chauvinist purposes and otherwise. 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:32.800 But I want us to look specifically from the word and say what does it mean for biblical submission? 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:35.040 What does it mean for biblical service? 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:45.680 And the writer of uh this book on spiritual disciplines, Richard Foster, he he describes submission as this, biblical submission is this. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:52.639 It is the ability to lay down the terrible burden of always needing to get our own way. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:07.120 Ultimately, when we think about what biblical submission is, we think about Jesus Himself. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:26.319 The fact that he submitted himself to God, to God's will, even for him to go, and to submit himself to be arrested, to be beaten, to be bloodied, and ultimately nailed to a cross. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:45.360 The sign of the cross is a sign of ultimate submission of Jesus to the will of the Father, and for his service to you and me, that he would take our sins on his back, on his body, and die in our place and be resurrected victorious. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.839 Something we couldn't do for ourselves. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:54.480 You're not capable of dying and then three days later coming back to life. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.560 Sorry, that Jesus did that for you. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:02.240 And in doing so, he submitted himself to God's will. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.040 We talk about biblical submission, really. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:05.600 What is it? 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:11.680 It's us submitting ourselves to God's will and to the people that God has called us to submit ourselves to. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:16.480 Now let me talk about kind of what submission is not. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:21.519 So, what are there are there limits to this biblical submission? 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:23.519 Well, absolutely, there's some limits. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:29.680 The main limit, I would say, is if there's an authority person, somebody of authority who's leading you into sin. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:39.519 A parent asking a child to sin, a spouse asking another spouse to sin against God, the state asking you to sin against God. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:47.439 Jesus is very clear, and the disciples are very clear, that we are to submit ourselves to the officials of our country that we are in. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:52.319 Jesus is asked about taxes, and he says, Render unto Caesar's. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:53.279 What is Caesar's? 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:56.720 Telling us, hey, you know, you're a citizen. 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:00.319 Under the authority of officials, pay your taxes. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.639 It's the government's money. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:04.800 It's the image there. 00:08:08.399 --> 00:08:13.920 But there are also some limits to submission as well when it comes to that. 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:28.480 The disciples themselves, when the officials came to them and told them to stop preaching the name of Jesus, they said, We serve God, not man. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:30.399 They wouldn't stop. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:32.000 They resisted. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:39.440 They resisted so that they could submit themselves ultimately to God's work and to God's will for their life. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:43.279 So we think about submission. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:49.120 Who in the world do we serve in a way that we submit to? 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:52.639 And there's a few of those that we do. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:06.960 We see an example of Jesus, of how he submitted himself to the ones that he loved, and ultimately to God service himself. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:13.360 So you may be in the room today and you're thinking, okay, Forrest, we're talking about service, we're talking about submission. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:22.000 This is stuff that, you know, either I've got this down pat, I'm already serving in the church, I already volunteer on a team, I serve my family. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:26.000 I get up every single day to put food on the table and a roof over their head. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:27.679 What do you mean by this? 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.360 I've already got this down. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:37.919 Maybe for you the thought of submitting yourself to somebody higher than you, like God, you haven't even considered it. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:42.080 You think that your way is the best way, my way or the highway kind of mentality. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:49.360 You've not invited God into your life at all, and you're trying to make life work on your own terms, and you know it's not working. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:57.039 Look at the example of Jesus, what he sets for us. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:03.759 Well, first off, what he said to us in Luke chapter 9, verse 24. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:06.559 Jesus speaks of our lives. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:09.919 He says, if you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:18.159 But if you give up, you submit, submission, if you give up your life for my sake, you will what? 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:19.440 Save it. 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:27.919 The night that Jesus was arrested, the disciples and him went to this upper room to have dinner. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:33.519 The disciples didn't know that Jesus was about to be arrested, only he knew what was going to happen. 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:38.960 They came into the room to have dinner, and something strange happened. 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:44.080 They all got washed up for dinner, but all of their feet were still dirty. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:53.919 Because only the lowliest of person, a servant, would wash people's feet, but they didn't have one of those there at their dinner party. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.879 It was just Jesus and the disciples, and then something very strange happened. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:01.279 John chapter 13, verse 3. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:08.639 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything that he had come from God and would return to God. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:17.679 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:25.120 And then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that he had around him. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:30.879 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet? 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:36.879 Jesus replied, You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.600 No, Peter protested, you will never wash my feet. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:47.759 And Jesus replied, Unless I wash you, you won't belong to me. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.919 Simon Peter exclaimed, Then, Wash my hands and my head as well, Lord, not just my feet. 00:11:54.159 --> 00:12:03.200 And Jesus replied, A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash except for the feet to be entirely clean. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:08.480 You disciples are clean, but not all of you, for Jesus knew who would betray him. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:09.919 Speaking of Judas. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:15.200 That is what he meant when he said, Not all of you are clean. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:24.799 After washing their feet, he put on his robe and sat down and asked, Do you understand what I was doing? 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:29.840 You call me teacher and lord, and you're all right, because that's what I am. 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:36.399 And since I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.440 I have given you an example to follow. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:44.480 Do as I have done to you. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:48.799 Jesus. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:52.480 The Savior of the world. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:13:11.039 The beautiful name that we just sang about, that has no rival, no equal, took a towel, wrapped it around himself, and got down and washed the dirty feet of his followers. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:13.679 Radical. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:16.159 Unheard of. 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:20.480 Kind of gross. 00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:26.799 So much so that Peter protested, no, Jesus, get up. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.120 You don't wash my feet. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:33.279 Jesus told him plainly, I need to wash your feet. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:43.279 And so who are some of the people that we need to serve, that we need to submit ourselves to in acts of submission? 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.120 Well, the first is to God. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:47.840 We need to submit ourselves to God. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:57.279 We need to submit ourselves to the scripture, to God's word, the authority of God and God's word in our life. 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:08.879 We talked about it last week of us being in his word, getting to know God's word, learning God's word, hiding in our hearts, submitting ourselves to the truth of Scripture. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:17.360 We need to submit ourselves to the family that we have in our life, to serve them, to love them, to care for them. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:41.840 Not only in a submit to one another in the way that Ephesians chapter 5 says, or a husband and a wife in that way of submission and relationship, but also the family that you have, parents, aunts, uncles, people in your life that you be willing to serve and care for. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.559 Your neighbors, people around you. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:15:06.639 It can be as easy as loaning a tool, making some cookies, or going farther than that, praying, caring for, loving your neighbors. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:19.200 A submission to the body of Christ, to spiritual authority with your pastors, but also submission and love for one another. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:25.440 That you would serve the body of Christ in the same way that you serve Jesus Himself. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.159 A submission to serve the broken. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:33.200 Those that are hurting. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.639 The poor is what the Bible says. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:41.279 Those that are going through difficult circumstances. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.039 And submission to community. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:54.879 Whether that be local officials and the police and the officials that you have in your life, but also a stewardship of our community. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:57.759 We talk a lot around here about loving Frankfurt. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.919 We're not talking about the uh geography on the map. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.159 We're talking about the people of Frankfurt. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:11.200 We're talking about our neighbors and the people that we are at the grocery store with and go to school with and work with. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:17.120 That we have a responsibility to care for, to love, and to steward this place. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:20.559 But it doesn't just stay here. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:26.159 It goes out to the way that we serve and care for our world. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.480 For nature, for the for the world that God's given to us, for us to steward. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:46.639 Will we submit ourselves to service, to care, to love what God has allowed us to, or will we just serve ourselves? 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:52.879 Jesus says in Matthew 25, or Matthew 20, verse 25 through 28. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:17:06.960 Jesus called them together and he said, He's speaking to his disciples, you know that the rulers of this world, Lord, Lord over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them, but among you it will be what? 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:08.880 Different. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:16.000 Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:21.039 And whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:32.480 For even the Son of Man, speaking of himself, Jesus, even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:39.519 The cross and the towel. 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.359 The cross and the towel. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:50.960 These two emblems for us that stick in our mind of the ministry of Jesus. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:18:03.440 And the way that he gave an example for us to love, serve, and care for others, and for us to do this in a way that is not self-serving or self-righteous. 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:11.039 You know it's possible to serve people out of a self-righteous attitude. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.799 Well, I'm going to do something nice for them so that they do something nice for me. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:20.319 They scratch their back and then they'll scratch my back, right? 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:24.480 Or maybe the flip side, they bloody my nose, I bloody their nose. 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:39.200 And when we submit ourselves to the Lord and to his call on our life to emulate Jesus and to be like Jesus, we're set free. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:45.759 We're set free from the mentality of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.920 We're also set free from having to get the credit. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:53.759 Having to post a picture about it. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:58.160 You buy somebody a meal and then you make an Instagram video about it. 00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:09.680 I've seen some of these videos before on Instagram where people like they're videoing themselves as they're walking up to a homeless person to give them a meal or give them some money. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:11.039 Have you seen those? 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.160 It's like appreciate, you know, appreciate the heart. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.559 But what's the motivation here? 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.759 To be seen for clicks, for likes? 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.319 Is it self-serving and self-righteous? 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:26.799 Or is it true service? 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:28.559 And there's a difference. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:31.200 There's a difference. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:37.599 And the difference is from just service versus being a servant. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:41.680 You know what service is? 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:50.880 There are a ton of organizations and places that serve the community and do service projects and that kind of thing. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:58.720 But when you have service or you serve others in your life, you're coming from an aspect of control. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:16.400 Well, I'm going to choose who I'm going to serve, when I'm going to serve them, when it fits into my calendar, when it fits into the schedule, yeah, maybe I'll go and serve at the homeless shelter, I'll do this, or maybe when this is going on at church, I'll jump in there, or you know, yeah, I'll jump in and uh, but that that group, I really don't want to serve them. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:19.279 I'm gonna skip out on that one. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:21.519 And there's a control. 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:26.640 First thing is having the heart of a servant. 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.880 That's a lifestyle. 00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:32.000 It's a lifestyle. 00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:52.880 Not serving in the big things, but serving in the small, mundane, sometimes silly ways to the people, your family around you, that you love and want to serve them in the way that Jesus did, being the creator of the world and bending down and serving at the lowest level. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.960 Gosh, that's challenging. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:00.559 Jesus, why'd you have to do that? 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:10.400 Because I've just been King Jesus sitting on a throne, and we can all just come in and sing worship songs to you all the time and just think about you sitting on the throne in heaven, and that'd be it. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:16.000 But instead, you had to bend down and wash your disciples' feet. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:36.640 This last week I got I got to do some cool things this week, and one of those was I got to attend this thing called the Fatherhood Summit that happened here in Frankfurt where their Lexing Leadership Foundations put on this fatherhood summit, and it happened at the child and family services this week on I think it was Wednesday or Thursday that was there. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:46.559 And there were different nonprofits from across the state that came together, and there was a panel that was sharing about serving in different capacities and people from western Kentucky and all the way across. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:49.920 And one of the people who were on this panel was a guy named Earl Young. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.880 There's a picture of him, he's a guy with the glasses on. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:59.759 Earl was there representing the organization that he was a part of, but he was telling his testimony well before. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.640 He was a part of any organization. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:18.079 Earl grew up in Florida until as an orphan, was adopted by a family in eastern Kentucky, where he moved to Eastern Kentucky with a very loving mother that unfortunately had some very unloving father figures in his life. 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:23.039 As a young child in eastern Kentucky, he was abused sexually as a child. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:27.359 Had a difficult upbringing, was very angry. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.039 Was very angry. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:35.680 He said that after he uh got of age to join the military, he joined the military because he was so angry. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:36.880 He said, I wanted to kill people. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:38.400 That's why I joined the military. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:39.680 I was so confused. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:45.279 I was so upset from what had happened to me, but I didn't really know how to deal with it. 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:46.559 Went to the military. 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:48.160 Why was it military? 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:49.759 In the military. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:55.920 The all-night watches that these soldiers have to do. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:02.160 If you ever get caught sleeping at your post, you can be shot, apparently. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.200 That's what he said. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:11.839 And so one of his fellow soldiers offered him a remedy that would keep him up for his watches called meth. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:17.440 So Earl was introduced to drugs while he was in the military, started doing meth. 00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:19.440 He said he felt like a super soldier. 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:30.720 Started doing drugs, and when he got out of the military and was out, he said I didn't even realize, I did not even realize that I was addicted until I got out of the military. 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:46.240 Went back to eastern Kentucky, addicted to drugs, breaking into houses of his family and other people who he knew that wouldn't call the cops on him, just so that he could sell things and get money so that he could feed his addiction. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:24:00.160 Homeless, broken, until he finally went to a friend in his life and wanted to get into treatment. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:06.559 He spent some time in jail. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:11.119 While he was in jail, he accepted Christ. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:18.079 And in his treatment, he began to really have a heart for people who are in his situation. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:23.759 So all on his own, not connected to any organization or anybody. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:37.920 After he got out of rehab, Earl started to go across eastern Kentucky, finding homeless people, many times homeless veterans, or under bridges and putting them in a car and going and putting them up in a hotel, getting them into treatment. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:47.680 And he did this over and over and over and over again until he got linked up with an organization called Pathways, which is an addiction recovery care organization in Eastern Kentucky. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:52.880 And now he serves 10 counties in Eastern Kentucky where he literally does the exact same thing. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:25:00.480 He goes in his 10 counties, finding veterans and people who are homeless or who are addicted to drugs, and he gets them into care. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:08.880 When Earl started doing that, he didn't have an organization, he didn't have a title. 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:13.680 He was just serving. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:17.920 He was just loving. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:22.160 God and the people that God put on his heart. 00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:26.319 In Mark chapter 9, verse 35. 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:37.119 Jesus, he sat down and called the 12 disciples over to him and he said, Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be a servant of everyone else. 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:40.559 You think about being a servant to others? 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:46.640 Even a servant that has that servant heart. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:52.480 I don't know about you, but I begin to think of questions like, well, what if I get taken advantage of? 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:59.680 Well, what if somebody, I help somebody and really I'm being taken advantage of? 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:01.920 And you know what? 00:26:02.079 --> 00:26:05.119 When you're serving other people, will you get taken advantage of? 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:06.319 Yes, you will. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:08.319 But let me ask you this. 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:23.680 If you have a heart of a servant, knowing that you're gonna love and care for someone who even if you end up being taken advantage of, but if you know that going in, are you really being taken advantage of? 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:26.880 No. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:33.680 You're going in ahead of time, saying, you know what, I'm gonna serve, I'm gonna be a servant, I'm gonna love somebody. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:40.160 And however way the chips fall of loving and caring for someone, well, I'm gonna serve them. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:41.359 I'm gonna care for them. 00:26:41.440 --> 00:26:47.440 You know there's a difference in acting like a servant and actually being a servant. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:53.519 Having the heart of Jesus. 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:59.599 What are some of those ways that we can be a servant where we can serve other people? 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:02.720 Here's just a few from the scripture. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.640 They all start with H, very helpful for you. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:13.039 One is helpfulness, actually truly helping somebody who's in need. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:15.839 Next is hospitality. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:25.440 Be willing to welcome somebody into your home who may need a place to stay, care for, maybe a child or an adult. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:30.160 You can serve people by holding your tongue. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:37.839 By not speaking ill about somebody, not trying to trash somebody's reputation. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:43.519 Y'all can also can serve people by truly listening to them and hearing them. 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:49.440 Here's some scriptures to back that up just in case some of y'all are wondering. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:54.640 Titus 3.2 says, you must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:58.960 Instead, you should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.880 Let's not slander, let's hold our tongue. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:12.880 1 Peter 4, 9 says, carefully share or cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:15.200 And then Galatians 6, too. 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:22.400 Share each other's burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:33.920 We serve others by trying to be helpful, loving and caring, by showing just general hospitality. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:36.240 You know the ministry of hospitality? 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.200 Some of y'all are really good at hospitality. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:45.039 You love making meals, you love getting the house ready, welcoming guests in. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:46.880 You know how important it is? 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:48.640 This act of hospitality? 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:53.359 Not only one is it a spiritual gift in the Bible, it's also a requirement for a pastor. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:29:00.480 In the list of requirements for a pastor is that they would be willing to open their home and welcome people in. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.160 That's how important it is. 00:29:07.680 --> 00:29:08.720 Caring about others? 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:11.440 By not talking behind the back. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:13.440 Holding the tongue. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.200 Truly just listening and caring and loving for people, loving people. 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:20.799 And in the same way as Earl. 00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:28.559 Serving was not a title. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:44.240 There's a mentality, and can be a mentality, of like, okay, well, if I'm gonna serve, then I need to be a leader. 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:58.559 Well, I need to lead a small group if I'm gonna serve the church, or oh, I need to, you know, be on a volunteer team, or I need to be a part of an organization, I need to be on the board, I need to have membership in this local chapter. 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:07.839 But it's not about the title, it's about the towel. 00:30:08.720 --> 00:30:12.640 Another amazing experience that I had this week was on Tuesday. 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:20.000 I got to go to Eastern Kentucky and got to see Jared and Bethany, our nett, and there's also a picture of them. 00:30:21.359 --> 00:30:26.799 These two, Jared and Bethany, they planted a church in Python seven years ago. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:28.640 Not unlike ours. 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:39.119 On the campus of University of Pikeville, Jared was a business owner, owned a guitar store, and felt God's call to plant a church and to start a church. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:45.119 And he and his wife, Bethany, they started services, again, not unlike us seven years ago now. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:53.599 Jared ended up being the head of the Chamber of Commerce and in a lot of different positions along the way. 00:30:53.759 --> 00:31:02.240 Worked for a group called SOAR, shaping our Appalachian Region, where he was working to alleviate poverty, made a lot of connections. 00:31:02.960 --> 00:31:14.079 And seven years later, seven years later, I got to be there on Tuesday where they had the very first summit for Together for the Mountains. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:15.839 It's a brand new initiative. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:23.119 Jared and Bethany and Emily and I, we started talking and partnering with Southland at the exact same time two years ago. 00:31:23.680 --> 00:31:27.279 Jared and Bethany, they were obviously already established planters. 00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:29.359 Their church was six, seven years old. 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:34.000 Emily and I, we're just getting started here on our journey planting. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:38.319 But on Tuesday, I got to see Jared and Bethany host Together for the Mountains. 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:51.200 There were 200 people in the room from 50 different organizations, and they were all there to talk about how they could love, serve, share the name of Jesus, and see more churches be planted in eastern Kentucky. 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:58.799 And they started seven years ago, just like us. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:09.839 You know, a lot of times you overestimate how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time, but you underestimate how much you can accomplish in a long amount of time. 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:19.680 This couple that are just so amazing, love them so much. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:28.799 God's using them now to see a movement happen in eastern Kentucky that literally is getting off the ground. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:38.400 I think about as we continue to love and care for our community, for our church, for those that we know. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.599 Where's God gonna take us in seven, ten years? 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:45.039 Who knows? 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.160 I don't know this, that God's gonna be the one to do it. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:33:00.799 And we have to be in the right heart posture of love and care and servant-heartedness to see God move in that way. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:02.000 And He can. 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:05.599 I'll close with this. 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:09.519 Many years ago now, now it's been, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago. 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:12.079 I was 22, I got to take a trip to Israel. 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:14.160 It was an amazing experience. 00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:15.440 Highly recommend. 00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:18.960 It'd be like one of those bucket list items for your life or something. 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:23.680 And I got to get baptized in the Jordan River, Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. 00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:26.960 Little fish minnows were biting on my toes while I was getting baptized. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:29.359 This big white robe, it was real fun. 00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:35.440 But the Jordan River sits between two seas that we see in the Bible. 00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:43.519 North, the Sea of Galilee, where a lot of stuff, the ministry of Jesus goes down, when he's going the boat through the storm, he's on the Sea of Galilee. 00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:56.400 It gets filled up by the Jordan River that comes out of the mountains just north of the Sea of Galilee, and then down the river all the way to the bottom, it ends in this place called the Dead Sea in the Bible. 00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:57.759 Anybody ever heard of that? 00:33:58.000 --> 00:33:59.119 The Dead Sea? 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:08.880 Well, if you go to the Dead Sea Dead Sea today, there's all these hotels and stuff that are around it because it's filled with salt. 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:12.960 It's so salty that when you get in it, you don't sink. 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:14.880 You float on top. 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:26.559 And that that that water, it's so dense, and literally, if you're I got in the water there, and if you have a cut or anything, man, it's instantly like just stinging so much. 00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:30.400 If the water splashes just on your lip, it's like your lip dries up. 00:34:30.480 --> 00:34:32.559 It's like crazy in there. 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:48.719 But the thing that's interesting to me is this the Sea of Galilee that's lush and green and covered with farms that are around there and food that's produced there, and there's fish that's there. 00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:53.119 It has water that's flowing to it and through it. 00:34:53.599 --> 00:35:00.000 But the Dead Sea at the bottom, where the water pours in, there's no place that it pours out. 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:25.280 It just sits there, stale and idle, and nothing can live in it, nothing can survive, and in the same way, as God is pouring into us, we need to pour out for others so that we can be alive in Christ. 00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:44.079 If we just have God pour into us and it just stays there stale and dead and doesn't ever pour out anywhere else to serve anybody, to care for anybody, to love people in the way that Jesus loved them, well then we're just gonna be a bunch of dead people. 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:47.599 A dead church, dead Christians. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:54.239 James tells us plainly, faith without works is dead. 00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:00.400 Not that it's the works that save us, but it is the works that happen because we are saved. 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:15.440 Jesus loved you so much that he went to the cross to die in your place and serve you and give the ultimate sacrifice. 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:33.199 You know, he even washed the feet of Judas who was about to betray him and have him arrested, he got down and washed the feet of Judas, the one who was about ready to turn his back on him. 00:36:35.440 --> 00:36:47.599 And just in case you were wondering, if you've got people in your life who may take advantage of you or may betray you, even Jesus had a Judas. 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:56.320 Even Jesus had a Judas and he still served, and he still loved, and he still cared for him. 00:36:56.880 --> 00:36:57.920 It's crazy. 00:36:58.159 --> 00:36:59.519 It's crazy. 00:37:00.079 --> 00:37:02.079 That's the Jesus that we serve. 00:37:02.320 --> 00:37:07.599 That's the Jesus that served me for dying in my place when I didn't deserve it. 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:16.559 My sin and the things that I've done in my life, I didn't deserve God's forgiveness, but he forgave me and saved me. 00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:21.199 And he'll do the same thing for you if you'll give your life to him. 00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:30.480 And then he'll put you on a track of purpose to love and care and to see other people be made alive from death. 00:37:31.440 --> 00:37:36.320 Maybe you're here today and you are needing that very thing. 00:37:36.559 --> 00:37:40.800 You need to receive Jesus as your Savior for the very first time. 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:43.199 Today is the day that you can do that. 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:48.000 That you can receive his forgiveness, that you can move forward in your life. 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:57.599 Maybe today for you, you're a believer in Jesus and you've served, but you want God to put a heart, a servant heart, into you. 00:37:57.920 --> 00:37:59.599 To be servant-hearted. 00:38:02.000 --> 00:38:04.960 Will you join me in prayer for this? 00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:10.880 God, I thank you, Lord, for how you've loved and cared for us. 00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:15.280 So much so that you died on the cross for our sins. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:27.119 You're willing to serve the leased, the broken, the betrayers. 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:31.519 God, that describes some of us today. 00:38:31.920 --> 00:38:37.920 I thank you, God, that you loved us so much that you died for each one of us. 00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:41.519 God, I pray across a room. 00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:44.480 Lord, we have seen you move. 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:55.280 We have seen you serve, help us to serve one another here in our body and also in our community and beyond. 00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:57.199 God, we pray for more. 00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:00.079 God, we pray, Lord, that you would help us. 00:39:00.239 --> 00:39:04.480 God, that we would make ourselves low so that you would be lifted up. 00:39:04.960 --> 00:39:06.960 Jesus, I pray right now over the room. 00:39:07.119 --> 00:39:18.719 Anybody who's in this place who has not received your forgiveness, that you bought for them on the cross, that today would be the day of their salvation, that they would pray to you, Jesus, save me. 00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:26.719 I believe that you are the Son of God, that you have forgiven me. 00:39:28.719 --> 00:39:30.800 I receive your forgiveness. 00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:40.480 Wash me as white as snow so that I can be in heaven with you one day. 00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:44.559 Thank you for dying for me. 00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:47.599 And thank you for saving me. 00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:50.480 Jesus' name. 00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:51.440 Amen.