You were shaped for serving God

This morning we continue with our series of talks on Rick Warren’s excellent book, The Purpose Driven Life.

It’s been a few weeks since our last talk, so just to recap, Rick Warren initially asks the question – ‘What on earth am I here for?’ and then goes on to identify 5 purposes for our lives.

So far we’ve covered – You were planned for God’s Pleasure, You were formed for God’s family, and You were created to become like Christ.

Today I’m talking on the fourth purpose he identifies which is – You were shaped for serving God.

So, you were put on earth to make a contribution. God designed you to make a difference with your life and this is called your ministry or service.

You were created to serve God through serving others. And when you serve others you are actually serving God.

As Jesus will say when he comes again and judges those who are alive at his second coming – “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

We are not saved by service, but we are saved for service, and our loving service to others shows that we are saved. In other words, as Jesus said – we are recognised as Christians by the fruit we bear.

And everything that God does in our lives is to equip and encourage us for this service. As Rick Warren points out we are blessed in order that we might be a blessing; we are healed that we might help to heal others; and we are encouraged that we might encourage others.

Every Christian is called to service regardless of our jobs or careers. Every Christian has a call from God upon their lives to serve.

And when we use our God given abilities to help and encourage and strengthen others we are fulfilling our calling.

In order to do this, as Paul tells us in our reading from Romans – we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.

In other words, each day we should offer ourselves to God in service. ‘Lord help me today to do the things that you want me to. Help me to show those I meet today something of your love and to share your truth with them. Work through me this day.’

Rick Warren mentions some churches in China who welcome new believers with the words – ‘Jesus now has a new pair of eyes to see with, new ears to listen, new hands to help and a new heart to love.’

And as I said in my previous talk – your service is desperately needed. Each of us has a role to play in extending God’s kingdom in the world, and each role is important. There are no insignificant ministries in God’s church.

Sadly, lots of local churches in this country are dying because Christians are unwilling to serve. They sit on the side-lines as spectators and the body of Christ suffers.

In fact many Christians have the wrong attitude. They look for churches to serve them and meet their needs – and not a church where they can serve and be a blessing.

Jesus of course set us an example of service. As Mark tells us in his gospel; “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Service is at the very heart of Christian life – it’s not an optional extra. And it is through service that we grow and mature as Christians. Service grows our Christian muscles.

And we experience the presence of God with us most as we serve – as we seek to reach out in his name.

I met a Christian couple on the streets of Maidstone a couple of weeks ago – who were offering to pray for healing for passers-by.

The lady told me that two people that morning had experienced healing and two people had given their lives to Jesus.

This lady was full of enthusiasm as she experienced God working through her.

Rick Warren says that we are most fully alive when we serve others - and that it is through serving others that that we discover the purpose and meaning of our lives and that what we do on earth takes on an eternal significance.

Jesus through his death and resurrection has opened wide the gates of heaven – and everyone is invited to enter in.

It is our job – the job of the church - to do all we can to point people towards those gates and to encourage them to enter – to show and tell them that God is good and that he loves them – and that he has died for them.

And this is the purpose God has shaped us for. Each of us is uniquely designed by God to fulfil some part, to play some role – in the life and witness of his church.

As Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians – “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We are each of us custom designed originals, one-off masterpieces. And each of us has specific gifts and talents that God has given us which are intended to be used to glorify God – to make him known.

Rick Warren identifies our gifts and talents under five headings and he used the acronym SHAPE – S-H-A-P-E - to summarise these.

The S stands for Spiritual Gifts, which are special God empowered abilities given only to believers, which come from God’s spirit living in us.

These are things like the ability to prophesy or to speak in tongues, or to know when evil spirits are at work or to receive words of wisdom or knowledge from God.

The H stands for our Hearts – and this includes our desires, our hopes, our passions and our motivations – what we care about and love to do. And our hearts give us clues as to where we should be serving, because if we’re passionate about something we’ll tend to enjoy it and do it well.

The A stands for our abilities – our natural talents - things we’re good at – like writing or artistic abilities or music or cooking or administration or mechanics or athletic abilities.

God gives us these abilities both in order to earn a living but also for our ministries.

P stands for our personalities. We each have a unique personality that should fit our ministry. Some are introverts, some extroverts, some like routine, others like variety. Some are thinkers, some are more feelings orientated. Our personalities should complement our ministries.

Finally, E stands for our Experiences – our life experiences – which we should use to help others. We can use painful experiences we’ve been through to help others who are experiencing similar things.

For instance, the bereaved can help those who have also lost loved ones and ex addicts can help those struggling with addictions. These experiences although painful, can give us valuable empathy to help others.

Rick Warren suggests that we ask ourselves questions like – where have I been successful – where have I seen fruit in my life – what do I enjoy doing – what makes me feel really alive – do I like routine or variety – and how can my experiences help others?

And then he suggests we get involved with different areas of service and give it a go. This can be in our local church but there are also thousands of Christian charities and organisations working in numerous areas – with the homeless, with the poor, with persecuted Christians, with children, with prisoners, for peace in the Middle East - that rely on volunteers.

For instance a guy I work with works as a collector for a Christian organisation called TWAM – Tools With A Mission. And he collects old tools and computers and type writers and bicycles which are refurbished and sent to Africa to help people earn a living.

So, every Christian has their own SHAPE. Every Christian whatever their age or education has some gifts and talents which God expects us to use to serve Him – which is what today’s gospel reading is about.

And the reason for including this is that there is a very serious side to service - because we will all be judged by God on how we have used the gifts and talents he has given us.

And here, how gifted or talented we are isn’t what is important. What is important is what we do with the gifts and talents we’ve been given.

How have we contributed to the life of God’s church? What part have we played in Jesus Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations?

How many people’s eternal destinies have been changed through our lives and actions? How have we built up and encouraged our Christian brothers and sisters?

How much of God’s life and love have been shown in our lives?

Ultimately God will judge our servanthood – to what extent we have been good and faithful servants.

Jesus said; “The greatest among you shall be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

God wants all Christians to be servant hearted.

Rick Warren says that real servants make themselves available to others even when its inconvenient. They look out for ways to help others. They look for the tasks that no one else wants to do.

Real servants put on an apron of humility and don’t seek approval or applause. They don’t compete with other Christians or compare themselves to other Christians - because their focus is on pleasing God, and they understand that we are all working for the same team.

One reason lots of Christians avoid service is because they feel they’re not good enough or talented enough to serve. But this is a complete lie.

And it’s like saying to God – ‘I’m sorry God – but what you’ve given me and how you’ve made me - isn’t up to serving you.’ If this is your view I suspect that God may beg to differ.

Yes, we may feel weak – but this is actually an advantage to serving God – because as Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians, “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

All the time we are in the shallow end of the swimming pool we don’t have to swim because we can stand up. But when we are out of our depth we have to swim.

God likes to take us out of our depth so that we have to rely on him to help us.

All the time we can do something easily with our natural abilities we don’t need to lean on God – but when we find ourselves in situations where we can’t do something, we have to call out to God and rely on his help.

I remember years ago when I was a young Christian being asked to pray for an elderly lady at our house-group. We were each praying for one another in turn and I got her.

I really didn’t have a clue what to pray – so I prayed under my breath Lord please help me – and a prayer just came to me. And to my complete surprise this old lady was visibly moved by the prayer that came out of my mouth.

After the house-group, another lady who knew this old lady well, told me that my prayer had been just right for her. God was able to work through me because I was out of my depth and so I had to rely on Him to help me.

So, to tie up what I want to say today – every single one of us sitting here today has been especially shaped and designed by God to serve him.

And God has a purpose and a plan for each one of us which involves serving him. If we consider ourselves to be Christians then we should be demonstrating this through our lives and our service.

Our service won’t save us but it is a sign that our faith is genuine – and God will judge each one of us for how we’ve used the gifts and talents he has given us.

We need to offer ourselves to God in service – ‘Here I am Lord work through me’ – and we need to be servant hearted – always looking for ways in which we can help and encourage others.

We find the meaning and purpose of our lives through service and our faith and experience of God in our lives will grow as we step out in faith and seek to glorify God, to make him known to others.

I’d like to close with a brief time of prayer and reflection in which we can thank God for the gifts and talents he’s given us – and then offer these back to him in service.

If you’re not sure how God wants you to serve, ask Him.

So let’s pray. Lord thank you that you have expressly designed each one of us here today to serve you. Thank you for the gifts and talents you have given us. Lord, as we offer ourselves to you now in service in this time of quiet, encourage us and show us how we can best serve you.

In the name of the living God. Amen.

You were formed for God's family - part 3 of current audio series

You were formed for God’s family.

This morning we continue with our series of talks based on Rick Warren’s excellent book – The Purpose Driven Life – which I’d urge you to read because it contains a huge amount of Christian wisdom and insight.

Campbell spoke last week about the first purpose for our lives – which is that ‘You were planned for God’s pleasure.’

And the second purpose for our lives which I’m speaking about today, is that ‘You were formed for God’s family’, and the readings I’ve chosen tie in with this theme.

So, the second purpose for our lives is that God wants a family and he created us to be part of it. God is full of love and he wants to share this love with us.

He loves relationships and he created human beings so that we can enjoy a relationship with him and with each other as members of his family.

We become members of this family when we put our faith in Jesus. God becomes our father and we become his children.

Someone asked at the third Sunday service a few weeks ago - about whether all humans were children of God.

Well the answer is that all humans are created by God – but we only become children of God through putting our faith in Jesus, and by being born again into it.

As Rick Warren says, ‘We become part of the human family by our first birth – but we become members of God’s family by our second birth.’

When we have truly repented and put our faith in Jesus, as today’s gospel reading shows - other believers become our brothers and sisters.

The church is the family of God – and it is composed of people from all nations and denominations – who truly believe that Jesus is the son of God. So, when we become Christians we should start to view fellow believers as members of our new spiritual family and we should do our best to love them.

Rick Warren says, “because God is love, the most important lesson he wants us to learn is how to love … Of course God wants us to love everyone, but he is particularly concerned that we learn to love others in his family.”

And this isn’t always easy. Just as with our earthly families, our Christian brothers and sisters can sometimes be frustrating or annoying or even hostile.

What I find helpful if I struggle to get on with another Christian is to consciously try and remember that Jesus died for that person and that they are incredibly precious to him.

And therefore, by doing my best to love them – I am pleasing God.

I think a large part of getting on with other people – but particularly with fellow Christians - is to do with demonstrating the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our own lives.

In other words, being loving, patient, kind, gentle and self-controlled ourselves. And humility is also very important.

As Paul says to the Philippians – “in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.”

If we have a tendency to be unfriendly, impatient, judgmental and proud and to always think we know best, it will make it much more difficult for us to form loving relationships with fellow believers.

I have a theory that some people have hard edges and some people have soft edges. It’s easy for people with soft edges to form friendships, but the only way to get along with someone with a hard edge is for other people to accommodate that hard edge by their own soft edge.

So, having a humble attitude and being willing to acknowledge our own shortcomings is key to loving one another.

As Jesus said; “How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”

But as Rick Warren points out God doesn’t just want us to be friendly, he wants us to from close and caring friendships and to share our Christian lives together, to experience ‘fellowship’ as the bible calls it.

Real fellowship is much more than turning up at church on a Sunday and chatting over a cup of tea. Real fellowship is about sharing our lives and what’s going on in them with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s about being real and honest and open and not afraid to ask for prayer or help when we need it – because we feel secure in the relationships we have with one another.

It’s about trusting our Christian brothers and sisters enough to be able to share our hurts, our concerns, our failures, our weaknesses, our doubts and our fears and being really honest with each other in the sight of God.

And like-wise its then loving and caring for and praying for and practically helping our fellow believers as they share with us. Seeking to build them up and encourage them in their faith.

Fellowship is about authentic caring and not being afraid to bring things that are troubling us into the light of Christ – where they can be dealt with through action and prayer and loving advice and counsel.

Jesus said; “where two or three are gathered together in my name I am there among them.” So, when we meet with fellow believers and share our lives and study his word together, Jesus is present with us in a special way.

We can also experience fellowship as we pray together with Jesus in our midst – not being afraid to share the prayers of our hearts – because we’ll often find the same prayers are on the hearts of our Christian brothers and sisters.

And as Rick Warren says, the best way to experience real Christian fellowship is in small groups where we can regularly meet together and really get to know each other.

This is why bible study or home groups are so important. They are not just about studying God’s word but they are a place where we can build relationships with fellow believers and where we can encourage one another and get the help and support and prayer we need, as we seek to walk with God through life.

Geese fly in small groups in a V formation. Firstly, this conserves their energy. Each bird flies slightly above the bird in front of him, resulting in a reduction of wind resistance.

And the birds take turns being in the front, falling back when they get tired. In this way, a small group of geese can fly for a long time before they stop for a rest. Whereas a solitary goose would run out of energy much sooner.

Like Geese, as Christians we need each other’s encouragement and support to live the Christian life.

Rick Warren makes the point that to live in real fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters requires absolute commitment. We need to develop the habit of meeting together and to make this a priority in our lives.

He says, ‘real fellowship isn’t built on convenience – I’ll meet when it suits me; its built on conviction - I need to meet for my spiritual health.’

Fellowship is crucial to the health of any church. Without it we live solitary, unhealthy and stunted Christian lives.

We struggle silently in private and look to God to meet our needs directly - whereas more often than not God will meet our needs through fellowship and the community of our fellow believers.

And God’s spirit flows much more freely and abundantly where we there is real fellowship and love between Christians.

His love flows through the connections we have with each other. His love flows through the relationships we have with each other.

Where our relationships and connections are broken or unformed, his love struggles to flow.

In Church on Sundays a lot of us can wear masks – and act as if everything is rosy. We don’t share or open up with fellow believers. We don’t like to ask for help or prayer because we don’t want to appear weak or needy or vulnerable.

Our relationships with other Christians therefore, tend to be superficial and because we don’t enjoy real fellowship, we struggle to experience God’s love and to receive his help.

In her book ‘Unexpected Healing’ Jennifer Rees Larcombe tells of an occasion when she was going to speak to a group of women in Mayfield I think it was. And when she saw these women they all looked so together and smart and neat and self-assured.

And she thought ‘Lord, what can I possibly offer these women?’

And then God showed her how he saw these women – and she saw through their masks and their make up to all the pain and hurt and desperate need in their lives.

The same is true of course for men. We don’t want to appear weak or needy – but wearing a mask not only keeps others from knowing and loving and helping us – but also keeps God at arm’s length – because he lives in and works through our Christian brothers and sisters.

Fellowship is also crucial because as Christians – as believers we are part of Christs body – which is what our new Testament Reading is about.

And just as a human body needs arms and legs and eyes and teeth and hands and internal organs to function – so we desperately need each other if we are to function as God’s church both here in Brenchley and in the wider world.

Every single Christian has a vital part to play in keeping the whole body healthy and functioning as it should.

Nicky Gumbel points out that as humans we have over 600 muscles in our bodies – but we need them all. He gives the example of Usain Bolt running in Jamaican relay team in the 4 x 100 metre finals at the recent Athletics World Championships in London.

As he ran, just one of his muscles – his hamstring - gave up, and his whole body ground to a halt and he couldn’t finish the race.

And it wasn’t just him – the whole Jamaican relay team failed to win a medal - just because one muscle stopped working.

If you’re sitting here today and you’re a Christian you have a vital role to play in strengthening and building up the Church and in Jesus’ great commission to make disciples of all nations.

You are unique – no one can do your job – and you are needed. Your role matters.

And we discover the role we are called to play through offering ourselves to God in service and through prayer, but also through fellowship and interaction with other believers.

We may feel called to do something but we’ll only find out if we’re right when we actually step out in faith and do it.

We’ll only find we really have a gift for hospitality as we invite people to our homes or host events.

We will only find we have a gift for healing as we offer to lay hands on someone and pray for them.

We will only find we have a gift for working with young people if we get involved with a youth or children’s group.

We will only find if we can preach if we actually try it.

So, the family needs you. We all need ‘you’ or as a church - we won’t be as healthy or as effective as we should.

So, to tie up what I want to say this morning, God created us to be a member of his family – the church – both to share his love with that family and to experience his love through that family.

As Christians we are all brothers and sisters in Christ – and we should treat each other according.

But more than this we should make meeting together an absolute priority in our lives – because this is the major way we will grow in our faith and experience God’s love and help and guidance and encouragement.

God lives in our fellow believers and his spirit flows and works through our relationships – as we seek to bless and encourage and help one another.

God has created us to be a body of believers and we all need each other to play our part in the life of this body – or we won’t be as effective a Church as we should be – and God’s love and life-saving gospel message won’t impact the world as he intends.

In the name of the living God. Amen.