so God put a message on my heart today and it's one of those ones where it's like hey God can I preach on something else please that would be cool but God said no so here I am with today's message I'll tell you where it came from about six months ago one of my really close friends called me and um he said hey can you begin to start praying with me I'm like yeah what's going on he's like God's called me to plant a church I was like like you're going to be the lead Pastor he was like yeah I was like good luck bro and I was telling him all about how I planted as a camp pastor and how it was a difficult season and he's like Josh you are not helping like I called you for encouragement man to speak positive things into me and so he starts telling me about this pressure that he feels and I'm like you know I'm just one of those friends that's like talk it out with me like so how are you really feeling about this and he's like are you kidding me I don't want to do this he's like I feel the pressure of it he's like but God is calling me to do it he was like but can I tell you why I'm so excited about doing it and I was like sure we begin to have this convers ation and what he says y'all when somebody says God gave me a revelation you should start to write that down or pay attention he was like years ago God gave me this Revelation he said and I was at a place in my life where I came to church and everything I came to church for had to do with me he said and then I realized when a pastor was speaking one Sunday he said oh my gosh I've got to stop coming and asking what I can get from God and start saying what can I give to God he said so years ago I stopped coming to church for myself he said I realized worship was for God it wasn't even for me he said I realized that serving was for other people it wasn't even for me he said so when God told me to plant this church I realized that it has nothing to do with me it wasn't for me he said it's so I can be obedient to God so I can serve God and so I can serve others and I'm like man that perspective is so powerful and so out of that conversation God gave me a title for today's message and it's called the heart of a servant somebody say the heart of a servant part ser and so I want to talk to you today about serving but not just in the church I want to talk to you about serving as a lifestyle somebody say as a lifestyle lify so something Pastor Ken says that I love he says in order to fulfill something you have to Define what it is so what does it mean to serve I'm so glad you asked because I know that's what you wanted to know today praise the Lord it means to be of use to work through this next one got me to be worthy of Reliance or trust I think NF has a a song a line in one of his songs that it's like if you uh made a list of people that you trust would you put your name down when I saw this to serve are you Reliance like are are you somebody somebody can rely on like are you worthy of trust I don't know that definition really got me and made me start looking internally it's also to supply with something needed or desired or to give the service and respect due to a superior but y'all know me I like biblical definitions better than practical definitions or natural definitions come on somebody and so the the biblical definition of serving is to treat god with reverence to comply with what God wants you to do and to submit to God and to each other so we love to say God we serve we'll submit to God but sometimes we won't submit to each other we'll serve God but we won't serve other people so in order to truly serve God we've got to submit to him as Lord and submit to one another we got to serve God and serve others and so I read some quotes today from some very distinguished people that I wanted to read to you and hopefully some of these take root in your heart the first one is from Gandhi and he says the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of other people you know how many times people are like well I just don't know what I'm called to do but just go serve people and eventually your calling will come out the next one is the highest of distinctions is service to others that's King George V 6 as long as I can read roman numerals correctly the highest of distinctions is to serve others the next one I love everyone can be great because everyone can serve Dr Martin Luther King Jr but this last one really got me if anyone wants to be first he must be content to be last and become a servant to all anybody know who said that Jesus good job class read your Bible today praise the Lord and so I really want to teach you this lifestyle about having a servant's heart and it comes from a story in Luke chap 10 so go there with me if you will if you have your bibles if if not it's going to be on the screen behind you and this is the story of the Good Samaritan but I want to give you some perspective on it today that you may not have heard before and so let's start in verse 25 it says and behold a lawyer stood up to put him to the test talking about Jesus saying teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life now I don't know how y'all read your Bible I mean I've always pictured my Bible like a movie scene thank God for the chosen now come on somebody now don't use the chosen as a substit itute for your Bible you better still be reading your Bible but praise God we have something good to watch that unfolds the Bible for us but I always read my Bible like a movie and so I'm like over and over I'm like why do people keep trying Jesus like every time people try Jesus they lose I'm like at some point they got to learn right I don't know this just how I read my Bible if y'all don't like that just go to another church I'm just kidding I'm just kidding so he said to him what is written in the law and how do you read it and he answered you shall love the Lord your God with with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself you ever feel like a good Christian when you get the answer right I would feel like a great Christian if I said this to Jesus and I got the answer right and Jesus says to him you've answered correctly do this and you will live but look at this next scripture he the lawyer Desiring to justify himself said to Jesus and who is my neighbor how many times do we justify ourselves to God or to other people God says do this and then you're like well H do I really have to do that God is that right like do I have to do it fully can I just do part of it and it be okay look at what his question goes to he's like who is my neighbor trying to justify who his neighbor was Jesus replied not with an answer with a story a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed leaving him half dead now by chance a priest was going down that road and when he saw him he passed by on the other on the other side somebody say on the other side so likewise a levite when he came to the place and saw him he passed by on the other side somebody say on the other side but a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion and he went to him and he bound up his wounds pouring on oil and wine then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an end and took care of him and the next day he took out two daer and gave them to the inkeeper saying take care of him and whatever more you spend I will repay you when I come back which of these three Jesus says do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers he said the one who showed mercy and Jesus said to him you go and do likewise now I want to give you some context to this story first Jesus understands culture and he teaches teaches in parables in a certain context that people of that time would understand so in Jewish culture there was a hierarchy if you will there was the priests who served in the temple there was the Levites who served like other duties to the priests in the T Temple then there were Jews who were not priests or Levites just I guess we call them regular Jews or what is it mid Jews is that what gen Z says I don't know about none of that stuff um Jews and then there was people under them that would would have been considered outcasts like Samaritans Tax Collectors y'all know how much some people didn't like tax collectors in the Bible and every time I think of this I can't help this it's not going to be funny to y'all but this is just how I picture stuff if it is funny to you laugh if not laugh anyway I won't know the difference difference anybody ever seen sharktail so you know when he's in there with his boss and he's telling him where he is on the food chain and he's like there's Plankton there's smaller fish there's whale poop and then there's you so he was trying to get a point across to him that he was like the lowest of lows well that's what Jesus does in this story he's telling the story and he's like a Samaritan somebody you all would view as the lowest of lows is actually the hero in this story he's actually the example of what a good neighbor would be and so when I was a kid how many of you grew up in church just so I know who I'm talking to online did you grow up in church okay if you didn't grow up in church it's okay you're in church now praise God for that and you probably got saved from some church hurt so you're actually better off than those of us who grew up in church but anyway if you grew up in church you heard this story as a kid and when I was a kid I couldn't stand the priest and the levite I was like man they are so stuck up but not only did they pass him when it says they passed him by on the other side of the road they saw him coming which in my mind means they moved to the other side of the road so they didn't even have to be anywhere close to him I could not stand that I was like y'all some selfish self-centered like as a kid like as a seven-year-old I'm like I can't believe these people but you know what the more I learned context about this story the more I kind of understood the side of the priest and the levite did y'all know from Jerusalem to Jericho it was a 17- m Journey they didn't have cars hello okay they were walking or riding on an animal a 17- milei journey was big deal back then not only that the priests and the Levites they served in some capacity in the temple most of the time in two to three week rotations so more than likely they were coming home from having just served at the temple y'all ever been on your way home and not wanted nobody to mess with you not have to stop from nowhere it's been a long day at work and all you cannot wait to do is get home take your shoes off and sit on the couch that's how they were feeling make it a little more believable now then the priest knew that if he touched a man with open wounds he would have been considered unclean so now he has to go back 17 miles go back to the temple go through a 7-Day cleansing process then walk 17 miles back home then only have a weak home by himself to then turn around and go back to the temple and serve again somebody say inconvenience inconvenience we don't like to be inconvenienced so now I feel for the priest because I wonder if in in his heart he did feel bad for the person he just didn't have time then the levite I used to be mad at him too but then I understand a little more the levite was probably looking up to the priests because I told you about a hierarchy so when he saw the priest walk on the other side of the road then he's like well if somebody I look up to isn't going to touch them then maybe I shouldn't either because he also knew the law this is why it's important to remember discipleship and who is watching you this is why your actions matter when you're leading other people because what if somebody looks at you and you pass somebody on the other the side of the road listen so this was an inconvenience to them they did everything to avoid him completely and sometimes inconvenience is just what it is but sometimes inconvenience is selfishness so can I can I say something to you today selfishness will cause you to pass serving by on the other side of the road every time because if we're inconvenienced or we're selfish we're not going to stop and serve then I love another takeaway I have from this is the lawyer's question the lawyer who started this whole conversation his question was really an attempt to limit obedience do we ever do that with God you don't have to raise your hand in a minute it's okay but he meant like well who is my neighbor his point behind that question was like well if some people are my neighbor then I only have to treat some people this well because if I only have to treat the people well who are considered my neighbor then ones who aren't considered my neighbor I won't have to treat well and so Jesus doesn't want limited obedience he wants absolute obedience so the point of this story is not to clarify who who your neighbor is but to tell you to be a neighbor to all no matter who they are and so here comes the Good Samaritan somebody say come on Good Samaritan and having a heart to serve it drove him towards the person not away from him so can I teach you some principles today on how to have heart of a servant okay let's go let's go number one be available somebody say be available available so verse 33 it says but a Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion being available starts with compassion we got to look at other people with compassion we got to care about other people we got to put our phone down every once in a while and stop focusing on ourselves and have compassion towards other people because the heart of a servant is compassionate and it drives us to be available so the priest and the levite I can imagine they probably only weren't the only people here with stuff to do I don't we don't know what the profession of the Samaritan was but if I had to guess he was some type of businessman and so if he was on this 17- mile Journey as well he probably had stuff to do but he didn't let what he had to do stop what God wanted to do see the problem with a lot of us today is that we want to be used by God but we want to be used on our terms oh God use me but only in this situation only where I am today God's like don't go there today I want you to go over here and you're like well God I wasn't really on planning on going over there today so I guess you can use me on another day when I'm there we want God to use us on our schedule that's why it's quiet that's why some of you are like I can't go to growth track yet I don't have time on Sundays well how God's going to use you if you don't give them your time okay I'm going to keep teaching before I step on some toes today they don't want their schedule inconvenience for God's schedule now I've told you this story before so I'm going to tell the quick version of it anybody ever have to work weekends do some of you still work weekends for the rest of you that have weekends off praise God for you like I hope you get to relax and do whatever it is that you do but for those of us who work weekends y'all should actually pray extra for us it feels more stressful okay anyway I'm just having fun so I was working with weekend so I was a store manager I took the weekend off and I told my staff you better find every other reason every other person you better figure everything out before you make a phone call to me cuz I am off anybody ever been there before so I get a phone call my assistant manager cracked me up I actually gave them a list of five other people they could call before they called me I pick up the phone I say hello she's like now before you get mad that's so you know they scared Josh listen I did everything you told me to do we had an employee call out I said okay so I got to come in now and cover a part- timer's 2hour shift listen if you're a part-timer in the room figure it out it's two hours okay I don't get paid for that I was salary okay so now I got to come in and cover this part-timers 2our shift I am aggravated I get to the store I tell my assistant manager I'm going to the back leave me alone don't talk to me you got the store for two hours I'm just here for safety she's like okay I look up on the camera of course it's getting busy I'm like ah I walk out in the store and y'all know the story maybe not but this guy is looking at a Gainesville hurricane shirt and he's like who's the Hurricanes I'm like bro it's a high school team around here are you not from here like I'm y'all ever just get sassy and you don't realize you're the one that's sassy until somebody tells you you're sassy and then you're like I'm not sassy I don't have an attitude yes you do so I'm sassy with this guy and he's like I'm not from around here I'm like where you from he's like I'm from Tallahassee I'm like oh Lord I hope you're not a Florida State fan sir you are in Gator Country like I'm just letting this dude have it and I'm like so why are you in Gainesville and he's like well my seven-year-old daughter Bailey has cancer so we're at the Children's Hospital I'm like you suck Josh I'm like you just gave this dude a hard time like I've got and that's that's another thing this is not in my notes but how often do we give people a hard time and we have no idea what they're going through Straight Up nasty to people and don't have a clue what they're going through and so in that moment God was like pray for him now this didn't really happen but I wanted to look at God and be like what are you sure like my attitude is terrible so I pray for this guy and you know I don't I don't know what ever happened I wish I would have been better back then and gotten his number and gotten all of his contacts and and been able to know what happened to Bailey but what I realized was a lot of times when God has Us in situations it has nothing to do with us it wasn't an inconvenience because it was an inconvenience it was an inconvenience in my schedule because nobody else on my staff was a Christian and nobody else on my staff would have prayed for him and so it wasn't that somebody called of work it was that God brought me to work and so my question is are we available are we available to be used by God in that moment and can I give you some can I give you a statement that you need to write down if you want to be used by God and be available your attitude will always determine your availability because my attitude was terrible that day and I could have walked away aggravated irritated and not prayed for that man but I had a choice to make I could put my attitude and my inconvenience and my feelings aside and be available for what God wanted me to do and I think when we make ourselves available to serve other people we also make ourselves available to serve God and so can I simplify it a little bit because it's not always about a huge inconvenience I think sometimes being available is just being like hey God I'm open to whatever you want me to do today hey God bring a person that you need me to talk to or encourage today C can I tell you something if you pray that prayer watch out don't pray it if you ain't serious God bring somebody in my path today that I can talk to somebody go up in your path and you are surprised you're surprised that God answers prayer and wants to use you no be available if you say God bring me somebody to pray for someday he will he'll do it I actually challenge you tomorrow morning Monday morning get up and pray God let me be available today to use me how you want to use me and see what God does be available number two number two go above and beyond the Call of Duty or go over and above the Call of Duty somebody say over and above and so verse 34 he bound up his wounds pouring on oil and wine then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an end and he took care of him so what I see here is the heart of a servant drives us to do more than what was expected he wasn't just like hey man are you okay and he kept going like you good the person yells out they're good and he just keeps on going no he stopped and attended to him he touch the unclean man aren't you thankful that before we got saved and started getting cleaned up that people are willing to touch us that people willing to spend time with us when we were ratchet and crazy and nasty and all of that other stuff some of y'all still ratchet and crazy and nasty but we going to be patient with y'all keep praying for y'all and be willing to love on y'all come on somebody but aren't you thankful that somebody was willing to touch you when you weren't clean and it says he wrapped and treated his wounds he put him on his animal that means he walked the rest of the way some of us don't want to put how we feel aside for other people and he took him to an end and he took care of him what is that it's over and above so I feel like a lot of people do just enough to get by am I just talking to myself today okay I'm guilty of it so I'll just tell on me and as you feel like you agree with it feel free to chime in so I was in school at one point I was in Ali come on Ali graduates where my AI students in the room today Pastor Scott I'm sorry for whatever I'm about to say next you know sometimes you have 500 word assignments 250 word assignments now my wife is the type of person when she sees 250 words she's going to write a thousand I'm like what is the point I was like the teacher doesn't even want to read they made it 250 for a reason babe they probably just going to give you a a cuz this a th000 words me I'm like 251 submit I'm done I'm going to do just enough to turn it in and I'm still going to get good grades but you know what I see y'all coming for me and judging me a little bit we do this in life all the time we do just enough to get by we do just enough in our job but then wonder why we weren't the one that got the promotion or got the raise we do just enough in loving other people and then wonder why they don't love us back and you know what I think the other one is we do just enough in our relationship ships like when your wife tells you to clean the kitchen and you were also supposed to do the counters and the trash not just the dishes because that's going all the way but honestly fellas sometimes if you just do the dishes it looks clean but not when my wife she'll come in and she'll be like I know you ain't wiped these counters down look at this spot right here I'm like how did you find that spot you know what I'm saying but I don't do just enough it's like no you got to go over and above can I tell you another one we do just enough to get saved but then our obedience stops there yeah God I'll say the Prayer of Salvation but that's all I want to do or would take it a step further yeah God I'll go to church check the box but I'm not going to serve cuz my obedience stops there God going to church is just enough to feel close to you and then we wonder why we don't see him show up in our lives sometimes or we show up late to church and expect God to be on time for us can y'all need to stop missing worship do you know that hold on the word says that God inhabits the Praises of his people if y'all just come for the word you're too late God done already did some powerful things in worship but you missed it cuz you had to get coffee you wouldn't show up late for your job but you show up late for God okay I'll get off that point next week everybody better be on time to church that's all I'm saying praise the lord it's always funny when you talk about that the amens just get sucked right out of the room praise the Lord so serving God is not about meeting a quota it's about going above and beyond it's not about just doing something to get something else it's about sering Ving God to the best of your ability can I tell them myself real quick okay got out of work one night super late I felt real Christian with this first story by the way y'all ever felt real Christian before I get out of work this guy's pulled over on the side of the road I'm like oh my gosh uh don't do it holy spirit I'm going try to drive by him and see what happens you drive by and the Holy Spirit gets you so you turn your car around you're like dang it so I walk up to him and I'm like hey man what's going on he's like man I ran out of gas he's like I don't get paid till Friday it's Thursday night I'm like BR I got you you got a gas tank he's like yeah we go to the gas station feeling real good about myself real Christian about myself y'all ever been there before I'm just telling on me fine so I fill the gas tank up take him back to his truck and I'm like whoa whoa whoa wait a minute bro I was like you don't get paid till tomorrow what are you about doing about dinner tonight he's like man I got food at the house I'm like again feeling real Christian I'm like bro save that for tomorrow I got you bro I take him to get food I bring him back to his truck patting myself on the back God look at me look at me being a good Christian God I know y'all laughing cuz you do the same thing you be like Pastor Ken Pastor Josh talked about for the one I helped one today I met my quota God but you know what I did next I start to drive my car off and there was a mom in a minivan and two kids in a flat tire do not come for me I seen that and I'm like well somebody else going to take care of them I was tired I worked a double I wanted to go home but you know what I pray at somebody came and helped them but it should have been me how many times should it have been you how many times do we not want to be inconvenienced or go over and above you see getting gas and food was easy all I had to do was use my wallet but changing that tire would have had to get dirty I would have had to use my time that one was too far to go above and beyond the Call of Duty as Christians we're called to go above and beyond what if Jesus would have stopped short what if Jesus would have done all the Miracles but then didn't go to the cross what if he's like no no no no I'm not going above and beyond what if he stopped there's a scripture I love it's in Luke 4:40 it says now when the sun was setting end of the day come on somebody all those who had any were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed him what if Jesus would have been like I met my healing quota for the day I'm sorry guys I'm tired I'm going home I can't lay hands on anybody else today Jesus never stopped short and so we shouldn't either if we're called to be like Jesus yes let me show it to you in scripture Colossians 3:23 and 24 it says whatever you do work hardly is for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward you are serving the lord Christ do you know what I realized it's not even about serving other people it's about serving God but serving other people lets them know that God loves them and can I tell you something serve other people without expecting anything back if that's your reason for doing it you're doing it for the wrong reasons because my Bible says the Lord is the one that gives us an inheritance the Lord is the one that gives us in a reward so when I serve others I do it as unto the Lord to the best of my ability which means over and above can I Pastor you for a moment what's coming up in three weeks room full of Christians nobody knows Easter is in three weeks oh my gosh it's just the resurrection of our savior it's okay what's coming in 3 weeks okay so you know what you should do with this message you should take the this message and starting tomorrow go over and above the Call of Duty what do I mean maybe you should bring coffee to your workplace for some of your employees or grab some donuts I know everybody got these meal restrictions nowadays but everybody loves some donuts pick up Duncan on the way into work and show people the love of God go to lunch with somebody and you buy it why I'm not saying you can't just invite somebody to church that's great but when you've gone over and above and you've shown God's love to them and you're just kind to them it's a whole lot easier to extend that invite because then they're like oh you've been a blessing to me this week versus like yeah who are you again you work in the fifth cubicle to the left like I don't know I don't know who you are no if you go over and above the Call of Duty then you open people's heart to be able to receive and invite them to church y'all our goal is for 5,000 people in all of our campuses so you got to invite more than one go over and above the Call of Duty well y'all said just reach the one yeah we said reach the one that means disciple the one but like Pastor Ken said last week you got to get 10 to at least get one so invite some people to church go over and above can y'all do that this week praise the Lord the last one is this and Lord I got to go number three somebody say be consistent be consistent yeah that's the one we didn't want to hear in the next day he took out two daenery and gave them to the inkeeper saying take care of him and whatever more you spend I will repay you when I come back he already planned on showing up again he already planned on coming back he wasn't asked to but in other words before somebody said something he said I'll be back I'll be there I'll see you tomorrow can I tell you that the heart of a servant plans to come back and be there but consistency takes intentionality so there's this movie with Tom Cruz y'all know I love movies it's called Edge of Tomorrow anybody seen it okay I'm not a Tom Cruz fan because of what he believes in y'all know what I'm saying just it's a good movie okay not promoting it anyway edge of tomorrow so he lives the same day over and over and over again until he either like completes the mission that they were trying to go on or he runs out of time but the thing that really stands out to me is that he remember remembers what he did the previous day so he repeats those actions over and over to get further and further I felt the Lord on this there's actions that we know we need to repeat as Christians and we need to be consistent in them but sometimes we're not we need to be consistent in our first 15 that should happen every day we need to be consistent in our time of prayer in our time of worship in our time of reading God's word some of us need to develop consistency with the Lord in our lives because God should be a regular part of our Liv so it's almost like before you go to bed at night you should be like I'll see you tomorrow God I'll be there tomorrow God God when I wake up in the morning I'll be back there with you it's consistency and consistency doesn't just mean doing something once you can't do two and a half sit-ups and get buffed come on somebody you want to be like these social media influencers you can't just work out one time and be done when you get married you can't just say I do one time and be done you got to say I do to them dishes in that countertop in that trash Lord have J lord lord lord Jesus have mercy like you got to say I do over and over so serving God is the same thing it's an all day everyday thing can I tell you the hard part about consistency it'll always cost you something consistency has to be a discipline and disciplines always cost us something David says it best he says in 2 Samuel 24:24 he says I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing how many times is it easy to serve God when it doesn't cost us anything and just to give context here when the Samaritan gave a daer it was worth a day's pay so he gave up two days of pay to take care of someone who probably would not have done the same thing for him it cost him something to serve him can I give it to you practically if you want to get better physically you go to the gym no amens one of our culture codes is that we stay fit so some of y'all should be in the gym praise the Lord but I ain't going to judge nobody today so let me give it to you practically if you want to get better physically you go to the gym what happens when you sign up for a gym membership it cost you money then you have to actually go to the gym some of y'all just got it on your key tag to make it look like you go to the gym but you don't really go to the gym we know about it it's okay but then it cost you your time but the lastly it takes effort it cost you a talent you got to learn how to get better you got to actually lift the weights and do that can I ask you something why will we make sacrifices for practical and natural things but we won't make sacrifices for Spiritual things we have a goal to be like Christ we have a goal to have the heart of a servant God calls us to serve other people so why won we give our time our talent and our treasure to the things that really matter it's a cost I learned this years ago God radically changed my life in my heart I didn't really understand giving giving my money giving my treasure but I learned about it over the years can I tell you something I know some people are like well I don't know what the church does with the money well I can tell you that you know what this church does with the money you know that we give 10% back of it to missions missions you know that lives are being changed but can I tell you something that's probably not popular and this is the broadcast service Lord it don't matter what the church does with your money because God's the one who's asking for your money so it's really just about being obedient to God and then what happens with it after that is in God's hands so my question is it's not even about if you trust the church with your money do you trust God with your money because God is the one who says tithe we're just teaching a principle that God teaches okay I'll move on to the next subject I don't give because I want to get something back I give because I believe in the vision of this house and I believe that God wants to use my finances to change lives the next one is I learned about Talent some of you have gifts and abilities that literally could shift somebody's life so when somebody comes up to you and says we could really use someone like you it's not to butter you up I mean you cute but you ain't that cute you know what I mean like we want to see you walking in the gifts of the abilities that God has given you to be able to make an impact in people's lives to serve other people to serve God to do the the things that God is calling you to do why does get why does it always get quiet here there should be so many amens but it's okay and then the last one is I learned about time and this is the one that gets some of us the most all three services you know what else I could do with my Sunday what's God asking you to do with your Sunday that's what I want to know can I tell you I learned about this years ago and you don't have to be me I'm crazy somebody say you're crazy okay I don't expect you to do this but I went to the employer that I was at and I said hey man I want Wednesdays and Sundays off for church I'll work any other hours any other days you need me to but I want Wednesdays and Sundays off for church so on Wednesday on Wednesdays I would go work at the church for 10 hours and help the youth pastor for free after I was done I would go to small group that night and I taught seventh grade small group on Sunday morning I was in the youth and Sunday evening I was an usher at our 6 PM service so Wednesday Sunday morning Sunday night I did that for four years y'all and then in the summer when youth went to Youth Camp I took my one week paid vacation to go to youth camp and serve at Youth Camp four years straight I served like that can I tell you something though it cost me my time sometimes I was like oh Youth Camp is coming again I got to take a week of my vacation off but you know what's crazy no amount of time that I lost will ever make up for some of the comments that have been said to me later in life one of my students reached out to me and was like hey Pastor Josh I want you to know that I'm actually a youth pastor today because of you so you haven't opportunity to give up a little bit of your time for God to be able to use you to serve other people and can I tell you what really did it for me can I give you perspective this is what did it for me you remember when you were a kid and you wanted everything from your parents some of y'all still spoiled and still get everything from your parents mhm it's okay grow up no I'm just kidding I'm kidding but it got to a point where something shifted for me and I realized this after kind of the last set of hurricanes came around and all this stuff that's really hit Me Harder this time I called my dad and instead instead of saying hey can you come help me fill sandbags at my house can you come help board up my windows I called my dad and I said hey do you need help with anything why because As I Grew as a child my perspective shifted it's no longer what can I get from my parents but what can I give to my parents can I tell you that as children of God that's how we should grow up too because when you first come to church it's like what can I get from God God give it to me God bless me God bring down your blessings on my life but at some point you should mature and come to church and say okay God what can I give back to you God can I give you my treasure god can I give you my time God can I give you my talent so you can take it and use it and do what you want to do with it and can I tell you what's great about God no cost ever comes without a promise no cost ever comes without a blessing listen to this in Mark 10:29 and 31 Jesus says truly I say to you there's no one who's left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a h hundredfold somebody say a h hundredfold but not just in the next life life it says now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and land with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life but many who are first will be last and the last first yeah it'll cost you something but there's a greater blessing that's coming there's a greater blessing on the way so I don't know about you I don't I don't serve God because I get something but I serve God knowing there's a promise and there's a Harvest on the other side of it so be consistent in serving the last one is this we have to follow the example of Jesus and I'll give this to you quickly two of jesus' final Acts were in service at the Last Supper he washed his disciples feet knowing that he had the authority knowing the authority he was going to have he did not have to wash their feet but he set an example to serve other people and then his second act of service was that he went to the Cross he served his father he put his will aside to serve God's will if we're supposed to be more like Jesus come on somebody we got to have a heart to serve so we got to serve God and we got to serve other people come on give God some praise today so I know that sounded my like my conclusion but it's not I got three more things for you today how to develop the heart of the servant these are quick write them down number one you got to pray for it none of you said amen cuz nobody wants to actually pray for it because if you pray God give me the heart of a servant he will he'll soften your heart he'll give you compassion you'll see people different I'm like God allow me to see people how you see them God allow me to care for people the way you care about them and when he does that in your heart when you pray for it you'll want to serve other people the second one is look for opportunities to serve what I would say is start small walk before you run it's about progression not Perfection but the problem is some of us can't see opportunities to serve because we're not looking for them we too busy like this or too busy like this or we walk by an opportunity to serve with our head in the sky because we're not even paying attention so I would say look for opportunities to serve there's plenty all around y'all we have reach week coming up somebody yell reach week if you don't know what it is this is the week leading up to Easter we literally Blitz our entire city with invites as a church so we have something we do at lunchtime something we do in the evening and we just go out in teams of people we love on people and we bless people if you want an opportunity to serve I feel like everybody in our church should be a part of reach week make one of those opportunities to serve if you can it's already up on our serve app look them up but we have a goal to see 5,000 people at Easter that's not just a number y'all we want to see people's lives changed and so this is an opportunity to serve God and serve others and the last one is pretty simple you got to pray for it you got to look for opportunities to serve and the last one is you got to act on it you just got to go do it thank you for the one person who's ready to act on it today praise the Lord but you got to do it you know I heard this quote that I thought was so good it says serving starts with your heart but it ends with your hands you can tell me you have a heart to serve all day long but if I don't see it with your hands I don't know that I believe you because it's actions over words we love saying stuff like that till it comes to the things of God so God's called us to serve him and serve others we actually have to do that so let's be people who have a servant's heart y'all let's serve God and let's serve others and let's go make a difference in people's lives amen amen every head bowed every eye closed for just a minute listen if you're in here today having a servant's heart really starts with having the heart of God and so in order to do that you have to have a relationship with him and so I want to give you an opportunity just to have a relationship with God today the Bible says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord that you will be saved and so all we have to do is pray a simple prayer together if you're watching online you can pray this with us as well and so if you want to be saved today can you just lift your hand boldly on the count of three so I know who I'm praying for one two three lift your hand boldly I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand keep them up so I can see I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand hands going up all over the room today keep them up so I can see I see your hand I see your hand I see your hand praise God so if you would today let's all pray this prayer together because nobody prays alone say dear Lord Jesus Come into my heart forgive me of my sins I believe that you died on the cross for me and on the third day God raised you from the dead today I commit my will to your will today I make you lord and savior of my life thank you for saving me thank you for loving me and today I am saved in Jesus name amen hey thank you so much for tuning in to a live online today I pray that message was a blessing to you I pray that the Holy Spirit just take something from it and he illuminates to where your life will never be the same again if that's the case make sure you let us know how your life was impacted and changed because of the message on today we would love for you to share this content you know we have a saying in a live church that one invite can change a life we also believe that one share can change a life I mean get your share on God will 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