How Real Servants Act R E V C H A R L E S E D W A R D C L A R K, JR, D M I N S E N I O R P A S T O R

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1 R E V C H A R L E S E D W A R D C L A R K, JR, D M I N S E N I O R P A S T O R

2 Matt 7:16 GNT 16 You will know them by what they do. Real servants serve Status is not considered Situation does not matter

3 Mark 10:43-44 Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.

4 Your primary shape determines your main ministry Your servant s heart dictates that you do whatever needs to be done Stack chairs, mop floors, kitchen clean up, etc

5 Real servants Make themselves available to serve Pay attention to needs Do their best with what they have Do every task with equal dedication Are faithful to their ministry Maintain a low profile

6 Make themselves available to serve 2 Tim 2:4 NASB No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Interruptions are not annoying they are opportunities for service.

7 Pay attention to needs Gal 6:10 Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers.

8 Prov 3:28 TEV Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help him now. Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can. ~John Wesley

9 Do their best with what they have No excuses do not procrastinate wait for better times do the best you can with what you have where ever you are Eccl 11:4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

10 Not good enough v Good enough It does not have to be perfect for God to use and bless it God would rather have a church of full of good enough people serving rather than a few elites doing everything

11 Do every task with equal dedication Col 3:23 NIV Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, Gal 6:3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

12 Acts 27:39-28:4 Serving upward and downward Are faithful to their ministry Ps 12:1 Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth! Quote p. 261

13 Faithfulness leads to reward from Christ Matt 25:23 "The master said, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let's celebrate together!'

14 No retirement from serving God Maintain a low profile 1 Peter 5:5 TEV And all of you must put on the apron of humility, to serve one another

15 Eph 6:6-7 KJV Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: (Col 3:22-23)

16 Matt 6:1-4 NCV "Be careful! When you do good things, don't do them in front of people to be seen by them. If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "When you give to the poor, don't be like the hypocrites. They blow trumpets in the synagogues and on the streets so that people will see them and honor them. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. So when you give to the poor, don't let anyone know what you are doing. Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

17 An audience of one Gal 1:10 NCV Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

18 Col 3:4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

19 The obscure things are most important 1 Cor 12:22-24 As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach.

20 When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

21 1 Cor 15:58 With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.

22 Matt 10:42 TLB "And if, as my representatives, you give even a cup of cold water to a little child, you will surely be rewarded." Remember only what you do for Christ will last

23 Point to ponder: I serve God by serving others Verse to remember: And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." Matt 10:42 Question to consider: Which of the six characteristics of real servants offers the greatest challenge to me?