Theme: Service (Aug.

27, 2017)

Devotion: Colossians 1:10

Title: Committed Service to God

Introduction:
Good morning to every one of you, before we begin, let us first have a word of prayer…
For our last message on the theme of service, every believer who claims the name
Christian should be fully aware of what the life of a Christian entails. Those who have put their
faith and trusted in God, those who have been saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ
are those real christians in the truest sense of the word. But at the same time it also means
being a follower of Jesus Christ: being His disciple, and obeying His commands, and doing the
things that He also did. But that’s where things start to get blurry. Jesus did not come here on
earth to rest in a palace and live the life of luxury. He came here to do the will of the one who
sent Him, and that is what He did. His life is the epitome of service, and as christians, as
disciples, as His followers, should we be consumed by that singular purpose as well? God saved
us not to sit and rest, while the “ministers” did the work. God saved us so that we may serve as
well. A non-serving Christian is just a contradiction of terms. All of us should be serving God as
we follow the example set by Jesus Christ as our Lord and master. That is why our message for
today is Committed service to God.

Exegetical Idea: The Christian life is a life that is committed to serving God.

Proposition: Brothers and sisters in the Lord, as people who have been saved by God from the
slavery of sin and death, having been brought to life by the blood of Christ, we now are called
to a life of service to Him who saved us.

Interrogative: What does the word of God say?

I. To serve God your life must be committed to Him

What kind of service should we render to God? He is not a mere human of our level, but
of a stature infinitely higher than ourselves. So it comes as no surprise that we should not serve
Him sparingly: we should not give Him the excess and leftovers of our lives. Since the God who
saved us is worthy of our everything, we should give our excellence for Him, and not the bare
minimum. Only a life fully committed to the Lord will be able to serve Him.

A. Based on intimate relationship

Micah6:8 gives us some insight regarding God’s desire for us. God desires that
every one of His children would walk with Him. When people in the bible are described
as “having walked with God”, it pertains to the idea of being in close proximity and
intimacy with Him. The moment we enter into a right relationship with God through
faith in Jesus, we also enter into an intimate relationship with Him. We always want to
be with Him, and our desires and focus are shaped by our relationship with Him. When
we walk with someone, we are prepared to say “no” to other things that may distract us
of our time with another. But being intimate not only relies on proximity, but also on
your knowledge of the other person. Many of us are physically close with other people
everyday: your classmates in school, your officemates at work, even when riding a jeep
or a bus. But that doesn’t mean you are intimate with said people. To be intimate
means a deep knowledge of who the person is, what they want, and how they think. We
have known God primarily by His word, and it is still through His word that our
relationship with Him will deepen. Knowing Jesus Christ personally is greater than any
other thing in this world. Phil3:7-8 By knowing Jesus we know God, and His attributes
and character have been made known to us, and by these things, we learn what He
desires and what He detests. We do the things that we know would please Him.
1Thess.4:1

B. Means a life wholeheartedly surrendered

Gal.2:20 Reminds every child of God that we are no longer just living a life for
ourselves, but we are living a life totally surrendered to God. Remember what happened
when you were baptized. What is done during water baptism is just a symbol of what
happened when you surrendered your life to God, and placed your faith and trust in
Him. Dying to self means to put away all of our old desires, whatever they may be. Our
sinful desires of the flesh are now put away in lieu of spirit of God that is now in us.
Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before
we can hold firmly to what God now offers us. We will have to give up our claims to our
rights to ourselves, on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives.
That is what it means to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ. In exchange
however is the life of Jesus Christ. Now that we are living for God, and Christ is living in
us, our desires are also being shaped by God according to His will. Not all human desires
are inherently sinful, but even those desires you surrender all of it to God. We will and
still are affected by our flesh, but our responsibility is to give it up to God. Jesus Christ
gave us the perfect example: He agonized in prayer: Luke22:42 But ultimately He does
the will of the one who sent Him: Jn.8:28-29

C. Motivated by a genuine love for God

To continue in any commitment is no easy task: how many people have given up
their commitments because of difficulties and hardships? Because they took the “easy
way out”? More so then if the object of our commitment is God, in relation to our
service to Him. Love is the highest motive for serving God. A boy may be motivated to
clean his room by a number of things: fear of punishment, desire for reward, or sense of
duty. But isn't he most virtuous when, out of love for his parents and with nothing to
gain only to give, he does what he knows will please them? The child of God too is most
excellent when he chooses to do what is good and right out of unselfish love for God. A
genuine love for God is the only thing that will make our commitment last for a lifetime.
Anything else will fall short, and ultimately fail. Those who love God will obey Him:
Jn.14:21 When we love God, there will be a desire to glorify Him and to please Him. To
glorify God is an action which is by definition is not self-centered but God-centered.
 Related to this is the action of pleasing God, an end result of love itself. Many people
serve God because of legalism, false guilt, and self-seeking reasons, and they will not
last. Even their faith is called into question: have these people been truly born again?
But those who have been will truly love God genuinely. Matt.22:37-39

Application:
We cannot serve God if we are not fully committed to Him. Our relationship with God is
the necessary basis of any work we do for God. We are not perfect, and we cannot attain
perfection in this life, but we need to be growing and maturing in each aspect of our life as
Christians. And this is done daily: not weekly, not every Sunday, but every day of our lives. We
then should always be mindful of our commitment to God. Are we growing closer to Him each
day? Are there still areas in our lives that we have deemed off-limits to God? Is love what truly
motivates you to live the life of a Christian? These are important questions we need to answer
each new day while we are serving Him.

II. To serve God is a privilege given to all believers

Once we have a grasp on our commitment to God, the next step would only be natural.
As you begin to deepen your relationship with God, you are then inspired to serve God in
whatever capacity that you can. That is why serving God should not feel forced, it should not be
a burden in our lives. We will feel about God the same way we want to be useful to someone
we are intimate with. Without the right relationship with God, no one of us can serve Him.
Without the right commitment, we would not last long.

A. Every Christian has been called into service – Eph.4:11-12, Eph.2:10, 1Pet.2:5;9
One of the challenges faced by the church today is countering the idea that
ministry and service is reserved for the special few. A gap has appeared between being
an “ordinary member” and being a “minister”, when actually there exists none. While
there exists specific ministerial work as mentioned in scripture, the bible also makes it
clear that ALL Christians are expected to work in the body. Eph.4:11-12 Not being called
into these specific ministries is not an excuse to just be an “ordinary member”. The bible
states clearly that we were created for good works by God since the beginning. Eph.2:10
In the OT, God called people into a specific office based on His purpose. Primarily there
were prophets, priests, and kings. Back then, not just any Israelite could come into the
temple and do the work of the priest, and even the priest could not encroach upon the
duties of the high priest. But in the NT, God calls all of us into his priesthood: 1Pet.2:5
again, the line dividing Jews and gentiles have been abolished. All of us are part of this
race, priesthood, and nation. v.9 And all of us are to proclaim the excellencies of Him
who called us.

B. Every Christian should serve in whatever condition – 1Cor.7:17-24

In conjunction with the truth that all of us have been called into service, the
bible also tells us that we should serve God in whatever condition we are in. This
counters another idea spreading among the brethren that you must be in an ideal
position, ideal environment, or have an ideal background in order to serve God in the
 most effective way. Others however, just form their own conditions to be met first
before they serve in the ministry. (kapag, kung, pagkatapos) But again, the bible tells us
the opposite: 1Cor.7:17-24 If we believe in God, if we believe in His truth, we know that
there are no chance encounters or accidents. Our life condition is known to God, and
you can be sure that when God calls you into service, that is accounted for as well. The
saying “bloom where you are planted” can be applied here. Nothing will be gained if all
we do is wait and wait for that perfect opportunity. Rather, where you are and what you
do right now is the opportunity that we have to serve God and be a witness to the
world.

C. Every Christian has been given a gift

Lastly, 1Tim.4:14 like timothy, all of us has received a gift, and we should use
these gifts at every opportunity to bring glory to God. 1 Pet.4:10 A spiritual gift may be
defined as “a God given ability for service in the body of Christ” (emphasis). I want to
emphasize this one thing: all Christians have been given a gift. If you are in Christ, you
have a gift. You may have a greater number of gifts than others, or you may have less,
but the fact of the matter is every believer has at least one gift. These gifts are
distributed by the Holy Spirit to all Christian men, women, youth, and even children. We
received them the moment we were born again in the spirit. Our task is to discover
what those gifts are, and develop them in our lives. 1Tim.4:14-15 Paul reminds Timothy
that he should not neglect the gift of the spirit that was given to him. As we are growing
in our relationship with God, so our service also grows and matures. A few verses prior
we see Paul mention physical exercise and godliness. 1Tim.4:7-8 train yourself for
godliness Paul says. Every day we wake up we make a conscious decision to be godly in
our lives. So we must make a decision to develop our spiritual gifts more and more for
our service to God. How do we develop these gifts?

Application:
By this time it should be clear: God has called all of the Christians into His service, both
personally, and in the body. He provides the necessary tools we need in order to accomplish
our work. The question that remains is: are you ready and willing to be of use in his service?
Know this: Without fulfilling the purpose of God in our lives, there will be a shortage of joy and
satisfaction in your life. God has called us and placed us here for service.

Reminders:
1. The ministry is a lifelong fight, not a short picnic. 1Tim.6:12
You can go and spend an afternoon in the park with no preparation and enjoy yourself
to your hearts content. But to go into war is a whole different matter. And the Christian
ministry is spiritual warfare. It is not always easy, and the enemy is there trying to his best to
get the better of you. Many give up because of wrong expectations, strong opposition, or
disappointments. We need to be physically, mentally, and spiritually prepared for this fight if
we are to emerge victorious.

2. The ministry is dependent on personal integrity rather than technical ability. Titus2:7-8
 We cannot help but see and marvel at the many abilities shown by people in the
ministry. Some people’s ears perk up when the person speaking in front has a longer title than
their name. This is not saying that these things do not count for anything, but a reminder that
God places higher importance in our integrity rather than ability. In listing down the
qualifications for an overseer, we see that character is sought out, rather than technical
prowess. 1Tim.3:2-7 those who say they have no ability are not excused from the ministry. And
those who are talented but lacking in character have no business in it.

3. The ministry will have casualties. 1Tim.1:18-20

Related to the first two points, some people will not endure the teaching of sound
doctrine, and as a result make a shipwreck of their faith. There is always a human tendency to
place our admiration on people in the faith, as they inspire and strengthen us, but there is
always a danger there because even great Christian ministers can fall. Once that happens, more
often a domino effect would take place. What we need to be reminded of is that our faith and
ministry is never based on people alone. Not your leader, not your pastor, not even the person
who led you to know the Lord. Even if they were to fall or stumble, your service to God should
not waver.

Conclusion:
For my conclusion, remember brethren, that If you have trusted in Christ, you are in His
service. You are in the ministry. You are as responsible as I am before God to fulfill your
ministry. Remember and evaluate your commitment to the Lord: that’s the foundation. Are you
doing the things that are truly pleasing to God? Are you growing deeper in your intimacy to
Him? You cannot serve God if you are not fully committed to Him. Serving God is a great
privilege given to all of us believers. To serve God is to find our purpose in this life, and to gain
satisfaction that nothing else can give. Do not neglect the gift He has entrusted to you. Col.1:10
if we do these, 3 things will happen: 1. You are satisfied. 2. The body is edified. 3. God is
glorified. And that is why we are here: To give all the glory to God alone. Be committed to your
service to God, because serving God is for life. To God be all the glory.