[0:00] this story is very similar to the one found in the Gospel of John, although that story takes place six days before the Passover. So there's a little bit of difference in there, but we also have a woman there that comes in and we're told what her name is, Mary.
[0:20] Don't know if this is the same story or not, and they just got a few days mixed up. I kind of think that it's, I mean if we take Scripture for what it says, this is a different story. Very similar, but not quite the same. And that's alright, we're not looking at the nuances of that and the synoptic Gospels how they go together. So let's just in case that gets in your head, you go, because this woman is not named, it just says a woman came in with an alabaster vial of perfume. Doesn't give us her name. We can say, oh John says it's Mary. Well, again, we don't need to get into all that. Not for this. If you want to study that on your own, absolutely do it. But anyway, so she comes in and this isn't, so Jesus is having supper at Simon's house, the leper who he's already healed, and as he's reclining at the table, in comes this unnamed woman, and she has with her, as we know, a vial full of perfume. Costly perfume, we are told.
[1:32] Now if we think about that for just a moment, she comes in with a vial full of perfume. That means that this incident, what she is doing, what she's about to do, is not a spur of the moment thought. Okay, this is something that she's planned out.
[1:49] She's thought about, and she says, and she could have been thinking, how can I just love on my Lord? How can I, and I'm a sinful person, you know, because we all are, and I just love this Jesus. I love him. And so, hey, I'm going, so she plans this thing out, and she, hey, I'm going to come to him, and I'm going to bring him something that, that is precious to me. I mean, because you've got to think that this bottle of perfume, a little small guy, and, but this thing is, we're told that it's in, that it's worth 300 denarii. I think that's what it said. And so that would be equivalent to about a year's wages, they say. Well, think of that yourself. I mean, put yourself in this situation and say, would I take a bottle of perfume that it took me an entire year's wages worth to purchase, and now I'm going to break this thing open, and I'm going to pour it on his feet. Am I going to do that? And she says, yes, I'm going to. Now, whether she did that by herself or that she was being led by the Holy Spirit, we don't know. But either way, she was, if she was being led by the Holy Spirit, she was being obedient because she had this thought of, hey, what can I do? And did that thought come on her own, or did the Holy Spirit prompt her?
[3:17] And, oh, okay, and did she recognize that? Again, that part doesn't matter other than if, if you can put yourself in this, in, in this situation, as we look at later on, what, what this is all leading to, are we being prompted by the Holy Spirit to do something, or do we have this thought of our own? Well, and my humble but right thought is that, no, I always think it's the Holy Spirit, that he guides us, he, in our walk, and he is always trying to lead us. So that's my thought. Anyway, so it wasn't, it wasn't spontaneous. It wasn't a command that Jesus gave. He didn't say, you must do this, you know, you've got to, to serve me in this way. No, it was planned, and she brought her offering of service with her. It did cost her something, a whole year's wages, and how would that equate to us? Again, this hopefully will come all together here when
[4:24] I, when I get going on this, to, to see what I'm talking about. It cost her a year's wages. What would that be equivalent to us in our day and age? It's not our money, per se, because it's easy to throw money at things. That's an easy thing to do. What, what is, what is something that we hold so precious to ourselves? Can you think of it? Who? Time. Perfect. That's exactly what, we hold time so precious. We, we just are, I don't have time. There's not enough time in the day to do this, do that, everything. So our time is precious to us. Are we willing to give up some of our time? Well, it's evident here this morning of everybody that's attended, that you've said, I'm going to give some of my time to the Lord. And by the way, I hope that, and I, I, I hope that everybody is here because they want to hear from the Lord, that they want to receive something today. And that's your purpose of being here. And your purpose also is, purpose also is to gather as fellow believers, as we lifted up the name of the Lord and worshiped him in song, worshiped him in the things that he's doing in the church, worshiped him in the future things of, of the, that. Operation. Thank you, Operation Christmas Child. Is that the one? Okay, good. Told you.
[6:05] It goes out the head real fast. But anyway, so, I mean, hopefully you are here to hear from the Lord. You are here to hear from the Lord. Okay. And if you're not, get that way, get that thinking in your head. So, so it costs us our time. All right. She also did it when the opportunity arose. All right.
[6:35] She didn't wait. She didn't say to herself, oh, next time I see Jesus, I'll do this. Next time I hear about him being in town, I'll do this. I'll just wait till then. Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll do it. I, we so often say to the Lord when we're going, when we say that we, when we're convicted, when we're challenged to do something for the Lord, and we say, tomorrow I'll do it. Next time. Not today, Lord, I'm busy. I got too much going on. But you, and you know that Lord, you understand. You're okay with that. As we all know, tomorrow never comes. So she did it when the opportunity arose.
[7:19] The chance to serve can come and go so quickly. In fact, Jesus said, the poor you will always have, but me, I won't be here. You won't have me forever. He knew what was going to happen, that he was leaving. So that opportunity to be able to serve him and thank him was fleeting.
[7:43] Just think if she hadn't have done it at that time, what would she have thought? I had my opportunity and I missed it. I blew it. I had my opportunity to serve Jesus and I missed it.
[7:58] That's, that's a sad commentary if that happens. Now, of course, we can't do something for Jesus physically today, obviously, for him physically. But what does Matthew 25 tell us? You know, we hear the, we know the parable of that when the king and the master and when did we see that you were hungry and cold and thirsty and naked and what did Jesus say? When you did it to the least of these, you've done it to me. So that's how we serve him today physically. We do it via our brothers and sisters. We do it even broader than that out into the world as the spirit leads. So we still have that opportunity to be able to serve the Lord even physically via the brothers and sisters.
[9:05] One thing I also notice about this is that Jesus, he didn't question her methodology. He didn't say, oh, you broke that perfume in the wrong place, you know, or you should have just, on cat, I don't know how they looked back in back then. I don't know if once you broke it, that was it.
[9:22] I don't know if they had little caps on them. I don't know. I didn't research that. But he didn't question her methodology of, oh, you should be pouring that here, or you should be pouring on this foot first, or, oh, you shouldn't be drying it. He didn't question any of that stuff. In fact, when everybody else, and we find out that at least in the storytelling in the book of John, that it is, who's that bad guy? Judas, that's it. She is. I am bad. Judas Iscariot.
[9:59] That he was the one who started that grumbling about, oh, she could have taken that, or we could have taken that and sold it to the poor because he was stealing from the, he was in charge of the the box, the money box, and he was pilfering from it, we're told. And nice guy, you know, this guy is all around up there, upstanding. No. And so he started this argument, you know, this grumbling with the people. And what's astounding is, obviously, the other people there were joining in because it said, but some were indignantly remarking to one another. So they were talking amongst themselves, getting after this woman for breaking this vial. So you have that. Did I finish my thought on the methodology? I don't think I did. So the methodology is the uniqueness of what we do. That when we do something for the Lord, we all look different when we do it. Case in point, Mark and how he does prayer and share, totally different. He doesn't have to do it like Pastor Bill does it, even though that is a smart way to do it. But Mark does it differently, at least for now. And so you each pray to God differently. And what do we know that prayer is? Prayer is simply having a conversation with God.
[11:33] That's all it is. We're going before the Father and we're speaking to him. So the being scared and everything about coming up here and praying in front of everybody else, oh yeah, there's that.
[11:49] Because we're being judged. Let's be honest. We judge each other. That's just what we do. And so, but we understand and feel comfortable with it, that it's okay. We are all different. And how we do it, we own, the only person we have to please is God. That is it. I don't have to please you, you, you. I don't have to please anybody else. I have to stand before God and be right with him and he knows my heart. And that's all that matters. Okay. I'm saying that to be an encouragement to you because so often we see things, how people do things. And we say, when we're called to do it, we say, oh no, I couldn't do that.
[12:34] I just couldn't do that. I'll never be like that person or this person. They sound so eloquent when they speak. They just say just the right words and stuff. And it's like, no, it's all right. It's okay.
[12:50] Just be available. God doesn't want your ability. He wants your availability. He doesn't care how well you do. In fact, we're told that God uses the foolish things to confound the wise.
[13:09] I've always liked that because I can fit into that category. I'm okay. I'm okay with that. Because who gets the glory? God does, not man. So anyway, I just want to really drive that point home about being unique and it's okay. So the thing about being, wanting your availability versus your ability. And again, this will all make sense when I get down to the rest of it. So just bear with me.
[13:42] She did what she could. Another church that I attended, I was very well-known.
[13:59] He was very well-known. He was very good at his job, thankfully. I forget what he was a doctor of. I think it was brain surgery. But anyway, he was very good at what he did.
[14:10] So he was in high demand. And so he was a Christian, but it was, his job and everything was so busy that he found little time to be able to do anything else because he was helping people all the time.
[14:26] So he came to the pastor one day and he said, man, I want to do something for the church body. He goes, but I'm so busy all the time.
[14:38] I don't know what I can do. And the pastor said, how much time do you have? He says, man, I'll, I'm lucky if I can spare a half hour on a Saturday, but that would be early in the morning.
[14:54] People don't get up when I get up, you know, it's like three o'clock in the morning. And that's just, that's the only time I've got. And the pastor said, tell you what, we always need the floor to be vacuumed.
[15:11] Can you do that? He said, yeah, I can do that. So every Saturday he came in at three in the morning and he vacuumed. He did what he could.
[15:24] I thought that was a really neat thing. There was another person unique for him. So there was another person who saw a need in the church.
[15:37] He saw, and Roger will like this one. He saw that the, the, the, the guy doing the sound at this particular church, it was sound and media.
[15:49] The, the words and the sound were all by one person. And he saw that this, a particular person was doing it all the time.
[16:00] He was there every single Sunday doing it. Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. He never took a break from it. He never got to take a vacation or anything. He had to be, or if he did, took a vacation, had to be during the weekend.
[16:11] He had to be back there on Sunday because there was nobody else that would do it. So this one guy said, hey, I'll do it. I'll help you out. But I'll try it. I'll, I'll try and help you when I can, if I can, because I'm tone deaf.
[16:26] And so I don't know how to do the mix. I've never seen a sound board before. I don't know any of that stuff. But he volunteered and gave that other person a break now and then.
[16:41] Instead of it just being put onto one person. Again, he had, he wasn't capable. He didn't have the ability to do it, but he was available.
[16:53] And man did that bless that person. And it blessed the church too. So do what you can. She did what she could.
[17:04] My question is, do you see a need and help or a need out there or somebody that needs help or something? Or do you just throw up and do you help?
[17:15] Do you offer to fill that need? Or do you throw up your excuses immediately? I can't do that. I know that's me.
[17:26] I tend to do that more often than I should. Oh, no. I don't have the time. I'm too busy. I'm really tired from this week's work. Man, I'm exhausted.
[17:38] Again, throwing up excuses. People will make fun of me. I won't do it right. I'll make a fool of myself. I already told you that. Somebody else can do it better. So the question gets back to, are you doing it for God?
[17:53] Are you doing it for man? Do you care what man thinks or do you care what God thinks? And if he's looking for the heart, he's just happy he has showed up.
[18:06] What's that thing about tithing that he loves a cheerful giver? Well, that can go along with this, too. He loves a cheerful giver, a giver of their time, a person who will give of their time.
[18:22] He loves a cheerful giver. But I've also heard it said that he loves a cheerful giver, but it'll take from a grouch. So it's like, oh, okay. Got it.
[18:33] Do it, in other words. So are you doing it for God or for man? Galatians 1.10 tells us, for am I now seeking the favor of men or of God?
[18:48] Am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. Are you a bondservant of Christ?
[19:01] Do you know what a bondservant is? There's a difference between a servant and a bondservant. A bondservant is somebody who has voluntarily said, you know, this person treats me right and I want to serve them.
[19:24] I am choosing to serve rather than being forced to because I'm in debt and now I owe them something or different various reasons.
[19:34] But this, in this case, a bondservant is somebody who says, I choose it. And there was one way that you, to identify a bondservant back then is that they would take the ear of the person who wanted to be a bondservant.
[19:53] And he'd place his ear up against the door frame and they'd take an awl and pierce his ear, pop it through. But that was how you identified somebody who wanted to be a bondservant.
[20:04] Are you not that you have to go get your ear pierced? Although I'll be more than happy to help you if you want to. I'll get some awls going here, y'all. Anyway, that are you a bondservant of Jesus Christ?
[20:20] Do you serve him willingly and just because of who he is and what he has done for you?
[20:31] Hopefully you are. And if you are, then you're not seeking the favor, the accolades of man. Okay. I think I'm going to read this part only because it was, I won't be able to do.
[20:53] Anyway, do I ask to see what Jesus sees? We're moving in. We're switching. Sorry. We're changing a little bit. So this gets now into the needs of people and stuff.
[21:06] Okay. Do I see what Jesus sees when he looks at the church body, meaning this particular body right now? Okay. This family. Do I see what he sees?
[21:19] Do I see the needs and the love that he has for everybody in here? Do I see it? I don't know. Do I ask what God's will is for me in any given situation that maybe I do see?
[21:33] Do I ask God? Do I say, what is your will for me in this? I see this need, but what are you asking of me? What's your will? Okay. And because by the way, how do we know what the will of God is in any given situation?
[21:51] Haven't you ever asked yourself? I don't know if that's God's will. I don't know if he wants me to get involved in that or help in this or do that. I don't know. How do I know that this is what God wants? Well, you know what?
[22:02] It's pretty cool because in 1 Thessalonians 4.3, that passage answers the question of what is God's will for you?
[22:13] Okay. It answers with clarity and simplicity. Okay. What it basically says is this is the will of God, your sanctification.
[22:29] That's it. If you go through the passage, it keeps coming back to your sanctification. He wants your sanctification. Now, next big word.
[22:40] Huh, James? We saw that on Thursday night, right? Yeah. Talked about it on there. Bill clarified it for us. Larry, sorry. Larry clarified it for us.
[22:54] This is pretty cool. The will of God for you is that you be sanctified, that you steadily and progressively become more and more like Jesus.
[23:08] That's what sanctification means. That you will steadily and progressively become more and more like Jesus. So, when you're confronted with a decision about what to do and you're always wondering what's the will of God, here is a compounded question to ask.
[23:30] Now, I don't want to lose you on this because I should have written this thing out and given it to everybody because it just helps you think it through. But basically, you've all heard of WWJD.
[23:44] What would Jesus do, right? Well, that stops so short of when we're confronted with something because they say, oh, you know, what would Jesus do?
[23:54] Well, that's a good start. Okay. But there's more to it. And that is, what choice will make me more like Jesus?
[24:06] What will I do that will make me more like Jesus? Not what would Jesus do, but what would make me more like Jesus? What would make me more like Jesus? What would make me more like Jesus? What would make me more like Jesus?
[24:16] What would make me more like Jesus? Most on God? Because that's what Jesus did. Jesus relied on God. Let me also tell you, God wants to stretch you.
[24:28] So, there's something so you can go, I don't feel comfortable with that. Nah, that's good. You shouldn't because he wants to stretch you. That's how you grow is by stretching. Right?
[24:39] Here's what would help bring others closer to him. Wasn't that also what Jesus did? Is how did he bring people to the Father, closer to the Father?
[24:53] Well, we know what Jesus had to do. Okay? And then what would bring God the most glory? What would bring God the most glory?
[25:07] What would you most rely on? What would bring you to the most reliance on God? Bring others closer to him? And what would bring him the most glory? This whole thing about sanctification, as we know, it is a lifelong process.
[25:23] This isn't something that happens overnight. It's not something that happens once. But this is something that continually is being evolved in our life, being grown in our life.
[25:35] You guys know that. We all feel it. Some days we feel like we're doing it right, and then we slip back, and then we come back again. And it's that cycle that we all go through and everything.
[25:46] Jesus himself said that he came not to be served, but to serve. Right? He counted others' interests more significant than his own.
[26:07] It tells us in Philippians 2, 3 through 5. He also said, Jesus said, By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
[26:18] So all that wraps around the serving thing. Seeing need and responding to that need. The love for one another.
[26:31] That love that's directed by God. Not how we think it should look or something like that. Because sometimes we can see a need, and we may think, oh, this needs to be done in this way or that way.
[26:43] And we don't seek the Lord on how to respond to that need. And then we do it incorrectly. I think of a story, not a story, I mean a true happening, and it happens all over the place and all the time.
[27:00] We see a friend, a loved one, a sibling, a brother, sister, a child.
[27:12] And we see them, that they get themselves into trouble or something is happening in their life. And we look at it and we say, so we think of our own.
[27:25] And we say, I need to do this to help them out. Give an example, I guess, about a child that gets themselves in financial trouble.
[27:38] And we say, oh, I need to help them out, get them out of their financial situation. So I'm going to help them out.
[27:49] I'm going to pay this bill for them or something like that. Well, if you haven't gone to the Lord first and asked him how you should proceed, then you may be interrupting what God is trying to teach in that person.
[28:05] He may be trying to correct them of some habit. I don't know. God knows. Okay? But that's why it's so important to take your, when you see a need, that you take it before the Lord first, instead of saying, hmm, I know what's happening here.
[28:23] And then you try to correct it. Again, you can think of situations where you say that you've interrupted. You've short-circuited what God is trying to do in their life.
[28:36] And then what? Now they have to go through it even worse or something like that. I mean, so, yeah, we want to rescue people. We want to do that stuff. But is that what God wants? It's an interesting thing to pursue when those things come up.
[28:54] How should I proceed? What should I do? Hmm, man. So, love for one another as directed by God.
[29:04] Serve one another. Help one another. Come alongside one another. Not directed by your own way of thinking. And, in fact, when that starts happening, and it happens in our society, too, is that we know this passage very well out of Judges.
[29:22] Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That's what we start doing after a while. Oh, it seems right in my eyes. It's okay. It's good. That's a good thing I'm doing.
[29:34] Or, that's my truth. You know, this is how I think it should be. That's what happened. And, to finish up that passage in Judges, that he said that the reason why they did what was right in their own eyes is because Israel had no king.
[29:51] So, the question comes up, do you have a king? Who is your king? And, of course, we all answer Jesus. But, is he your king?
[30:05] Do you go to him for ways of how to proceed? Or, do you do it what's right in your own eyes? And, I know that that passage means some other things, too.
[30:17] But, you can apply it here. Jesus, well, and the last days, going back to the, they did what was right in their own eyes.
[30:33] The last days are described as one of these markings that in the last days that people will be doing, besides being lovers of themselves, that they will also do what's right in their own eyes.
[30:49] Yeah, we're there. In John 12, 26, it says, If anyone serves me, meaning Jesus, he must follow me.
[31:04] So, if you want to serve Jesus, you need to follow Jesus. That means, what does follow mean?
[31:15] It means to be a disciple. You walk like he walks. You do what he does. That's the simple description of being a disciple.
[31:26] You do what your mentor does. You be like him. We get to a point in our life where we have to be honest with ourselves.
[31:45] We have to ask ourselves, who am I really following? What am I really doing? Am I following me? Am I following Jesus? Am I following somebody else? Am I following Jesus?
[31:57] In Joshua 24, it says, If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourself whom you will serve, whether the gods of your father.
[32:11] goes on to talk about the gods of Egypt all the false gods and then Joshua says but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord he took a stand now he made a commitment for me and my house you make up your own mind you do what you want to do but for me and my house we're going to serve the Lord you know you can only serve one master we're told and that is true you will either love one and hate the other not either that's what you'll do you'll love one of them one of the masters and you'll hate the other one which one are you going to love and which one are you going to hate you're going to hate yourself oh no I and we always hear it especially in psychology and stuff people saying I hate myself no you don't that's a lie you love yourself otherwise you wouldn't do the things you do you may not like your situation or the consequences because of your choices but you love yourself do you take care of yourself do you feed yourself do you groom yourself yeah you love yourself let's be honest love one and hate the other that doesn't mean you just beat up the other one that's what that means our king our lord said to serve one another that's how we serve him in first peter 4 10 it says as each has received a gift use it to serve one another and there'll be a future um um sermon about the gifts um because the uh lord's working on that one right now um so that'll be a future one about the giftings and uh um you know jesus is our we always want to always go back to jesus he's our prime example of what to do and in um mark 9 35 he told now this he told to his disciples so he told to the 12 if anyone would be first he must be last of all and servant of all and of course jesus was exactly that he became last he took our sins on the cross he became cursed on the cross but then after he rose he became first of all so the example the supreme example um all right we're gonna just uh finish up with that thought um going on to a new one here because i didn't have a great way of segment segwaying into that whatever that's called um the uh um israelites were set apart as a people they were given dietary laws and customs which made them stand out among the other nations as god's people okay um they they were called a peculiar bunch christians are called a peculiar bunch we are told again that they will know we are christ followers christians by our love for one another and so the question comes up is that evident in our church in our churches across america they'll know we are christians by our love
[36:12] for one another do we have that love do we show it to each other are we lacking in that loving by serving each other helping out in malachi 318 it's talking about a people who fear the lord and give attention to his word people who fear the lord and give attention to his word that what's going to happen that once more you will see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between the ones who serve god and the ones who do not just like the israelites were given the dietary laws and their different customs and stuff that set them apart they're a christian in this world today is very hard to differentiate between the rest of the world we all look at the same we all sound the same we all do the same things what sets us apart we're told what sets us apart they'll know we are christians by our love for one another we have a stranger coming in here would they see that in the church i believe they would but to what degree as they get to know us a little bit more and stuff how about talking about things at work or with other people that aren't believers and you say to them i mean you're asked what are you doing this weekend well i'm helping out so and so i'm going to do this and they hear that over and over and they start i mean that hey wait a minute there's something different about this guy he seems to love people he seems to go out of his way to go do things for people man he sure seemed tired or something like that just thoughts that are in there so now it comes down to the brass tacks for our body when you are a member of a family you help out around the house don't you if you live at home you help out don't you i mean you don't expect mom to do it all the wife to do it all or the husband no i'm just kidding just kidding no you contribute to the things that need to be done you take turns right isn't that what i mean children when they're when they're grown up in the home and it's like hey you got chores to do you got things to do why because you're a part of this household you're part of the family you need to do your part you need to contribute well it's no different here at church we're part of a family we need to contribute we need to give of ourselves give of our precious time to the lord in helping one another out about showing our love for one another did you know the statistic and i think it still stands this is a in uh it's been around forever that 20% of the people in the church do 80% of the work that's the truth 20% of the people do 80% of the work it's persistent in the churches it's been in the churches for a long time if you go back to old sermons back from the 18 1700s the same 1500s the same type of
[40:14] you can find messages that speak to this whole thing about serving one another so it's a problem that has perpetuated in the church for all this time can we be a different body can we step in and help one another give some examples i went over this with with sherry that's who it was of things that we can do for the local body for our local church and so often the the argument comes up not the argument the excuse comes up not that much to do in the church they've got it covered they know what they're doing so i challenged we challenged each other hey what are some things that happens in the church on a regular basis what goes on you guys want to popcorn it or you just want me to read my list i'll check them off as you popcorn it i don't mind what are some things that we do in the church we already talked about one the sound that roger has been doing faithfully for i don't know how long i've only been here three years and he's been doing it for that whole entire time and so not to point out roger because there's other people that do other things in the church on a consistent basis but anyway so sound is one of them and so sound let's just stop there for a second man this will take a long time i got a long list oh well let's go ahead the sound just huh what cleaning cleaning soundboard boom cleaning i think i have that on here yep there it is cleaning the church that's got to be done what else i put that down as i didn't put this in any type of order of course not yes i have that one but no that's exactly it the so the the maintenance of the grounds so to speak okay that that needs to be done okay what about some other things what are some other things that happen very good yep there you go so care ministry what else bulletins yep and updates i like it no now we have oh hi ann i'm mark thank you how about music praise and worship praise and worship yep exactly so i would say that one we're going to leave that one for the musically inclined because you like me you don't want me up there no no i would so god has blessed them there were that's one of those places where god wants your ability i know i shouldn't say that i don't really mean it we'll just turn down your mic so if you're up here singing your heart out bless you thank you we're turning your mic down we're going to give you a solo solo on the volume but yes absolutely the the worship team i'm sorry small groups excellent got that one what else prayer as evidence by the sheet that you can sign up ding ding ding that's right the yep that's right and again everybody does it differently so you don't have to look like somebody else it's okay what else anything else sharing the word sharing the word amen amen all right
[44:15] so here i've got i'll just go down through the list host a bible study attend a bible study or offer to do here's one offer to do the lesson in the bible study give the person who's doing the bible study a break now and and say hey you know what i'd like to teach on this book or something like that and prepare prepare some lessons that's a good way to get prepared for someday coming up here and doing it in front of everybody it's okay it's okay it's okay if you mess up too so attend a bible study the musically inclined rotation let me stop here for a second the reason for bringing all this stuff up is because when one person has to do it it can become overwhelming it can become discouraging over time and that's why we get in our head and we hear it if you volunteer it's for life you ain't never getting out of that don't ever volunteer for anything in church because you and I are getting out of it and for the most part that is true unfortunately 20% of the people do 80% of the work and it's the same people that do it over and over and over again it's not fair brothers and sisters it's not fair that we don't step in and give a hand there is a need out there to give our brothers and sisters a break we have to do it it shows our love for one another we serve our lord by doing that it's his body it's his bride that we're doing this for don't make the same people have to come up here and do worship every single sunday let's get it to where because god has raised up other people that can do worship but let's have it to where they can rotate so it's not the same people over give them a break step in doesn't have to be roger every single sunday doing the sound doesn't have to be give some more breaks of the people that are doing the media doing the words up here okay it's not that hard now roger makes it hard and he'll be the first to admit it but that's all right roger can accept he'll accept help trust me he did
[46:50] I did it a few times and I didn't do exactly perfect but he was okay with that I didn't get yelled at or anything it was amazing so we have the sound board how about greeters how about ushers how about the opening announcements that's that's right the people that when you take the offering and we have counters you know so we gotta count it right yep this stuff is all easy and simple the opening announcements the call to worship prepare communion get it ready for the first Sunday of the month be one of the people that volunteers to distribute the communion yeah that's again simple stuff here seasonal decorating help Delinda do it you know she does it all the time and she does it season after season and it's just hey can I maybe I can do it now maybe she doesn't like the way you do it but you can learn or something like that
[48:02] I don't know but we can volunteer the good news club there's plug for the good news club yes how about the tri lakes we do the tri lakes to where we gather food do you bring food for that do you ever think about it when you're shopping and you go I should do that does the Lord ever put it on your mind and you go yeah I'll pick up an extra something of this or that and I'll bring it yeah neat and then not only to bring it but also to deliver it huh John wouldn't that be nice if somebody else could deliver it instead of you all the time but you would be happy to share that responsibility wouldn't you Sherry did all right good job Sherry wowie so the prayer chain care ministry how about hosting a potluck at your house we've had people that have done it and they've been great it's great to go over to somebody else's house instead of having it downstairs isn't it
[49:05] I think it is I think it's really neat to go over to somebody's house and we went a little bit of a distance this last time we were pushing the limit so to speak but it turned out great I loved it it was fantastic so host a potluck do prayer and share you can you can participate in any of these things you can maybe even take a lead over it because I'm sure that like Diana would like to not have to organize the ushers and the greeters month after month after month after month after month after month and she would not mind if somebody stepped in and said hey you know what I'll give you a break on that I'll give you you don't have to do it all the time which also brings me to the other thing if you are a lead person in one of these areas be willing to give up the reins and let somebody do it in their own unique way they're not going to do it the way you do it but it will get done and if it gets messed up who cares it doesn't matter right not in the long run it's okay just volunteer just help out see a need fill a need if everyone joined in we could have rotations and there would be no burnout and again volunteering should not mean a lifetime commitment if you get enough people in there that it would rotate here's the other part and this is where people also fall down and that is honor your commitment honor it if you commit to do something be faithful and do it don't say you're going to do it and then not ever do it that gives a black eye to loving one another we don't want that okay here's another thing that again brings us all back together again first kings 1821 then Elijah approached all the people and said how long will you waver between two opinions if the
[51:23] Lord is God follow him do what he says obey him but if Baal is God follow him and what happened what did the people say the people did not answer him a word he challenged the people he said if God is God follow him if Baal is God follow him make up your mind and the people wouldn't say a word they kept silent about it that's a sad sad commentary isn't it earlier we read already when Joshua asked who will serve the Lord and he said as for me and my house I will serve the Lord or we will serve the Lord and the people responded that they also would serve the Lord I'll turn to there and this is the end of Joshua's life before he well that would make sense before he died and it says in
[52:34] Joshua 24 22 Joshua said to the people you are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him and they all answered we are witnesses They agreed to it now therefore put away the foreign gods which are in your midst and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel the people said to Joshua we will serve the Lord our God and we will obey his voice can you guys say that today do you want to make that commitment how about we change it up just a little bit because if I ask you today do you desire to serve the Lord do you desire to serve the Lord by loving and serving the brethren I'm not talking about legalism here this isn't about legalism and something that you have to do and you got to do this is between you and
[53:41] God it's not between me and you between your spouses between the person you're going to be helping it's not you it's like this can you say that in your heart that you desire to serve the Lord because we're not going to be perfect we are going to make mistakes we're going to fall and falter but do we have that desire so when the Holy Spirit convicts us that we repent and say you're right I said I would do that I committed to it and I need to I need to be responsible can you say that am I asking the question can you say it yes yes all right and not legalism can you say it in your heart I want to serve the Lord by loving and serving the brethren I'm being sanctified
[54:43] I'm not perfect but I'm trying back to the definition steadily and progressively become more like Jesus this woman in our story she did what she could no commandment it was done out of love just cause one last thing also in the book of Joshua at the very end there verse 27 Joshua said to all the people behold it means look look right pastor bill look look pay attention behold behold this stone I got a whole bunch of them up here a whole bunch of stones up here they all say love okay behold this stone shall be a witness against you for it has heard all the words of the
[55:51] Lord which he spoke to us in his word today and so it shall be a witness against you so that you do not deny your God this is just a symbol that's all it is just a rock with the word love on it but I have them up here and I would like if you would like to I'm not going to force anybody but I encourage everybody take a rock home everybody individually not as a family but individually take a rock home put it on your dresser leave it in your pocket whatever do something with it to remind you about loving one another about loving your brother about coming along beside him let us show the world our friends our family that we are Christians by our love let's pray father thank you for your word thank you for your message your challenge to us to rededicate
[57:09] I guess our commitment and our walk to you and for giving us a tangible way that we can show that we want to serve you it's a gauge that we can put along our self beside our self to see are we serving you are we obeying your word are we just sitting here being listeners and not doers of the word or are we going to be doers you have challenged us we thank you for loving us thank you for loving us thank you for not leaving us where we're at thank you for ever working on our sanctification Jesus thank you for your sacrifice for taking my place and replacing taking my sin upon you and replacing it with your righteousness so that
[58:15] I can even come before the father and it's in your name that I pray amen for