Servant's Heart - Sr. Pastor Joel Urshan

And I am thankful to be in the house of the Lord tonight. Glory to God. Doesn't it feel good in the house of God? Amen. And I'm so thankful to see Pastor and sister Bareric. God bless you. We love the Bareric family so much. It's so good to see you. Amen. What a joy. And uh we just heard him preach a beautiful message right here just a couple of months ago. Don't ignore the open door. Amen. And it blessed our soul so much. We love Pastor [music] and Sister Bareric. Amen. And uh just glad to be in the house of God tonight.

We're going to look to the word of the Lord. And uh I'm going to invite your attention to the the Gospel according to Luke 12. While you're turning there, let me make a few announcements. Let me tell you that this Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. is family prayer. And uh family prayer is very special time here at Tree of Life. Uh there's something so wonderful about the people of God coming together as a family, the family of Christ to pray. And uh you know, mountains move when we pray together. Good things happen when we pray together. And those family prayer meetings are something special. The spirit of God just settles on us and you can you can just feel the goodness of his presence. So 9:30 a.m. and if you're familiar if you're not familiar with the format, pray from 9:30 to 10:30 and then at 10:30 there's a little devotional. It's just a great way to start your Saturday. So So we encourage you to be a part of family prayer this Saturday.

9:30 Thanksgiving basket drive. We are partnering again with Claremont County Jobs and Family Services and we're going to be feeding uh people. We fed 110 families last year. We have committed again to 100. I think we could hit that mark and go above and beyond it again. Amen. We'll bind together in Jesus' name to do so. And uh and this year is a very important year. All every year is an important year, but this year, you know, there are a lot of people that are that are uh facing difficult times with the the government shutdown so forth. And we want to be very purposeful in making sure that we bless people and help them. These are these are difficult times uh for people. And so we want to be uh very mindful that we do what the Lord will allow us to do to minister to those in need. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. So we we thank God for that. And uh you'll be receiving details of that in the next couple of days. So So we'll uh we'll look forward to seeing that.

But from the Gospel according to Luke 12, I want to read to you just a few verses of scripture beginning with the uh 37th verse. verses 37-48. The word of the Lord says this, "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching. Verily I say unto you that he shall gird himself and make them to sit down to meet and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them so, blessed are those servants." And this know that if a good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speak thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom is lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart my lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to beat the men's servants [music] and maidens and to eat and drink and to be drunken. The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he lookth not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which he knew is Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did not commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask the more.

I want to concentrate our attention a little bit on this verse 45. If that servant say in his heart and I'd like to talk to you a little bit about a servant's heart. Amen. A servant's heart. Could we just lift up our voices and ask the blessing of God upon the teaching of his word tonight? Lord I thank you for the gathering of your people. I thank you for the gathering of the faithful. God, thank you for your church. You are our great king and we love you and we worship you. We honor your mighty name. I give you praise and I ask your blessing upon the delivery of your word. Let it reach into our hearts and minister to us. We ask this in Jesus precious name. And everybody said in Jesus name. And everybody said amen. Amen. God bless you. You may be seated in the name of the Lord.

Servantthood is something that God calls his people to be a part of. It is really truly in many ways the fuel for the kingdom of God. And it is something that we embrace. And I want to I want to uh talk to you a little bit about about it because the apostle Paul speaks of it and helps us to understand that there is some delineation between servantthood and sunship. In fact, he lets us know that there's uh some difference and then in some cases there is no difference. Uh and and so we want to talk a little bit about that. First, I'm going to read to you uh a scripture from the book of Galatians. And uh we're going to read from the fifth chapter of the book of Galatians. And uh I want to read to you um just a little bit of what the Lord actually the fourth chapter verse one. The Bible says, "Now I say that the heir as long as he is a child." Now we're talking about the heir. We're talking about the son, the child of of the of the benefactor. Uh the heir as long as he is a child differereth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all. He differs nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. So the apostle Paul is helping us to understand and he states later in this chapter that we are no more servants. We are sons. Uh but but it's important to know that the servant and the son are different. What is the difference? Uh the servant is not a partaker of the inheritance. The son is a partaker of the inheritance. And and yet the Apostle Paul said, "We are no more servants because we are not under the law of Moses. We are sons and we have been made joint hes with Christ." That's what Christ came to do. He came to position himself to receive the inheritance that we are to receive and yet are incapable of receiving it because we do not meet the criteria of holy righteous perfection that the law requires of those who will receive the inheritance. But Jesus took upon himself our sin, our shame, and he established the means by which that inheritance could come to us. He became the qualified recipient of the inheritance and then said to us, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden." And we are made joint hes with Christ. We get the inheritance because we're connected to Jesus. And that's the only way we're able to receive the inheritance. We don't receive the inheritance by our goodness, by our good works, by our righteousness. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. But we are able to lay claim to the inheritance because we are in Christ and Christ is in us. And that's the glorious gospel. And we thank God for that. And so the apostle Paul is helping us to understand that we are now sons. When we were under the law of Mo Moses, we were servants. We were we were doing our best, but we we were not able to lay claim to that inheritance through the even the best intentions of our efforts. However, in Jesus and through Jesus, we are able to bea be made sons of God. And it's a glorious truth.

But he made sure that we understand that as long as the heir is a child, he differs nothing from a servant. Even though he is lord of all, he is a receiver of the inheritance. Even though he has uh sunship and he has the the ability to lay claim to sunship, his actions, his attitude, his his heart, the way that he lives his life, he still participates in servantthood. Now, we understand that the childhood that he's referring to here is the law of Moses. But we we know later in to this in his letter to the church at Corenth, he uses this childhood dynamic again to make an illustration. And he says this, "When I was a child, I spake as a child. I thought as a child, I understood as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things." And when he says this, of course, we know naturally what he's saying that that when you're a child, you you do things you can get away with certain things uh when you're a kid. That you you cannot get away with uh when you're an adult. And and uh you know, we've got our precious grandb babies and and uh LA and I, Sister Heidi and I, we have to be careful because we think everything they do is cute. Uh even when they're acting up, it's cute. And we've got to be careful because uh while they're doing it as a child, it may be cute to us, but but when they become a man and a woman, they're going to have to put away those childish things. And so, so this is yes, this is what the Apostle Paul is talking about, but he's also talking in 1 Corinthians 13 about a time when that which is perfect is come. And and the reference that he's making in that case has to do with when prophecy shall cease and when tongues shall fail. In other words, when we won't will no longer need the gifts of the spirit to operate because we will know even as we are known. He's talking about heaven. He's talking about the redemption of this body. So even though we're no longer under the law of Moses, we still do have to contend with this fleshly body. And and as long as we're contending with this fleshly body, there is still a childishness that we that we find ourselves a a lack of maturity that we contend with and deal with, continue uh to deal with. And we will not become that full man until we come unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And that will only happen when this body of death is sown in dishonor, raised in honor, and we are resurrected from the dead.

So the apostle Paul likens the law of Moses to a time when we lacked maturity and he refers to when we live in this fleshly body even as a time when we lack maturity. And he describes a fullness of time. And the first fullness of time the Bible references is a fullness of time that refers to when the Lord was manifest in the flesh. the first time God came to the earth and the second time it references the fullness of time is a reference to when he returns the second time to receive his bride unto himself. So we can see that the first time he came he came to fulfill the law. The second time he came he came to vanquish death. Amen. So the first time he fulfills the law, second time he swallows death up in victory. And that last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. And and when death is fully destroyed, it's when this mortal shall take on immortality. And this corruptible shall take on incorruption. So the apostle Paul is saying we are sons. We are made sons by Jesus Christ. We are made sons by his blood. We are made sons by turning from our wicked ways through repentance. Being baptized into his name and receiving remission of sins, being filled with his spirit. That's how we are made sons and joint hes with Jesus Christ. But he said, even though we're sons and we inherit and now we're joint hes, don't forget that you're a servant of the Lord. You differ nothing from servants in attitude and in heart and in passion and in zeal. In other words, don't take this for granted just because it's going to be yours one day. That can be the difference between a son and a servant. A son can feel like it's mine, so feel entitled to it and maybe take it for granted. But a a servant, God God calls us to be his servants. And it is one of the loftiest titles that he can give to anybody. So lofty is it that when he came into this world, he took upon himself the form of a servant. He did not take upon himself the form of a magistrate or a potentate. He did not take upon himself the form of a an aristocrat. He took UPON HIMSELF THE FORM OF A SERVANT, a humble servant. And so the old song says, "There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus." Know not one. Know not one. And and and we've got to remember that about him. He is meek and he is lowly. He taught things like when you walk into a dinner. Uh so practical. And my dad always taught us this. It's one of the reasons why I I I hesitate to just run right up into the front of something because dad drilled it into us. He said, 'When you walk into the dinner, don't just charge up to the primary seat and and sit down in the chiefest of seats unless you're invited to come there. And and if you're invited to come there, then you can go to it. But but it'll be really embarrassing if you go take the chiefest of seats and then you find out it was reserved for somebody more chiefly than you and you got to get up and walk out of there. and and he dad always taught us don't just assume let yourself be invited. Let your let the master of the feast determine whether that seat is for you or not. And so so we always remember that and that's what Jesus taught. Jesus taught be meek and be humble and and and you know don't be proud of your humility that ceases to be humility at that point. But but be meek and be humble and and why would Jesus do this? HE HAS ALL POWER IN HIS HANDS. He had he has the WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. Even the winds and the waves obeyed his voice. And there was there was nothing that Jesus could not do. And yet he chose to be humble. He chose to be uh meek and and it's something that we have to adopt as well because to be like Jesus, that's what our goal is to be like Jesus. Amen. So we as he took upon himself the form of a servant, we too welcome that servantthood that the lord uh that the lord will give to us that is a part of his nature. And so the the scripture says in Galatians 5:13, for brethren, you have been called unto liberty only. Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Love by love serve. So, you've been called the liberty, but don't use your liberty as an excuse to feed the flesh or to indulge in fleshly things. If you do that, you'll end up in greater bondage. Anytime that you use liberty to to uh satisfy the flesh, you're going to end up in a new kind of bondage and and be right back where you started from. But use the liberty that you have to serve one another by love. What the apostle Paul is saying here is don't don't take the liberty that Christ gives us for granted and think that it is a license for you to go and commit sin. It is not. Instead, take that liberty that Christ gives you and learn how to serve one another by love. Praise God. And and and take joy in serving one another.

1 Corinthians chapter 7 uh beginning with the 21st verse. It says this, "Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it. But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lord's free man." Likewise also he that is called being free is Christ's servant. Now this is an important thing. You are Christ's servant. Verse 23, you are bought with a price. Be not ye the servants of men. We are not the servant of men or mankind. We are the servants of the Lord. And God calls us to servantthood. And it is a beautiful thing. And I I will tell you the thing you have to understand about the servantthood of of Christ is that this is not just some momentary thing. It's not just something he did for three and a half years and then he's done and now now that was a good little show that he put on. No, there's a reason he took upon himself the form of a servant. That is his nature. Even now in all of his omnipotence, in all of his omniscience, in all of his omnipresence, in all of his omni benevolence, in all of this power and glory and might and wisdom, he still serves. He still serves even right now. And I I like to do this. I like to say, if you don't believe me, call on him. [snorts] Call on him. Just try it sometime. Just say, "Jesus, Jesus. And you know what happens when you call on that name? He comes riding upon the wings of the wind. And he is there to bless you. And he is there to pour out his spirit upon you when you call upon him. He doesn't stay distant from you. Is he the king of kings? Yes, he's the king of kings. Is he the lord of lords? Yes, he is the lord of lords. But servantthood is the majesty of God. Now, that's hard for us to understand because when we look at when we look at servantthood in our society, it's like it's like at the very bottom of all things. We're like always trying to to to pull ourselves up from servantthood. But in the economy of God and in the majesty of God, servantthood is how his kingdom operates. And so this is what it means when it says the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Because what we consider to be last, God considers to be first. And what we consider to be first, God considers to be last. What we consider to be wisdom on earth, God considers that foolishness. But what we consider to be foolishness on earth, God considers that to be wisdom. And the same is true of servantthood. We look at servantthood with with somewhat of a of a side eye. And yet God says, "NO, I'VE CALLED you to be servants." Look at the great characters of scripture, the great figures of the Bible. Abraham, servant of the Lord. The Bible says David, servant of the Lord, my servant David. Elijah, servant of the Lord, called down fire, raised the dead. Servant of the Lord is what he was. Paul opened his letters uh uh more than more than a couple of times to say Paul the servant of the Lord. This is what I am. This is the title that I that I cherish and that I relish. This is the title we should all embrace. And a servant in case you have any misgivings about it, you need to understand. We don't get to pick and choose what the master commissions us to do. When the master begins to call on us, we just say, "Lord, what you say to do, I'll do it." >> When the Lord begins to move upon us and give us direction and calls us to a place of obedience, we just obey him >> because he is the master and we are the servant of the Lord. This this business of feeling entitled, this business of feeling as though uh we deserve something. Listen, you and I, believe me, you don't want to get what you and I deserve. If you and I got what we deserved, we would be judged harshly. It is the mercy of God. It is the amazing grace of God that we should celebrate and say, "Lord, I thank you." Every day we should thank him for our salvation. Every day we should thank him that he picked us up out of the lowly pit where we fell. Every day we should thank him that he washed our sins away, that he cleansed us from all unrighteousness and he freed us from the filthiness of the flesh. Every day we should thank him for that. And when he calls upon us to do something, we should be willing to do it. Isaiah was the servant of the Lord. Jeremiah was the servant of the Lord. These were God's servants. This is how they parted waters. This is how they called fire down from heaven. This is how they were able to prophesy in the face of of uh opposition as they did because they just did what the Lord told them to do and they were not beholden to the praise of men. They were not the servants of men. Now did they serve men? Yes, they served men but they were not the servants of men.

So, so we are to as the scripture said we read moments momentarily or moments ago by love serve one another places that you should serve. You should serve God. [snorts] Serve God. When the Lord calls you to prayer, go to prayer. When the Lord calls you to intercede, intercede when the Lord tells you to lay aside weights and sins. Lay aside the weights and the sins. When God gives you a personal conviction, don't ignore it. Follow that personal conviction. God is trying to save your soul. Don't look around and say, "Well, so and so doesn't look at it and and see it that way." No. No. If God put it upon you, you don't even have to impose it on soand so. You just follow it. You're his servant. I know you're his son. But but but until this body is shed, until this until this mortal takes on immortality, I I just do as I'm told, when he begins to lead me and guide me through his word, he begins to do so as my master and I am his servant. Do you know this is the way the word of God is supposed to work? You ready to hear how the word of God is supposed to work? Let there be light. And there was light. >> That's how it's supposed to work. Now, LET'S TRY THIS ONE. LET BROTHERLY LOVE CONTINUE. UHOH. It didn't happen quite as instantaneously. What's the difference? The human will is the difference. We get so caught up in trying to decide whether we're going to humble ourselves before God, whether we're going to obey him and whether whether we're going to see it that way or or interpret it that way. No. No. Just let him be God. Let him be the Lord of your life. Let him be the master of your vessel. Let him be the captain of your salvation. Let him be the lord of your life. And when he says do this and do that and go here AND GO THERE, DO IT IN THE NAME OF the Lord. Praise God.

So we serve God. And how do we serve God? We serve the Lord with gladness. That that you can't fake that. You don't serve the Lord begrudgingly. You serve the Lord with gladness. I say it, I've said this before and you've heard me say this, that you ought to praise God. How many know you ought to praise God when you don't feel like praising God? How many know you ought to be faithful when you don't feel like being faithful? How many know you ought to serve him when you don't feel like serving him? And that's great, but hear me, that's only a stop gap measure that will not keep you or sustain you in the long run. It's better to feel like praising him and to feel like serving him and to feel like walking with him and to feel like being faithful. If your feelings are going every which direction, you bring that to God and say, "Lord, I don't know what's wrong right now, but my feelings are going every which direction. Help me to be caught up in serving you. Help it TO BE THE DESIRE OF MY HEART TO PRAISE YOU. Help me. Help me get these feelings UNDER CONTROL TO WHERE I can be a cheerful giver to where I can serve you with gladness >> AND NOT SERVE YOU BECAUSE I feel afraid not to not serve don't I don't want to serve you alone simply because uh I I'll feel guilty by others if I don't. No, that's a stop gap. That that that won't last. That won't keep you. What keeps you is when your heart is in it and and and and you have servantthood in your heart and it's your desire to serve the Lord. It's your desire to pray. How many have been in that that place where you can't wait to pray? See, you and I are familiar also with the the understanding that that there's times your flesh resists prayer. What is that? that's your that's that carnal body you got on you and it's it it'd rather go do something else, eat cookies or something and scroll on the phone or whatever and all these other distractions and and and that's what your flesh would rather do. But but you know too what I'm talking about when I say there's something in you that says, "I just want to be in his presence, man. I just can't wait to get into the presence of God. I want him to speak to me. I I I want to get in his word and I want to read something that'll bless my soul. I want to minister to somebody. Lord, lift me up and let me stand upon your word and in your presence. And what is that? That's servantthood getting in your heart. It's not just in your head. It's not just in your in your activity behavior. No, IT'S IN YOUR HEART. And then that influences everything everything else. So all of these great characters and figures of scripture, he calls them his servants. What a title that is. Beautiful title. If you can be a I know they were prophets. I know they were apostles. I know they were kings. I know they were they were these great uh men with great responsibilities. But before they were any of that, they were servants. And it is servantthood that gives way to all the callings of God, including that of sunship. And so, so we want to we want to strive for servantthood.

So we serve God. And and guess where else we serve? We serve in our homes. We serve in our homes. We serve one another. And you may say, "Well, my love languages and acts of service." Well, make it one of your love languages. Amen. Don't fight over who does the dishes. Just do them. Don't fight over who vacuums the floor. Just Just do it. Don't don't fight over who does this and does that and keep score. Just take joy in serving one another. Look forward to the delight in your husband, your wife, your children, your loved ones. Look forward to seeing the delight in their eyes when they realize that you just took a load off of their shoulders by an act of service. serve one another inside the home and it helps your home to reflect the love of God and it it helps kingdom to settle in your home because servantthood is the fuel of the kingdom. It's what helps the it's what helps the kingdom operate when we have a servant's heart and and you know it's one thing it's one thing to to to help pick up around the house. It's another thing to be sighing the whole time you're doing it. It's one thing to to uh to go do something on the honeydew list. Anybody familiar with the honeydew list? Somebody said, "Listen, if your husband said he's going to get something done, he's going to get it done. You don't have to keep reminding him every six months." And sometimes sometimes that's how it works. God help us all. But but the reality is that that that when you do it, do it cheerfully as unto the Lord. Serve your husband, women, wives, serve your husband. Husbands, serve do acts of service for your wife. Children, do acts of service for your parents. And and and do acts of service for one another. Just just let there be let there be a spirit of servantthood in the home. and to grandparents and to and to elderly who do not have children living nearby and even those that do. But but look for the look for the widow and look for the fatherless. This is pure religion and undefiled. Do you know why it's pure religion and undefiled? Because you're not guaranteed to get anything in return. And Jesus was big about that. Jesus was big about saying do things that you you may not get anything in return. You're not doing it for the thing that you get in return. You're doing it as unto the Lord because you love God and you love those who are made in his image. And you want to do something with excellence to be a blessing to somebody. Now, you're not doing it for the reward, but I want to tell you, give you a little secret, okay? I'm going to say don't tell anybody, but actually do tell as many people as you possibly can. Great is your reward in heaven. And this is what the servants understand. The servants understand that when you do something unto the least of these, you have done it unto God. You've done it unto the Lord. And we know from the scriptures that there'll come a day where we'll stand before God and we will give account for the things we did for the least of these and for the things we did not do for the least of these. And we're going to be surprised as to what it really meant when we did it and what it really meant when we refused to do it. And the Lord's we're going to say, "What in the world are you talking about, Lord? When did I see you in prison? When did I clothe you? When you had nothing to wear? When did I give you food? When you had nothing to eat?" And the Lord will say, "To our surprise, when you did it to the least of these, you did it unto me." The least of these. That means those who can benefit you the least and that also means the ones you are least likely to want to do it for. Sometimes the person that you should perform an act of service and be a blessing to may be somebody you have ought against because they're the least likely you'd ever then that's who you need to go bless. Because when you've done it to the least of these, you've done it unto the Lord. Amen. Praise God.

I want to be a servant of the Lord. You go through these scriptures and you look for where servants go into action, miracles start happening. When servants begin to operate, miracles begin to operate. Remember, it was a little servant girl in Syria who looked upon the calamity of her of of captain non, the captain of the host of Syria, and she said to him, "I know there's a prophet in Israel, and he can bring healing. He has power with God and and healing could come to your body. It was the word of the servant girl. All through the scriptures, the servants are in operation just doing what the Lord would bid them to do, doing what God calls them to do. In the parables of Jesus, his talents are given to servants. His and the Bible says in one place that he gave pounds unto servants and and he he he put servants over his vineyard. the masters. There was there was in all so many of his parables, there was this relationship between the master of a vineyard and the master of a particular territory and servants were entrusted with the well-being and the keeping of a particular thing. And that's what we read about in Luke 12. And we see here too that there are servants. And the Bible says that when the master returns and finds the servants in the second watch and in the third watch being watchful then they will be rewarded. But then he described that if this servant say where in his heart my lord delayeth his coming and shall begin to beat the men's servants and maidens and to eat and drink and to be drunken. And that's really what happens ladies and gentlemen. We leave off from serving God because in our heart we think we've got time. We think we've got entitlement. We think we have the opportunity to do as we wish instead of remaining his servant. My lord delayeth his coming. Do you know that's what the children of Israel ran into when when Moses was in the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. He delayed his coming. So they built this golden calf and said, "This be the God that delivered us from the land of Egypt." Because Moses was so long in returning from the mountain. Let me tell you, the real true servants of God keep a watchful eye regardless of the delay in the Lord's coming. Amen. And I'm going to tell you something. He'll come soon and very soon. Soon and very soon. [clears throat] Hallelujah. You got to be ready for when the Lord returns. Hallelujah. And now I I received the Holy Ghost in 1986. And the man that preached preached a message when I was 6 years old and it was entitled, "What's going to happen to the kids after the rapture?" I still don't know what he said was going to happen to the kids after the rapture. But bless God, it wasn't going to happen to me. Not today, Satan. Amen. And I got down to that altar and God filled me with the Holy Ghost. I was six years old and and I for the next several years I knew the Lord was coming back. Anytime anytime that a cl a day got gray, oh Jesus is coming back. Amen. Oh today today was a perfect day for Jesus to come back. All gray and cold and rainy. You know Jesus is coming back before evening time. And and and and that's the way it was. And guess what? I'm thankful for it because it did put a watchfulness in me. It put a watchfulness in me to look out over the horizon and realize that the day of redemption is drawing near. [clears throat] Amen. I don't I don't begrudge that at all. I remember reading in the newspaper that that Cooko was going to get a meer grocery store by 1992. And I said 199 nothing. Jesus is coming back before 1992. I was sure of it AND I'M MORE SURE OF IT NOW THAN EVER. Jesus is coming again. And and the servants of the Lord, they don't get all tripped up because he delays his coming. They don't get all bent out of shape and start beating the men's servants and mistreating the maidens and eating and drinking and being drunken thinking that they have all the time IN THE WORLD. NO. THE TRUE SERVANTS OF the Lord remain watchful in the second watch. THEY REMAIN WATCHFUL in the first watch. THEY REMAIN WATCHFUL in the third watch. And when THE LORD RETURNS, HE'S GOING TO FIND THEM FAITHFUL. AND YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S GOING TO SAY to those servants who do with the talents that he gave them what they should do? He's going to say unto them, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Listen, covet the best gifts, but don't forget we are servants. And if you prophesy, you're still a servant. And if you sing, you're still a servant. And if you give beautiful offerings, you're still a servant. And if you work hard for the church, you're still a servant. And if you preach beautiful messages, you're still a servant. UH YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE A SERVANT'S HEART. YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE A HEART THAT SAYS, "LORD, WHATEVER YOU SAY TO DO, WHATEVER YOU SAY TO SAY, HOWEVER YOU SAY TO ACT, THAT'S MY HEART TO DO YOUR BIDDING." HALLELUJAH. Praise God.

Serve the Lord in your personal life. Serve those in your home. Serve in the church of the living God with excellence. Tree of Life Church is here because God has put upon the hearts of his people a servant's heart. People who say, "I'm I'm available. What do you need done? What do you need help with?" I remember when we had this this uh kind of unsightly shed out in the out in the field here and it needed it needed to go away. And so we we priced it out and it was ridiculous how much it was being charged. So we just threw it out there to a few of the men. They said, "Oh, we'll tear that thing." The next thing you know, the whole thing was tore down. We can tear some things down. Don't Don't We We know how to We know how to We know how to break down boards and all kind of stuff. And that thing was gone by the end of the day. And it cost a a a couple hundred bucks. Why? Because of the servants of the Lord. because people said, "Listen, I'm I'm here to help. I'm here to do the work of the Lord. It's how we're able to have a beautiful campus." And I thank God for the beautiful campus here in Montgomery and the beautiful campus in Finnytown. I thank the Lord for it. But I want you to know it happens because people have a servant's heart. And and and and remember when people come to this place, we've got seats. Literally, we have prepared a place where people can come in from off the street. They can come in from whatever they're facing and they can hear the WORD OF THE LORD. And I KNOW IT'S NOT JUST HERE where we do ministry. We do ministry between and inside and OUTSIDE OF SERVICE TIMES AND SCHEDULES. And we're doing it in the streets and the highways, THE BYWAYS, THE MARKETPLACE, EVERYWHERE we can. We're doing ministry. But there is something special about the gathering of God's people. There's something special about the congregation of the righteous. The tabernacle of the congregation was an important place in the Old Testament because that's where God could speak to all his people at one time. And this is why we gather together and we forsake not the assembling of ourselves together. And so much the more as we see the day approaching. This isn't the time to stop serving the Lord, to stop serving our families, to stop serving in the church. No, this isn't the time to stop. You may have some physical limitations you didn't used to have. Find another way to be a blessing to somebody that maybe not be as physically taxing as once you you once could. And to those who are not physically limited, this is a time to put your strong shoulders and your strong back and your strong hands to the wheel and to the plow and do a work for the Lord. Every generation has to have servants of the most high God. Hallelujah. There's times we need people to cook. There are times we need people to teach. There are times we need people to help administrate. There are times we need people to help organize. There are times we need people just to oversee something. We have people we need to be a blessing in the nursery taking care of small children. That's one of the best things you can do in the church because you're giving their parents an opportunity to hear the word of the Lord and to receive at his hand the bread of life. And I I I want to encourage you today. Be a servant of the Lord. Be a servant of the Lord and let let him put in you the servant's heart. Hallelujah. and and not just not just allowing their parents to be in here, but but don't underestimate the impact that's being had upon that child when you're ministering to them in that nursery setting, in those toddler settings, and children's ministry. I thank God for our Sunday school teachers who teach with a servant's heart. Brother Pertie, thank you for your message last week. God bless you. Amen. Protecting the next generation, contending for the next generation. I thank God for our Sunday school teachers who are teaching the word of God. Thank you to van drivers, servants of the most high God who make sure young people get where they need to go so they can have an experience with God THAT WILL CHANGE THEIR LIFE. >> HALLELUJAH. These are important ministries in the church. Don't let anybody tell you that it doesn't matter. It matters, friend. It matters. And I want you to know God sees it. and great is your reward in heaven. And we know that we will rule and reign with him as kings and priests. And and there'll be some people, Pastor Beric, I I think of it all the time there when we get in that kingdom of God where we reign with him forever and ever and the kings and priests and God's generals are all lined up. They're going to be PEOPLE STANDING AT THE forefront with four stars, Brother Enus, with all these different stripes. And I will have never heard their name. I will have never seen it written down anywhere. They've never marquee speaker for nothing. and and they're going to be at the head of the line because God saw the work and God heard the prayers and God saw the blood and the sweat and the tears. You hear me? Nothing you do for Christ is in vain. There's nothing little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There is a crown and you can win IT WHEN YOU GO IN JESUS' NAME. >> HALLELUJAH.

Do it because you love people. Do it because you love God. I remember when there was a a family in need years ago and and uh Sister Heidi and I found out about it and we wanted to bless them. So, we got some Christmas gifts and and uh we put it on their front uh porch and and ran off and this was years ago. And and uh we're so excited. We got to a place where we could kind of see the the the mom opened the door and she saw those packages on the front porch and she didn't know who it was from. She just so thankful and and man the joy we got in just seeing her her joy was such a blessing and few days later she came up to me the lady came up to me and she said you're never going to believe what happened and I said what happened she said we we couldn't we couldn't take have Christmas for our children this year but but God provided somebody put these packages on our front porch and I said oh really. She said, "Yeah." And she said, "And I know who did it." I said, "Oh, yeah." And then all of a sudden, my flesh popped up and said, "All right, maybe I am going to get a little credit out of this." And she said, "I know exactly who did it." I said, "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Do you know?" And she named somebody. Wasn't me. I said, "Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute." And my flesh was wanting me to say, "No, no, it was it was it was me, actually." But I said, "Oh, well, bless their hearts. They are just the Aren't they just the sweetest? Aren't they just the nicest? Oh, God bless them." And [laughter] but don't worry about who gets the credit. Don't worry about who gets the credit. Do it because you love people. Do it because you love God. AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WHERE GOD KNOWS GOD, LISTEN, GOD KNOWS HOW TO BLESS YOU in ways that matter more than any other way. And this is why Jesus said, "Listen, when you're when you give a big offering, don't you don't got to go announce what you're giving that don't that don't do that because because God's going to bless you. He who sees in secret shall reward you openly. God will be the one to bless you." And let me tell you, IT WILL BE MATERIAL BLESSING. IT'LL BE SPIRITUAL BLESSING. It'll be emotional blessing. It'll be PHYSICAL BLESS. I MEAN, THE blessing of God multiplies AND ABOUNDS TO YOUR FAVOR IN WAYS YOU CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE. Don't don't minimize your blessing to a little blurb of credit and and honor. Don't don't minimize it to that. Don't seek that. Jesus said, "Those who do that, they have their reward."

I hope you enjoyed it. But if you'll just let God be the one who blesses, oh, he'll bless. He'll bless your kids. He'll bless your family. He'll bless your mind.

"The blessing of the Lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow." You see the difference between the blessing of God and the blessing of man. You know, the blessing of man can make you rich, but there's a lot of sorrow. So much sorrow.

Solomon said, "Better is a little quietness and peace than great revenues and strife." I, I, he said, "I'd rather." He's had all the riches. He said, "I, I, I remember when I just had a little, little peace and quiet, and I, and I felt better about life than I did when I had all this revenue coming in and I had to manage all this stuff and was up every night worried about everything." Yeah.

Let God bless you. When God blesses you, it's, it's the right kind of blessing. It's the right time. It's the right everything. "Every good and perfect gift cometh down from the father of lights." I don't want the gift of man. I don't want it because it's not good and it's not perfect. The gift of man may seem like that's why Jesus said to the devil, "No, I'm not bowing down to you so I can get those king. What do I want those kingdoms for? Those kingdoms are coming down anyway."

No, no. The scripture says it is written that that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and in him only shall you serve. I don't want all of that junk, that, that blessing of man or the blessing of the devil. I only want the blessing of God. And the servants of the Lord are the ones who receive the blessing of God. Serve him.

Serve him in your personal life, your personal devotion. Serve him in your home as you serve others by love. Serve him as you serve in the church and, and, and make this a place where people can come and be blessed. Thank you all for the service that you provide, the greeters, the those who that that manage the connect point desk, and, and thank God to those who check in our kids ministry. Thank you to the oak cupboard that that looks out for people and receives so many people are able to receive so many needs met and blessings. Thank you so much to all who do everything that you do. I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I could continue to go on and I want to, but I want you to know that everything you do in, in word or in deed, you do it all in the name of Jesus and God blesses it. And you do it with a servant's heart. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

God baptize us with a servant's heart. God baptize us with a servant's heart.

I remember when I, I, I just remember my, remember my father saying, "Joel, I need you to do." And he, he'd, he'd have some kind of a task that nobody ever saw. And, and it was not glorious in any way, shape, or form. And, and, and it was, if you just narrowed it down to that one moment and your flesh took a look at it, you'd think, "Is it really getting very much accomplished?" Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Because a servant's heart attracts the face of God. It attracts the power of God. It multiplies the power of God through every effort you undertake as a servant of the Most High God.

So serve him in your personal life. Serve him in your family as you serve your loved ones. And serve him in the church as you serve the people who come to church. And serve him in your community. Serve in your community. Find a place in your community to serve the Lord. Serve in a school. Serve in a, serve in a some kind of a charity. Ser, serve, make yourself available and, and, and be known as you can be in your community. Do good things for people. Be kind to people. When you go into restaurants, uh, be nice to the servers. Amen. Be kind to the servers. And if you're not kind to the servers, don't tell them you go to Tree of Life Church. Don't do that. Lord have mercy. Don't do that. Just be kind. Be a witness. Hallelujah.

And you know, I thank God, Tree of Life Church. I thank God for all of you because you know what? I know I'm preaching to the choir. You already believe this stuff. All I'm doing is just, I'm just patting the foundation pretty good. Just, I want it to get nice and firm. Like setting up an umbrella. The umbrella is already in place. All I'm doing is just coming and patting it. Patting it down just to make sure the sand gets around it real good and holds it in place. Cuz I don't want you to ever lose that servant's heart. Don't let somebody hurting you corrode that servant's heart you have. Don't let somebody lying on you corrode that servant's heart that you already have. Don't let, listen, don't let burnout get to you. If you, if you're burning out, talk to us. Get to us. Let us pray with you. Let us, let us give you sabbatical. I mean, my goodness, there are ways to deal with burnout. And even in working in the church because you can, you can be pouring out and, and, and pouring out so much that you start burning out. That's why you got to remain in prayer and you got to take time to be in here for the preaching and teaching and worship and, and, and it's important to do things to guard yourself against what the enemy, the enemy would like to turn your evil, your good into something evil and, and, and burn you out in the kingdom of God. No, no, don't, don't burn out. Just, just get on fire all over again. And sometimes you got to take some rest to do that. But, but never lose that servant's heart. If you got to take a little seat for a little bit, just get ready to get back into the fight cuz it's all hands on deck. We've got a world to reach. We've got a city to reach. We've got a gospel to preach. We've got the Word of God to teach. We got songs to sing and sermons to preach. We got people to pray for. We're going to have people lined up in these altars tonight and Sunday and Saturday morning for family prayer. We need you to lay hands on them. We need you to pray them through. We need you to intercede on their behalf. We've got to have people of God with a servant's heart. People are asking for Bible studies. You got to be ready to teach them Bible studies. Hallelujah. You say, "Well, I don't know everything there is to know about the Bible." Well, none of us do. So, you, you just, you, you open up the Word of God and you teach what the Word of the Lord says. And we've got good Bible study charts and, and Hallelujah. If you've got the Holy Ghost and you're baptized in his name, I want you to know you can teach this word. You're commissioned to preach the gospel. And when you start teaching Bible, I'm going to tell you that'll do something to you. When you start teaching the Word of God, that'll put an anointing in you that nothing else will. When you start opening up the bread of life, get ready. Something supernatural happens. When servants start serving, something supernatural happens. Hallelujah. It puts you in proximity to those in need.

I'd like to point out as Jesus served his the world that he came to save. As he served the world that he came to save, you know, the Bible said as he passed by, a, a man blind said, "Jesus, thou son of David," cried it out, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me." There's no record that Jesus said, "Today I'm going to go heal blind Barmeus and then I think I'll stop by Dunkin' Donuts and get a." No, that's not what he did. He was on his way to to to serve. And, and, and yet he was never perturbed by the interruptions. I got to tell you, it'd be a little hard to keep my attention if somebody cut a hole in this roof and let some guy down on a bed. That'd be a little distracting. I might not know how to handle that. Be honest with you. Jesus wasn't concerned about interruptions, distractions. Just those are the, that's the stuff that made it into the Bible. It was, it was the things that interrupted his schedule. He's trying to. Jairus interrupted his schedule. "I got a daughter. She's sick. She's dying to death. We need help. Could you please come?" He's a servant. That's what he does. He serves. So, hey. Yeah, let's go. And while he's on his way, there's some woman with an issue of blood trying to get the hem of his garment. And she finally touches the hem of his garment. None of that was on his to-do list, but that's what makes it in the book. You, you, you, you thought it was your to-do list that was going to be the most important moments of your life. No, it's often the emergency call you receive. It's God's to-do list that makes it into the story of your life. It's God's to-do list that makes it into the story of your life.

So Jesus walks into the room and, and nobody, nobody wants to address the elephant in the room. They don't want to, they don't want to deal with the fact that somebody's going to have to start washing feet. But if I do it, and that's kind of admitting that I'm kind of inferior to everybody else in this room, so I'm not doing it. I think, I think he should do it. Him. No. Somebody besides me. You know who did it? The Great I Am. The altogether lovely, the good shepherd, Zion's righteous governor, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. You know who did it? The I Am that I Am. The Alpha, the Omega, the first, the last, the beginning, the end. One who created all things, who has all power in heaven and in earth, who, who holds the worlds in his hand, the one by whom all things consist, the one who binds the waters in his garment and stretches the north over the empty place and hung the earth upon nothing. He said, "The chiefest among you is a servant of all."

We've got that totally backward. We think the chiefest among us is the chief of all. No. No. Jesus said the chiefest among you is the servant of all. The more chiefly you want to be, and you lose your appetite for that in servantthood. But, but if you want to know where real authority is, it's, it's in serving. Serving. Serving. Hallelujah.

Lord, there's nothing, there's nothing that you ask us to do that we won't do. Help that to be true, Lord. Lord. Help that to be true, God. Help that to be true. I wonder if we could lift up our hands unto him right now in Jesus' name. Lord, I pray you'll put in us a servant's heart. Help us, I pray in the name of the Lord God, to be humble before you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Keep on serving. Keep on serving. Hallelujah. Thank you, Brother Dave, for men's prayer breakfast. Hallelujah. Thank you for that service to the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Brother Pertie, for men's prayer on Saturday morning. Thank you for that service to the Lord. Sister Connie and ladies prayer. Thank you for that service to the Lord. Thank you. Thank you to all who go and visit the sick, who go and pray. Brother and Sister Jordan, thank you so much. Keep on serving the Lord. Serving the Lord. Serving the Lord. Brother and Sister Enus, thank you for all you do to serve the people of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Brother Cobra, thank you for teaching those Bible studies in person, online, over Zoom call, a service of the Lord. Hallelujah. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I better stop because I just, all these musicians, thank you for playing these beautiful songs and letting this sweet aroma fill the house of God. We don't take it for granted. We don't take it for granted. Thank you, Sister Caitlyn, for your songs of Zion. And Brother Scotty, Brother John, all the musicians and singers, thank you for practicing. They come early. Sound men, thank you for getting here so early on Sunday mornings. They're here early, early on Sunday mornings making sure that everything is calibrated in such a way that when people hear the songs that it's a pleasant sound and that when, when the preaching goes forth, it is clear and able to be heard. Thank you for that. Ushers, thank you for collecting the the funds that help make Tree of Life Church to go forward. Thank you for that. I, I, I, I could keep going on. I need to be careful. I don't want anybody to feel left out. You just bless us all. Brother Aaron, thank you for making sure we got baptisms and people getting baptized. Brother Rodriguez, you did it for years. Thank you for that. Hallelujah. Brother Dixon, you're getting ready to go to the mission field. We're going to miss you and your family here. We're going to miss y'all like crazy, but we know it's the service of the Lord. And it comes from a servant's heart. Hallelujah. God, help us in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. We want to keep sending missionaries. We want to keep sending people to go do the work of the Lord. And yet, we've got to make sure that what we do right here on this campus is roaring. Hallelujah. That what we do right here is on fire. Hallelujah. That what we do right here is ready to meet the needs of this city. Hallelujah.

I wonder if those who want God to just perfect the servant's heart within them, if you could come forward right now. Hallelujah. Sometimes the devil will try to get envy in you and make you look at others and see them and make you wonder, "Oh Lord, what, what am I doing? They seem to be doing so good." Don't let envy get in your heart. Have a servant's heart. Don't let bitterness get in your heart. Have a servant's heart in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Brother Lamont, Sister Rachel, thank you for everything you do for Prime. Hallelujah. God bless this church, this congregation of servants.

Lord, you've called me to preach your gospel, but I don't ever want to forget that I'm a servant of the Lord. That's all I, that's all I am. That's all. That is all I am is a servant of the Lord. My service to the Lord happens to be preaching his word, which happens to put me in a position where I'm preaching it to people. But don't ever forget, I'm just a servant of the Lord. That's all. I'm just a servant of the Lord. God, help us. Help us to remain humble before you. Help us to remain close to you, putting us a servant's heart to do your work. I feel the Holy Ghost moving in this house right now in the name of Jesus.

This is my desire to honor you, to honor you, Lord. Oh, I worship you. I worship you. I worship you. Oh yes. All I have with me, all I have within me, I give you praise. All that I adore is in you. Oh, it's in you. Oh yes. Lord, I give you my heart. Give you my soul. For you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake. Have your way. Thank you, Jesus. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I wait, Lord, have your me. Sing. This is my, this is my desire to worship you. Hallelujah. The Lord with all my heart. I worship you. I worship, I worship you. All I have within me. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. I give you. Thank you Jesus Lord. All that I adore is in you. Oh yes, Lord. Lord, I give you my heart. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I give you my soul. I give for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I'm awake, you have your way. Give me your Lord. I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I give for you. Hallelujah. Every breath that I take, every moment of the way, you would have your way in me. Lord, I give you my heart. I give you my soul. Yes. I live for you. Every breath, every breath that I take, every breath that I take, all that I have your way in me to God. I give you my heart. Glory to God. Glory to God. Give you my soul. I give for you alone. Hallelujah. Every breath that I take, every moment, every moment I'm awake. Thank you, Jesus. Have your way in me.

I thank God for ministries that you, you don't even see. I'm watching Brother Zack Glasco come in from youth. God bless the youth. See, Brother Jeremy Kernut, security, God bless him. Thank you for all you do. Brother Rockland takes care of us. Make sure we're in good order. God bless him. All of us, the servant, the servants of the Lord. God bless you.

My grandfather tells about when he told about when he came in from St. Louis one night to Indianapolis shortly after being elected general superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church. He came into the church size more and he, he, uh, he came in late. He was feeling the heaviness of the organization and the church on his shoulders. And he came in late one night and all the lights were off, but he heard a sound. He heard a noise and, uh, and it was somebody. It was coming from the prayer room. And brother, sister Enus, it was Sister Mary Siva. And she was in that prayer room and she was calling upon the Lord in prayer for the church, for the kingdom of God, for the saints, for the pastor. And he just, he just stood there and just listened for a moment. And he remembered, you know what? It may feel heavy sometimes doing the work of the Lord, but the servants of the Lord, they're keeping watch. They're faithful in the first watch. Faithful in the second watch. Faithful in the third watch. And he just, he just relished the sound of the servant of the Lord praying. And she, she kind of realized, "Oh, somebody's here. Oh, it's Brother." She said, "I'm sorry, Brother Ursan." He said, "No, no, no. I don't, I don't, I didn't mean to interrupt you. Please keep praying. Please, whatever you do, don't stop praying. Oh, that prayer, that prayer, that effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avaleth much. You may not, you may not think it's making much. Oh, it's making so much of a difference. Just keep on praying. Just keep on calling on God. That's it. Go ahead and let that prayer go. Let that intercessory prayer go. Somebody else lift up your voice in intercessory prayer right now. Come on. That's it. That's it. Let that prayer come forth. Let that rise up. Oh, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on. That's it. That's it. That's it. Lord, we lift up these petitions before you. God, continue to bless your church. Continue to bless your people. Oh God, continue to bless our city in the name of Jesus. Help us, I pray. Strengthen us, I pray. God, help us to be strong and encouraged in the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus. Thank God for Brother Brian conducting family prayer. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I think we could have a little family prayer right now. Could we do that right now? Just lift up your voice all across this house. We're getting ready to go. We're getting ready to go. But let's take a second here right now. Just lift up your hands unto the Lord. Lift up your voice unto the Lord. Say, "Oh God, revive thy work in the midst of the years. Do thy holy work among us, oh God, let there be a healing touch. Let there be a healing flow." Yes, Lord. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Let the power and the presence of God fill this house. Yes, Lord. Let the power and the presence of God move right now in the name of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus. Oh, thank you Lord. Oh, thank you Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on. That's it. Let that anointing oil flow over you right now. Let that anointing oil flow over you right now. God's going to revive something in somebody today in Jesus' name. Yes, he is. He's going to revive something in you right now. Ah, he's going to awaken something. He's going to stir a slumbering cord in you right now in the name of Jesus. Ah, yes. He's going to renew that servant's heart inside of you. Oh, bless his name. Bless his name. Bless his name. Bless his name. Bless his name. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Glory. Glory. Glory. Glory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.