14 – We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15 – Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in Him.
16 – This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
17 – If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
18 – Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
23 – And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us.
24 – Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.
The human body is an amazing thing. The more I learn about it the more I understand that we are indeed “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Here’s an example of why I say this. There are three basic types of muscles in our bodies. Two of these are smooth and skeletal. The third is cardiac, an amazing type of muscle in and of itself, but I want to focus on the first two types.
The SKELETAL muscles get their name from the fact that they are muscles that are attached to our skeletons and we control them with an act of our will. When I want to walk I tell my leg muscles to pick up my legs and put them down slowly. When I want to run I tell them to do so quickly. When I want to comb my hair, oops, bad example. When I want to brush my teeth I tell my arm to pick up the toothbrush and tell my hand to squeeze the toothpaste tube, etc. The other type of muscle is called SMOOTH. These muscles work automatically without our telling them to. Smooth muscles help us swallow our food by pushing it down into the stomach. Smooth muscles make our blood move throughout our body. Smooth muscles make our lungs work. I think of these smooth muscles as “second nature” muscles because they work, ac and function without our thinking. It’s their nature, it’s automatic.
I mention all this because as Christians we have a “smooth muscle system” of sorts that is part of the nature we get when we decide to follow Jesus. You see, when we invite Christ to come into our hearts He does exactly that and then, with the help of His Spirit within us, we grow spiritually and as we do we become more and more like Him. As this growth happens we begin to act and even RE-ACT as Jesus would, without thinking. More and more Christlikeness becomes SECOND NATURE for us.
For example, we know we are growing spiritually when we pass someone on the side of the road who has had a flat tire and our first thought is to pull over and offer our assistance. When we see someone crying, obviously upset, our first reaction is to go and speak to them and see how we can help. When we come to a stop light and a guy is holding up one of those signs saying he is a homeless veteran in need of money our first reaction is to reach for our wallets. Well, when this kind of re-action becomes second nature we know we are on the road to spiritual maturity.
I mention all this because I feel God leading us to make SERVICE our theme for 2013. This year I want us to do all we can to help each other grow in this area of discipleship. I want us each to strive to mature here at Redland such that it becomes SECOND NATURE for us to follow Jesus’ example and help the people around us, friends, neighbors, co-workers, ven perfect strangers, in tangible ways. So in two words, that’s our theme for 2013: “Second Nature.” And at the onset I want to give our youth pastor, Kevin Freeman, the credit for this wording. When I shared my belief that God has called us to emphasize SERVICE or MINISTRY with the pastoral staff and asked for their creative input, Kevin did his thing and suggested these two words, “second nature.” Thanks Kevin! It is great wording because, as I said a moment ago, serving others in tangible ways should be second nature to the maturing Christ-follower and especially here at Redland. Remember, our purpose statement says that one of the things God’s grace drives us to do is, “care in the NATURE of Christ.”
This is VISION SUNDAY, and if you’ve attended our church for any length of time you know that on VISION SUNDAY I share what we will be doing as a church in the next 12 months, things that will help us with our theme for that particular year. This year it’s not just what we’ll be DOING but also what we’ll be working on “BEING.”My message this morning is geared to answer this question: “What Has God Called Redland to do AND BE in two oh one three.” My point is that for the Christian service is as much a matter of BEING as it is DOING. We “do” acts of service because of who we are or more accurately WHOSE we are. And with that in mind BEFORE I share the things we’ll be doing as a church in the next year to strive to care for others in a Christlike way…let’s do a brief study of SERVICE or SERVANTHOOD. Let’s look at some basics when it comes to this aspect of our “being” as Christians.
The first thing we need to understand is that every Christian is CREATED or CALLED to serve others, care for others and help others.
As Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This verse, and others like it, tells us that we were not made just to CONSUME. We were made to CONTRIBUTE. It is indeed part of our design, part of our nature. God intends for every Christ-follower to make a tangible difference in this world. Our Heavenly Father has given wonderful blessings to each of us and we are called to give back by doing good works, by serving others in His name. As Rick Warren puts it, “What matters is not how LONG you live, but HOW you live. What matters is not the DURATION of your life, but the DONATION of your life. The Bible says we’re CREATED to serve, we’re SAVED to serve, we’re GIFTED to serve, we’re SHAPED to serve. We’re COMMANDED to serve God back.”
It is important for us to remember that when we serve, when we help other people, we are following CHRIST’S EXAMPLE. As Jesus said, in Matthew 20:28, “Your attitude must be like My own, for I did not come to be served but to serve.” And it’s not just that we FOLLOW Jesus’ example, we are INSPIRED by it, compelled by it, driven by it. Let me put it this way: serving others in a Christ-like way is part of what it means to be grace-driven. I mean, if we let it, our experience of God’s grace will change us. It will make us gracious, giving people, helping people, SERVING people. E. Stanley Jones puts it this way, “Grace binds you with far stronger cords than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free, but when you take it, you are bound forever to the Giver and bound to catch the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like. Grace makes you gracious. The Giver makes you give.”
I love the lyrics to the hymn we sang earlier because they express this truth so beautifully:
“Because I have been sheltered, fed, by Thy good care,
I cannot see another’s lack and I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread, My roof’s safe shelter overhead,
That he too, may be comforted.
Because love has been lavished so upon me Lord,
A wealth I know that was not meant for me to hoard
I shall give love to those in need, shall show that love by word and deed;
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.”
In his book What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey mentions several Christians who have given their lives to serve others in response their experience of God’s grace.
One is Millard Fuller, a millionaire entrepreneur from Alabama who at one point in his life was a rich but miserable man. Then he visited Americus, Georgia where he met Clarence Jordan and became involved in his Koinonia Community. Jordan led him to Christ and Fuller responded by giving away his personal fortune to found Habitat for Humanity, an organization that is based on the simple premise that every human being deserves a decent place to live. Habitat has built thousands of homes for the needy all over the world. Fuller once said, “The reason I do what I do and so many of our volunteers do what they do, is because we are being obedient to Jesus.”
Another example of this principle is the late Chuck Colson. Shortly after he experienced God’s grace and became a Christian Colson founded Prison Fellowship which today operates in almost 80 countries. To this date the families of more than 2 million U.S. prisoners have received Christmas presents thanks to Colson’s Angel Tree ministry. Overseas church members involved in Prison Fellowship bring pots of stew and loaves of fresh-baked bread to prisoners who would otherwise starve.
Then there is Bill Magee, a plastic surgeon who was shocked to find that in Third World countries many children go through life with cleft palates that never get treated. They cannot smile, and their lips curl open in a constant sneer, making them the object of ridicule, so, Magee and his wife organized a program called Operation Smile. Through this ministry, plane loads of doctors and support personnel travel to places like Vietnam, the Philippines, Kenya, Russia, and the Middle East…in order to repair facial deformities. So far Magee and his group have responded to their own experience of the grace of God by operating on well over 30,000 children and in so doing they have left behind a legacy of smiles.
I could go on and on listing Christians who have responded to what they have received from God by serving others. But you know, tragically many times we do not respond to the grace of God in this way because we forget the cost of God’s gracious gift of salvation. When this happens we don’t minister to the needy of the world. Instead we become inwardly focused and expend all of our time and talents on entertaining self. I am reminded of the story of visitors who took a tour of a huge oil refinery. The tour guide showed them all the intricacies of the refining process: the vast catalyst chambers, the pipes, the heating vats-everything that went into the refining of oil. As the tour ended, one of the visitors asked the tour guide a simple question, “Sir, you showed us everything except the shipping department. An oil refinery this size processes a huge amount of petroleum, turning it into gasoline and lubricants. But you haven’t shown us where it’s all put into containers and shipped out to the world.” “Well, you see,” said the tour guide, “We don’t have a shipping department. Everything that is produced in this refinery is used up as energy to keep the refinery going.”
Many churches are exactly like the refinery in this story. They receive but they don’t give. All of their energies are focused on maintaining the church and none on serving the community and world around them. Groups of Christians like these have ignored Jesus’ command in Matthew 10:8 when He said, “Freely you have received, now freely give.”
Here’s a second basic fact when it comes to serving. It’s not the SIZE of the service that matters.
I mean, we hear examples of the great things that people like Chuck Colson and Bill Magee do, we think, “I can’t do big things like that. I don’t have a law degree like Colson. I’m not a surgeon like Magee. They served others in BIG ways. I can’t do that so service is not for me.”
Now, I think Colson and Magee would both say that THEY didn’t do these big things but rather God did those things through them, which would be true. God empowers our service, but He doesn’t just call and empower us to do big things like these two NOTICEABLE things. He doesn’t always ask us to minister to throngs of needy people. Sometimes God calls us to help just ONE person. And I would venture to say that everyone here knows ONE PERSON who could say use a little help financially. Everyone here knows ONE PERSON who is lonely and needs a visit. Everyone here knows ONE PERSON who is sick and would appreciate a word of cheer. In fact, statistics say we probably all know ONE PERSON in prison who would benefit greatly from our kindness and unconditional love. Listen fellow servants. Jesus is not saying you are to underwrite the operating budget of Compassion International or World Vision but you can sponsor ONE child. He’s not saying you have to fix the prison system but you can visit ONE PERSON who needs encouragement. He’s not saying you can help EVERY lonely U.S. soldier on a foreign battlefield. But you can write one. You can send one care package his or her way.
The point is, do good when you can do good. Whenever the opportunity presents itself whenever and however God invites you to join Him in His work, do! Do something to help others, even if it’s small. DON’T overlook little opportunities like that to show love. After all, little things can be big things in God’s kingdom. 1st Corinthians 15:58 says, “Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort.” This text and others like it teach that even the SMALL things, even the seemingly insignificant things that we do to serve others in Jesus’ name do indeed matter.
In Mark 9:41 Jesus said, “Even if you give a cup of cold water in My name to a child, that counts.”
Here’s a third basic fact when it comes to serving. When we serve others be it in big ways or small ways it is the same as serving Jesus Himself.
In Matthew 25 Jesus said as much. He said that when we visit the sick and clothe the naked and feed the hungry and visit in the prisons, it is as if we were ministering to Him. Do you remember His exact words? “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” (Verse 40) Now—what did Jesus mean by that? Why would He say that ministering to the needs of others was the same thing as ministering to Him? It’s because God literally loves every human being on this world of ours. They are His special creation. He has a plan for their lives. In short, He loves them as a Father would love His own children. So when we serve someone, anyone, God Himself is blessed.
And if you’re a parent then you understand this, don’t you? When a school teacher goes out of her way to help your son grasp a subject he’s having difficulty with don’t you feel blessed yourself? When your child is sick and a doctor makes them better, don’t you feel better too? When a soccer coach takes the time to teach your son how to kick a goal, don’t you feel encouraged? Well, multiply that feeling an infinite number of times and you begin to understand how God feels when we help someone, anyone, because God loves all people. God literally takes it personally when we serve others! Doesn’t that make you WANT to become more of a servant? Doesn’t that make you want to develop this attitude such that it becomes second nature for you? I mean, think of it! When we help someone, anyone, we are helping God!
Here’s one more basic fact when it comes to service. When we serve others, we grow SPIRITUALLY and the church grows NUMERICALLY.
I mean, needy people are not the only ones who benefit when Christians minister to them. The one who serves benefits as well. One way we benefit is because serving others pushes us to grow spiritually. You see, helping people forces us to rely on God’s strength, God’s empowering, because many times we find that our strength is not sufficient. In this hands-on kind of way we experience God empowering us when we seek to serve others in His name. In God’s strength we do amazing, God-sized things. And that builds our faith and motivates us to keep on doing them! We become hooked on this kind of thrill and learn to think with more of a “God-sized” perspective. Actively serving others also causes us to think less about serving ourselves. We become more self-less, giving people. Suffice it to say that Christians who work to meet the needs of others GROW into better people, happier people, more fulfilled people! Philip Yancey says, “In a paradox of faith, the one who shares love comes away enriched, not impoverished.”
Dr. Jurgen Trogisch has done a study of the effects of ministering to severely mentally disabled children that highlights this principle. Understand the children in this study were not able to respond or reward the nurse or orderly who worked with them in any way. Dr. Trogisch wanted to see how this reward-less work affected the workers. So he asked them, “What changes have taken place in your life since you became totally involved with disabled people?” Here is a selection of their answers:
- For the first time in my life I feel I am doing something really significant.
- I feel I can now do things I wouldn’t have thought myself capable of before.
- I am more responsive now to human suffering and it arouses in me the desire to help.
- It’s made me question what is really important in life.
- I’ve learned to be patient and to appreciate even the slightest sign of progress.
- My own little problems don’t seem so important any longer.
- I’ve learned to accept myself with all my inadequacies.
- I’ve learned to appreciate the little pleasures of life, and especially I thank God that He has shown me that love can achieve more than hate or force.
In this study, Dr. Trogisch has put his finger on a by-product of ministry that often gets overlooked. We tend to focus on the OBJECTS of ministry: the people won to Christ, the number of homes built, the poor who are clothed, and the hungry who are fed. But the ministers themselves benefit as well. Ministry grows us! When we help others in tangible ways, we feel better, happier, more fulfilled. We should not be surprised at this by-product of ministry because Jesus promised, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35 ) And, as He said in Luke 6:38, “Give and it will be given to you…a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over…for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
But, the benefit of serving others is not just true of individuals who minister. It’s true of churches who embrace ministry as well. Focusing on the needs of people outside our walls makes us happier inside these walls. Growing, happy churches are churches that look outward to the needs of the community and world around them. Their grace-driven maturity draws lost people and the church experiences numerical growth.
But you know for churches that don’t serve others, the result is just the opposite. George Barna says, “Churches usually die from the inside out. Death is largely due to an inward focus, rather than an outward concern. Churches that grow are focused on addressing the needs of the have-nots in the world…whether what they did not have was a relationship with Jesus Christ, physical health, emotional wholeness or other desired aspects. Growing churches were not content to let missions support simply relate to the giving of money.”
I know I’ve used this before but I like the way evangelist Luis Palau put it He said, “The church is like manure. Pile it together and it stinks up the neighborhood; spread it out and it enriches the world.”
Ok, enough of the basics. What are we going to DO this year to help make serving others second nature for us? How are we going to BECOME more service-minded?
First, I want to point out that we already DO a great deal of service projects and we want to make sure everyone is aware so they can plug in. Some of these service ministries are listed on your commitment card. By the way, take it out and keep it handy. Fill it out as I share the vision so you’ll be ready to turn it in later in the service. As I said, you’ll see some of these established service ministries on that card and a place you can commit to serve in them but there is a more complete list on a handout on the table in the upper foyer. On that handout I also listed the offerings we take to help you plan ahead so you’ll know what’s coming when it comes to the ways we ask each other to GIVE to help others.
Now, as I do every year, in 2013 I’ll do my best to preach and teach in order to help equip us to develop our “second nature” or service. I’ll be doing sermon series on the book of James and on the epistles of John, books in God’s Word that have a lot to say about showing our faith by our works. I will also do a sermon series on the fruit of the Spirit, the kinds of attitudes that should be seen in growing Christ-followers, attitudes that help foster a servanthood lifestyle. In addition to sermons, during my Wednesday night study time, we’ll look at two books that deal with service: Max Lucado’s new book on grace and A Hole In The Gospel by Richard Stearns.
One more thing, this fall, during the months of October and November, I plan on taking my sabbatical. I’m still making plans but I’ll let you know specifically how I will be using that blessing in a few months.
Ok, when it comes to CALENDARING, here’s the plan for 2013.
1.) First we will finish THE STORY.
Our 31-week study of the Bible goes through May 5th and this study that we began LAST year to help us do a better job of TELLING God’s story, compliments the second nature vision for THIS year. I mean the better we understand God’s story, the more we comprehend His grace, the more we are compelled to serve others. Plus, each Sunday School Class has been challenged to come up with a “telling project”, something they do to help others in ways that give them opportunities to share God’s story. So, we’ll get back to our work on The Story January 14 with week 17 and finish week 31 on May 5. It’s not too late to join us so get a copy in the library and catch up on your reading.
2,) A second thing we’ll be “doing” to help develop our “second nature” is by continuing to go on MISSION TRIPS.
And if that sounds like a “Vision Sunday broken record” so be it. I mean, we’ve been doing adult mission trips since 1998 and I don’t feel led to stop because blessing others through these trips blesses this church. 39 of us are headed for the D.R. this coming Saturday and unless God leads otherwise, we’ll plan our sixth trip to Hato Mayor in January 2014 a place we spend an entire week focusing on SERVING, doing God-sized ministry that helps mature us to do the same back here in Maryland. We will also be going back to Ocean City to work with OCBC in ministering to vacationers and the thousands of internationals who come there to work each summer. Our trip is scheduled for July 20-27.
And then from August 11-18 we will be sending a small team, only six people, to Morocco to work at THE CHILDREN’S HAVEN, a Christian orphanage outside of Azrou, Morocco. Proselytizing is illegal and carefully monitored in Morocco so this will be a trip when we will not be able to tell people about Christ, but instead show them by serving in this important ministry any way we can. We’ll let them see our good works, we’ll let our light shine, providing children’s clothing, toiletries, school supplies, medical items, etc. We’ll also be doing construction around the orphanage itself. David and Pat Cash will be leading this trip and there is a fact-finding meeting on January 27. As I said this will be a small team, but even if you can’t go, there are ways you can help so I challenge you to pray and come to this meeting.
3.) Another thing, instead of P.I.E., this year where we write post cards to new home owners, we will deliver welcome baskets to the families that move into our area.
The idea is for us to take the list of new home owners we get from the real estate agents in our church and then assign those homes to Redland members in the same community. We’d give you a welcome basket for you to deliver to a new home owner, a basket that helps the individual or family feel welcome and also invites them to RBC. There is no need to call and make an appointment. Just knock on the door and deliver the basket. Now, for this to work, I will need people willing to do this, willing to pay a visit to their new neighbors and we’ll need a team to assemble the baskets and I’ll need an individual willing to be the point person, if you feel led to help with this check the appropriate blanks on your insert.
4.) Another thing, our youth ministry will be working to develop their second nature.
For example, they will be planning a summer theme called “Overflow,” which is based on second nature thinking. Our youth ministry leadership are also working to get youth to lead service projects so that they can be more hands-on followers of Christ. And, our college age students, Crew, are on their retreat this weekend, right now and their weekend is all about being “Rooted Up” in Christ, so they can learn to let Him live and serve others through them.
5.) Fifth, this August we’ll host a Health Fair in our ROC.
I’ve asked my son, Dr. Daniel Adams, to come and share about that and how you can be involved. Daniel come and tell us about this.
6.) Another thing we’ll be doing all year long is what I’ve called “Shine The Light Project.”
Here’s how it came about. This past fall a Redland Family came to me with a very generous offer. They will provide $100 per individual or family to cover the cost of a service project where the individual or family sees a need. We have enough funds to cover at least 300 of these projects and application forms are in the back of the church. The idea is for you to covenant to pray about this, asking God to show you a need a way you can do a tangible good work that will let your light so shine before men so they will praise God. It could be a need you see a neighbor has or a co-worker—or even a perfect stranger. I think it would be great if you could do something like this as a family but individual projects are welcome too. Here are the guidelines:
- Participants must be active members of Redland Baptist Church.
- Participants must finish their service project within 90 days of when they receive the $100. All projects must be completed before December 31, 2013.
- Participants agree to share a testimony of the results of their project
- Participants’ projects must be approved by pastoral staff to determine that the project is one that demonstrates God’s love and provision for the recipient.
- Participants can combine their $100 with other Redland members.
- Participants cannot use funds for their own personal use nor can they be used to help relatives.
- Participants cannot donate funds to an organized charity. This is for hands-on ministry so that Redland members can themselves experience the joy of helping.
I am very excited about this and I hope you are as well because there are needy people all around us, people that a few hundred dollars could really help and if we join God in His work by helping them. He will use us to point these people to Him and that can be VERY exciting!
And, listen, if $100 won’t do it and you feel God leading, let us know on your application and we’ll find the additional money you need.
This week I learned that our own Jason and Wendy Machovski and some of their friends recently answered God’s call to service in this “Shine the Light” kind of way. Her mom, Sandy, told me about it and gave me permission to share Wendy’s experience with you. Sandy writes: “What started out as a Christmas tree and gift delivery ended in a deeper look into the lives and needs of a single mother and her kids who were living in a very dangerous place. Wendy and Jason enlisted the help of some of their friends to make the initial Christmas deliveries and discovered her situation and decided to see what could be done to help this family. It was that group who took the initiative to raise funds among themselves and others to get this mom moved into a safe place. Praise God, they moved her into her new apartment on Christmas Eve! Not only was this mother and her boys provided with a means of escape from a threatening situation, those who reached out to her were immeasurably blessed by the outpouring and willingness of others to provide assistance. Now, that is a shining example of showing Jesus’ love! Wendy has been in awe over the attitudes and responses of those involved and has been doubly blessed by this experience. The girls anticipate an ongoing relationship of love and support for this struggling mom.”
Try to picture that kind of experience happening to 300 Redlanders as they prayerfully let God work through them to help people just like this single mom. So take an application home with you. They are on the back table. Then pray about this. Ask God to show you a need you can meet. And there’s nothing stopping you from doing more than one project! One more thing, please don’t let the testimony requirement scare you off. If need be you can write it out and I’ll read it for you but let’s take advantage of this wonderful gift and spend every cent of this $30,000 helping people around us. Let’s let our lights SHINE!!!!
Well, that’s it. That’s the plan for this year. This is what Redland will do and be in 2013.
And I can think of no better Sunday for a Christian who is looking for a church home to attend because today you have heard the plan. If after hearing all this, you feel God leading you to join us in fulfilling this vision, then we invite you to walk forward during our closing hymn and ask to move your membership here. Others of you attending this morning may not be Christians and you are seeking purpose and meaning in life. That is only found in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We invite you to make that decision this morning and to share it with us. Won’t you come as we sing?
As for the rest of us, I’d like you to bring your completed Vision Sunday Commitment Card to and lay it on the altar as a public commitment to develop your own “second nature.”
Let’s all respond right now as God leads.