09/22/24 Mark 9:30-37 Pastor Cody

For [Music] no [Music] for [Music] for e [Music] e [Music] f [Music] e [Music] e hey friends Pastor Chris here and this November you have a chance to take part in deciding the sort of state Missouri will be by voting on Amendment Three this amendment would enshrine a deregulated industry of abortion and gender transitioning into our state constitution and I want to give you a few Biblical truths that should shape the way we vote one in the very beginning of the Bible we see that every human being you will ever run into or ever meet has been created on purpose and for great purpose in God's image and for this reason alone every man woman child and pre-born baby deserves honor to be valued and respected regardless of socioeconomic status ethnicity or background two there is no such thing as an unwanted unseen or unloved child there's an account of a boy named ishmail in the Old Testament who was abandoned by his father sent away from the family with his single mother Into the Wilderness and in that Wilderness the Bible says the Lord God sees him and provides for him there is no such thing as an unplanned pregnancy maybe unplanned parents but even so every baby is loved by God three Psalm 139 says for it was you who created my inward Parts you knit me together in my mother's womb Jesus is intimately involved in

Every aspect of a life beginning at conception he's at work in every human being from the very beginning for in Exodus men are fighting and a pregnant woman's pre-born baby is killed in the Scriptures this is seen as the ending of a life not some possible life or future life but as a life a person who images God and was alive and now is not according to the law and so for these Biblical reasons I encourage you to vote no on Amendment Three this [Applause] November well good morning morning it is my privilege to welcome you all here this morning on this first fall day my favorite season of the year if you're a visitor with us I would invite you to please fill this card out it's our way of connecting with you if you have a prayer request there's a place for that but we encourage strongly encourage each and everyone to take advantage of this tool so that we can connect with you we can pray for you and get to know you better I have a few announcements this week I don't know if it's too late but the joy group is having a fish fry on the 24th and then the this coming weekend the 27th to the 28th the lamine Baptist Association discipleship conference the cost is $10 and that will be hosted here but please be sure to sign up on Planning Center or in the office and then on Saturday there's an opportunity for the medical missions for Christ trivia Challenge and that will be at 5:30 tickets are $25 at the door $20 in advance and then coming up on October 13th we have a equipping opportunity for families even older families empty nesters to help maybe with your grandchildren family and safety in Tech it's a potluck dinner but Tim and Sarah Bato will be facilitating that and giving you tools to help keep your children safe with

Social media and the internet two more announcements the nursery we they need help volunteers are needed in the nursery if you're interested please contact Thomas as you're able and then next Sunday we have the opport Unity it's our fifth Sunday and this is where we take a benevolence offering and we invite you this week to prayerfully consider how you might participate in that sacrificially and come prepared for that next Sunday let's enter our time in prayer now father God I thank you and praise you for each and every one that is in this room this morning that is on campus we thank you for the staff and the volunteers who are facilitating training for our children Lord we thank you for the word that will be taught that Lord in a few moments as Cody comes and preaches we just ask that Lord you would have your way in our hearts and that we would leave here today encouraged and different than how we entered we thank you and praise you for the gift of your son Jesus we thank you that we get to serve you and that we just get to enjoy eternity now with you in relationship and that Lord as we engage in this world in our community that Lord you would just help us to take advantage of every opportunity that you give us to be faithful stewards of the truth of your word and that Lord we would be able to share that the difference that you've made in our lives I pray for a time of worship now with music with just all these different parts and giving that our tithes in a little bit Lord all these things Lord we give it because you are our father you are worthy and we just praise you for all that you've done and all that you are going to do in your name we pray amen Psalms 100 says shout joyfully to the Lord all the Earth come serve the

Lord with gladness come before him with joyful singing know that the Lord himself is God it is he who has made us and not we ourselves we are his people the Sheep of his pasture enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise give thanks to him for he is good his loving kindness is Everlasting in his faithfulness to all generations As we sing this first song we wanted to take a moment to introduce it hopefully you'll recognize it from the last few weeks this is something that we have been singing regularly because it's new and we want you to know it we know that everything in this universe is destined to glorify God his glory is the highest goal that anything that any one of us can have and it's his highest goal and yet as part of that glorification process he also works everything to our good in Romans 8 Paul wrote that everything is brought together by God for the good of those who love him and are called for his purpose so no matter what you're going through today whether it's a joyful morning whether it's a hard morning whether you're like Chris and you're in the hospital this morning I don't know if you're watching Chris but we're praying for you God is working things for our good but let's not forget that the first and primary purpose is his glory why don't you stand with us as we sing together [Music] Glory Jesus Christ and the more that I Behold Him the more he saisies when I gaze upon his Beauty when I see him as I should then my eyes are lifted upward for his glory and [Music] my there is hope in every trial for I can trust the Lord he will turn my heart

Toward him and help mear the Thor so in faith I follow Jesus on the road not for I know that he is working for his glory and my good to our God be the glory to our God be prais he alone the name above all names I will boast ever only in the Lord my God for I know his glory is my [Music] good see the Open Arms of Jesus upon the cross that day what they understood his weakness deserves my Every Praise for the charge that was against me it was bu into the wood yes I know that he has saved me for his glory and my good to our God be the glory to our God be praise he alone the name above all names I will boast ever only in the Lord my God for I know his glory is my [Music] good IAD be made nothing the Christ would be made more I seek the only kingom the far ways the more I will stand before my father where the faithful things have stood and with joy my heart shall praise him for his glory and my good and with joy my heart shall praise him for his glory and my [Music] good to our God be the glory to our God be praise he alone the name above all names I will boast ever only in the Lord my God for I know his glory is my good to our God be the glory to our God he praised he alone the name above [Music] all I will boast ever only in the Lord my God for I know his glory is my good for I know his glory is my good [Music] the splend of the king in mesty let all the Earth Rejoice all the Earth [Music]

Rejo he wraps himself [Music] in and darkness tries to hide and trbl at his TR at his voice [Music] Great Is Our God sing with me how great is our God and all will see how great How Great Is Our God age to age he stands and time is in his hands beginning and the end beginning and the end the God had three in one father Spirit son The Lion and the lamb The Lion and the lamb How Great Is Our God sing How Great Is Our God and I will see how great How Great Is Our God name above all Nam you are worthy of all praise then my heart was seeing how great is our God the Great Is Our God s How Great Is Our God all see how great How Great Is Our God then sing My Soul then sing my [Music] soulor God to [Music] the how great God how great heart then sings my S myor God to [Music] thee how great th how great

Th how great th are [Music] how great th [Music] amen good morning let us pray our gracious father we deserve nothing but your wrath yet you've forgiven us you have brought us into your family you have blessed us beyond what we deserve Lord we ask that you put Upon Our Hearts the blessing to give back to you bless this offering that we're given take the money Lord and use it for your kingdom and we thank you for your grace and your mercy amen today's Scripture reading is in Luke chapter 22: 24- 27 and there also arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be the greatest and he said over to them the king of the Gentiles Lord over it Lord it over them and those who have authority over them are called benefactors but it is not this way with you but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like the servant for who is greater than the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves it is not the one who reclines at the table but I among you as the one who [Music] serves amazing praise How Sweet the Sound that save the my I want was lost but now I found

[Applause] was I [Music] [Applause] see T gra that Tau My Heart To Fear and gra my fears [Music] how preious that Grace of here the hour I first [Music] be through many ders to and snares I have already come his [Music] gra he save us far and Grace will lead me when we been there [Applause] 10,000 years bright shining the we us days to sing God's praise than when we first SE [Music] what gift of Grace is Jesus My Redeemer there is no more for heaven now to he is my joy my righteousness and freedom my steast love my deep and boundless peace to this I hope my hope is only Jesus for my life is hold that to years oh how strange and divine I can sing all is mine yet not I but through Christ

In the night is dark but I am not forsen for by my side the Savior he will stay I labor on in weakness and rejoicing for in my need his power is dis to this I hope my shepher will defend me through the deepest valley he will all the night has been one and I shall yet not I but through Christ in me no fate I tread I know I am forg G the future sure the chist it has been for Jesus bled and suffered for my paron and he was raised to overcome the grave to this I hope my sin has been defeated Jesus now and ever all the chains are released I can say I am free yet not I but through Christ to [Music] me with every breath I long to follow Jesus for he has said that he will bring me home and day by day I know he will renew until I stand with SH Before the Throne to this I hope my hope is only Jesus all the glory ever to him when the race is complete still my lips shall repeat yet not I but through Christ in me to this I hope my hope is only Jesus of the glory ever more to him when the race is complete still my li shall repeat yet not I but through Christ in me when the race is complete still my lip shallat yet not I but through Christ in me and not I but through Christ in me yet not I but through Christ so God we do pray that you would equip us this morning that you would prepare our hearts to be receptive to your word to know your truth to die to ourselves that we would

Follow after you God I pray for pastor Cody as he gives your message today May you humble him and use him mightily God I pray for your spirit to do a work in our hearts today and mold us more into Jesus and it's in your name we pray amen well if you have your Bible and I hope that you do please turn with me to Mark chapter 9 Mark chapter 9 we're going to be in verses 30 through 37 we're talking today about what makes someone great in the kingdom of God my kids love a good jacket Chan movie anybody else Jackie Chan fans out there I actually I love watching him his facial expressions and everything are just fantastic but there's one movie that's called The Tuxedo and in that movie Jackie Chan plays his taxi driver and he's got this U secret agent in the back but he doesn't know it anyways the taxi comes under attack and the secret agent winds up getting like critically wounded and so he tells Jackie Chan this strange Taxi Driver take my tuxedo okay and as you put it on you will share in my glory okay the movie's words not mine and what's what's interesting there is that as he puts on this suit of course all of a sudden that's when he starts doing all the jackiechan stuff the flips and the rolls and all that kind of stuff running up walls all the things that make a good jackiechan movie a good jackiechan movie you see what happens is when we become born again not that you get a fancy tuxedo or anything like that but you do share in the glory of God in that you are no longer your own you are no longer robed in your flesh but you are robed in the righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ you know when we display his character when we receive at that moment of regeneration where you are

Born again to a New and Living Hope okay you receive a new mind a new nature at that point in time and so we reflect the glory of God and for you and I what that means for us and what we're going to examine today is that we put on a garment of servanthood just like what it says in Matthew chapter 20 it says but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be your slave even as the son of man came not to be served but to serve do you think that we're called to serve do you believe that do you view yourself as being too busy or too important to serve let's look at what the word of God says today U some of you I know you're serving exponentially and so if you're like serving in three four different areas this sermon is not for you well it is for you okay but I know for me as someone that grew up serving in the church whenever the pastor would talk about serving he's like you know you're absolutely right I need to serve more I was in four or five different areas already but I want you to connect with what God's word is saying okay to you so whether you're serving a lot or not okay just allow God's word to do what God's word is going to do okay sound good okay let's all stand together in honor of God's word as we read Mark chapter 9 we're going to be in verses 30 through 37 God's word it says this they went on from there and passed through Galilee and he did not want anyone to know for he was teaching his disciples saying to them the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and when he is killed after three days he will rise but they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him and they came to capernium and when he was in the house he asked them what were you discussing on the way but they kept silent for

On the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest and he called down and he sat down and called the twel and he said to them if anyone would be first he must be last of all and servant of all and he took a child and put him in the midst of them and taking him in his arms he said to them whoever receives one such child in my name receives me and whoever receives me receives not me but him who sent me Lord we do thank you for your word help me God U to preach very clearly what you want to say through this passage God not to go down my own little rabbit trails and my own little ideas God but Lord to stick closely to your word father help us as a as a local church body to apply this passage message to each of Our Lives wherever we might be whatever we might be doing we pray that we would be found faithful and Lord I do want to lift up to many of the needs that are in our congregation God we want to lift up to you the walgets we pray for Janet we pray for you to work and to have your will we pray for Gordon we pray for Josh and chrisy we pray for the rest of the family God as they just navigate this and we know that as they walk through the valley of the shadow of death they will fear no evil and we thank you that she is yours help her God as only you know when that last breath will be so help them to walk with confidence even in the midst of that Lord you are the Lord of life we just ask for your will in that situation we want to thank you Lord for Chris how and we want to pray for him we want to pray that he would have a speedy recovery and that as his wife Mary Jane just ministers to him Lord that you would help him to make those adjustments that he needs to make father we want to continue lifting up to you Denny we want to lift up to you the Mexico

Missions team as they got there safely God we just lift them up to you for Diana and Connie and Mike Lord watch over them and Empower their Ministry and strengthen them and I pray that they are having great health and a mighty work while they are there and father we do pray that you would move us all to Greater Service we know that all service is ultimately for the believer done for you so whatever our spheres of influence or wherever you have us God or perhaps if we're not doing anything pray that you would move us to serve we love you in Jesus name amen y'all can have a seat so the passage it begins with a second prediction that Jesus for the second time he is telling his disciples that he is going to go to Jerusalem and be delivered over into the hands of wicked and evil men in order for him to be killed and on the third day rise again and every time that he makes a prediction there is always something that the disciples do that emphasizes that they don't get it okay whether it's Pride likee what we saw at the last time at the first time that Jesus made this prediction it was after that great profession of faith in cesaria Philippi and what happens what happens after he they have that great U thing that happens with Peter saying you are the Christ the son of the Living God and all of a sudden Peter is correcting Jesus and saying that will never happen to you will not go jerus to Jerusalem you will not die what are you talking about Jesus and of course that leads to correction and teaching and we see that playing out here that these guys they're they're going down to capernium and on the way they're arguing about who's the greatest in the kingdom of God you see in verses 30 through 32 this is the briefest of the passion predictions what we're going to learn about here is that the cross is the

Central message of Christ he keeps bringing it back it despite all of the distractions and all of the teaching in spite of even having to deliver a little boy from demonic possession he still was bringing it back to the message of the cross and Jesus he says that the son of man is going to be delivered that is a futuristic present tense meaning it's definitely going to happen it is complete certainty that he is going to be delivered that word delivered there in the Greek is paradidomi which is a legal term to be handed over for judgment now where did this Deliverance take place well some people would say well it's where Judas kissed Jesus and delivered him into the hands of those that would seek his life or even when pilate handed over Jesus to the Jews to be crucified but that is not ultimately the cause when it comes to who delivered Jesus into the hands of wicked men we must primarily attribute it to the work of God the Father this is inferred in the passage because it is the son of man that is a Divine term found in Daniel chter 7 relating to that heavenly vision he is being handed over into the hands of men you don't have the son of man being delivered by the hands of men into the hands of men but you have the son of man delivering himself over to the hands of wicked and evil Sinners that sought his blood it is God that did this and Paul he uses or Peter he uses the same phrase in Acts chapter 2 it says men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with Mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and forn knowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of Lawless men it is God that killed his son for our sins for our sake on our behalf it was Jesus that

Did that he laid his himself down willingly and Jesus he's po pointing the disciples to understand that he came to suffer and to die and the disciples they aren't understanding its significance here but then again we don't fully get it either do we Luke in the parallel passage it says that the disciples didn't understand it because it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it if we could just understand the cost of our Salvation that would change our spiritual walks dramatically there is not one good person in here I am the worst person I know and if you're honest with yourself you're probably pretty terrible too and yet it was Jesus Christ the son of God the most holy and blameless ever the most perfect the most righteous who knew no sin who laid himself down willingly to redeem sinners like you and me so that we could come to him by faith and faith alone we can't be good enough and this highlights the need that we have for us to trust in Christ and his finished work and to realize that it's his sacrifice that's the entire foundation for our salvation we cannot ever downplay or minimize the centrality of the message of the Cross of Christ because salvation is not through our efforts we can't believe hard enough we can't do enough we can't give enough we can't be nice enough and therefore we must live in Daily gratitude resting in his grace not relying on our works if you're relying on being a good person let me ask you this when do you know that you've done enough when do you know that you've done enough or maybe you're relying on I don't know being a member of a church how long do you have to be a member before it takes before it sticks how manyan B how many times do

You have to be baptized before it finally washes it away what's the dollar amount if you're thinking about giving it away giving money what's that dollar amount if you're worried about being nice and helping people what's the number what kind of works do you have to do see that's the thing we don't have that answer Jesus said that he is gentle and humble in heart proud Christians don't exist they don't get to we live a Crucified Life and I'll get to that in a minute but Jesus said that he is gentle and humble in heart that means that he didn't view himself as great and wonderful look at what he says in Philippians chap 2 veres 5-8 have his mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross now follow me real quick because this goes back to Mark chapter 8:34 when he's talking about the path of discipleship is the path of the Cross and the path of the Cross is the greatest humiliation that has ever been or ever will be recorded it is that God the Creator would come to this earth to subject himself self to complete humiliation to be crucified by wicked and evil Creation in order to redeem those that would revile him and we think how incredible is that for us to consider Creator subjecting himself to Creation let me ask you how irritated do you get when you're children talk back to you and yet yes they came from you but did not create them you are not their creator and yet Jesus subjected

Himself completely to the will of God these areas of the crucifixion of Christ and discipleship are linked forever because it is only the crucified disciple that can say that they are a disciple iple Paul he makes that connection even more obvious in Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me have you been crucified with Christ if you haven't then you are not living in Christ which means that are not walking with him and you look at this and you look at this whole conversation that Jesus is having with his disciples here emphasizing that he is going to be killed and they're not asking they're not understanding and then actually instead of asking clarifying questions what do they start doing they start arguing about who the greatest in the kingdom is and we look at how far we've fallen from just a few like earlier in this chapter when we had the Transfiguration on the mountain there he is God Almighty revealing himself he lets the veil be torn away just for a little Glimpse at his glory the father speaks in that shakina cloud this is my son listen to him and guess what they forgot how quickly we forget and then the arguing occurs and it's because the disciples are relying on their own strength right on their own understanding that's exactly what happened with that little boy that was had that unclean Spirit they were relying on their own power on their own strength their own reasoning they thought the power came from

Themselves and so this is this is just a continuation of that heart issue and what are they discussing who's the grace was it Peter was it James was it John's nickname is the Beloved right I don't know if that's a nickname they gave himself or something maybe it was Judas he was obviously very trustworthy he was the treasurer he's also a devil maybe it was Andrew he was one of the very first to follow Jesus and so you can you can see what they may have been discussing and what their arguments may have been but I want you to understand the culture at this time in this culture it's an honor shame culture and boasting was important to affirm your social status who is the greatest that word greatest is the word Mega who's the biggest who's most valuable you look at our culture and things really aren't that much better you know there was a girl on U Dr Phil and 2016 Danielle boli you guys remember her she was that cash me outside how about that girl now she's worth $57 million since that point in time can you imagine that our church our world rewards that kind of attitude The Pride the arrogance it people glorify the proud they Overlook the humble Aristotle in one of his writings he described Pride as the crown of Virtues humility was not something that was very virtuous even in the ancient world and this teaches us that every single person has him or herself naturally at the center of their worship that's not the way of God's kingdom and the disciples they know this because they've been taught about this and that's why they're so silent and this points us to the fact that we must guard ourselves against selfish ambition all of us want recognition

Right there's nothing wrong with receiving a reward or being appreciated by someone okay but insisting on it demanding it expecting it those are signs that our heart is not in the right place remember a few years ago I was talking with a pastor friend of mine I was sharing you know early in Ministry struggles you know like just venting and stuff like that and feeling you know lack of appreciation stuff like that and it happens it happens to all of us and we're we're talking and he goes well what specifically and so I was going through a couple of scenarios and things like that he's like well it sounds like you're being treated like a servant I said yeah he's like well that's your calling I was like yeah you're absolutely right that is my calling and God's still sanctifying so many Christians expect to be served and not pour themselves out in return and one of the ways that you can assess where your service is see where you're serving in your church a lot of people don't want to do that it's uncomfortable okay but don't argue with me argue with the word okay who is the greatest in the Kingdom every church needs laborers Lord knows that our Nursery needs it I think they had four call out this morning you know how do you take care of kids well you just start roping moms Jesus he realizes that the disciples are silent and they don't respond so he calls them to himself it's like okay if they're not going to respond it's time for teaching and so he gets to the house this is Peter's house in capernium ask him what were you discussing they were silent they were arguing about who is the greatest and he says if anyone would be first he must be last of all and servant of all and that is true greatness in the kingdom of God it's completely

Countercultural to the Jews and to 21st century Americans this why the Rich Young Ruler he was okay saying well yeah I've kept all the Commandments from birth they're boasting in themselves yeah I've done that the entire Jewish culture was constantly revolving around questions of procedure and rank and what is the greatest that's why the Pharisees they asked which commandment is the greatest Dr Schlatter he says in his commentary at all points in Worship in administration of justice at meals and all dealings there constantly arose the question of who was greater and estimating the honor due to each was to each was a task which constantly had to be fulfilled and was felt to be very important can you imagine always constantly talking to your family and your extended family about who's the Great greatest here at this table or maybe who is the greatest teacher in all the land what is the greatest Commandment that we can keep and constantly these were the discussions that were being had and Jesus says Nope we got to get rid of all of that all of those thoughts because the person that is the greatest must be the least in a servant to all can you imagine now do you guys remember where Mark was written to was written to the Romans right and you think that population was mostly slaves at that point in time can you imagine reading that the greatest would be a slave a servant of all you go hey that's me I'm a servant to all but it's not just service that makes one great Jesus he goes on and he clarifies what does that mean Winston Churchill he once had a argument with one of his servants in his home and Winston Churchill if you guys followed any of his stuff he had

Very sharp words he cursed a lot he argued a lot he was very stiff necked and proud and belligerent and he was being really cruel to one of his lead servants and that servant finally looked at him after a while and spoke to him the same way that Wiston Church Hill spoke to spoke to him and he goes who do you think that you are talking to me like that and the servant said well that's how you've been talking to me all this time and Winston Churchill in the most dense time of his life he says well that's true yeah but I'm someone important and you're not yeah in the Kingdom Pride keeps people from getting the honor that they want in fact it's pride in life that's hearing the Praises of men that sets people up for failure people they can jostle for position they can try to promote themselves in seemingly humble ways but they have received their reward it's done the Praises of men are a pitiful substitute for Honor from God Jesus he said it in this way in a little bit of a different context Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven thus when you give to the needy sound no trumpet before you as the Hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised by others truly I say to you they have received their reward but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you obviously a little bit of a different context Jesus ties it here to giving to the needy but we could very easily attach this to any type of service that we do for those that are in need it is true that honor from the Lord

Is reserved for the humble servant in theology we make a distinction between a Theology of glory and a Theology of the Cross believers they want Glory without a cross we want greatness without humiliation but Jesus said that we cannot get glory in the kingdom of God that way his teaching here is not some sort of abstract principle because his disciples are seeing it lived out in front of them day after day after day that word last that you must be the last of all and service service of servant of all that word is escat where we get our word esqu from the study of the last things and so consider yourself very last in order to be great in the kingdom of God so as you serve in your church you Deacon that's what that word servant means diaconos means to Deacon to serve and as Baptists we make a distinction between serving right and the office of Deacon you see in the kingdom of God in order to be the greatest you must consider yourself the least in order to be first you must Place yourself last and this teaches us that servanthood is the path to Greatness so you need me to need right this is radical and it flies in the face of our obnoxiously busy culture you guys remember 2020 when everyone slowed down they realized they had way too much on their plates we haven't learned have we if you're a Christian boss and you believe that you're employees are there to make you and your business look good then you need to look to the master and realize that your calling is higher than that it's higher than your business this doesn't mean that you don't have authority and that you should abscond your Authority okay but it does impact the position of your heart do you have a place of humble

Service is there something too low for you to tackle if so get a right view of service in the kingdom of God if you're a follower of Christ then you are captive to God's word and this means that we should embrace our slavery in Christ by our obedience to what he has said that extends to Homemakers to teachers to bluecollar workers and doctors and lawyers and doubly so for elders and deacons we are called to be servants and that means that we that in order for us to be first in God's eyes we must subject ourselves to service in the kingdom of God the disciples they won't learn this important lesson until after the resurrection in Luke 22 which Rex he read to you the disciples are arguing about who's greatest at the Lord's Supper later on in Mark chap 10 which we'll get to in a few weeks it says and Jesus called them to him and said to them you know that those who are considered rulers in the Gentiles Lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them but it shall not be so among you who's the among you it's the disciples but whoever would be great among you must be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all for even the son of man came not to be Serv but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many these passages they teach us that we are called to serve others not for recognition but for the glory of God this means humbling ourselves in our relationships and putting others needs and preferences before our own and then Jesus he provides a tangible example in their midst he grabs a child maybe even Peter's child we don't know he was in the house I got to assume and he puts him in the middle and he Embraces the kid that's that means hug okay Jesus he is saying that in order to receive Christ do we have to receive children no that's not what he's

Saying here okay in our culture children children are considered to be innocent vulnerable special gentle sweet pure whatever okay but what were children considered in the ancient world they were considered property they had zero rights I'm not saying that we shouldn't receive children okay we'll get to that later Jesus is going to deal specifically with that but with this he's got a purpose here now children in this culture insignificant no rights nothing like that no standing and Jesus he takes he takes his little child and he puts him in the midst that means at the Forefront sets him down this child is given preference even though y all consider him unimportant insignificant this passage is about who do you serve who are you willing to serve who do you prefer over yourself Christ's answer is that we should prefer the lowest of the lone the Messiah the Son of God was willing to accept children in his m he didn't consider anyone's status and this teaches us a great principle that welcoming the lowly is a reflection of Christ as a church when someone comes in and they don't look like us talk like us smell like us or whatever guess what we're called to do called to embrace them welcome them sit with them invite them out to lunch whatever doesn't matter what they do for work it doesn't matter what their reputation is I was talking to a former student recently that was really struggling at a very large church and these people they came in these Church visitors they had dismissed them because they had clothes that smelled like urine and they said you know you need to go and find another place where you can worship she really struggled with that right I've heard of people in our church

Having confrontations with people that may not look like or talk like or act like or anything like that I don't know who I've heard about it but the attitude of Christ is that Jesus he identifies with the lowly he identifies with the poor the broken and the needy that's the attitude of the Savior of the world and so we don't get to decide on who comes to church God he uses the weak and the foolish to shame the strong and the wise and if we want to be a church that's focused on making disciples it's clear that one of the things that we must do is welcome the lowly those without status those without a reputation because being a servant leader means being around others in considering them more important than yourself that there's no one Irrelevant in the kingdom of God no one is Unworthy of our time or our love of or of our respect Jesus he flips everything around he's like if the Lord of creation can come down in human form and Elevate the lowest in society then you can too so for us this teaches us that we mustem embrace the least of these in our church when a Christian brother or sister walks in we extend to them the right hand of fellowship and if we're not sure why someone's there great then we just love on them we minister to the meek Jesus says that we are to welcome the least of these in his name one of the greatest hotel chains in America is the Ritz Carlton you know what makes the Ritz Carlton so incredible it's not their facilities it's their service they will bend over backwards for anyone to try and meet any kind of needs or expectations that person may have it's what sets them apart among all of the other ones the company Prides itself on the fact that from the time a customer drives up and drops off their car and picks it up that all of their needs are going to be taken care of and most of us we recognize when good service happens we recognize it Jesus and God he says that Kingdom greatness is measured by Your Heart for Service so how can we apply all of this to our lives well firstly note that there is a danger in Pride every single one of us are subject to it the disciples argument who reflected a culture that was focused upon the whole societal value come and sit up here give preference to the person or whatever okay it seems like we've got that backwards the people that really love to sit in the back they get those back seats right we got back row Baptist here I love you guys but Romans they had they had freedoms slaves they were objects resources so what should Christians believe it's not about being first it's about being last it's about serving the cliche in Christian circles is that true leadership to servanthood but you know cliches are cliches for a reason because many of them are true as servants we are called to meet the desires of our master and he's made it very clear here we learned secondly that we are to welcome the smallest and the least significant and so when we welcome the least of these in the Name of Christ we welcome him as we are welcoming the father that's what that's what it says whoever receives one such child one of such lowly status one such child in my name receives me and whoever whoever receives me receives not me but him who sent me who is that it's the father it's the father that does that and how terrifying to consider that if we welcome those that are lowly into our midst is as though we are receiving the Lord God but also the converse is true

If we're rejecting people then who else are we also rejecting not that they are God don't misunderstand that but deal with the word here what do we do if we're reject those we might be tempted to defer to those that have a higher status than us it's funny you know you go to conferences I've got the conference in October that I'm going to everyone honors all the big wigs right all the movers and shakers the guys that write the Articles the guys that sell the books the guys that have big churches all these things you know and you know there's lines and lines and lines for all these different people and then you get some of these other humble servants that are just as Godly that are brothers and sisters in the Lord and they just get shuffled past moved to the back of the line and it shouldn't happen it shouldn't happen but it does you know after talking with that student that was at that mega church she couldn't identify why it irked her so badly and so I read James chapter 2 with her it says my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory for if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly and a poor man and shabby clothing also comes in and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say you sit here in a good place why you say to the poor man you stand over there or sit down at my feet have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts listen my beloved Brothers has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and Hees of the Kingdom which he has promised to those who love him but you have Dishonored the poor man and are not the are not the rich one the ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court are they not the ones who

Blasphemed The Honorable Name by which you were called if you really fulfill the world Royal law according to the Scripture you shall love your neighbor as yourself you are doing well but if you show partiality you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors be careful in how you treat one another and commit yourself to service for the Lord's Kingdom prefer yourself last and fulfill the word of the Lord head heart hand head God wants you to know that in order to be great in the Kingdom you must consider your consider others greater than yourself you're not that great sorry I love you I think my wife's the greatest person and she's a wonderful example about pref preferring others over herself but maybe that's an area that you struggle in well eat the Humble Pie that Christ offers you today and remember that you're not that great Christ he didn't die to save you because of your goodness but he walked the path of the Cross because of your depravity so trust in him and commit to serving others heart God wants you to believe that you are called to serve others before you consider yourself if we're more concerned with serving others than we are about fulfilling our own preferences we fulfill the word of God which says in Romans 12 guess I didn't added in there love one another with brotherly affection outdo one another and showing honor and hand God wants you to love your lowly Christian neighbor the widdow that can't get out much the poor brother that is battling loneliness the toddler that you can't understand open your eyes to see their needs and seek to serve them and let's see what God does in your life let's all stand together and let's respond in worship I will pray and if you need prayer you can come forward and talk to

Me or grab me after service say Pastor I need to talk with you about serving because I don't know what to do we'll get you plugged in somewhere father we love you thank you for this great day that you've given to us we pray that you would help each one of us to live a life of humility preferring others over ourselves help us to not live for our own preferences or desires but always submitting ourselves to others that are around us regardless of their status Even in our congregation Lord but Lord help us to seek out ways that we can serve one another Lord there's no unimportant people in the Kingdom so help us God to realize that more fully thank you for your kindness and your grace help us Lord in Jesus name [Music] amen surrender all surrender all [Music] all to be my bless Savior I surrender [Music] all surrender [Music] all I surrender all to thee my blor I surender [Music] I surrender all I surrender all to the my presence saor I surrender all Lord we do surrender ourselves to whatever it is that you are calling us to obviously one of those things based upon your word today is to get a right view of ourselves according to

Your eyes and in your kingdom help us to seek Greatness by being minimized by looking to you as the one who condescended to us help us to go forth with that example from here seeking out the good and the benefit of others over ourselves we love you we thank you for this day in Jesus name amen for