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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you upcoming events. I've already mentioned the Soul Winning Marathon. And then Mountain Baptist searches their camp in October. Birthdays and anniversaries are all listed there for the month of September. So, there is a Doty anniversary on September 7 and then Little Levi has a birthday on September 13. Am I missing anyone else for September that you don't see listed there right now? Alright. Very good. Well that's about it for our announcements. I mentioned this morning you know we were getting the keys on September 1st is the plan so we're not able to get them any earlier than that but the new space is everything's going forward the architect has finished his work I haven't had time to review it yet I'm gonna plan reviewing it tonight and then just make sure everything looks good and then we'll be able to submit the the plan the construction plan and that whole plan to the fire marshal for their approval on what we plan on doing if there's anything that's missing they'll let us know and if they give us the okay then we can start moving forward getting the permits to do the construction to carry out that plan and then it's just gonna be a matter of how long it takes for the work to get done we'll schedule inspections they need 80% and 100% completion on the job to get two inspections done and then they'll clear us and we're good to go so I don't think there'll be any problem either I'll ask them last time they let us continue operation as normal and use the space while we were still getting the the things done with the safety lighting and exit signs and stuff like that I'm assuming hoping they'll do the same thing here like I don't know what we'd have to do if this is already knocked down like put a curtain up or something so we don't actually use that space I don't know but we'll find I'll find out the details about that if you have any questions about any of that let me know I'm not sure at this point I know a lot of people have offered help and I appreciate that and we will utilize some help but I don't think we're going to need it right away I want to move really quickly with this and with the contractor and the light in the the licensing and stuff I'll probably just end up hiring out the work to just to get the stuff that's done on our plan and then all the rest of the work the finishing work the paint the the lights whatever all the detail work will do that in-house as a church so that's that's kind of my plan right now and I do appreciate everyone who's willing to offer up their time and skills to be able to help us in the the building project so so that's all right just wanted to give everyone update on that and with that I'm going to turn the service back over brother Jesse's gonna lead us in our next song Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh You can follow along silently while brother Devon reads allow I was Colossians chapter 3 if you then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God set your affection on things above not on things on the earth for ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is idolatry for which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience in the which you also walk sometime when you lived in them but now you also put off all these anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy communication out of your mouth lie not one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and I put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him where there is neither Greek nor Jew circumcision nor uncircumcision barbarian Scythian bond nor free but Christ is all and in all put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved vows of mercy kindness humbleness of mind meekness long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye and above all these things put on charity which is the bond of perfectness and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also you're called in one body and be ye thankful let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord and whatsoever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them children obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing unto the Lord fathers provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers but in singleness of heart fear and God and whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done and there is no respect of persons let's pray dear Lord thank you for this chapter and for our church here I pray that you would bless the service time now and that you bless pastors he comes with your spirit upon him and that you would give us all ears to hear this this evening and in Jesus I'm a pray man all right the title for my sermon this evening is a servant's heart a servant's heart this truth this sermon is extremely simple not complicated at all the title pretty much says it all and we preach on a servant's heart a servant's heart is one of humility a servant's heart is one that that is not lifted up or proud at all and and if we can get this down in your life I mean anybody that can get this sermon down believer unbeliever I mean this is gonna go a long way in your life pay attention to the points tonight this is extremely important this is one of the most important truths that's gonna help you throughout your life in general if you can get this doubt life would be so much better if everybody were able to put into practice what I'm gonna preach tonight about having a servant's heart and I call it a servant's heart because it starts on the inside you need to get your heart right in order to truly be a good and faithful servant one of our goals at the end of our life is that when we're greeted by the Lord you can say well done now good and faithful servant if you're going to be a good and faithful servant you must have a servant's heart this is I can't express how important is that can't I can't overstate this what is the opposite of human because obviously in order to serve you must be humble because you need to submit yourself unto a higher authority you're serving somebody else you're doing things for other people instead of having them do things for you that is what a servant is the humility that you need to be a servant that's the exact diametrically opposite thing as pride right it's it's the 100% exact now we look at how bad pride is pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall pride is the very sin that that led Satan away right that's that's what lifts up saying it blinds people pride is the sin that causes people to get into all manner of other sin pride is the sin that God hates pride is a sin that God is going to destroy and bring low and humble we need to learn how to stay humble now I'm preaching on a servant's heart in every single person in this room tonight is a servant in one capacity or another most if not all have multiple capacities of being a servant because there is different realms of authority that God has established in this life and different hierarchical structure that you may fall into in those various realms of authority children are subject to the parents children are subject to God children are subject to probably the most number of people because they're children wives are subject to their husbands wives are subject to God men are subject to God everybody is subject to God so everybody is going to be a servant in in some capacity there are servants within church there is church authority there is church structure there are people who should be serving now look another name that people will use for pastors are ministers and I don't have a problem with that either because the pastor ought to be a minister also so there are people within the church lay people if you want to use that term I don't care that should be serving the church but also people in positions right positions of authority also do service also serve also should be ministering now you could have a dual role someone who is leading but also serving I mean Christ was a great leader would anyone dispute that but Christ was also a great servant because he was a servant of all in the sense that he came and died for all he came and gave him of himself and was self-sacrificial and completely gave all that he had for the whole world yet still a great leader and the best leaders are the ones who know how to serve those are the best leaders so we're gonna go through various situations I and this may feel like it's all over the place and that's how my mind was working when I was preparing the sermon so just bear with me but it's all relevant it doesn't really matter there's no particular order that we're gonna look at different things we're gonna try to apply to different areas of your life that you may be in and you know because another one I didn't mention is on the job right I mean you are a servant when you work for somebody else you have a supervisor or four men or some kind of boss over you you are serving you are serving in that capacity so we started off in Colossians chapter 3 we need to have the right attitude as a servant look at verse number 17 the Bible says and whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by him wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord now Colossians 3 lines up very closely to Ephesians chapter 5 when you when you compare them side by side they're kind of parallel passages and we get a little bit more detail on the husbands and wives in the application there then we are getting here this is more of a summary but you can look back to that I'm not gonna do it tonight but we're starting off looking at one passage here that talks about wives who you submit yourself to your husband you're a servant to your husband the Bible says when he created a man and woman and and ordained the the marriage between a man and woman that the woman Eve was created as a help suitable or meet for Adam that she was the helper for him and was to serve her husband husbands love your wives and be not bitter against them children obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing unto the Lord now another area again of of servitude of being a servant is children obeying their parents verse 21 fathers provoke not your children anger lest they be discouraged verse 22 servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers but in singleness of heart fearing God now this in the context here obviously we're breaking off wives husbands children servants the context here of the servant is going to be the servant in the flesh the servant on the job whatever but this verse this statement applies no matter what context you're a servant whether it is at home in the family whether it is at church whether it is wherever it may be this verse rings true 100% this is where I get the title of sermon you'll the servants heart because it says obey in all things your masters according to flesh not with eye service as men pleasers but in singleness of heart so you don't just serve when people are looking at you don't just serve on the outside because well I know I'm just supposed to do this when people are looking at me okay I'm just gonna make sure I get this done and then the rest of the time I don't really care you can serve and fill a capacity without really have the servants heart but you know what you're never going to excel you're never going to be lifted up you're never going to be raised without having that at least by God you're not going to in the sight of man maybe you will man's got a lot of things backwards but not in the sight of God okay if God God we need to learn how to both be a based and how to abound we definitely need to learn how to be satisfied and how to be content wherever we are in our life and part of being you know that humility of having a servant's heart you have to be okay with whatever it is that you wherever it is that you're at and whatever it is that you're doing whatever position you have in this life you need to be content with that we'll start off with just having with the servants at work when you work with singleness of heart when you work when people aren't watching you it does get noticed it does when you're working from the heart and you're saying no I'm just gonna do the best job I can whatever my job is my boss told me to do this I'm gonna do it now anyone who has experience in the real world working jobs on in that capacity understands this to be true now yes have you I've worked for people you probably work for people too or you feel like you're underappreciated they don't they're not always looking at what you do but you don't make your decisions on how you are going to serve based on how your boss treats you the world may do that but here's where that philosophy gets you here's where that mindset gets you it gets you to be the person who goes well if you're only gonna pay me ten dollars an hour I'm only gonna give you ten dollars an hour or whatever the price may be and then they start doing bad work well tell me I've yet to see the employee that has that attitude that's getting raises and bonuses and being promoted it never happens those are the same ones are gonna end up collecting unemployment checks because they're not gonna last at their job and they're not gonna be able to find another job until they change their attitude but that's not the mindset of a Christian and that's not how the Bible teaches us we ought to be we ought to be humble we ought to be willing to work and do the best job that we can and work as if we are serving the Lord Jesus Christ from the heart that's why it says whatsoever you do do it heartily have your heart in it as to the Lord and not unto men and I would submit this to you that yes that goes for on when you work on the job I don't care what your work is I don't care if you're cleaning toilets with a toilet brush you make that toilet shine and sparkle so that if someone's willing to eat off of it right I mean you do a good job with whatever you're doing because you got to think about it this way if you're working as if you're serving the Lord well think about the Lord showing up and being like okay let's see what you did how would you like to what what what type of work do you want to show to the Lord here's what I did God I mean to God to your Savior to Almighty God what are you gonna show to him are you gonna are you the one who just cuts the corner yeah I mean it's okay yeah like whatever okay I see you didn't do that great of a job here what did you do with the rest of your time well look do a good job with the tasks that you're given it will benefit you in life in general but the Bible teaches we ought to do this you have to have that heart like you're serving Lord and like I said it doesn't don't just be like oh yeah okay well that applies to on the job yeah of course that makes perfect sense well you know what kids are on the job at home you don't you don't determine well I don't like that I don't want to do that what mom and dad told me so I'm just not gonna do it or I'm just gonna do a terrible job at it just so I could say I got it done so when mom or dad asks me hey did you get this done oh yeah I got it done and it's like the worst job ever God sees everything that we do and we need you need to learn how to get that heart and that attitude because the the habits that you form are going to stay with you kids you need to learn how to if someone asks you to do anything your name is tied to that task to that job make your name a good name oh I could trust so-and-so to do this job because when they do it they they make sure everything is done they're diligent in their work and that's gonna be the people that are sought out for the better jobs the better jobs the better jobs the ones are gonna be promoted I mean just think about the story with Joseph I love that story of you I love the life story of Joseph who went from a slave a prisoner to number one in charge and served every bit of the way and served faithfully I mean he's in prison you'd be like I'm not doing any work for you man I'm in pretty like forget it I'm just gonna I'm gonna lay in my cell and sleep all day or whatever no I mean he was he was serving even when he was in the jail he was serving wherever he was he was doing work he was he was keeping himself busy and doing the right thing and doing righteous things no matter his situation and you know what we never see about Joseph one time in the Bible now I'm not saying it didn't ever happen in his life I mean there's a lot that isn't recorded in the Bible but we never see any record of Joseph complaining about his situation in Scripture not once now he's asking people hey bring this up to Pharaoh when you're out here I mean I'm here unjustly right we see him explaining his cause but not a complaint not a complaint he's not charging God he's not going to go oh man God why do you got me here and you know when you have a servant's heart you don't complain about the work that you have to do and again apply that to wherever you're wherever you're at kids don't complain about the chores you have to do wives don't complain about the the commandments of your husband at home employees don't complain about your bosses in what they do when you complain it makes everybody's job harder and a discouragement when we work we should be working together and I'm gonna get to the family a little bit more in depth later but just remember this point nobody likes working with someone who just always complains it brings you down I mean you need to stay motivated if you're gonna work harder you get things done you got to stay motivated you got to work hard encourage each other stay motivated hey good job now you might have some other failings learn from those things but don't complain about your work even thinking back to Pharaoh when Joseph's family came over he says hey if there's any men of activity among them put them over my stuff what does that mean the people that Joseph was gonna say yeah they're really diligent they're really good workers they're really good servant they're gonna be able to take care of your stuff those opportunities will arise when you can just learn how to be humble and do a good job no matter what you're doing and you whatever you do you do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men verse 24 says knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ so God gives you the reason why you ought to serve no matter what you're doing service if you serve Christ because even if your your worldly master the person in charge even if they aren't good to you and they don't pay you what they're supposed to pay you on the job or your husband doesn't treat you very well and doesn't love you the way he's supposed to according to Ephesians chapter 5 and Colossians 3 if your your parents don't treat you right as a child no matter what situation you're in God sees how you act and will reward you according to your efforts and what you do and when you do the right thing you can have a big impact on other people as well just through your actions people will see that people will take note of it that that's not the type of thing that happens immediately those are the things that happen over years and years and years and years that is a slow a slow name that you build it's what you become known for but we don't have to worry about even you know receiving the glory we ought to be doing it because God tells us to do this this is what's right and God will see your struggle and God will reward you verse 25 but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done and there is no respect of persons it doesn't matter what position you're in by saying look God doesn't respect persons so he's gonna hold people responsible for their own actions which also means if God's telling you to serve as unto the Lord in like in all things basically then he's gonna hold you responsible for not serving when you don't keep that in mind too in it this turn if you would to to first Samuel chapter 15 this was a value that was well established in the past in the United States of America one of humility one of politeness one of being able to treat other people with respect one where people work I grew up in an era that was hey you work you work hard you know you do your job I don't care what it is shut up stop complaining and get to work but these days it is so hard to even find anyone who's willing to work and you know what's gonna happen is that these jobs that are available here in this great you know the the god-blessed land that we have experienced in general here with the freedom with the the the bounty with the success with the with the luxury when you get a bunch of people who don't want to work and they're demanding oh I'm not gonna do anything for this right you need to pay me this much guess what those jobs are gonna go to people who are willing to do that work and you're gonna be stuck and you're gonna end up going into bondage because you're not willing to do anything it's gonna come back and bite the people and and it's not a place you want to be especially you're not going to produce anything and no one's gonna want to hire you now when it comes to being a servant and having a servant's heart and look this this context is gonna be even in just serving God but again can be applied to any capacity when you are serving one of the most important things is obedience obedience look at verse number 22 of first Samuel 15 the Bible says in Samuel said hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to harken than the fat of Rams was explaining this all Saul just did these great sacrifices unto the Lord after a victory that they had with their army right they made a battle they won so he's offering up these great sacrifice and you know what Sam was saying is that you know what God's not impressed and God doesn't care about this great sacrifice that you're offering you know what you rather just have you obeying you know what he really wants you to do just listen to what he said and do what he said and that's how you become a faithful servant because if God tells you to do something you do exactly what he tells you to do you don't take it to mean whatever you want it to mean you don't just well well I mean I know God said this but I mean here this is basically the same thing I mean look that's a bad servant that's a bad servant we're just gonna take what was said you take the commandment you take what was given down and say well I'm just gonna do whatever I want with this learn how to be humble learn how to do the job that's given to you and like I said this can apply across the board okay whatever place you find yourself being in obedience how about you learn to do it the way that you're told from whoever your authority is this is what God expects we ought to have that same level of servitude just in general whatever capacity that may be then he says in verse 23 for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft now the sin of witchcraft by the way in the scripture was worthy of the death penalty thou shall not suffer a witch to live the Bible says rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry being stubborn no I don't want to do that I don't want to do that I told you this I don't want to do that well I'm not gonna do it I'm gonna do it this way no I want to do it this and you start arguing can you imagine someone arguing with God God tells you something you're arguing back and forth well I don't why do I got to do that guy I don't want to do that guy can you do so you know like the nerve of anyone questioning God and talking back to God and telling God like I don't want to do that we'd be appalled to see if someone were to have that type of an attitude with God Almighty and for good reason and I think that resonates with everyone you could perfectly understand of course no one should ever argue talk back be stubborn be rebellious to God well you know what if we're supposed to serve as if we're serving Christ why don't you apply that then to your own servitude why don't you apply that then to your boss on the job that tells you to do something and you start arguing and talking back with them wives why don't you apply that when your husband tells you to do something and you start arguing and talking back and being stubborn saying I don't want to do that children how about you apply that when your parents tell you do something you start talking about I don't want to do that you know rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness as iniquity idolatry he says this because Dallas rejected the word of the Lord he hath also rejected thee from being king Saul lost his position of that authority of that God-given authority because he was rebellious and stubborn because he didn't listen to God God took him out of his position of authority that was the punishment of Saul now let's just jump up a few verses to verse number 18 and see what it was that he even did you have Wow he must have done something really bad I mean he must have just completely ignored what God said and just did his own thing well yes he did but you might be surprised if you don't already know the story of how closely he actually did a lot of the things that God said but there's just a few tweaks that he made well no I did this a little bit different I did that a little bit different unacceptable to God because it's not what he told him verse number 18 and Lord sent thee on a journey and said go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites and fight against them until they be consumed that was the command given to Saul utterly destroy the Amalekites and fight until they be consumed until they're gone there is no caveat here wipe them out was the command from God Almighty that was a command verse 19 wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord but didst fly upon the spoil and it's evil in the sight of the Lord and Saul said unto Samuel yea I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me and have brought Agag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites so he's trying to justify his action saying look I did I do what God said I mean I went the way that God told me to go he says and he slips in there and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites well you haven't utterly destroyed the Amalekites because you've got Agag Agag is one of the Amalekites so they're not utterly destroyed you kind you kind of missed one there and willfully knowingly missed one and did not do what the Lord had said but the people took of the spoil sheep and oxen the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed wait like he and again he knows should have been utterly destroyed because that's what God commanded to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God and Gilgal so then well the people took you know some of the spoil but it was all for a sacrifice to you anyways and that's why he said look God's not impressed with the sacrifice God didn't ask for the sacrifice God didn't command you to give him a sacrifice he said he wanted it all destroyed and wiped out and you didn't listen you didn't obey so guess what you're no longer King stripped away from you your honor your glory gone I'm gonna give it to somebody else it's obedience and over and over again scripture we don't see God asking for the great oh man you give all this money you give this you give that you give that God's not interested in seeing that what he rather just wants to see is someone humbly serving him the person who gives ten million dollars to the building fund at church and gets a name after him and build a school and everything else God's not impressed with that he's way more impressed if that person who does all that stuff is not listening the Bible not really caring about what the Word of God says but they give this great sacrifice that means nothing to God he'd much rather have the person who has no money but is still willing to show up to church go soul-winning read their Bible do what's right live a righteous life that's who God cares more about and has more respect unto than the person who throws around a bunch of money or make some great sacrifice I'm gonna say all that I have and I'm gonna give it unto the Lord I'm not saying that's a bad thing to do but I'm saying if they're if their hearts not right if they're not a servant if they're not following and obeying the commandments of God God cares more about the obedience than he does about the sacrifice you think about your own obedience are you cutting corners we're just making up what you want to do even though you've been told otherwise but whoever your authority is when it's in the heart it won't be a problem when you change the mindset and the attitude and swallow the pride this doesn't become a problem it actually becomes easy you can get yourself to a point to be able to serve and when you're willing to please and willing to serve none of that becomes a problem you're paying more attention but what is it that I'm supposed to do obviously people make mistakes but where's your heart right sometimes people I'm sure I've done things that were not to spec that weren't right the way I was told they were supposed to be but it wasn't well I did this because this is better and I didn't want to do what you said you know if you're doing it just because oh it's an oversight I'm sorry I missed that that happens that's different than yeah I didn't want to do that that takes me way too much time I don't have time for that turn if you would to Romans chapter 12 a good servant some of the servants heart they're gonna show up on time whatever the task they're gonna be faithful which means you're reliable you're dependable someone's got a job for you you get it done trustworthy does don't have to worry about the servant at all doesn't complain doesn't make your job harder because now you got to deal with someone complaining add the extra stress and you know normally people who are in the positions of authority and power you're adding so much more stress on that person that already probably has a load of responsibility on their shoulders when you start complaining about things I mean when kids start complaining to mom I mean is it look mom's already busy doing this this that you know 20 other things she doesn't need to deal with you now complaining there's already a big enough load on her shoulders and again I mean apply it across the board just one example good servant is willing to work extra go above and beyond just what you're asked to do and does as instructed Romans 12 look at verse number 9 the Bible says let love be without dissimulation abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love and honor preferring one another not slothful in business it means not lazy fervent in spirit serving the Lord same mindset is consistent rejoicing in hope patience and tribulation continuing instant in prayer distributing to the necessity of Saints given to hospitality look these are qualities of someone who's ready to serve distributing to them to say oh this other brother in Christ sister in Christ they have a need the necessity of the Saints someone who's sanctified in Christ oh you have a need I'm going to distribute to them not well you know I was saving this for my vacation and my boat and my whatever oh someone's in need oh look I could help that person out here you go given the hospitality yes it can be extra work to be hospitable to people of course it is you have to go out of your way to help with it whether you're feeding someone having them stay you know that that's extra work but if you're going to do that do it with the right heart do you think someone's gonna want to stay your house if you're complaining oh man now I gotta do this and it you know now I got extra laundry now it's like look don't be that way that now you're gonna be you know it be hospitable distribute to necessity without the murmuring and complaining everybody knows this extra work you should do it joyfully because you know what you're serving God you're serving the Lord when you're serving others bless them which persecute you bless and curse not look at verse 15 rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that we have the appropriate attitude when you serve when there's a cause for rejoicing hey why don't you just rejoice with people be an encouragement to them something's going good don't be the Debbie downer that's just gonna point out well you know someone's got a victory and then you're just like bringing up the the well you know they would have been better if you had that you know it's like look just how about you celebrate the victory how about you be an encouragement right when you're working for someone when you're ministering to them you're supposed to be helping them in every way possible not trying to just drag them down every step along the way if there's a reason to rejoice rejoice if there's a reason to weep weep with them right be there for them and all things just be there for them and help appropriately and not go like Job's friends right job loses everything he needs someone there to just to comfort him and to help him through a difficult time oh man yeah well I mean you must have been in some kind of so why don't you tell us what horrible things you did job you must have done something and start bringing railing accusations against job and against his children he lost all his children he lost everything he's got you know he's got a disease like like leave the guy alone how would you comfort him a little bit like he said they're miserable comforters verse 16 be of the same mind one toward another mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate be not wise in your own conceits recompense to no man evil for evil provide things honest in the sight of all men if it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men dearly beloved avenged not yourselves will rather get placed under wrath for as written vengeance is mine I will repay sayeth the Lord therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him if he thirst give him drink for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good now obviously it's talking about enemies and things like that and say hey God's gonna revenge God's gonna repay you just do what's right but we can apply this to if you are a servant and the person who is in charge is treating you bad is not doing what they're supposed to be doing maybe not holding up there any deal but you are still doing what's righteous you still do what's right be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good continue to do what's right we saw that with Jacob you know Jacob said you his wages were changed ten times and all these problems you know he was bearing the cost of stuff that wasn't really he shouldn't have been bearing the cost of when you read through that story and you compare that with what the Word of God says you know when things are stolen by night like if you're working for someone else that you're not really responsible for that because sometimes things happen and it's not your responsibility but in other situations it is your responsibility because that's your job right but there's certain times where there's nothing you can do about it and the owner of that stuff that's gonna end up being their loss well Jacob bear the brunt of all of this all of the loss all of these other things and that was taken out of his paycheck right but he still did the best job that he could and God still blessed Jacob and Laban in turn ended up getting blessed because God blessed Jacob because Jacob continued to do what was right and he didn't quit and say oh you're not treat you know whatever he did his work he did we supposed to do and don't take this the wrong way obviously you could like switch jobs if something's not going right at your job but he had committed to him for years I mean he was he was working off wives and and working off all the stuff like like he made a long contract to fulfill for his role in his job there I mean that was his situation these days we don't really generally do those types of contracts for working and stuff you're free to go anywhere you want but wherever you're at don't complain about it and while you're there do the best job that you have and even if you plan on leaving to go somewhere else don't just take off in your mind and just like oh no I'm not gonna do anything because I'm already going to this place you work the best that you can until the day that you leave because it's right because we're supposed to be serving as if we're serving the Lord Jesus Christ how about being an encouragement to those you support instead of a hindrance right if you're a servant you're there to help focus on being an encouragement encourage how about in church encourage the man of God be encouraging you know that you just showing up to church we got this this challenge coming up in September of church attendance right showing up to all three services you don't even realize what an encouragement you are to me your encouragement you being here and filling that seat encourages me seeing the people especially people make sacrifices of their time to be part of this church which I have been given the the opportunity of being the overseer of it's an encouragement it's encouragement seeing you grow seeing you volunteer seeing you do things in the church that encourages me a lot and you know it doesn't just encourage me encourages other people too when people can work together and be an encouragement and not a complainer and not oh this person does this and this person does that and this you know like look if we could just just learn to be humble swallow your pride when you get a group of people together there's going to be people who upset you and do wrong and and cause problems obviously I'm speaking really generically there's other there's situations that may arise are gonna need to be dealt with you know if there's conflict but the Bible prescribes how to deal with that but you know what's never right is complaining and murmuring this is gonna bring everything down if there's a if there's a complaint you can go about it and deal with it appropriately and deal with it hopefully face-to-face with that person if not if that's not gonna work there's other avenues of dealing with things and that's fine and we'll deal with things the right way and I'm not saying you just have to brush everything under the rug if there's a problem somewhere but at the same time we want to make sure that we could maintain a proper servant's attitude and role now an easy illustration can be you signed up to serve cleaning the building right you sign up to serve you sign up to be a servant well then those servants should be doing the best job that you can do first of all right you you do your job well and look everybody here does their job well so I'm not don't think like oh pass it very now we're getting to the point where he's targeting you know no these are all just examples I appreciate everybody's service but but here's it here's what could happen though right maybe there's a mess it could be well in my area right probably is right now now I should be responsible we should be responsible my family should be responsible for picking up after self but maybe we don't maybe we just leave maybe things get busy or we just go and maybe we just have a really bad attitude and said you know what someone else will just deal with this I'm leaving I don't even care now look that's not right we should be willing to do you know keep up after ourselves and do what's right but the servant who's already signed up to do that job look people do that don't complain about that do the best job you know from time to time I'm gonna try to get on everyone be like hey look help these guys out but but don't be you know don't let that make you upset and and and feel like you're slighted just suck it up and serve serve right be an encouragement I don't even know how I got off this it wasn't even in my notes I mean obviously it has to do with everything I'm preaching on but I was gonna turn to turn if you would to to Hebrews chapter 13 because I was starting to go into like the well I guess it got I get it now in the in the church service but this was more I was thinking more to do with like encouraging you know leadership and the people in charge the Bible says in Deuteronomy 137 also Lord was angry with me for your sakes it's Moses speaking saying thou also shall not go in thither but Joshua the son of none which standeth before thee he shall go in thither encourage him for he shall cause Israel to inherit it this is God speaking to Moses telling Moses to encourage Joshua hey you Moses was the leader I mean he was above everybody humanly speaking in that order of who's in charge in order of authority but he's saying what you need to encourage Joshua you know and the person doing the encouragement also like ministering to him right so he's like you need to be helping Joshua out here encourage him because he's gonna be taking the people in and he needs that support and he needs that encouragement he needs that from you right you need to be able to help Joshua to move forward and you see people doing a work Joshua was set to do a good work it's not just Moses anyone can be there to help and be the encouragement and so hey well hey what you're doing this all the time what can I do to help you out you show up to someone so winning time that they run on time hey is there anything that I could do to help you out now we don't have a lot going on right now I'm still a small church but as we continue to grow there's more logistics there's more things to deal with find a way to be a good servant and one that's not going to just add extra to the plate but rather be a good encouragement the Bible says in Hebrews 13 that we turn to Hebrews 13 number seven about says remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation now in church there are people have the rule over you and that's me in this church obviously Christ is the head and is at the top no matter what so everything that's in the Bible and what Christ would say is is the law of land here that's like what we what we turn to what we follow but as far as being a bishop or an overseer guide I'm in that position when we have elder or deacons or you know any other positions or if there's multiple elders here again it's the same thing we consider these are people that would consider to have the rule over you I have the rule over how things are run in this church and again this isn't a problem so don't I want people born around thing a little bit but but if something's gonna be done here I'm gonna say this is the way things are done and maybe that bothers you and maybe you don't like that okay and maybe you don't like that I have black chairs and gray chairs and then a different shade of gray chairs I don't know whatever I'm just thinking about I'm just looking at the room right now going like what could someone I mean what could you not like about this place but you don't like that I put the nice soft ones right up front like I don't want to sit up by you that close I want to sit back there whatever right silly example I know but but look there is an order here don't go around complaining and murmuring and talking in people's ears that's not gonna help us get the job done we're all here to serve in some capacity right we're all ministers of the Word of God we're all here to serve one another we're all here to serve the Lord ultimately we're all here to serve the lost by preaching in the gospel we have main objectives to get done here let's not worry about the little things the minutia the details and it's cause a bunch of problems let's let's be able to get past that stuff and say I understand I'm gonna respect that authority and I and maybe I don't always agree with everything but passive versions leader here so we're gonna do things the way that he says and I'll tell you this much too when there's a leader I don't care where you're at if you know how to approach someone if you have a different idea that you think might be better that's great there's nothing wrong with making a suggestion to a boss the problem comes in when the boss says no this is the way we're gonna do it and then you still choose to do otherwise that's where there's a problem all right there's been plenty of times in my employment where I said hey you know you told me to do this and I'll do this but I think we would be better served as a company if we do this instead and sometimes my ideas have been accepted and sometimes they've been rejected but you know what I do every time whatever the boss says because that's your job because that's your role and I said these things will apply across the board is these are all characteristics of a servant and having a servant's heart jump down to verse number 17 about what says obey them have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you so when you are serving someone else someone else is in charge so what's the ruler excuse me there's a reason for it here he gives a reason of those have to rule over you in the house of God because they're looking out for your souls okay so don't make their job harder what do you say don't make that job grievous try to make it joyful make it something that's going to be not where they're going oh man I gotta deal with this person again but going oh great I'm happy to help so-and-so now again you know we're all human but like the leadership well the leader shouldn't ever have that attitude yeah I know you shouldn't they should be able to be joyful in all the work that they do but you can make things harder for them regardless of what their mindset is about it they could be joyful about it and still making their job harder let's have the consideration and the respect for those that you are serving right because if you're serving you're trying to help them whoever you're serving you're trying to make their job easier the wife that serves her husband what can you do to make your husband's job easier the children that serve the parents what could you do to make your parents job easier the church member what could you do to make your leader's job easier on the on the job what could you do to make your boss's life easier I've got a great employee that works for me and I got to actually I work for me outside of here and when I hear them say yeah I'm always trying to do I could see it and they say I'm trying to do things so that you have a lot on your plate I want to try to take some of those things out that is one of the best things that I could ever hear because I've got a lot on my plate all the time when people could say hey I want to do that for you so you don't have to do it thank you that's great and when you can have that heart towards other people oftentimes what you'll find is then that gets reciprocated back to you too no great leader becomes a great leader by being given a title of authority and then going oh now I could be their leader or not you know you're never a great leader that way when you rule based on title and not based on how you lead and not having that that right heart to lead what I mean by that is you know like like Moses was humble here's one of the most meek men upon the earth right and God gave him that position we just saw about King Saul say when Samuels rebuked him in that story we I don't think we've read this in the context but in in that same passage he's saying you know when you were little in your own eyes that's when God exalted you and lifted you up because back when he was humble he was willing to do whatever the Lord said and he started to do these just going okay well God said this he was little but then he got lifted up with pride he lost that humility and started to do things his own way and that's when he got into trouble we got to keep that humble attitude let's see I don't want anyone to cover that it's already later than I thought it was going to be I think we'd probably all agree that Elisha was was someone who was considered to be a great leader man of God right a great man of God did all kinds of miracles serve the Lord excellently but you know that he started off being a servant being a minister you know what so did Joshua Joshua was Moses's protege Joshua was there to serve Moses Joshua was there the whole way hey Joshua had you know he could have been like well I was one of the the two that came the good report and I deserve more and you should give me he didn't have that attitude at all I knew we should have followed the Lord but you know what he didn't complain when they went when they're wandering through the wilderness he just kept serving kept serving God kept serving Moses and then eventually when Moses wasn't allowed to go in Joshua now it's your turn to lead the way but he had spent years and years and years and years just being a humble servant being that right-hand man being the guy that could be faithful reliable dependable and just serve serve serve serve serve and then God exalts and that's the way things work and that's the same thing with Elisha and Elijah the Bible says in 2nd Kings 3 11 turn if you were to 1st Peter chapter 3 which I don't even know if we have to really cover that but I think we've kind of done a good job with with everything here second Kings 3 11 the Bible says but Jehoshaphat said is there not here a prophet of the Lord that we may inquire of Lord by him so Josh right he's they're going into battle he's going like look I need to inquire of the Lord before I go and get into this fight and they're like bringing up all these phonies and all these false prophets the Lord's with you go for it man God's you know and he's like can we find someone here that's you know actually a prophet of the Lord you know someone that I actually have some respect for and follows God's Word and it says and one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said here is Elisha the son of Shaphat which poured water on the hands of Elijah you know that's showing us there he was a servant and we know that too because before Elijah was taken up in a whirlwind Elijah's like hey I'm with you to the end I'm not leaving and a lot and Elijah's even saying hey you know I'm gonna become I don't know what's gonna happen I might be here I might be there you know he's like I don't care and he's like why don't you just stay here why don't you stay back here no I'm with you staying with you he was faithful he was dedicated he was he was washing his hand I mean that's a pretty humble job pouring water hey my hands are dirty can you wash my hands for me can you pour the water yeah sure I'll do it yes sir yes sir and then we see the great work Elisha did the great leaders know how to serve we start off with that humble beginning I mean that that's that's what gains you the respect of other people anyways you know how to serve don't think that that's just something for the leader that's for you even if you're never going to be in your own eyes some leader you already are a leader you already are a leader adults your leaders whether you know it or not you say well I'm a single guy I don't even have a family there are other people that look to you in other settings where you are an example you don't know also what God has in store for you and you are a servant in some capacity like I said everybody is because everybody is a servant to Christ no matter who you are and second of all you have other authorities in your life just in general in many capacities learn how to serve and serve righteously and serve from the heart and be that servant it will it will bless your life your entire existence here on this end life to come because when you learn how to serve the Lord in that humility and serve and just become that servant man God is going to bless you promise because God said that he is gonna see the work that you do and he will bless you for it Colossians 3 really read that it's a promise there is no downside to this and in fact when you become that type of servant it's it makes everything better more work gets done people are gonna be and look I'm gonna finally just kind of apply this directly to the home because homes need to be unified they need to be unified and there's been so much attack on the men's and women's roles and compared to what God has in store what God has written it causes the division it causes problems in the home and if everybody in the home can really get the true heart of a servant I'm talking everyone in the home you wouldn't have problems in the home so much strife and I mean just goes away when you're considering others better than yourself and you're working for them now look you also have to follow the authority structure so when the husband says this is gonna this is the way we're gonna do things and he's in charge it doesn't matter if he's right or wrong when the boss at work tell you do something it doesn't matter if he's right or wrong you do what the boss says you don't obey because well I'm only gonna bake because I think he's right no you obey because you're in submission that's why you obey and the only time you disobey is if there's a higher authority that prevents you from doing that whatever that is so anyone that tells you to do something that would prevent you from serving God like to from obeying God's commands then obviously you don't have to do that but that is it that's the limitation that's the exception in Ephesians 5 we see hey your wives serve your husbands as unto the Lord that's how you're supposed to do it in everything 1st Peter chapter 3 the Bible says in verse number 1 likewise ye wives be in subjection your own husbands that if any obey not the word they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives while they behold your chase conversation coupled with fear so you know even if your husband isn't right and isn't doing right or maybe isn't even saved you still live a godly wife as a godly wife because you don't know by you doing that can win other people over they could see your good works and it will pay off but you do what's right because it's right you know husbands wives children you're on the same team you're in a family you don't need to be fighting against each other don't fight against the authority don't fight against you know your own the members of your own household how about instead of complaining or fighting oh man this is how about you encourage each other it's gonna make the existence at home that much better wives support your husbands husbands and wives both have hard jobs to do it bought you respective in your own areas husbands wives both have lots of hard work to do equally hard work you know what when husband why to get together and just talk about and you just talk about all the negative all the bad thing that doesn't encourage your spouse at all it actually makes their job even harder because if they love you they're gonna try oh man how can I help and fix this now for this person don't worry about that stuff don't complain about your job and your work how about you focus on the good things and what else can I do for you I had a really hard day but what how can I help you out and see what that does to the atmosphere at home let's test it try it out the Bible talks about the the contentious wife contentious means you're always contending always arguing for the wife that always wants to argue with her husband here's what the Bible says in Proverbs 25 24 the Bible says it's better to dwell in the corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman and in a wide house as cold waters to a thirsty soul so is good news from a far country Proverbs 27 15 says a continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike that annoyance of the continual dropping like drop like will it ever stop or here here's what the continual dropping is when your smoke detector when the battery needs to be replaced it's terrible no one likes hearing that type of that's the continual dropping but you know what the contentious woman about says they're like it's the same level of frustration you know what that's only gonna cause more problems servants heart learn how to serve and I understand we're all human we all make mistakes well problem we all have the sin well that this flesh but if we can get down this concept and this idea of being a servant and the more you know leaders do well by serving also because you could also understand where are the other person's coming from and you need to try to do that as well in your leadership well hey I've served other people I know what this is like I'm gonna utilize that knowledge in that wisdom in the way that I lead as well right being and leader doesn't mean you have to be a jerk and just treat people I mean you should never do that as a leader but as the servant even if someone does mistreat you you still have the role of a servant you still have that job to perform it doesn't absolve you of what your job is we should be striving to in all things do it whatever we do we do it heartily as unto the Lord and would God we could raise up a society of people who had a servant's heart what a joy if everywhere you went everything that you did you know when you have a servant heart you know we're gonna get good customer service service right because we're good night no one wants to serve I'm gonna close on this and it was just popped in my head I had to get a receipt for a purchase I made yesterday because I was on the job I was working I went to a food place and I needed to get I needed to get my receipt because it was it was paid for by the company and I said oh yeah can I get my receipt please cuz a lot of places they won't even give it to you unless you ask because they're saving paper whatever I don't care these are got I'm out of paper okay I need the receipt though because this is a business transaction for me I need I need the receipt well I'm out of paper well how long have you been out of paper for I'm sitting there at the drive you know cuz I don't care I mean I need this receipt how long you been out of paper for well like a few days I did you know like okay can you email it to me you know I'm trying to be reasonable you email me no okay so I was just gonna go board excuse me sir you know tell them upfront they should be able to print it out for you why didn't you say that already like the first time I asked you so just say well I'm out of paper and then she said can you also tell them that I'm out of paper I thought you've been out of paper for days like what what do you mean like I'm gonna do your job you know I did anyway there's kind of like oh yeah here you go here's your suit you know you're not out of paper you're just literally out of paper and you don't want to go walk and get the other paper for your printer for your receipt roll and you know I'm not saying this to complain because I don't care okay the whole thing was just kind of funny to me kind of stupid but this is just like the world that was just exemplifies where we are today as a society that never would have flown like a few decades ago ever like no way no one I ever work for I mean that we had standards like you don't you don't do that yes I know it's funny standards can you imagine that we had standards these days it's like if you could just show up and punch in that's the standard for employment today it's sad and the reason why is because people don't have a servant's heart they're lifted up they're conceited they're full of themselves we live in this social media culture where everything's about me look at me look how great I am give me all the likes give me all the thumbs up give me all the hearts how about you serve it's not about you it's about others as far as that word of prayer dear Heavenly Father Lord we thank you so much for giving us the opportunity and the job of being ministers of yours and you've given to us the responsibility of the Ministry of Reconciliation that's the most important job of reconciling people unto you through Christ Lord and preaching the gospel to people I pray that you would please help us to become better servants help us to serve you better help us to look to your words and look to the law and look to follow your every command and do so in a way that is completely in compliance with how you want things done Lord and that we're not just taking extra liberties in how we serve you that would conflict with what you've told us to do I pray that you please help us to to have that good understanding and knowledge of how you'd have us to serve you dear Lord and then help us also to apply that same attitude in the rest of the service in our lives no matter who we're serving whatever role we're in I pray that you please help us to become better at that job and Lord we love you we're asked for your blessing upon our church and Lord also please keep us safe when we go our separate ways this evening it's Jesus name we pray amen all right we're gonna sing one last song before we're dismissed brother Jesse we please lead us in our last song turn to me your songs with the song number 164 164 phrasing in a song of 164 praise him, praise him, Jesus our blessed redeemer sing over his wonderful love proclaims hail him, hail him, highest our angels in glory strength and honor give to his holy name like a shepherd Jesus will guard his children give him his arms he carries them all day long praise him, praise him, tell of his excellent greatness praise him, praise him, every joyful song praise him, praise him, Jesus our blessed redeemer for our sins he suffered and bled and died we are not apart hope of eternal salvation hail him, hail him, Jesus the cursed and mighty sound his praises Jesus who bore our sorrows love unbounded wonderful, deep and strong praise him, praise him, tell of his excellent greatness praise him, praise him, every joyful song praise him, praise him, Jesus our blessed redeemer heavenly, foretold, loud and close and astray Jesus, Savior, rated forever and ever crown him, crown him, prophet and praise him, King Christ is coming hope of the world victorious power and glory until the Lord belongs praise him, praise him, tell of his excellent greatness praise him, praise him, every joyful song Amen.