There are basic principles that are essential in enjoying your relationship to God through Jesus Christ—one of those principles is servanthood. Dr. Stanley explains that servanthood isn't something we do but something God does through us. Learn the five basic principles that are essential in enjoying your relationship to God through Jesus Christ.
Sermon Outline
Every believer is called to serve Jesus, but not all of us will understand exactly what that looks like. Today, Dr. Stanley walks through five keys to servanthood. It’s not what we do for God but what God does through us.
Key Passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Supporting Passages: Luke 16:13; Romans 12:5-8; Ephesians 6:5-7; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 3:22-24; 1 Peter 4:10
For many believers, the Christian life feels like a cycle of trying and failing. But what if the problem isn’t effort but approach?
“God doesn’t say, ‘Go do this work.’ He says, ‘I will be in you, with you, and upon you to do the work through you.’”
There are five keys to successful servanthood:
1. Service is not something we do for God, but something God does through us:
God is faithful to complete what He calls us to do (1 Thess. 5:24).
God assumes full responsibility for enabling you to carry out the work He’s called you to do (Phil. 2:13).
2. No matter who is the object of our service, we are ultimately serving the Lord:
The focus of our service is Christ (Eph. 6:5-7).
Whether you’re behind a desk or behind a steering wheel, in a store or in a kitchen—do your work as unto Jesus (Col. 3:23).
“There are no big shot servants and little shot servants. We’re all servants of God.”
3. We must serve out of our spiritual gift, not natural talent:
Natural talents are given at birth and spiritual gifts at salvation. God wants us to use both.
There are seven motivational gifts: prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, showing mercy (Rom. 12:6-8).
We are called to serve one another with our gifts (1 Pet. 4:10).
4. We cannot serve both God and ourselves at the same time:
No servant can serve two masters (Luke 16:13).
You’re serving yourself when you’re more interested in pleasing people than pleasing God.
5. Real ministry takes place when divine resources meet human needs through a loving channel:
God sees your need and provides an available servant.
God moves that servant to become His channel to meet the need.
God could do it without us, but including us is a gift. We get to share in His work.
Becoming a loving servant requires …
Awareness: Recognizing that God is speaking and there is a need.
Availability: Saying, “Lord, what would You have me to do?”
Reliance: Trusting God to work through you.
After Watching
Dr. Stanley describes a beautiful triangle: God sees a need, calls an available servant, and works through that person to meet it. He could do it all Himself, but He invites us in. Where in your life right now might God be nudging you to be that available person?
Dr. Stanley took a job sweeping floors while he was in seminary. He decided he was sweeping for Jesus, and it changed everything. This week, pick the most ordinary task in your day and try the same thing: Do it as unto the Lord. At the end of the week, notice how doing so changed the work and you.
