Having The Mind of Christ

Introduction

I guess y’all know me enough, I’ll just start. Alright. Well, I’m gonna do this a little bit more like a class at this hour, because it is a class hour, so I’ll probably put some of our teens on the spot since I was trying to do that yesterday, and now they can just be put on the spot in front of everybody. Uh this morning in our Bible class hour, and I’m not gonna take an hour because I’ve got to conserve some things for uh the next lesson. Um, whose fault is it up there? What’s going on? Oh, we’re too far too far. All right, here we are. You already saw part of it now. All right. Talk about greatness. We’re our theme this weekend, and I should have made mention of this at the start of last hour.

We’ve been talking about doing hard things. That, you know, expectations for well, all of us, and expectations for our youngest really aren’t that high in the world. But you look at God’s expectations. God’s expectations are exceedingly high. God’s expectations for your purity, which we were just talking about last hour, are as high as they can be. It’s our expectations that have lowered. And we’ve got to raise those expectations up for our young people and also for ourselves. One of the things we talked about yesterday, and I gave our teens a little exercise to rate the expectations that the world had for them, the expectations that they had for themselves, and then the expectations that God had for them. And we’ll talk about one of those expectations here in just a little bit.

Let’s talk about what makes someone great in our society. All right, think about this, young people. Think about this. What who are the quote unquote great people in our society? Bill Gates. Why is Bill Gates a great person? Has a lot of money. Understatement of the day so far. Okay. Yeah, a lot of money. A lot of money. Who else is a great person? Joshua’s a great person.

I know you’re thinking me, but please, use somebody else. Come on, someone famous in our society. And why? President. President is famous. Why is president great? Why is president known?

He’s at the top. He’s at the top. I had another one of those old person moments. And I know, I know. I’m not old. I’m not. But I’ve had two old person moments in the last 18 months. One was last January, not this January. January of 14. I turned 36. I know.

So the week after I turned 36, and I’m teaching the college class at university, and there’s a kid in there that turned 18. I’m thinking, I’m teaching a college student who’s half my age. That was the first one. The second one was I was at the barber shop this week. And they had the television on, they had the newscast on. And they were talking about an artist. I’ve heard the guy’s name, Bruno Mars. I don’t really know any of his songs, but I’ve heard his name. And they’re talking about his most recent song, how he had been at the top of the charts for 14 weeks. Guess when was the first time I’d ever heard of that song? As I was seeing it on the newscast.

But, you know, they’re comparing him to artists like Michael Jackson and Beatles and all these kinds of things, you know. Here’s how long he’s been at the chart. Wow, what a great artist he is. What a great singer. I’m like, I don’t, I don’t know who he is, but okay. Apparently he’s really, really popular. Well, that’s in our society, that’s how we judge those things. We judge it, how much money do they have? How many people do they lead? How famous are they? Some of you like baseball. Some of you have seen the Ken Burns baseball documentaries. About 10 parts. It’s really well done. If you like baseball, uh the Ken Burns thing. And it was talking about one of the things it’s talking about was when the baseball teams really began looking at Latin American countries.

And the Dodgers and some other teams were the first to kind of make camps and training facilities in the Dominican Republic and Panama and other places in Latin America. And they were interviewing some of the players and about their dreams. And their dreams were not simply to play baseball. Their dreams were to be the next big thing. Everybody know my name, they would say.

1. The True Measure of Greatness

How much money can I have? How many people know my name? How many people am I over? Well, our text this morning is in Mark the 10th chapter. Many of you already know exactly where I’m going with this. In Mark the 10th chapter, we have the true measure of greatness. Mark the 10th chapter, beginning in verse 35. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee came up to Jesus saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? In verse 37, they said to him, Grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left in your glory. Again, if we would appreciate kind of what their mindset was, we may too have been doing the same thing.

Their mindset is still okay. Jesus is going to go to Jerusalem. He is going to be proclaimed king. He’s going to rally Judah behind him. And we’re all going to fight the Romans, and there’s going to be a kingdom. Jesus is the king. He’s a son of God. He’s the one that God sent to do this. And so, because it’s a kingdom, there are positions of power. One of us gets to be prime minister. One of us gets to be the defense secretary. We want those positions. So, Jesus, please, just go ahead and settle this. We recall Jesus responds in somewhat of a cryptic fashion. He doesn’t just outright say at this point, you’ve got the wrong idea. But he says in verse 38, You do not know what you are asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Are you baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you shall drink. You shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. Speaking of Jesus’ sufferings and his experience, James would be the first of the apostles to lose his life in the cause of Christ. To our knowledge, John was the last to die, and we presume he died of natural causes, although he experienced great persecution and sacrificed all to follow and to serve God, even as Jesus did. But he says in verse 40, to sit on my right or on my left. This is not mine to give.

But it is for those whom it has been given, it has been prepared. Verse 41. Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John, calling them to himself, Jesus said to them, You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus effectively changes everything. You have heard, you have thought, you were, you had this notion.

This is true greatness. How many people can I say are under me? How many people are serving me? Jesus said, You’ve got the wrong idea. You’ve got the complete wrong idea of what the kingdom is about. You should serve. The great among you will be those who serve. Even as I came to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many. Jesus has great interest in this. You kind of even see in the story here what happens to God’s people when we’re not focused on serving others. When our first focus becomes on, you know, what can I get for myself? What can I attain? What glory and honor can I get? You saw how the other ten responded to that. When everybody’s striving for positions of power, then the people who may not be in power, then they’re jealous.

They want what other people have. And so Jesus has great interest in this. He wants peace and harmony in his kingdom. And the only way that’s going to be achieved is when we serve. The idea of the servant is found of all of God’s great people in the scriptures. It’s interesting when you look throughout the Old Testament and you look at these great figures, people that we look up to. Men like Abraham, when God is speaking to Isaac and talking about how he would bless Isaac. He says, I am the God of your father Abraham in Genesis 26 and verse 24. Do not fear, I am with you. I’ll bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham. Abraham, great man, leader of men, servant of God.

Moses, the great leader of Israel. When he is dead, now God is speaking to Joshua, the next leader of the people. On two occasions, in Joshua, the first chapter in verse 2, and then again in Joshua, the first chapter in verse 7. As God comes to Joshua and he says, Moses, my servant is dead. Nay says, I want you to be strong and courageous as and to follow the law as my servant, Moses followed the law. In 2 Samuel 3 and verse 18, David again referred to as the servant of God. The prophets in 2 Kings 17, as you have this terrible situation where Israel is taken away into captivity, and one of the reasons why was they would not heed the message of God’s servants, the prophets.

Going back one more time, though, in your Old Testament, go back to Isaiah the 49th chapter. We think of the prophecies of Jesus. We think of the seed of Abraham, we think about the descendant of David, and that’s the one that the people of Jesus’ day focused on. Here is the one who’s going to be king, he’s going to be a Messiah, he’s going to deliver us, he’s going to rule. When you come to Isaiah the 49th chapter, though, this coming one is termed something else. In verse 3 of Isaiah 49, he said to me, You are my servant, Israel, in whom I shall, whom I will show my glory. But I said, I have toiled in vain, I spent my strength for nothing in vanity, yet surely the justice due to me is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.

And now says the Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel might be gathered to him. For I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength. He says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I’ll also make you a light of the nation, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the redeemed of Israel and his holy one, to the despised one, to the one abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers. Kings will see and arise. Princes will also bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful, the holy one of Israel who has chosen you.

And Brother Harkrater could go into much greater detail about this. But you have this interesting terminology used in the book of Isaiah, where sometimes the word servant is used for Israel, the nation. But then you would see this transition in this passage where the servant is now an individual. He is the one whom Israel should have been, and the one that Israel is leading up to, the Messiah, the servant who’s going to restore Jacob. Restore the fortunes of Israel. But the servant who it was too little for him only to save Jacob and Israel, the servant who would also be a light to the nations, a light to all the world. The one who was coming wasn’t just a king. Or if you want to say he’s a king, okay, but it was an idea of kingship.

Radically different from the kings of other peoples. A king who came with the interest of his people at heart. A king who came, as Jesus said in Matthew, I’m sorry, Mark chapter 10, to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. What are our expectations for our ability to serve? That was one of the things we talked about yesterday. And not surprisingly, when the teens were asked, how do others view you as being able to serve right now? Scale to one to ten, about two or three. That’s kind of what most people think of the young. They’re not going to be able to serve others much. About two to three.

I didn’t ask them to tell me their own.

I would ask, where’s the age qualifier? Where’s the age qualifier when Jesus says that you should serve one another, that the great among you will be the servant of all? Where did God say, and that’s if you get in your 30s? Or you’re married and you have kids. Or you completed your college degree. Where did God say that? Well, he didn’t say that. He said, if you’re following me, and you want to be great, truly great, then serve others. And that applies whether you’re young or old, single, merry, some kids, lots of kids, no kids. Christian for a couple weeks. Christian for all your life. Serve others. That’s the measure of greatness. We’ll go down to a different passage. Philippians the second chapter. Paul is now dealing with a church and calling them to unity.

2. Have This Attitude: The Mind of Christ

And he begins in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 1. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind. Maintain the same love, unite in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. In other words, Paul has taken a few more words to say what Jesus has said back in Mark chapter 10. Serve each other. You want peace, you want harmony among yourselves? Then serve each other.

Look out for the interests of others, and not simply what you want for yourself. Well, how are you going to do that? Have this attitude, he says. Have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The mind of Christ. Have this attitude in yourselves, Paul says, which was also in Christ Jesus. How are we going to meet God’s expectations? How are we going to meet our Lord’s expectations?

To be great servants. Have this mind, Paul says.

3. He Did Not Cling to His Equality With God

Lesson learned. It fit with the theme. Anyway, he did not grasp, or not, sorry, did not, uh, yes, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Grasped, and I never get that word out correctly either. Let’s deal here just a minute about Jesus being in the form of God. This is a passage that has been perverted and misused by a host of people. You know, you want to talk to someone that says, well, Jesus was kind of the first created. Uh you have a Jehovah’s Witness friend, and they’ll talk about how Jesus and God, you know, there’s there’s a difference there. And they might even look at this passage and say, well, he was in the form of God, but he’s not really God.

That’s not what Jesus, that’s not what Paul’s saying. In fact, Paul is using this passage to make the exact opposite point. The idea of form is it possesses all the essential attributes of God. That’s why he’s saying of Jesus. Anything that God is, Jesus is. You want to look at the power of God, Jesus has that power. You want to look at the knowledge of God, Jesus has that knowledge. Anything that God has, Jesus has. He existed in the form of God. I think the English standard reads it something like that. He didn’t cling on to that authority, to that power. Some will say he did not count it robbery to be equal with God. The New American Standard again says he did not count it a thing to be grasped.

The idea is he was not clutching on to that. Here he is, equal with God. But to serve others, to serve God, even, he did not cling on to that equality. He let it go. That’s something you and I have to let go too. If we’re ever going to be true servants of God.

That’s something we cherish in this country and something we’re still working on. But we have it written into our founding documents about being created equal, all men equal before God. We think of that when we elect rulers, and that’s why, and I won’t go in the political tangent again, but that’s why we find it so easy to ridicule and to denigrate those who rule over us because we think, well, they’re just like us. We elected them, they’re just people like us, and so, you know, passages like Romans 13 and giving them authority or giving them honor. Well, that, you know, sure if they were king, but they’re not king. I digress. We’re equal in Christ. There’s neither slave nor free, there’s neither Jew nor Greek, there’s neither male nor female, for you’re all one in Christ.

We’re equal. But sometimes clinging on to that notion of equality makes it hard to serve others this way. We’re equal. So someone has run into a hard time. Perhaps someone has made some poor financial choices. They need help. They need their brothers and sisters to bail them out, if you will. And the first thing that we might want to do is, well, you know what? They made some poor choices. True. And they’re probably going to need to learn from that. They’re probably going to need some help to not make those poor choices again. But if we’re not careful, what that becomes is, you know what? I saved my money. I was careful with what I earned. I didn’t waste it. And it can become hard. Become hard sometimes to let go of the first strings.

Say, you know what? Here’s a brother or sister in need, a legitimate need. Granted, there may need to be some reformation of character on their part and some repentance to be done, but we can cling to equality and say, you know what? They should have done better. Well, they didn’t. That’s the problem. They didn’t. Now am I going to serve them or not? That’s the question. Am I going to serve them by aiding them? Am I going to serve them by helping them not make the same mistakes in the future? Am I going to serve them by even rebuking them whenever they’re doing things wrong again? Am I going to serve them? We talked a little bit this weekend about when it comes to hard things.

Some things are hard for us and some things aren’t. And those don’t always match up. You know, there are some things that are easy for me. There are some things that are very hard for me. The things that are easy for me may be hard for you. The things that are hard for me may be easy for you. The same is true with temptation, too. There are some things that tempt me, they may not be a temptation to you at all. There are some things that tempt you, have no effect on me. No effect on me whatsoever. You know, I thank God. I’ve never been tempted by drugs. Just never held anything on me, but I know people that it has them in their clutches. We’re not careful.

When it comes to equality, we think, you know what? I’ve had temptation in my life, and yeah, I may have succumbed, but you know what? I didn’t do that. I didn’t fall like they fell. We can begin to reason to justify our previous actions and to kind of look down on those who have fallen far. I didn’t do that. They should have known better. I resisted. They should have resisted. We’re not careful. We’re clinging to that equality again. Problem is they fell. They fell just as I had fallen. They may have fallen a different way or for a different reason, but I fell too at one time. Now what God needs is us to serve them. Serve them. Pick them back up. Forgive them. Help them know they’re forgiven.

Help them point them back to the word of God. Help them to resist temptation in the future. Don’t cling to that equality. Jesus did not cling to his equality with God. The second aspect of the mind of Christ, though, is this.

4. He Emptied Himself

Again, various groups take that and they twist it and they pervert it. He ceased being God. Just left all. Well, that’s not what Paul is saying here. He did not leave being God. He’s still God with us on earth. He still revealed the glory of God, as John would say in John chapter 1. But you look at the rest of the text, and the text lets you know wasn’t mean that he emptied himself. Here’s what he did. He took the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearances of man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And as someone has said before, that’s the lowest rung of the ladder. Going from human from heaven to humanity, Jesus went further than most.

He went to the death on a cross. That’s how he emptied himself. He gave it all. Even Paul emphasizes death on a cross. What will I not give in service to others? That’s the challenge that Paul’s making to us. What will I not give in service to others? How much of my money am I just going to say, all right? That’s the point. I’m just not going to help. Not going to help anymore. How much of my time am I saying, you know what? I’ve given them some time, and I know they’re in need again, and they need to talk, and they need someone’s shoulder to cry on, and they need some counseling, but yeah.

How many times do I have to forgive? How many times do I have to show them of the scriptures again that says here’s what we need to do? And they’re repenting, but how many times do I have to forgive? Or am I willing to empty myself? See, I don’t know what it’s going to take to serve my brethren, but I know that if I have it, I’m going to serve. My time, my resources, my finances, whatever God has given me to be used in the service of others. Jesus did not cling to his equality with God. And he did not grasp. I’m sorry, then he emptied himself, rather.

5. True Service Always Meets Needs

Service always meets needs.

Jesus knows us. He knew what we needed the most. He even became human to experience what we go through. He knows us. He knows what we need. So he met the need. What do we need? What do we need? I would challenge you again. I would challenge you again. Do not think. Do not think of what we come together to do on a Sunday morning and a Wednesday night and on other occasions as simply an obligation that here the church is supposed to meet because the elders have said, here’s a time for the church to meet. Think of it, here’s an opportunity, not only to serve my God, but I get to know my brethren, and I may get to know something that they need. Because true service always meets needs.

You’re broken down on the side of the road. Someone comes by and gives you a sandwich. Okay, you may be grateful for the sandwich. You might have been hungry. But what you really needed was a mechanic. You really needed someone to fix your car. Someone’s dealing with some spiritual issue, then yes, you saying hi is good. But you sitting down and letting them talk to you is better. You pointing out the scriptures to them that may aid them and praying with them and hugging them is even better than that. True service meets needs. I’ll digress just a little bit. There’s been somewhat of a movement to redefine the true purpose of the church. The true purpose of the church is serving the poor. Let me emphasize here, we ought to serve the poor.

There’s no doubt about it. Not just because Jesus commands it, but because I think that’s part of our molding our character in the image of God. God who serves the lowliest, we ought to be interested in serving the lowliest. What’s the greatest need man has? It’s his soul separated from God. The greatest need we can fill to each other. Yes, we ought to be concerned about monetary issues. We ought to be concerned with those who are struggling. But I’d be concerned with those who are sick and those who have suffered the loss of loved ones. And those become spiritual needs. But what we ought to be focused on in looking at is how are my brethren doing spiritually? Is there sin in their life? Is there discouragement in their life?

Have they gone through some trauma that’s affected their devotion to God? How can I be there for them? How can I help them? Our Lord knows us. He knew what to do to serve us. And if we’re going to be great servants of him, then we need to get to know each other. We need to understand what we’re going through. And we need to be willing, by the way, to open up to others. Not just saying go and just dump everything on somebody, but you’ve got to be willing to talk. You’ve got to be willing to go to others and say, hey, I need help. Because true service always meets needs. True service also begins with their attitude. That’s Paul’s point. Again, he wants them to look after the interests of others.

Calpheric interests are more important than themselves, but that starts with your thinking. Right action always starts with right thinking. And that’s exactly what Paul is emphasizing here. Have the same mind as Christ had. Christ was first of all willing to not cling on to his equality with God. And then he was willing to empty himself. And then he acted on that. He did that. Well, let your attitude be that. I’m willing to help my brethren. I’m willing to give all in service to my brethren. And then know that your service is going to require sacrifice. It always does. Your time, your resources, your emotions. Can I tell you? You talk about roller coaster ride. Let your life be involved with people. And you will be on a roller coaster your life.

Are you willing to sacrifice that? Are you willing to sacrifice that to help? To serve others. Got one more exercise when I put the kids through. We’re going to talk about four truths about their service. And I think there’ll be some application to us. Alright. Where are they all? Caleb. Right there in the back, my friend. Name for me, and you can’t name your father, because he’s sitting next to you. Name for me a preacher, an elder, or a deacon in this church that you think is a great servant. It can be a deacon, preacher, elder, any of those. Which one? Yeah, just one of them. Yeah, anyone. Mr. Walcott. All right. Mr. Walker. What? Why is why is Mr. Walcott a good servant?

He always has to encourage you to you. Always there to encourage you. Amen to that. Amen to that. Ten years, I know that. Alright, good one. Good one. Let’s see. Jaden.

Name a member of this church that’s not an elder, a deacon, or a preacher. So it can’t be any of those. That’s not one of those that you think is a great servant. Anyone in this church is not one of those people. You and your sister can be a team effort if you need to be. One brain. Are they one brain sometimes? Okay, yeah, just you know, go back to that realm if you need to. Who? My father. Ah, I should have taken him up. Why is your dad a great servant? Because are their birthdays coming up or something? Or is it something that’s going to involve some cash exchange?

He’s a good spiritual guide and helps other people. Yeah. I say it’s true of that too. Alright, which one’s greater?

Yeah, yes, doesn’t Jeff.

Absolutely. That’s the point. Alright, Jeff gave the answer.

But we do that.

We judge on these criteria of, well, great servant, elder, great servant, deacon, great servant, preacher. I’m not saying that the elders, deacons, and preachers should not be great servants. I think you’ve got some great servants here. But it’s not about a title.

6. Four Truths About Your Service

Will you serve others? In whatever role you are in, will you serve others? Okay, so that fits into our four truths about service. First of all, you, and again, the our main focus this morning was on the teens, but it’s on everybody. You have some talents right now. We know the story of the uh the parable of the talents. What time am I supposed to end, by the way? 45? 45. 45? All right. Someone I’m surprised you didn’t say 40. When you say, Josh, you’ve kind of been going on too long already. All right. We know the parable of the talents. To one, Matthew 25, to one, five talents was given. To one, two talents were given. To one, one talent was given. And we know how that parable ends.

The one with five gains five more, the one with two gains two more, the one with one goes and hides. The point, the beginning point of the parable is this, though. Here’s a master. He has servants. They’re slaves. But he entrusted to them all something very valuable. He entrusted to them all something. It would have taken them all years and years of service and saving everything they had to equal one of those talents. So even though the one man only had one talent, he still had a lot. It doesn’t matter where you are in life. You have a lot you’ve been entrusted with. Young or old, married or single, male or female, you’ve got a lot. You’ve got time that God has given to you to serve others.

You’ve got opportunities. You’ve got contacts. You’ve got people you know, you’ve got differing abilities.

You’ve got some right now. Second truth about your service, your talents are different from others, and that’s okay. That’s okay. Walcott and Ned are not the same people. Their talents differ from each other. And praise be to God for that. Praise be to God that when you go throughout this congregation and throughout God’s people, men and women who have all kinds of varying abilities, and yet they’re serving God. Paul has something to say about that too in Romans the 12th chapter. In Romans the 12th chapter in verses 4 through 6. Romans chapter 12 and verses 4 through 6. Just as we have many members in one body, and all the members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly. If prophecy according to the proportion of his faith, if service in his serving, or he who teaches in his teaching, or he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. I don’t know what your talents are, but you’ve got them. Brother Ned does lead some fantastic prayers. I wish I prayed like Brother Ned. But God gave me other talents. Use them. Use them to his glory. And don’t worry about what talent somebody else has. Now, that does not mean, though, that you shouldn’t develop more. You can, you should. You should. Because that’s part of faithfulness.

Going back to our parable of the talents. The man who had five talents, he gained five more. The man who had two talents gained two more. They were both faithful. And therefore, they both receive the same reward from their master. I don’t know what your talents are. I don’t know what all God has entrusted you with. And sometimes change in life does equal differing abilities. Yes, there are some things you in your teen years you may not be able to do. You don’t have the freedom that you’re going to have later on. You may not have transportation that you’ll have later on. So you may be able to transition to some different things as you get older. And you should do that. College carries with it different responsibilities, and you may be able to do some things once you get out of college.

You have more resources, more finances at your disposal because everything’s going into school now. And so, yes, you might be able to do some more things when you’re out of college. When you get out of college, being married, if you choose to marry, that may open up some different realms of service. You and your spouse are going to be serving each other for sure. You’re going to have to, you know, you’re going to be become psychological, psychology counselors for each other. But you’re, that’s going to open up new service. I’m always the patient. No. New service, new opportunities all the way along. God says, use them. But I just want to emphasize: don’t fail to use the ones you have now. You’re going to develop more talents in the future.

But the youngest disciple of Christ has some talents now. And God says, use them now. I’ll put them on the spot. The older generation here remembers getting notes from little Kaylee and little Greg when they were kids. You remember that? Now Kaylee’s blushing. They couldn’t do much. You ask any older saint or any sick saint that received one of those notes, and you ask them, what did that do for their day? What did that do for their week? Don’t ever look down on what you think is small abilities. Those small abilities, when used in service to God, can produce great results. Fantastic results. And God expects you to use the talents you have. Again, the man with five talents was faithful. The man with two talents was faithful.

The man with one talent wasn’t faithful. He didn’t use what his master had given him to work for his master. I don’t know how many talents you have. You may have ten. You may have twenty. You may only have one. Use it. God expects you to use it. He gave it to you. You recall again the wording here in Romans chapter 12. I want to read it one more time. See, he began there in verse 4 and talk about how we’re many members in one body. And he says in verse 6 that we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Think about that. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. That our abilities, whatever they may be, and when you look at that list, he’s not just talking about miraculous spiritual abilities given on through the Holy Spirit at that time.

No, he’s talking about, yes, okay, there’s prophecy, but there’s service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, showing mercy. Your ability to do any and all those things is the grace of God. God’s entrusted you with that. God asks you that you use it. I tell you. Janet and I, we got, we got here Friday night. We’d seen, we’d seen Griffin once or twice over the last 18 months. We hadn’t seen Jeremiah, and when Jeremiah walked in the room, I was like, what kid is this? And we kind of had that reaction as every one of these kids walked in. No. No, can’t be. And what fantastic young men and women they are. Let them be used. Let them serve. We don’t do teen weekends just to cater. We’ve got to be careful about that.

We don’t do teen things to cater. We use it, yes, we want them to know they’re important. We want them to know that they’re loved. We use them for educational purposes, to teach and to train. But the purpose of anyone’s discipleship is to be used in the service of Christ. And I do not mean, okay, you get a young man up there in a nice coat and tie and he’s reading scripture. That’s part of service. That’s just the crust of service. Parents, you need to be serving others, and you need to be involving your kids in serving others. Mom and dad need to be busy loving other people and letting your kids help you love other people. Use the talents you have now. And by the way, parents, those kids you’ve got, they’re part of your talents.

It kind of dawned on me a couple years ago when I would go and visit someone, and the reaction was always greater when I took one of my kids. It’s always greater when I took one of my kids. Alright, that’s all I’ve got for this morning. Thanks, everybody.