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SERMON OUTLINE
SUBJECT: Servant Church DATE: July 20, 2008
TITLE: To Serve the Present Age TEXT: Acts 13:36
SCRIPTURE: Acts 13.36
HYMN OF PRAISE: 577 OPENING PRAYER: 574 HYMN OF INVITATION: 413

INTRODUCTION

Each year, during this season of Pentecost, I read again the Book of Acts, which records
the events of the first Pentecost and the subsequent early history of the Church.
In the ninth chapter we read of the conversion of Paul, in chapter thirteen he and
Barnabas are commissioned as missionaries to the Gentiles, and soon after we find Paul
preaching in Antioch.
The subject of his sermon is the Resurrection but in passing, as it were, he dropped this
little nugget:

David, after he had served the will of God in his own generation, died.

David, One of the most fascinating personalities in the Bible

HUMBLE SHEPHERD BOY WARRIOR PSALMIST FIRST KING OF UNITED KINGDOMS

For the Jews he represented the high water mark; the “golden-age” of their history
Even so—the Biblical chronicle is painfully honest in its presentation of David
Oliver Cromwell: “warts and all!”

The record reveals that David, the great hero, the “Lion of Judah”
was also an adulterer and murderer

Yet—God was able to use him to achieve his will

All of this must have been in Paul’s mind when he reminded his listeners:

David, after he had served the will of God in his own generation, died.

These followers of the Way (in the town where first called “Christians”) were also sinners
set apart by God to do his will.

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What are the implications for us ?

•
DAVID SERVED

In writing to the church at Rome, Paul introduced himself as:

PAUL, A SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST, CALLED; SET APART FOR THE GOSPEL

It is not unusual for modern Christian speakers and writers to refer to “the servant church”
However—not a concept universally accepted.
In fact, definite impression given by some church-members that church is here to
Serve their needs !

There is an arresting figure of speech found in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

[Romeo’s friend Mercutio (wounded in a street fight) is asked about his wound]
“Tis not so deep as a well, nor as wide as a church door.”

Apparently, one of the widest things he could think of was a church door

How wide is the door of our church ?

Paul sets the “dimensions” for us in his letter to the Colossians:

Here there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised

Barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. (*Col. 3.11)

[The Living Bible] In this new life one’s nationality or race or education
or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing.

Some of you may have heard of a west Texas rancher named Shanghai Pierce

“Hell no, that church belongs to me!”

What a blasphemous statement---not in the use of the four-letter word.
The blasphemy is in believing that anyone could “own” the church of Jesus Christ!

READ UMH page 45

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Common practice to identify ourselves (and others) with what we own:

House car business

As Christians need to be identified by what “owns” us

We should introduce ourselves (through words, attitudes, deeds) in this way

[I am] George, a servant of Jesus Christ, called; set apart

to do the will of God

DAVID . . . SERVED THE WILL OF GOD

What does that mean?
Without any specifics it becomes so much pious “hot air”
To limit it to personal morality and ethics results in a “good” person
--but one no different from the moral and ethical non-believer

I know of some young men who give a solemn oath:

To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight. [Boy Scouts]

What more is the Christian to do?

The answer is to be found in the words of Jesus.

Speaking to his disciples, he said: “as the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
He tells us he was sent as a servant—to proclaim Good News:

As we look at the world around us, we easily find examples of

the poor the captive the blind the oppressed

We hear their voices from every quarter:

Crying out for daily bread
Groaning in their oppression by tyrants
Praying for the end to senseless wars
Begging to be judged by some standard other than
race or language or social standing

We can best respond to some of these cries through large cooperative actions.
[As a church or a community; a state or a nation]
Others call for more personal; one on one responses.

The early “Methodists” were called that because they were so methodical, so systematic
iin their approach to living out what it means to be a Christian disciple;
They set aside certain specific times for prayer, for Bible reading, for study,
And also for seeking out those who needed help.
An event from the life of John Wesley provides an excellent example.
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Even after he had gained a large following, unlike many “popular” preachers of our day, he
never built up a personal fortune. In fact, by the standards of our day he would be classified as
“poor.” Yet, he was ever concerned about those who had even less than he. On one occasion,
learning of the destitute circumstances of those in a certain area, he went begging among his
more affluent friends and acquaintances until he had gathered 200 pounds. Then, from early
morning until late evening, he sloshed through melting snow to make distributions of food and
coal to the poor. He continued in this arduous task for five days--until he was taken violently ill.
It is worth mentioning that at the time he was eighty-two years old!

[There goes my last excuse!]

BUT WAIT—THERE IS ANOTHER ELEMENT IN OUR “SERVING THE WILL OF GOD”

We ARE to endeavor to live morally and ethically pure lives

` We ARE to be sensitive to the physical needs of men, women, and children everywhere.
But even more basic than these in Christian discipleship is
To serve our Lord as witnesses;
To seek out and save the lost.

Charles Wesley might well have had this verse in mind when he wrote these words:

In the Great Commission (recorded by Matthew) Jesus says:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Mat 28.29)

On the day of Pentecost more specific instructions were given:

. . .you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
HHere, then, is the
andpattern
to the for Christian discipleship fashioned by a great patriarch of our faith
ends of the earth
A few months ago I went to a local church to attend the funeral of the only child of a young
couple. I words:
was was deeply impressed by the loving
OFconcern and support of the church for
InDavid
other served DECLARE THE GOOD NEWS SALVATION
the grieving(and)
pair who wereWHERE
not even members
BEGIN YOU ARE ! of that church
[As I left church parking lot I saw a sign]
David served the will of God
YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A MISSION FIELD
We do not need to go to the “ends of the earth”
David, served the will of God in his own generation,
In the
On hisvery
owndoorstep
time and place;
of our among
church are tohis
be own
foundpeople
the [LOST / BLIND / CAPTIVE]

TO SERVE THE PRESENT AGE,

MY CALLING TO FULFILL;
O MAY IT ALL MY POWERS ENGAGE
TO DO MY MASTER’S WILL.*

*
“A Charge to Keep I Have” (UMH 413)
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This service is found in UMH 45

HOLY BAPTISM FOR THOSE WHO CAN ANSWER FOR THEMSELVES

CONFIRMATION REAFFIRMATION OF FAITH
RECEPTION INTO THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
RECEPTION INTO A LOCAL CONGREGATION

INTRODUCTION TO THE SERVICE

The Church is of God,

and will be preserved to the end of time,
for the conduct of worship and the due administration of
God's Word and Sacraments,
the maintenance of Christian fellowship and discipline,
the edification of believers,
and the conversion of the world.
All, of every age and station, stand in need of the
means of grace which it alone supplies.

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July 20, 2008

TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

And it shall come to pass, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh;
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joe 2:28 ASV

O ETERNAL GOD, in whom we live and move and have our being,
we thank Thee;
!for the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy that Thy Spirit would come upon us and we would,
"Dream dreams and see visions"
!for thy faithful disciples who, from the Day of Pentecost, have been challenged and empowered to
create a world in accordance with the teaching and example of Jesus.
!for the courage and endurance with which each generation has used its talents and gifts
to pro- claim the Good News, and to preserve the Church and its Holy Testament.

O Spirit of the Living God,

Thou light and fire divine;
Descend upon thy Church once more,
And make it truly Thine.

Teach us to speak the word,

to do the deed,
to live the life that will end strife among thy children.

O GOD OF GRACE, hear now our petitions for those with special needs:

! ! ! ! !

Comfort and strengthen the sick,

console and assure the mourning,
relieve and renew the dejected,
and grant unto us, Thy Church the knowledge and wisdom, the strength and guidance,
to serve their needs in so far as we are able.

All of these things, along with our own personal petitions, we make in the name of Him who
sends us out into the world as his witnesses, even Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray
together saying:

OUR FATHER,
wHO ART IN HEAVEN...