Worshipping and Serving God

-Introduction

-In the lessons last Sunday, we looked at the three occasions when the apostles

  considered/disputed the idea of “who is the greatest”.

-We noted that upon each occasion Jesus responded with a lesson focused upon

  humility and service.

            -Put the two together and you have “humble servant.”

-Of course, we know that Jesus assumed the role of servant.

            -Phil 2:5-8

-If we are going to be true servants of Jesus, we, too, must assume the role of servant.

            -Rom 6:16-18

            -Whether we realize it or not, we are servants - servants of sin or servants of

         righteousness, servants of God or servants of the devil (Eph 2:1-2, Jn 8:44).

      -There is no middle ground.

-It’s interesting to note that once you read through the accounts of the Gospel and the

  book of Acts, every known, inspired writer of scripture identifies himself as a servant:

            -Paul (Rom 1:1), James (Jas 1:1), Peter (2 Pet 1:1), Jude (Jude 1), John (Rev 1:1).

-The inspired writers realized and readily acknowledged their role as a servant.

-Worship and Service

-When it comes to being a servant, I’m afraid that there is sometimes some confusion

  regarding worship and service. 

-Keep this in mind:  Worship is a form of service.  However, not all service is worship.

            -Worshipping God is part of serving God.  But, serving God extends beyond our

              worship.

            -Being a servant of God extends beyond a particular time and place.  Being a servant

              of God is a way of life.

-Unfortunately, there are those who might say (and with true sincerity), “I worship God

  each Lord’s Day.  Therefore, I’m serving Him in the way that I should.” 

            -Yet, service to God is not limited to worship.

-Others might say, “I serve God by living a good life.  Therefore, there is no need for me

  to gather at a certain time and place to worship God.”

            -Jn 4:24, Heb 10:25

-So, for us to be a true servant of God, we need to understand our responsibilities

  involving both worship and service.

-“Worship” and “serve” occur together in the same verse only 2 times in the N.T.

            -Matt 4:10, Luke 4:8

            -It’s important to note that Jesus utilized two different Greek words when referring

              to worship and service.  Hence, He differentiated between the two.

             1.  worship - “proskuneo” - (Vines) - “to make obeisance to, reverence to” (from

      “pros” - toward, “kuneo” - to kiss) 

            -(Strongs) - “to prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore)

             2.  serve -  latreuo - (Vines) - “primarily, to work for hire”; to serve, to render

 religious service or homage

-occurs 21 times in the N.T. - In the KJV, all but 4 are translated as serve.

  Of the 4 times it is translated “worship,” 2 of those are translated as “serve”

  in the NASB.

-When it is translated as “worship,” the context usually bears out the fact that

  the service being addressed in specifically an act of worship.

-Rom 12:1 - “service” (KJV) = latreia (for of #2 listed above)

            -“Service” is the appropriate word here.  Presenting our bodies a living sacrifice

               extends beyond worship.

-This really brings me back to my point - There is more to being a servant of God than

  just being here for worship.

            -I did a lesson one time entitled, “Worship alone is not enough.”  There were a few who

             didn’t like the lesson.  By their comments, I knew why.  They were willing to come to

 worship services, but they didn’t want to conform their daily lives to God’s will.

-Rom 12:2

-A Servant Follows the Will of the Master

-One way that we truly serve God is by living the way He prescribes - conforming our lives

  to His will. 

-Matt 7:21-24

-With this in mind, I would like to challenge you to do the following:  Examine yourself -

  (2 Cor 13:5) consider your daily life.  We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. 

  Let’s capitalize on our strengths and work on our weaknesses.

            1.  Identify one strength.  Ask yourself, “How can I utilize this strength to better serve

                 God?

            2.  Identify one weakness.  Ask yourself, “What can I do to improve in this area?”

-A Servant Serves Others

-So, properly serving God involves an inward examination.  Yet, serving God also

  develops more of an outward focus - how to serve others.

-Gal 5:13

-So, here’s another challenge:  Identify one thing that you can do (or improve upon) to

  better serve one another.

-Summary and Invitation

-Let’s understand the importance of both worship and service.

-Just think about this:  What if each of us truly identified a strength and utilized it in service

  to God?  What if each of us put forth a conscious effort to improve upon a weakness?

  What if each of us identified and worked upon one particular avenue through which we

  could better serve those around us?

       -The benefits and results would be truly amazing!  So, let’s do it.

-If you’re not a faithful child of God, I can tell you right where you need to start:

       -If you’ve never obeyed the Gospel, you need to do so:  Believe (Jn 3:16, 8:24),

       Confess (Matt 10:32, Rom 10:9-10), Repent (Lk 13:3,5; Acts 17:30), Be Baptized

        (Acts 2:38, Rom 6:3-4, Mk 16:16)

-If you have obeyed the Gospel, but haven’t continued to faithfully serve God, come back

  to Him:  confess your shortcomings, repent and pray for forgiveness (1 Jn 1:7-9; Acts

  8:22-24)