Thinking Like a

Servant

Section 34
Pages 265-271

Monday 15 November 2010

 Service starts
in your mind

Monday 15 November 2010

 To be a servant requires a
mental shift - our attitude
needs to be changed - God is
interested in why we do
something.

King Amaziah:
2 Chron 25:2 He did what
was right in the eyes of the
LORD, but not wholeheartedly.

Monday 15 November 2010

 Servants think more about
others than about themselves
Humility is not thinking less
of ourselves but thinking of
ourselves less.
Php 2:4 TM
Put yourself aside, and help
others get ahead. Don't be
obsessed with getting your own
advantage. Forget yourselves
long enough to lend a helping
hand.
Monday 15 November 2010
 Lose your life by focussing on others.
Jesus emptied himself and took the
nature of a servant.
You cannot be full of yourself and be
a servant too.
Do you serve to be admired - or to
get your own way?
Self forgetfulness and denial are
rare qualities - Timothy - Php
2:20-21 I have no one else like him,
who will show genuine concern for your
welfare. For everyone looks out for their
own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Monday 15 November 2010
 Servants think like stewards
not owners

God owns it all - not me, he

just trusts me to take care of
things - e.g. Joseph.
Servant and steward go
together.
1 Cor 4:2 - Now it is required
that those who have been given a
trust must prove faithful.

Monday 15 November 2010

 To be a servant you have to
settle the issue of money in
your life:
Luke 16:13 - “No one can
serve two masters. Either you will
hate the one and love the other, or
you will be devoted to the one and
despise the other.You cannot
serve both God and money.”
Money has the greatest
potential to replace God in
your life - servants are more
concerned with ministry than
money
Monday 15 November 2010
 God uses money to test your
faithfulness as a servant. Jesus
talked more about money than
about heaven or hell.
Luke 16:11 - So if you have not
been trustworthy in handling
worldly wealth, who will trust you
with true riches?

Monday 15 November 2010

 3. Servants think about their
work, not what others are doing
They don’t compare, criticise or
compete with other ministries -
they do the work God has given
them to do.
Gal 5:26 Let us not become
conceited, provoking and envying
each other.
We are all on the same team,
God’s - don’t spend your time
criticising others.

Monday 15 November 2010

 The bad news is that by loving and
serving jesus criticism becomes
inevitable: Consider Mary anointing
Jesus’ feet with nard - Matt 26:8-10
When the disciples saw this, they were
indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked.
“This perfume could have been sold at a
high price and the money given to the
poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are
you bothering this woman? She has done a
beautiful thing to me.

Monday 15 November 2010

 Servants base their
identity in Christ
A servant is loved and
accepted by grace - they
have nothing to prove - thus
they do things that are
“beneath” other people.
Jesus washed his disciples
feet.
Only secure people
serve.

Monday 15 November 2010

 “In order to be of service to others
we have to die to them; that is, we
have to give up measuring our
meaning and value with the
yardstick of others...thus we
become free to be compassionate”
Henri Nouwen
Servants don’t need titles or
special dress, or awards on their
walls, or self promotion - James
the brother of Jesus called
himself a servant - James 1:1

Monday 15 November 2010

 Servants think of their ministry as
an opportunity not an obligation

Ps 100:2 - serve the Lord

with gladness
It is out of our relationship
to, and grace from, Jesus that
we should enjoy serving.
John 12:26 - Whoever
serves me must follow me; and
where I am, my servant also
will be. My Father will honor
the one who serves me.
Monday 15 November 2010
 Heb 6:10 - God is
not unjust; he will not
forget your work and
the love you have
shown him as you
have helped his
people and continue
to help them.

Monday 15 November 2010

 Point to ponder

To be a servant you must think

like a servant

Monday 15 November 2010

 Verse to remember

Php 2:5
In your relationships with one
another, have the same mindset as
Christ Jesus

Monday 15 November 2010

 Question to consider

Am I usually more concerned

about being served or finding
ways to serve others?

Monday 15 November 2010