Passage: Spiritual Disciplines | Lesson 09

Passage: Spiritual Disciplines | Lesson 09

  Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 5:09 PM    Unknown

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Spiritual Discipline of Serving
Kevin Chan, Ph.D. | May 17, 2015

Opening Questions:
1. What was the last area you have served in?
2. What did you get out of it?  How did you transform in Christ - likeness?

1. The Context of Serving – 1 Timothy 4:7b-8
a. Spiritual Discipline for the Purpose of Godliness
   i. Godliness is the PERSONAL ATTITUDE towards God that results in ACTIONS that PLEASES 
   Him.
   ii. Spiritual disciplines are MOTIVATED by a Godly devotion (fear of God, love of God, desire 
   for God).
   iii. Spiritual disciplines result in TRANSFORMATION resulting in Godly qualities (humility, 
   contentment, fruit of the Spirit).  Similar to Exercise/Homework

b. Definition of the Spiritual Discipline of Serving:
   The SPIRITUAL PRACTICE towards GOD of CHRIST-MODELED service to others.

2. The Basis of Serving – “I am EXPECTED to serve God”
a.  You were CREATED to serve God (Eph 2:10b, cf. Jer 1:5, Gen 1:26-27)
   i. Created unique, intentional for God's purpose

b. You were SAVED to serve God (2 Tim 1:8-9, Rom 12:1, Heb 9:14, cf. 1 Th 1:9)
   i. redeemed, empowered, what did God give in order to save you?

c. You were CALLED to serve God (2 Tim 1:9, 1 Cor 12:27, cf. Acts 13:36)
   i. purposeful, life-calling of service, life-style of serving through seasons of life

d. You were COMMANDED to serve God (Deut 13:4, Matt 20:24-28, Mk 10:41-45)
   i. love one another

3. The Resources for Serving – “I should UNDERSTAND, EMBRACE and USE my SHAPE”
S – SPIRITUAL GIFTS, Eph 4:7, 11-13, 1 Cor 12:1-11, Rom 12:6-8, 1 Pet 4:10-11
      [special God-empowered abilities given to believers for the sake of the Body]

H – HEART, Deut 11:13, 1 Sam 12:20, Eph 6:6
      [passion & source of desires, what care most about, what drives decisions]

A – ABILITIES, cf. Ex 31:3-5, 28:3, 1 Chr 25:7, Acts 18:1-3
      [natural talents, skills and training]

P – PERSONALITY, cf. personalities of Peter, John, Paul, Moses
      [personality type, temperament, extrovert vs introvert]

E - EXPERIENCE, cf. 2 Cor 1:3-7
      [Life-molding experiences, family, education, vocation, spiritual, suffering]

4. The Characteristics of a Godly Servant – “I will commit to IMPROVING my service to God”
John 13:1-17 – Humility, Servant’s-heart
Matt 20:20-28 – Servant of each other
Matt 25:21, 23 – Faithful, dependable
Matt 25:34-40 – Compassion, in secret
1 Cor 3:5-9 – Teamwork, each role
Rom 12:3 – Proper self-assessment
Eph 6:7-8 – Perspective of eternity
Ps 100:2 – Gladness and joy
Gal 5:13 – Expression of love to another
1 Pet 4:11 – Utilize as God supplies
Col 1:29, 1 Cor 15:58 – Hard, not in vain
2 Cor 12:9  – Reliance on God

5. Application
Ask deep questions about motives and growth.  Ask God to help focus on His priorities.