The Way Church Podcast

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Amen. Amen. Well, we're going to begin in the Book of Mark. Mark, chapter number 10. Mark, chapter number 10 is where we will start.

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I'll call other scriptures as we go, and you'll be able to be seated. Mark, chapter number 10, verse 45. If you don't have it, they have it on the screen. And it reads, for the. 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.

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Read it one more time. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

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Yesterday we had the opportunity to share with our ministry coaches that lead and coach the different ministries within the church, just reiterating the vision of the house. Jesus said in John 14 and 6 that he is the way, the truth and the life. And the only way to get to the Father, we have to go through Jesus. The mission of this house, what we do, based on what Jesus said, is to help as many people as possible to live, love and lead like Jesus. Jesus said, the only way you're going to get to the Father, the only way you're going to get in right relationship with the Father, is you've got to come through me.

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So we have to learn how to live, love and lead like Jesus. And tonight, family. If there's one thing that sets Jesus apart from every other leader, every other teacher, every other king, it's this. That Jesus came to this earth not to flex his power, but he came to this earth to pour out his power.

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In a world where everybody wants a title, you look and everybody has a title. Some titles you never even heard of before, but they have them. Jesus didn't come here with a title. Tonight I want to use for a subject, very simply, Tao. Tao theology.

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Somebody say towel theology.

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How do we serve? Like the King, Jesus took up a towel. In a culture that's obsessed with status, Jesus was more committed to service than status. Look at the person next to you and tell them, pick up a towel. Pick up a towel.

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Pick up a towel. The scripture that we read in Matthew, chapter number 10, verse 45, it said, for even the Son of Man did not come. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many, Jesus did not just teach servitude, he embodied it. While he was on this earth, he didn't just talk about sacrifice, he lived it out for the world. To see.

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There's one thing that I've been trying to do my best to break down so that we can run with it, we can understand it, is the difference between culture's way, religion's way and the King's way.

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Three ways that you can live on this earth. Culture's way says, it's all about me. Culture tells you to secure the bag. Culture tells you you get you first.

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They tell you, do you boo, you deserve it? Culture's way is about self promotion. Somebody say self promotion? It's about self promotion, self preservation, self gratification. It's a constant hustle, hustle to be seen and to be celebrated and to be stolen, served by others.

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That's culture's way. But then there's religion's way. And I'm not talking about having a true relationship with God, but I'm talking about the spirit of religion, that Pharisaical mindset that says, look how holy I am. I'm up here and you're down there. You don't dress like I dress.

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Look at my wardrobe. Look at my title. Look at my seat at the table. Religion's way is all about performance over purity. As long as I can do a thing, it's okay.

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It's about an external image over internal integrity. I hope you hope you can get this tonight. It's about looking righteous rather than actually living righteously.

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The Pharisees love positions of honor, but they don't love people. And that spirit has crept into the church today where it's culture's way. It's all about me. If you don't do it my way, if you don't give me first, if you don't allow me to do self promotion and self gratification, I gotta be seen. I gotta be celebrated.

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They're not recognizing me.

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The Pharisees had an appearance of salvation, but no substance underneath. I know how to pick them up and put them down. I know how to move when the music is just right. I know Christianese, but underneath. Somebody say underneath, there's no substance.

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Underneath, there's no humility. Underneath, it's not the real love of Christ. I go and I perform and I act like I'm in right relationship with Christ, but I'm really not. That's religion's way. But then there's the King's way.

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Somebody say the King's way, The way of Jesus in the kingdom. It's not about self promotion. It's about self denial. I hope you can see plainly what's been going on. It's not about being seen, but it's rather about seeing others, like Christ see them.

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It's not about your title, it's not about your seat, but rather it's about the towels you pick up and the service that you provide. Jesus did not come boasting about his heavenly credentials. Jesus came in humility, washing feet, because he wanted to show us, this is the King's way. This is the way of the kingdom. In other words, culture teaches you serve yourself, Religion teaches you to perform for applause, but the King teaches you to pour out your own life and love.

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I want to live the King's way. How about you look at somebody say, I want to live the King's way. I want to live the King's way. Culture says, put yourself first. Religion says, make yourself look holy.

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But the King says, make yourself.

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Make yourself a servant. So what is servitude? What is servitude? Servitude is not being a doormat.

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Servitude is being a doorway.

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Somebody say servitude? Servitude is being a doorway. A doorway which God's love, God's grace, his generosity flows through you to other people. That's why you've been saved. That's why you've been changed.

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That's why you've been washed again. Because you're supposed to be a doorway for God's love and his grace and generosity to flow through you to somebody else. Servitude is not weakness. It's willingness to lay your life down to live the King's way. It's not about losing yourself.
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But I found out, when you really take on the heart of a servant, you discover your true self. You begin to discover why you were truly made, your purpose on this earth. Somebody say it out loud. When I serve, I don't lose value. I reveal it.

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You don't lose your value when you serve. You reveal your value when you serve. Jesus said in Matthew, chapter number seven, verse 16, if you're taking notes, verses 17 through 20, but verse 16 specifically, he says, by their fruit, you will know them. Jesus drops this bombshell that most of us overlook. He says, watch out for false prophets.

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He said, they come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. He says, by their fruit, you'll recognize them. Notice he did not say by their titles, you'll recognize them. See, we look at people's titles and. And if they got a good title, then we think that they are being accepted by God.

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He didn't say by their Instagram followers. You will know them. He didn't say. By their preaching gifts, you will know them. What did he say?

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By their fruit, you will know them.

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Talk back to me in here. This gives us, brothers and sisters, key insight into something about God. It gives us key insight into something about God. What is the key insight? That God inspects fruit, not followers.

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You can have millions and millions of followers, but that does not mean that you are accepted by God. You can have the best gifts. It doesn't mean that you are accepted by God. You can have the most melodious voice. It does not mean you are accepted by God.
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Fruit is the evidence because you can fake gifts, but you can't fake fruit.

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You can fake tongues. There's a whole lot of people copying tongues, but you can't fake fruit. You can manufacture a moment, but you cannot manufacture maturity. It's going to show whether you are spiritually mature or not. It's going to show in your actions.

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It's going to show in your fruits. Somebody say fruits.

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And what is the fruit of a servant? Love in action. The fruit of a servant is humility when nobody's watching. The fruit of a servant is generosity with no strings attached. I'm not doing this for you so that you can do something for me.

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I'm not doing this because I want you to applaud me. I want you to say my name over the microphone. I'm doing this because I have the heart of a servant. I learned to pick up a towel.

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What am I trying to tell you in the kingdom? Fruit speak louder than followers, likes titles, any type of gift. All you got to do is look at the fruit.

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What you say is immaterial. Oh, Pastor, I'm with you. I'm with the program. I'm for the church. No, I'm looking at your fruit because you can say one thing and do something else, and I cannot hear what you're saying for watching what you're doing.

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Somebody say fruit. Ask yourself, what fruit is my life producing?

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What fruit is my life producing? I don't understand why I'm always in all of these different things going on. What fruit is your life producing? Does my actions reflect the heart of service or a hunger for status?

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It's quiet in the sanctified church because at the end of the day, it won't be what you tried or what you meant that speak for you in heaven. At the end of the day, what God is going to look at is the fruit that you produce or the lack thereof. Say amen, somebody. It's the Fruit.

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Your resume might impress people, but it's your fruit that pleases God.

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And what we have to deal with are the very subtle barriers to servanthood.

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What are those barriers, Pastor 1 selfishness. Somebody say selfishness? Selfishness.

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By nature, we are selfish. What did I say? Our human nature is selfishness. That's why Jesus tells us to die to our flesh, because our flesh wants us to be selfish. We naturally ask, what's in it for me?

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We naturally point to ourselves. But the call of the kingdom is, what can I do for them?

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So we have to deal with selfishness. We also have to deal with entitlement. Somebody say entitlement? Entitlement. We think we deserve a seat at the head table.

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But Jesus said, take the lowest seat and watch me move you higher. When you go down, I know how to lift you up. When you take the lowest seat, when you position yourself in the place of a servant, I know how to elevate you. So we got to deal with entitlement.

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And we also have to deal with self centeredness, where life becomes a mirror instead of a window. Instead of looking out, how can I help somebody else? I'm constantly looking in the mirror at myself instead of seeing people who need help. We're obsessed with what's going on with us.

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Are y' all getting this tonight?

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So I want to do this. In the last few minutes that I have, I kind of thought about this and prayed about it today. And I began to look at some of the statements Jesus made about servitude, about picking up a towel. So I want to give them to you so you can inspect the fruit of your life and see does it measure up with the King's way, Not culture's way, not religion's way, the King's way. Statement number one.

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Jesus said it in Matthew chapter number five, verse 41. He says, if anyone asks you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Statement number one is go the extra mile. Jesus is saying, don't just do the bare minimum, but exceed expectations with radical generosity. In Roman times, soldiers could legally force civilians to carry their gear for one mile.

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But Jesus says, here's what I want you to do. Shock them with unexpected kindness and go two miles. What is he trying to tell us? The second mile is where transformation begins to happen. When you go above and beyond, when you over deliver, not overextend, but over deliver, going the extra mile, that's where transformation begins to happen.

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Not only for the other person, but it transformation for you as well.

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But we live in a Day where people want to do just the bare minimum. Even for God, they want to do the bare minimum. Don't just to get by. God said, no, I want you to do more. I want you to go the extra mile.

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That's the king's way. You're going to pick up a towel and serve the kings like the king. You got to go the extra mile.

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Number two, he says in Matthew 23 and 11, he says, the greatest among you will be your servant. In other words, Jesus redefines what greatness is. Now culture has a way to define greatness. And if we you or try to use culture's definition for greatness in the church, we'll fall in error. Jesus redefines it.

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He flips the ladder upside down. He says, it's not about how many people that serve you, but how many people have you served, how many people have you encouraged, how many people have you lifted up, how many people have you said, I'm going to do this for you, no strings attached.

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In other words, God doesn't measure greatness by how high you climb. He measures greatness by how low you're willing to strike. Stoop to lift somebody else up.

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What are you willing to give up? How much sleep are you willing to give up to lift somebody else up?

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Somebody say, the greatest is the servant. The greatest is the servant. Notice he says it the greatest among you. Now they were, you know the story. They were going back and forth debating about who is the greatest, who is the greatest.
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He said, the greatest among you will be the one that serves. People fight for status, fight for position. They fight to be seen, fight for this and fight for that.

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Meanwhile, God is saying, you know what's going to get my attention? When you roll up your sleeves and serve. You want to move up in the kingdom, learn how to serve. You want to be great and esteemed, learn how to serve somebody. Say servitude.

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Say it again. Say servitude. Here's another statement. John, chapter number 13 and verse 14. You're being blessed by this.

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He says, now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. He said, the mark of a servant that's picked up the towel is one that will wash another's feet. Foot washing was the lowest servants job. It was dirty, humiliating, overlooking. Jesus took on the dirtiest assignment to show us that there is no task beneath a true servant.

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Some people will pick up and they'll do this and they'll do that depending on who's watching. Depending on who's in the room.

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But Jesus says a true servant would do it when nobody's watching. A true servant won't pick and choose. I'm gonna do this, but I'm not gonna do that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Some people look at me and they say, oh, he's up there.

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And his grandmother got him. But you don't. You missed. You missed those days where I was washing for years. Washing the toilets, Serving.

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Serving. Somebody say serving when nobody was looking. My friends were doing other things, but I was serving.

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He said, real servants don't wait for glamorous assignments. They find dirty feet and wash them. Metaphorically. They find dirty feet and wash them. Find something.

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Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all of your might. Giving glory to God.

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He said, you gotta wash one another's feet. Here's another one. Matthew, chapter number 16 and verse 24, nudge your neighbor and say, pick up a towel. Pick up a towel. Pick up a towel.

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It's okay. Pick up a towel. He said, whoever wants to be my disciple. How many want to be his disciple? Let me see your hands.

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I want to make. Put them up high. Stretch them up. Stretch them. Don’t.

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No, it's not a setup. It's not a setup. Here's what Jesus said. It's not what I said, it's what Jesus said. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.

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Self denial is the doorway to divine destiny. You can't follow Jesus and stay selfish at the same time. I wonder the people that say they love Jesus, but they're selfish. It goes completely against what Jesus just said.

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I know I'm in the right book tonight. My God, tell the person next to you. Following Jesus means losing the right to always be comfortable.

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Following Jesus means I lose the right to always be comfortable. It's choosing the cross over convenience.

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It wasn't convenient for Jesus to be on that cross. It wasn't convenient for him to be beat and whipped and his flesh to lay open and all the blood that came out of his. It wasn't convenient for him. But he took up that cross. He endured the shame, despised and rejected, of men, but he took up that cross.

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And you know what he tells us? If you gonna live like Jesus, you gonna have to take the cross. It's not gonna be convenient for you. Well, I didn't do nothing wrong. It's not gonna be convenient.

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You're gonna still have to say you sorry. You gonna still have to have the fruit of a kingdom servant. Because you know how we do that. Religious. Oh, yeah.

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I don't have anything against you, but I'm still not going to have anything to do with you.

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Comfort. Listen to me. Comfort will never produce the character God wants to build in you.

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Comfort will never produce the character that God wants to build in you. The cross is not something that you just wear. It's something that we have to carry. I have my cross. You have your cross.

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There are days that my cross is heavy. There are days I wish I didn't have to carry my cross. There are days I wonder why did I say yes? But I have to carry that cross anyway because I have to self. I have to deny myself and take up my cross because I want to be his disciple.

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I want to live for Jesus. I want to be pleasing to him in everything that I say, everything that I do, I want to be pleasing to him. And he said, he if you want to be my disciple, you got to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

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I got to do what he did. Got to do what he did.

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All right, let's get another one in here. Philippians, chapter number two, verse three.

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Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition and vanity, each of you should in humility be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. He said, you gotta esteem others above yourself.

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This is what Jesus said. If you want to really live the king's way and take on the form of a servant, the heart of a servant have served servitude. Pick up the towel. You going to have to esteem others higher than yourself.

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This verse alone should shift our mindset from me first to you first.

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Because you cannot esteem other others above yourself and still live entitled.

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Well, they didn't do it for me when I was coming. It's okay because I'm a servant. I wanted to be better for the next person because that's the heart of a servant.

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Listen to me. When you put others first, God knows how to put you where you belong. When you put others, you make sure that you are putting others first. God knows how to put you where you belong. God knows your name.

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And everything that he said about you, everything he said is yours. Every place he said that you are going to go, you are going to go there. If you take on the form of a servant, if you serve like Jesus served. Am I making sense here?

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He said, you got to establish others above yourself.

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The preacher used to say, if you can't say Amen, say ouch.

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All right, here's another one. Here's another one. Luke chapter number 14, verse 8 through 11. But I'm pulling out this 11 first. He said, when someone invites you to a wedding feast, don't take the place of honor.

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In other words, don't seek the best seat. Jesus is warning here. Stop chasing clout and positions and let honor come to you.

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Because that's what a true servant does. I don't have to put my name in the hat. I don't have to whisper somebody so they'll put my name in. No, I'm going to serve and I'm going to do exactly what I'm supposed supposed to do. And God knows how to elevate me.

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God knows how to speak your name in rooms that you're not even in.

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Humility is what invites God's promotion in your life.

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Entitlement invites God's correction.

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Bishop used to say, don't humble yourself because you don't want God to have to humble you. Humble your, humble yourself because you don't want God to have to humble you. If we humble ourselves, God knows how to handle your promotion.

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There's a place that God has for you, a destiny that he has for you. But some people won't get to that place and get to that destiny because they are going to make shipwreck of it. Because your gift will take you where your character can't keep you.

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I got to make sure that my character is strong enough to stabilize my gift in the places that he wants it to go. Somebody say Amen. All right, John 21 and verse 17. What number are we on? We're on seven.

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Okay, this is seven. John 21 and seven. Jesus tells Peter, feed my sheep.

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After Peter's failure, Jesus didn't say, go and flex your leadership muscle. But what he said to him is, feed my sheep, care for my sheep, nourish my sheep. Why did he say this? Because love for Jesus is proven through the care for his people. If you really love Jesus, it's going to show through how you care for his people.

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It's going to show how you serve his people. It's going to show how you do what you do in the ministry, in the ministry, outside the ministry, everywhere. It's going to show real love for God always overflows in service for people.

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I can't want the accolades, can't want the hand claps, but don't love the people.
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Yeah, that's a good place to clap. That's a good place to clap. There's a whole lot of people, they want the accolades and want the offering. And they want you sow here and so. And don't love the people.

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But real love always flows into service, overflows into service for people. He said, if you lose your life, you will find it. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for me, they'll find it. I'm not worried about not being able to get to where I'm supposed to get.

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He said, if you lose your life for me. Fulfillment isn't found in self preservation. It's found in self surrender. When I surrender to Jesus, how many surrendered to Jesus tonight? How many made a decision?

00:34:03
I'm gonna surrender to Jesus. I'm gonna pick up a towel. This, brothers and sisters, sister's family is the paradox of the kingdom, that you gain by giving up and you live by laying down. That's how you gain. When you lose your life for him, you find the life that you were always meant to live.

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You hear people talk about it. Real fulfillment comes when I serve, when I give to people. Why? Freely you have received, Freely you give. We don't serve to get something from God.

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We serve because we've already received so much from him. Is anybody grateful for what you've received from God? Is anybody grateful for how he changed you, turned your life around?

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My generosity is a response of the grace that I've received from him. It's not a requirement, it's a response. Because I know if it had not been for the Lord, I wouldn't be here today. If it had not been for the Lord, I might be out of my mind somewhere.

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Testify to somebody and tell them I'm picking up a towel. Tell somebody else, I'm picking up a towel. I'm picking up a towel. I'm not. It's not just lip service.

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You're gonna see it by my fruit. By my fruit, you're gonna know them. I'm picking up a towel. I'm gonna serve like the King because I was made to live the King's way. Made to live the King's way.

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So how do we live this out? In my closing, serve someone who can't repay you back. You want to break the spirit? Offer your life. Serve someone who can't pay you back, who can't give you recognition.

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Find one act of service that no one knows about. Do it. You're going through the drive through line. Pay for the person behind you. Drive off, serve, help someone, do something for somebody.

00:36:33
Identify those areas in your life where entitlement has crept in. Ask God to forgive you and repent and make a decision. I'm gonna pick up a towel because I want to live the king's way. I want to live so that God is pleased with my life. Amen.

Total Duration 00:36:57