The Greatest Thing In The World

J. Hampton Keathley III “Servant-hood is the condition or state of being a servant to others, of ministry to others rather than the service of self. It means willingly giving of oneself to minister for and to others and to do whatever it takes to accomplish what is best for another.” J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. was a 1966 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years. In August of 2001 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and on August 29th, 2002 he went home to be with the Lord.

J. Hampton Keathley III  A servant is one who, even when in positions of leadership seeks to lead and influence others through lives given in ministry for the blessing of others and their needs. J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. was a 1966 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years. In August of 2001 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and on August 29th, 2002 he went home to be with the Lord.

WHAT? You said we were going to discuss LOVE. WE ARE!!! “To do whatever it takes to accomplish what is best for another.” That is the definition of Love, doing the highest good for another. That is “AGAPE” If I had said we were discussing Service you would have gone to sleep immediately. But LOVE keeps us wide awake.

What’s In It For Me? Servant-hood is not unlike slavery You cannot SERVE without SUBMISSION Service is a yielding of personal rights Yielding? Submitting? Slavery?

What’s In It For You? Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Then Who In Their Right Mind Would Be A Servant?

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” Jesus

John 13:14 “ I am your Teacher and Lord. I have washed your feet. You should wash each other’s feet also. “ Jesus

John 13:15-17  ”I have done this to show you what should be done. You should do as I have done to you.  For sure, I tell you, a workman who is owned by someone is not greater than his owner. One who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, you will be happy if you do them.” Jesus

Truth Is… We are all serving! Either serve SELF Or serve CHRIST

J. Hampton Keathley III  Either we will seek to serve ourselves, a choice that nullifies our capacity to live as disciples, or we will learn to live as servants out of a faith relationship with God through Christ. J. Hampton Keathley III, Th.M. was a 1966 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years. In August of 2001 he was diagnosed with lung cancer and on August 29th, 2002 he went home to be with the Lord.

Matthew 6:24 “No one is able to serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Jesus

Matthew 23:11-12 “The greatest among you will be your servant.   And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus

Philippians 2:5-7 “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave” The Apostle Paul

Warnings Be careful of your motives in serving False humility, Finding favor or status, manipulation

Warnings Serve Real needs Eph 4:11 equip the saints so they can minister “Many of us place top priority not on becoming Christ-like in the middle of our problems but on finding happiness. I want to be happy but the paradoxical truth is that I will never be happy if I am concerned primarily with becoming happy. My overriding goal must be in every circumstance to respond biblically, to put the Lord first, to seek to behave as he would want me to. The wonderful truth is that as we devote all our energies to the task of becoming what Christ wants us to be, He fills us with joy unspeakable and a peace far surpassing what the world offers” Larry Crabb Jr, Effective Biblical Counseling

Warnings Don’t seek Happiness “Many of us place top priority not on becoming Christ-like in the middle of our problems but on finding happiness. I want to be happy but the paradoxical truth is that I will never be happy if I am concerned primarily with becoming happy. My overriding goal must be in every circumstance to respond biblically, to put the Lord first, to seek to behave as he would want me to. The wonderful truth is that as we devote all our energies to the task of becoming what Christ wants us to be, He fills us with joy unspeakable and a peace far surpassing what the world offers” Larry Crabb

J Hampton Keathley  The absence of a servant’s heart leads to playing power games or spiritual king of the mountain The absence of a servant’s heart is really the absence of humility or pride.

Warnings Don’t seek to fulfill your own needs. “Everyone faces the problem of meeting their felt needs by their own solutions and defense and escape mechanisms (i.e., the things people do to protect their self image or how they want to people to feel about them). Rather, our need and responsibility is to trust the Lord for our acceptance, ability, production, and strength. Based on biblical values and truth, we must, by faith and an act of our will, firmly reject the goal of seeking to serve our own needs and adopt the goal of becoming servants of others like the Lord.” J. Hampton Keathley

Pat Riley NBA Coach “You must give up something in the immediate present – comfort, ease, recognition, quick rewards- to attract even something better in the future.”

Kenneth Boa “You can’t really obey Jesus unless you take the risks of believing that what He calls us to pursue is going to be better than the world’s rewards.” Kenneth Boa Dr. Boa is the President of Reflections Ministries and Trinity House Publishers.

Jeffrey E. Miller The Son of Man did not come to be served. If the Son of Man did not come to be served— how wrong it is for you and me to seek to be served. Rather, we should dedicate our very lives in service to others, and look out for others’ interests over our own. Jeffrey E. Miller

The Lord Jesus Christ “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.” Is it too strong to say that failing to serve is actually living in opposition to the Lord

In Conclusion “ I am your Teacher and Lord. I have washed your feet. You should wash each other’s feet also. I have done this to show you what should be done. You should do as I have done to you. You will be happy if you do this.” Jesus