Luke 15:17-19 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ ” Good Afternoon, Greetings… We all know the parable of the “Prodigal Son” (Luke 15:11-32). “Summarize the parable quickly. At the turning point in the young man’s life remember what he said to himself. (SLIDE) This young man came to realize that…(SLIDE)

A Fat Servant Is Better Than A Skinny Corpse When the prodigal son came to his senses he realized being a servant was much better than being dead. We can learn a lot from such a decision. In fact there are three we are to serve. (SLIDE)

Serving Jesus This seems to obvious but remember the parable is about those that know God, leave God, and then return to God. People have a difficult time “serving” Jesus consistently yet that is the goal isn’t it, but “How do we serve Jesus?” We cannot serve whom we do not know (Matthew 16:13-16).

Matthew 16:13-16 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14 And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15 He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16 Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ ” When we grasp who Jesus is we can then therefore grasp how to serve Him. How do we serve Jesus (John 14:15)?

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” One thing that become apparent is that to serve Jesus means we must be about…(SLIDE)

Serving Others Remember what Jesus said in (Matthew 25:31-40) concerning serving Him…(SLIDE)

Matthew 25:31-40 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left…

…34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…’

…37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ” Brothers and sisters if we want to serve Christ we must serve others as well. In serving others though we must not loose sight of serving ourselves either. (SLIDE)

Serving Self I know that sounds egotistical but remember that many can get so busy serving other people that they forget to serve their spiritual needs as well. There must be balance, even Jesus took time away to “serve His own spiritual needs” (Luke 5:16).

Luke 5:16 “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.” If Jesus needed to slip away to serve His spiritual needs don’t you? I heard a preacher say one time that He didn’t start growing spiritually like he should until he started studying God’s Word for himself and not just others. Preachers and teachers can get caught up studying because they “have to” get their lessons done. We all need to make certain we are studying everyday not only on things we “must” but on this we “want to” study as well.

A Fat Servant Is Better Than A Skinny Corpse Brothers and sisters if we are not servants of Jesus, others, and our selves we will die a skinny corpse instead of a fat servant. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you!!! Question: Are you working hard at being a servant or are you content on simply drifting away into spiritual death?