      |
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Become an annual SermonCentralPRO member or convert from your monthly plan for $119.50 and get the "SermonCentral Pastor's Resource Kit" (over $800 value) FREE!  The kit includes:*Thinline True Tone ESV Bible from Crossway Books *Video Sermon Illustrations from SermonSpice.com *Year Subscription to Outreach Magazine *Audio Book Download from Christianaudio.com *Training Downloads to BuildingChurchLeaders.com *Annual Outreach Planning Guide from Outreach, Inc. *Event Planning Guide from Outreach Events *2' X 8' Banner from Outreach, Inc. *Video Illustrations Download from highway Video *Demographic Trends Report from Outreach, Inc. *PowerPoint Templates from SermonCentral.com *Billy Graham book Journeys from Thomas Nelson TOTAL PRODUCT VALUE = $812.00 Click Here to Learn More
 Give your sermons a visual impact with the "Serve One Another" PowerPoint template. Free to SermonCentralPRO members. Click on the image to go to the download page.
 Building Community - Serve One Anotherby Alan Perkins Romans 15:1 “Community.” A sense of belonging, of being connected with people. Knowing that if you don’t show up, someone will notice, knowing that people care if you show up or not. Having things in common – more… 
7 Ways to Serve One Anotherby Jim Luthy Psalm 50:19-50:21 Last week, I used an illustration to show that Jesus should be the center of our small group meetings. He is the real leader of the small group. He is alive. He comes to us in the person of the Holy Spirit. And he is more… 
Serve One Anotherby Rick Stacy 1 Timothy 5:3-5:16 "A community is a group of people who matter to you, and to whom you matter." I grew up in a community where everyone knew everyone else’s business and no one thought a thing of it - because we cared more… 
Serve One Anotherby Brian Bill Matthew 20:25-20:28 This Tuesday marks the 35th anniversary of Pontiac Bible Church! As we celebrate three and a half decades of servanthood, I’d like to read from an early church document entitled, “Progress Report.” “The desire more...  Pew Potato Syndromeby Brad Lewis Matthew 20:28 Every year the folks at Merriam-Webster pour over thousands of publications of all sorts in search of new words or new definitions of old words. And every year they find and include many such words in more...
Jesus’ HandsBill Hybels puts it this way: “I would never want to reach out someday with a soft, uncallused hand – a hand never dirtied by serving – and shake the nail-pierced hand of Jesus.” Contributed by: Dru Ashwell
Giving Ourselves to GodHere I speak of a special type of giving, the giving of our total selves first to God. It is the giving of body, soul and spirit for God’s use that we may achieve, for ourselves and for others, the higher ends of God. This is not, as you can see, charity giving. This is dedication giving. It is the giving of who and what we are. It is the type of giving expressed in a an engraved picture on one of the ancient cathedrals in Europe where an apostle stands between an altar and a plough, the symbols of dying and serving, with the inscription, ‘READY FOR EITHER.” This rule of sacrificially giving of ourselves that we might prepare the way of the Lord is like the case in all the experiences of life. It is a common-sense rule that applies to all the situations of life: Without serving that which we need to achieve, we simply can’t achieve it. Life is a series of givings that we might gain. Only where there is input can we expect an output. Only when we deposit, can we expect return. Don’t participate, don’t expect. No pain, no gain. Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. Contributed by: Philip Makari How the Body FunctionsGene A. Getz, in his book, The Measure of a Church, asks the question, "What is the measure of maturity in the church?" And he lists what others believe are the measure of maturity: 1. An active church (involving people in meetings and programs) 2. A giving church (supporting the church and efforts financially) 3. A growing church (new people coming and staying) 4. A soul-winning church (leading unbelievers to faith and baptism) 5. A smooth-running church (efficient and orderly) 6. A missionary-minded church (supports missionaries around the world) 7. A Spirit-filled church (enthusiastic, emotional) 8. A big church (large attendance, with many programs) God used Paul to give us a different measure for maturity of the church. Paul says that the church is mature when it functions like one body, where Jesus Christ is the Head. When Esther was a newborn, we could see her eyes wanting to reach for a toy, but her hands and arms were not yet able to cooperate. As she became more mature, her body parts began to do what her "head" wanted her to do. Likewise, when we mature as the church, we individually obey what our "head," Jesus Christ, wants us to do. The Church is not obedient to a set of rules. We are obedient to the Person of Jesus Christ through a trusting relationship and to the truths He has spoken. And our obedience is not just in our head, but in the way we live and serve one another. Contributed by: Dana Chau Handsome in My Dirty Clothes On one of Matthew Rogers’ recent work trips to the Dominican Republic, everyone in the group was encouraged to leave behind any clothes or gear they didn’t want, because someone there could certainly use them. He was just going to give away some of his old worn out clothes. But as he put his dirty work clothes in the pile, he had a change of heart. He thought to himself, “I don’t want this stuff, so why would anyone else?” He put all his dirty, worn out work clothes back in his bag, and pulled out the clothes he still wanted to wear when he got home. Because he loved the people there, he didn’t want to just give junk. Instead he gave away his best. And wore home his worst. He got a lot of stares at the airport when he arrived home, walking around in dirty, ragged clothes and ripped up shoes. But what a wonderful feeling! "The Lord Jesus himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" (Acts 20:35) SOURCE: Matthew Rogers. Matthew ministers with the Christian Church of Clarendon Hills, IL. Adapted by SermonCentral staff. Contributed by: SermonCentral True Commitment[Robert] Boardman reminds us that commitment to the will of the Lord does require action on our part. “True commitment will mean not only turning to something, but also turning from something, just as Paul commended the Thessalonians for turning “to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thes. 1:9).” “For the disciple of Jesus Christ, commitment means turning from serving self to serving others, for Jesus said the one who would be first must be the servant of all.” Contributed by: Michael McCartney
Forward this e-mail to your minister friends so they can subscribe to the FREE SermonCentral.com newsletter, too. They just need to click on this link to sign up:
SermonCentral.com
SermonCentral |
|