Weeks ago I started a message titled: ‘The Culture of Serving and Loving’, and today I’ll conclude this message. According to Jesus, this is the most important teaching of all.
One day a man came to Jesus and asked: Of all the commandments, which is the most important?
In the old law of the Old Testament there are 613 commandments.
Jesus answers the man: If you Love God and Love your neighbour you are fulfilling all commandments.
Before starting I want to go over some of the main points from last message.
If you were born again and love Jesus, you have 2 missions to fulfil:
To love God with all your heart and serve and love your neighbour as you love yourself.
The Bible clearly estates that one day, when we reach eternity, we will have to give an account of these two missions.
Jesus said that Loving and Serving is something that will influence your eternity!
If you love God and serve your neighbour, you will enter the Kingdom of God.
We have learned through the Samaritan’s parable that caring for people is much more important than your function in church.
For a Priest and a Levite who were “working for God”, could not “serve and love” their neighbour.
People will visit the church because of an event, but they will only become part of the church if they are cared for, served and loved at an individual level.
If I don’t serve people, my function in church is worthless!
Loving and serving has a price (it will cost you something). The Samaritan paid the price for having compassion on that man.
Loving the lost, saving the lost, costs your time and money!
Beloved ones, being with those we love is easy, talking and paying attention to those who are our friends is easy, being with our family members is easy, but Jesus said that He leaves the 99 that are healthy and goes after the lost one; he pays the price to rescue the one.
Jesus is not one of the ways that can lead us to God, Jesus is the only way and there is no salvation without Jesus.
“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.””
John 3:3 NIV
Those who are not born again will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven and they will be lost for all eternity.
You and I are saved so we can save the lost, we are discipled to go and make more disciples.
People have to be reached by the love of God. You can reach people I could never reach. In the same way that I can reach people you could not reach.
Everyone can reach somebody if they are empowered by the love of God.
If you’re empowered by the love of God, if you are really in love with Jesus, then you will fall in love with your neighbour.
Not in a bad sense, please don’t do that ! 😐
Your love for Jesus has to make you love your neighbour.
Our mission should be everywhere, all the time.
Only organising church events we will not save the lost. There are many people who visit our church, participate in our events, but their lives are still destroyed and they are still dying and in need of love and compassion. The problem is that we don’t stop to listen to them.
We all live a busy life and we don’t stop for people.
Some people say that Ireland and Europe doesn’t have any needs, because they have everything.
This is a lie, the greatest need of this people is Jesus, and they need to know salvation and they need to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
Also there are a lot people that are hurt, broken, old and young women that need to be listened to, but our religious, busy life doesn’t allow us to stop for them.
Around us we have many young people with who are in pain, they are addicted to drugs, others in depression, they tried to commit suicide, and the only way to help them is by stopping and listening to them and loving them.
God called us all to first stop and be in His presence. When we stop to spend time with Him, then His love will lead us to love, to have compassion and to stop and serve our neighbour.
As we stop for Him, He puts a passion in us to stop for our neighbour.
It’s all about passion and compassion, if all of us just stop every day for one hurting soul, one lonely granny, one hurting young man, one young woman in pain, many people will be saved and their lives will be transformed.
To stop, serve and love our neighbour is a mandate from heaven and we are all called to do it.
Unfortunately people are so busy with their own stuff, they are making money, they are getting married, investing on this earth… We must stop first for the One who deserves our love first.
When you stop for the One who loves us them you will stop for your neighbour and for those who are in need.
Every son, every daughter, everybody who says they believe in Jesus should stop for others.
In a church meeting or service it’s impossible to really know people’s problems but when you stop to listen to someone God can use you to bring healing and salvation.
You can go and love somebody every day, just make that your daily goal. We need to pray and ask: God give me the opportunity to show love today.
Just show you care to someone you don’t know, or go and stop for somebody who is lonely, hurting or broken. Maybe even a church friend you know is in need of help.
Sometimes there are people in the church, in our services, in the youth meeting and they are dying in loneliness, in depression or with family problem; they are giving up on their faith or giving up on their lives and no one sees them, no one stops for them.
Every week after our service you always go see your friends, the same friends, you tell jokes, and laugh while hurt and sick people go home the same way they entered the church.
You cannot help people by your own strength, you cannot care for the needs of the poor by your own strength, you cannot care for the needs of the broken through your own strength, but through Him you can.
We are always trying to do so much, many events, to do bigger things, but it is in the little things that are done with great love that we will see the best results.
Do the little things with great love!
See the one in front of you and beside you, try to feel what they are feeling, have compassion for them.
Technology takes us away from being present with people. Sometimes we need to slow down to really see the one in front of us and love them.
The ultimate goal is intimacy with Jesus, if we are intimate with Him them we spread the love that really makes the difference in a dying world.
But we are just rushing around, trying to build things, and we lose the main point.
When we understand who He is and when He starts to lives inside of us and He breathes in us and we become passionate about Him then we will do anything for Him.
If you want to carry out the task God placed onto you then you need to spend time with Him so that His love can be the petrol that will move you to help others.
To serve and love people is not something difficult; I love helping people, or visiting someone in need. Because I know I’m doing it for Jesus.
“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?
The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:34-40 NKJV
I told you when we reach eternity, we will have to give an account of these two missions.
Some people might say: I don’t help anyone anymore because I once I tried to help someone and they used me and I got hurt.
Well, me too. I’ve been through this several times!
I’ve helped many people, I’ve invested in many lives and some have given it no value, they did not honour me as their pastor. I’ve helped people to come to Ireland, I invested my time and money and they have turned their back to me; I received people inside of my house, they slept under my roof for many nights, they ate my food and later betrayed me.
I’m not hurt and I’m not broken and I am still receiving people and loving and serving people!
I’m not hurt and I’m not angry, and I still receive people and I’m going to keep on loving and serving others to come!
Why? Because all I did, I did it for the Lord and He will honour me and reward me!
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Colossians 3:23-25 NKJV
Everything you do, do it heartily for the Lord and not for men, because people are not always fair, they forget what you once did for them, they may just take advantage of you and after being helped they may hurt you.
When you are serving people, you are serving Jesus and He will reward you for all your investment.
“But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.” Colossians 3:25
One day these people that you served and later dishonoured you and did you wrong, they will pay and give account to God.
“Don’t be misled, you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.”
Galatians 6:7
God teaches us to love by putting some unlovely people around us. It doesn’t take a lot of character to love people who are lovely and who love you.
You don’t need much to love people who are lovely and who love you. This is easy.
We need to be moved by the love and compassion of Jesus to be like the Samaritan and help people who might otherwise be considered our enemy. Loving and serving people must be your lifestyle.
I’m very happy because I can see that we have many faithful disciples as the result of this investment in their lives. This is my greatest joy, because we are forming children in the faith!
Jesus said, go and make disciples! Matthew 28:19
Do you have disciples in this church? Is there someone that you preached the gospel to, whom you visited, someone you’ve been giving lifts to come to the services, whom you discipled and today they are faithful servant of God?
I want to challenge you to invest in someone’s life. There are many new people in church, do you know all of them? Have you invited them for a cup of coffee or dinner in your house?
When you come to church or when service is finished don’t to go to someone that you are always talking to, don’t go chat to your good friends.
When you come to church, pay attention to new people and those who are visiting us.
When the service ends let’s show some love and serve our new brothers and sisters.
We need to see people as the Lord sees them, we need to love them as the Lord loves them, we need to have God’s heart beating in our hearts.
We need to have the heart of Jesus, we need must have compassion.
God is calling His children to hear the cry of the suffering and hear what’s He hears.
Once you hear the cry of a suffering man or a suffering woman, a suffering child then you will stop, you will really see them, you will love them.
When you have an encounter with the Lord and when His love burns your heart, then you will hear, you will stop and you will love and you will invest in people.
We come to church to get filled with God’s presence; you then have to go out and find the lost and pour out God’s presence onto them.
You came to church today not just to sit and listen, you came to be ignited, you came here to love Jesus and you came here to be filled up with the Father’s love!
When you are full of God you’re not going to be afraid to go out there.
If you get fully ignited by the power of the Holy Spirit and you fall crazy and madly in love with Jesus you will stop for the one , you will serve and love them.
This church must stop for the one. Whom have you invested your time in? Are you investing your time and resources in anyone?
How can we have more disciples, how will we save people, how will we see the church grow?
It’s by kneeling down to help the one by the side of the road; by stopping for someone to really listen to them and serving and longing them.
How will we see people being saved? How will there be new members and new people if we don’t first serve them?
May the Lord bless you and keep you and help you to invest on eternity, by loving and serving people.