Quotes about Service-Commanded

1

Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved!                                              

2

Church greatness consists in being greatly serviceable.

3

When God wanted sponges and oysters He made them and put one on a rock and the other in the mud. When He made man He did not make him to be a sponge or an oyster; He made him with feet and hands, and head and heart, and vital blood, and a place to use them and He said to him, “Go work.”

4

There is no retirement in God’s work.

5

A good many are kept out of the service of Christ, deprived of the luxury of working for God, because they are trying to do some great thing. Let us be willing to do little things. And let us remember that nothing is small in which God is the source.

6

God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority. It is not enough that we be just, that we be righteous, and walk with God in holiness; but we must also serve our generation as David did before he fell asleep.

7

You know when I was a teacher I could flunk those who refused to work. When I was a coach I could bench them. When I managed a large aquatic facility I could fire them. I can’t do any of those things to you. You are all volunteers! So what motivation do I have to get you to serve? Very simple, I have the words of God that I presented to you this morning – His command and the great promises of His grace and your reward. If you are not excited about being directly commissioned, gifted and empowered by the King of the Universe to do His will, there is not much more I can do to get you engaged.

8

God gives gifts and distributes gifts so that He might receive glory in the universe (Eph. 4:10) through things like: His will accomplished though us, His people ministered to through us and the mere fact that His people are not selfish, but they serve and they are not useless, but they are equipped. Therefore, when we refuse to use our spiritual gifts, the body of Christ suffers and God does not receive the glory He deserves. On a cosmic level, any believer not using his or her gifts is a problem of God-sized proportions.

9

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can and as long as you can.

10

Serving must become a Spiritual Discipline. The flesh connives against its hiddenness and sameness. Two of the deadliest of our sins – sloth and pride – loathe serving… If we don’t discipline ourselves to serve for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom, we’ll “serve” only occasionally or when it’s convenient or self-serving. The result will be a quantity and quality of service we’ll regret when the Day of Accountability for our service comes.

Recommended Books

Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome

Kent Hughes

The Christian Ministry

Charles Bridges

Jesus Driven Ministry

Ajith Fernando