Seriously Serving - Dead Serious, Week 3 (Hannah Heather & Panel)

The ethics of the kingdom Jesus established is loving sacrifice, and the model of church which the Bible invites us into is one in which we humbly serve one another, not sprinting to the finish line of life getting as much glory and honor and accolades and possessions and pleasure as we can for ourselves, but stopping, stooping, sacrificing to serve others. That, it turns out, is the kingdom shaped race that we are called to run. [00:06:38] (33 seconds)  #KingdomShapedRace

Sacrificial service and pouring ourselves out for the sake of others is the invitation invitation of the kingdom. And in the kind of upside down beautiful way of the kingdom, what we find is as we pour ourselves out and give ourselves away for others, we actually discover life to the full. It's like we think we're giving it all away, and suddenly we realize this is actually living, and it's so much more beautiful than I could have imagined. [00:11:31] (25 seconds)  #PourOutLiveFull

Jesus came to Earth, and he lived not as a king or a ruler, but as a rabbi, and not a rabbi like the world had ever known. Jesus washed his disciples' feet. He cooked them breakfast. Breakfast. He rode into Jerusalem humbly on a donkey. He touched lepers and made them well. He ate with sinners and healed everyone who came to him, taking time to pour his life into each and every one. [00:07:10] (29 seconds)  #ServeLikeJesus

Jesus pulls together the horizontal axis of our life with God and our love for God and the vertical axis of our life together with other people and our love for other people. He draws them close. And here's why that's so important. It can be a lot easier to love God who's perfect, right, and loving and full of grace and consistent than it is to love the person next to me when they're being annoying. [00:10:00] (29 seconds)  #LoveGodLovePeople

But, you know, even after watching Jesus and learning from him, the disciples were still caught in the traps of the world. They were still impacted by the systems and structures of the world. And so we get this moment in Mark 10 when two of the disciples are fighting over who gets to sit next to Jesus in his glory. That's one of these moments where I can just imagine Jesus like, guys, how are we here? How have you not got this yet? [00:07:39] (29 seconds)  #KingdomVsAmbition

but this is a pretty big family gathering. Do you know what I mean? And it can be really hard, and it also can be quite daunting. You know, I know a lot of people will be sitting here feeling like, I've only just arrived and quite new. How on earth people you're you're calling it a family, but, like, nobody knows my name, and nobody really knows what's going on in my life. And so how is this my how can this be my family? [00:27:56] (23 seconds)  #FindingChurchFamily

And, honestly, like, it's hard to love the people around us. It's hard when they've hurt us. It's hard when they've let us down. It's hard when they've betrayed us. But, also, if I'm being really honest, it's hard when they've just mildly inconvenienced me, right, and my personal happiness. And that's what other people do all the time. And yet Jesus says, that's actually what it's all about. [00:10:52] (25 seconds)  #LoveWhenItsHard

And yet Jesus says, that's actually what it's all about. It's all about choosing in all those little tiny moments, choosing to allow other people to inconvenience us in order that we might lay our life down for the sake of others. That he says is the way of my kingdom. Sacrificial service and pouring ourselves out for the sake of others is the invitation invitation of the kingdom. [00:11:12] (26 seconds)  #ChooseSacrificeDaily