Called to Serve Beyond Our Comfort Zones

The call to serve begins with Jesus’ words in Matthew 4:19: “Come, follow me,” and the promise that He will send His people out to fish for people. God calls every person according to His purpose, and God also provides the opportunities, the places, and the way to serve His will. Service does not start with having a lot of money, perfect supplies, or an easy situation. Service starts with answering when God calls.

The work in Peru shows what that call can look like in real life. The Amazon holds deep poverty, hard travel, villages reachable only by boat, and people who may not have access to basic health education. Yet the people there also show joy, generosity, and a hunger to learn about Jesus. The children with little more than what they are wearing still come ready to learn. The Shipibo-Konibo people, with their own language and culture, reveal how care sometimes requires patience, translation, and meeting people where they are.

Jesus’ words in Luke 14 push service beyond helping people who can repay the favor. The poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind may never be able to give anything back, but God sees that kind of service. The local workers who got up before sunrise, cleaned after the clinics, built roads at midnight, and hoped somebody would show up so they could share God’s word show what tireless service looks like. Their work was not for recognition. Their work was for somebody else to meet Jesus.

God’s creation in the Amazon also declares His glory. The river, the hills, the rainforest, and even the dolphins point to the beauty of what God has made. The little Adventist church meeting in a family’s wooden house shows an even greater beauty: people who loved Jesus enough to open their own home to their community.

God’s power became especially clear in Lizeth’s story. Her condition was serious, the resources were almost nothing, and insulin was far away. Yet God used the little that was available, including one liter of saline, to bring strength back to her body. God did what human ability could not do.

The challenge is not that everybody must go into the Amazon. The challenge is to go beyond the bare minimum, ask God for opportunities, and step past comfort in service to God and others.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God supplies opportunities for service. God does not call His people and then leave them without a path forward. The opportunity may come through a neighbor, a local need, a workplace, or a place far from home. Service often begins when a person stops waiting for ideal conditions and recognizes the opening God has already provided. [59:36]
• 2. Serve people who cannot repay. Jesus directs attention toward those whose need is great and whose ability to return the favor is small. That kind of love removes the hidden desire for recognition, influence, or personal gain. God promises that no act of mercy offered in His name is forgotten. [62:19]
• 3. Small resources remain useful to God. A clean toothbrush, basic bandages, translation help, and one liter of saline may look like almost nothing beside overwhelming need. God can use what is present when His people offer it faithfully. Human limitation does not cancel God’s ability to work. [77:34]
• 4. Comfort zones can hide ministry. The call to serve may lead into inconvenience, uncertainty, long hours, and situations that feel too big. God’s opportunities are not always comfortable, but they can reveal His care in ways ease never can. Faith grows when obedience moves past the bare minimum.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [57:29] - A Pair of Pants From the Amazon
• [58:45] - Called to Serve
• [59:55] - Mission Work in Peru
• [61:19] - Serving Rural Amazon Communities
• [62:19] - Inviting the Poor and Needy
• [63:14] - Children and the Shipibo-Konibo People
• [64:23] - A Machete Wound and Limited Resources
• [66:12] - Large Medical Clinics and Local Workers
• [68:17] - The Beauty of God’s Creation
• [71:26] - Contamana and a House Church
• [73:19] - Lizeth’s Medical Emergency
• [77:34] - God Provides a Miracle
• [78:17] - Go Beyond the Bare Minimum
• [79:28] - Prayer for Opportunities to Serve

Bible Reading

Matthew 4:19
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” [58:45]

Luke 14:12-14
“He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” [01:02:13]

Romans 8:28
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” [59:25]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 4:19, what does Jesus ask His disciples to do before He tells them what He will make them become?
2. According to Romans 8:28, who are the people described as being called according to God’s purpose, and what is God doing in all things for them?
3. In Luke 14:12–14, which kinds of people does Jesus specifically tell His followers to include, and what makes serving them different from serving friends or wealthy neighbors? [01:02:13]
4. What examples show the different kinds of service taking place in the Amazon communities—such as translation, teaching children, preparing clinics, and opening a home for church? [01:03:32]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus says, “Come, follow me,” and then speaks of being sent to fish for people. What does this order suggest about the connection between following Jesus and serving others?
2. Luke 14 teaches believers to serve people who may not be able to repay them. Why can the desire for appreciation, influence, or a returned favor make service less loving? [01:02:33]
3. Romans 8:28 says that God works through all things for those called according to His purpose. How might that truth encourage someone facing limited resources, an inconvenient need, or an unexpected opportunity to help? [59:36]
4. The workers prepared clinics before sunrise, cleaned afterward, and even built a road at midnight so people could come. What does their example show about serving faithfully even when the results are not guaranteed? [01:07:35]

Application questions

1. What is one opportunity to serve that may already be in front of you—in your home, neighborhood, workplace, school, or church—but that you have been overlooking? [01:18:54]
2. Is there a person in your life who is unlikely to repay your kindness, thank you, or help you in return? What would it look like to care for that person with the kind of love Jesus describes in Luke 14?
3. What “small resource” do you already have that God could use—a practical skill, time, transportation, listening ear, hospitality, finances, language ability, or knowledge? How could you offer it this week? [01:05:34]
4. Where are you tempted to wait for perfect conditions before serving? What might faithful service look like even if you do not have everything you wish you had?
5. The family in the Shipibo village opened their own home so their community could gather to worship Jesus. How could your home, schedule, or everyday space become more open and welcoming to others? [01:12:45]
6. What comfort zone might be keeping you from responding to God’s call—fear of inconvenience, lack of confidence, uncertainty about what to say, or concern about what others will think? What is one small step beyond that comfort zone you could take? [01:19:32]
7. God can work through what seems insufficient, as seen when a single liter of saline became part of bringing help to Lizeth. When have you felt that what you had to offer was too little, and how does this story reshape your willingness to serve? [01:17:34]