Service Is Our Action Part 2 (07/12/2025) - Ps. Raju

I called us to fall in love with Jesus again—like when you first fell in love with someone and you couldn’t wait to hear their voice. I long for our mornings and evenings to be shaped by that same desire: to hear the voice of the Lover of our souls. I’m still growing in this myself, still learning to walk in intimacy with Him, but I invited our whole church family to pursue this together.

We walked through John 13:1–17, where Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. He set aside His garment—the sign of status—and took up a towel. I believe He even washed Judas first, praying over the very feet that would carry betrayal. To move this from head to heart, Michelle and I washed the feet of several in our church and prayed specific blessings: that their steps would align with God’s path, that discernment would grow, and that protection and purpose would surround them.

I then charged our homes to practice this literally. Husbands and wives, wash each other’s feet—especially if you’re in conflict. Parents and children, do the same. If you’re single, invite a trusted friend. You won’t understand the shift that happens until you do it. In a culture that chases titles and power, Jesus silences the argument about greatness by kneeling. Servanthood isn’t performance; it is a heart posture. Service flows naturally only from a servant heart.

We remembered that Jesus calls us blessed not for knowing but for doing. Love becomes real when it moves from words to action. Paul called himself a bondservant by choice; I’m asking for that same willing surrender in us. If we are too big to serve, we are too small to lead. God can do more through one surrendered servant than through a team of gifted but proud people.

I invited those who don’t yet know Jesus to receive Him, and I called our church to repent of pride and step forward into a fresh commitment to servanthood. We prayed for transformation, courage, healing, and freedom. My hope is that we leave not just inspired but changed—ready to take up the towel in our homes, in our church, and in our city.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Fall in love with Jesus daily When love shapes your attention, it reshapes your choices. Start and end the day with His voice, not as duty but as desire. Intimacy fuels obedience more than effort ever can. Sustained attention to Jesus slowly reorders the whole inner life. [10:37]
• 2. Servanthood begins where titles end Jesus set aside the garment that signaled status and picked up a towel. Greatness in His kingdom is not positional; it is relational and lowly. When we release the need to be seen, we become available to be used. The towel is the truest credential. [28:12]
• 3. Love becomes real when acted Words without embodiment wither. Love needs hands, water, and a basin; it needs calendars and interruptions. When love moves into action, the heart softens, relationships heal, and faith gains substance. Doing shapes becoming. [32:49]
• 4. Wash one another’s feet—literally Practicing the act at home breaks pride’s grip in ways talk cannot. In conflict, it disarms defensiveness and opens space for repentance and tenderness. Parents and children learn mutual honor at ground level. The basin turns houses into holy ground. [25:50]
• 5. Blessedness follows obedient humility Jesus tied blessing to doing, not merely knowing. The promise isn’t for spectators of humility but participants. When we stoop, we discover joy waiting at the bottom. The path downward is actually the way up in the kingdom. [38:23]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [08:26] - Heart of service and greeting
• [10:37] - Hearing your Lover’s voice
• [12:31] - John 13: Jesus washes feet
• [15:22] - Laying aside the garment
• [17:37] - Peter’s objection and lesson
• [25:50] - A charge to wash at home
• [27:02] - Why feet? Cultural meaning
• [28:12] - Not titles, but servanthood
• [32:49] - Love must translate to action
• [34:11] - Bondservant identity and heart
• [36:01] - A servant Savior’s humility
• [38:23] - Blessed if you do them
• [43:29] - Surrender pride; come forward
• [56:32] - Sending and living the word

Bible reading (ESV)
John 13:1–17
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,
4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 He came to Simon Peter. Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”
8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”
10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”
11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?
13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Observation questions (look carefully at the text and the practice described)

1. In John 13:1–5 Jesus removes his outer garment, ties on a towel, pours water, and washes feet. What do these specific actions tell us about his purpose and posture in that moment?
2. In the scene Peter objects and Jesus replies, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” How does that exchange shape the meaning of the foot‑washing (see John 13:6–11)? [17:37]
3. After washing their feet Jesus gives a clear command and example (vv. 14–15). What exact practice does he require of the community, and how literal is that command in the passage itself?
4. A public demonstration followed the reading when several people had their feet washed and blessing prayed over their steps and future. What concrete elements (actions, words, prayers) were used in that demonstration to move the truth from head to heart? [13:42]

Interpretation questions (aim to understand the meaning and implications)

1. What does the removal of the outer garment and the taking up of a towel symbolize about status, leadership, and how greatness is measured in God’s kingdom? [28:12]
2. Why does Jesus focus on washing feet—the “lowest” and most exposed part of the body—rather than performing a more grand or symbolic act? What does this teach about ongoing humility and daily need?
3. Jesus ties blessing to doing (v. 17). What does it mean for a community’s blessedness to depend on embodied obedience rather than mere knowledge? [38:23]
4. Servanthood as described is more than an action: it is a heart posture that must be chosen (cf. Paul’s “bondservant” language). What internal changes are indicated when a person moves from occasional service to a servant heart? [33:32]

Application questions (practical, personal steps to put this truth into life)

1. Begin and end your day shaped by desire to hear Jesus’ voice rather than duty. What one specific change will you make this week (time, place, device removed, a short prompt) so your mornings or evenings begin with listening to the Lover of your soul? [10:37]
2. Commit to actually wash someone’s feet (spouse, child, parent, trusted friend) in the next 72 hours. Who will you ask, when will you do it, and what fears or hopes do you expect to encounter in yourself? [25:50]
3. Identify a relationship where pride or position has kept you from serving. What single, concrete act of humility will you take this month to lower yourself and serve that person (e.g., cook a meal, do an unpleasant chore, give time, wash feet)? [28:12]
4. Love must move into action. Name one relationship where words haven’t matched deeds; what specific, measurable thing will you do this week to embody love (phone call, visit, repair, offer help, listening for 20 minutes)? [32:49]
5. Reflect on leadership and service: “If someone is too big to serve, they may be too small to lead.” Where might a title or role in your life be blocking your availability to serve, and what small step will you take to reverse that this season? [37:06]
6. If not yet committed to Christ, consider receiving the servant Savior who humbled himself for our sake. What next step will you take this week to receive Jesus (read John 13 again, speak with a believer, come forward to express a commitment)? [40:42]

(Use these questions as a guide for honest sharing, listening, and prayerful planning. Allow people time to name obstacles and to make simple, concrete commitments they can report back on next week.)