SCRIPTURE: Romans 12:4-8 (ESV)
DATE: 3-16-25
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — but we’re in a series within our Romans series. For Paul has mentioned spiritual gifts in his letter — so we’re taking time to explore the spiritual gifts he mentions so we all understand what these gifts are and how they’re to be used in our faith family. Now the purpose of spiritual gifts is something I’ve reminded us of each week: Spiritual gifts are abilities given to individual believers by the Holy Spirit in order to equip God’s people for ministry, both for the edification of the church and for God’s salvific (or saving) mission to the world. – Lexham Survey of Theology
And here’s what Paul says about the gifts — in Romans chapter twelve — beginning in verse four. There we read…
Romans 12:4–8 ESV
4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
After taking two weeks to explore the gift of prophecy — today we’re going to look at the spiritual gift of serving. And serving is something that — Christian or not — most people appreciate and value when we see it in others.
- We tell veterans “Thank you for your service.”
- We want “servant leaders” in the workplace.
- When I was in the Army one of our values was “selfless service.”
- And — here at Gateway Church — we have the expectation that all of our members serve. And — by serving — we specifically mean serving one another in our faith family — not those outside of our church — we call that going.
So — with this spiritual gift of serving — we immediately see that it’s one of the spiritual gifts that — though some have the gift — all Christians are still expected to serve one another.
For example, in Galatians Paul writes…
Galatians 5:13 ESV
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
And — one another — means “your fellow Christians” in this verse. And this is just one example for all of us — even those without the spiritual gift of serving — where we see the expectation that we’re to serve each other. In fact — though I mentioned how this is an expectation we have of members of Gateway — from God’s perspective — this is the expectation he has of all of his people. For — to be a Christian — is to be a person who serves his or her fellow followers of Jesus.
But this sermon isn’t about serving in general — we’re focusing on spiritual gifts — and today — specifically the spiritual gift of serving. So let me remind you of the definition of this spiritual gift — I shared this with you a few sermons ago.
Service
The gift of serving is the divine strength or ability to do small or great tasks in working for the overall good of the body of Christ.
Notice the connection of this gift with the body of Christ — the church. Thus — to repeat what you’ve heard me say a few times already — this spiritual gift — like the other gifts — is to be used for the sake of strengthening and building up the local church that you’re a member of.
We find this spiritual gift in verse seven of Romans chapter twelve where Paul — after talking about being a member of the body — writes…
Romans 12:7 ESV
7 if service, in our serving;
Now — I want to say early on — that this is one of the spiritual gifts that I think is easy to undervalue. Both — for those of us who are benefited by the Spirit working in and through others in this way — and — it’s easy to undervalue this gift if we’re the ones with it. Because — right — this gift seems so ordinary. It doesn’t seem like a big deal — especially after spending two weeks talking about the gift of prophecy — which is why we’re taking time to understand all of these gifts better because we need all of these gifts operating in our church in order for us to grow up and mature spiritually as a faith-family.
EXAMPLES OF SERVING IN THE BIBLE
Something interesting about the spiritual gift of serving — to me at least — is that Paul uses the same word for serving — in verse seven — that has a range of meaning, including “ministry, relief, and distribution.”And it’s a word that’s used in an interesting way in a passage that’s familiar to many of us — a passage we looked at last week while exploring the spiritual gift of prophecy.
In Acts chapter six we read…
Acts 6:1–7 ESV
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
As I mentioned last week — many believe this is the beginning of the leadership position in the church known as deacons. And the word — in the original language — that we translate as deacon is related to the word serve in our verse in Romans. Why does that matter? Well this tells us that deacons are the chief servants in the church — they are the lead servants. They’re not the only servants — but they have a special leadership position in the church that’s meant to free up the elders so we can fulfill our unique leadership role in the church.
Now something you’ve heard me say before — in this series on spiritual gifts — is that having a specific gift doesn’t necessarily mean that the individual is called and qualified to hold the position — or office in the church — that’s associated with a gift. And this is true for the gift of serving and the office of deacon in the church. Not all with the gift of serving will be deacons — but one would rightfully expect all deacons to have the spiritual gift of serving.
In the passage we just read in Acts — there are three different English words that are all related to each other in the original language of Greek: distribution, serve, and ministry. Luke uses the word distribution to help us understand the problem: Greek widows in the church weren’t receiving their daily distribution — most likely referring to the food they needed to make it through the day.
The twelve disciples — the top leaders in the church — have this situation brought to their attention. And their response is, “It’s not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.” Which gets us to the second of our three related words — serve. And this situation shows us the distinction between speaking gifts — and associated roles in the church — and serving gifts — and their accompanying roles in the church. One’s not better than the other — both roles are equally needed for us to reach our full spiritual maturity as a local church.
Now — what may strike an appalling chord to you — is the apostle’s response to the situation. I mean — who do they think they are — so high and mighty they can’t personally care for the neglected widows? Don’t they know that’s what pastors are supposed to do?
Yet — after saying it wouldn’t be right for them to neglect preaching the word —and after suggesting that the church select others to help meet this need — because the widows should be cared for — the disciples go on to say, “We will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” The final of our related words of distribution, serve, and ministry.
You see — the widows must be taken care of AND the word of God must be preached. Both are important ministries in the church. Both are ways that others are served. And when — instead of putting these two ministries in opposition to each other — and — instead — when we see the beauty of pastors preaching and servants serving — we’ll find ourselves growing to even greater heights in our spiritual maturity as a church.
Where — like these widows who — apparently didn’t claim to be neglected because Peter or John or James — or any of the other twelve — didn’t personally make sure they were fed — but instead the widows received the care provided by those the Spirit of God had gifted to meet their needs. This is when the church is operating in a beautifully supernatural way — when we allow those gifted with speaking gifts to serve us with them — and those gifted with serving gifts to serve us with them. But when we put everything on one man’s shoulders — or on the elders — not only will we never feel cared for — we’ll remain spiritually immature as a church — which we should expect when we go against his Word to us.
Now — I mentioned this earlier — but I want to do so again: Just because someone has the spiritual gift of service — that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re called to be a deacon. Other factors matter? For example, did you notice the character of the people who were to be chosen for this role?
Acts 6:3 NLT
3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility.
They need to have a good reputation, be full of the Spirit — there’s being filled with the Holy Spirit language again — and full of wisdom.
In one of his letters — Paul writes this about deacons.
1 Timothy 3:8–13 NLT
8 In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. 9 They must be committed to the mystery of the faith now revealed and must live with a clear conscience. 10 Before they are appointed as deacons, let them be closely examined. If they pass the test, then let them serve as deacons. 11 In the same way, their wives must be respected and must not slander others. They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they do. 12 A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he must manage his children and household well. 13 Those who do well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.
These are Christians — not only with the gift of serving — but who have been tested and endured in the faith over time — who have a track record of perseverance and faithfulness — are well-respected and so on.
And — now — let’s marvel at the results of these spiritually gifted servants fulfilling this role in the church.
Acts 6:7 ESV
7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
This is why there’s no insignificant gift. The twelve disciples and these seven deacons partnered together — each allowing the other to use the gifts the Holy Spirit had given to them — and the result is the multiplication of those who believed in Jesus.
Does anyone want to see a multiplication of those who believe in Jesus happen through our ministry as a church? I know I do — I bet many of you do as well. This can be our reality — but only when those with the spiritual gift of serving use their gift to help us mature in our faith as a local church.
If you want to know more about the role of deacon — I’ve written this booklet on church leadership. They’re available for free at your campus Resource Center and are also on our church website — gatewayepc.org/booklets — if you prefer a digital copy. In this booklet I give more details about this role — along with answering a variety of questions on church leadership.
THIS GIFT AT GATEWAY
But I want to return to the idea of there being no insignificant gift — and no insignificant members of this local church. In many of his letters, Paul praises individuals by name who had demonstrated faithfulness in following Jesus. Often these are sections of his letters that can seem irrelevant to us — impractical — just a bunch of names of people we don’t know and especially don’t know how to pronounce. Yet we couldn’t be more wrong about these passages being irrelevant. I find these portions of Paul’s letters to be so encouraging as he honors different individual members of the local church.
For example, in First Corinthians chapter sixteen Paul writes…
1 Corinthians 16:15–16 NLT
15 You know that Stephanas and his household were the first of the harvest of believers in Greece, and they are spending their lives in service to God’s people. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, 16 to submit to them and others like them who serve with such devotion.
Paul specifically names this man — Stephanus — along with his household. He reminds his readers that these were some of the first people to believe in Jesus in Greece. And — in defending their position of authority in this local church — Paul says, “Stephanus and his household have given their lives to serving God’s people.” I can think of few statements that would be higher commendation than this.
Or at the end of Romans Paul writes…
Romans 16:1–2 ESV
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
Some of your Bible translations may even have the word deacon in place of servant in verse one. Here’s a woman who Paul praises because of her service in the church. And he encourages the Christians in Rome to help her in whatever she needs from them. And — if you don’t know — Phoebe is the first of over thirty individuals named — or referred to — in the last chapter of Romans. Paul loves to encourage and honor others by naming them and highlighting the good work they are doing for Jesus.
So I thought it would be good to mimic Paul today and give some public honor to some servants of our faith family. Obviously we don’t have time for me to name everyone — but these are some of our spiritually gifted servants — who never long for the stage and bright lights — in fact — I’d guess that most of these folks are all terrified that I may be about to mention them. So I won’t use any last names — first names only — to limit their concerns — but I do want to take time to pause and hear reason upon reason upon reason for us to be thankful to God for folks who faithfully serve us as they allow the Spirit of God to use them for our good and God’s glory.
These are examples of God’s Spirit at work among us. Marvel at the supernatural work of God for which we are to be thankful for.
There’s Rodney — or Rod — as his volunteer sticker says. Rodney serves on our security team, picks up teens who wouldn’t make it to youth group without a ride, cleans bathrooms, takes out trash, and even shows up on a week day to get up on the roof to help fix an HVAC unit or — over at North Main — will take a look at the boiler.
There’s Mike who shows up early on Sunday mornings to set up the Kidway gym at our County Road 9 Campus. Kids — Mike is why you get to play gaga ball over here at our County Road 9 Campus — he sets it up for you.
Rose and Brandon serve in our cafe. One week they opened the fridge up to discover that coffee creamer had leaked everywhere. It was a big time mess — which they took the time to clean the entire fridge out so they could wipe it all down.
I’ll stick with the cafe for a minute. Tara comes in during the week to clean and organize the cafe so it’s ready for the next weekend. Over at our North Main Campus, Becky keeps up with the cafe inventory — as well as communion supplies. She texts a detailed list of what’s needed so everything can be ordered on time by a staff member.
Speaking of communion. Whether it be Matt — who took care of communion by himself for years — or Chad and Sarah, or more recently — Chad and Kristin and Abe — that’s at our County Road 9 Campus — over at North Main Jay and Coleen did so for years and now Peggy takes care of the communion prep. These folks come in during the week to cut all of those bread squares and fill up all of those plastic cups with juice for us. It may not seem like a big deal — but we’re talking thousands and thousands of little pieces of bread and plastic cups being filled every year.
Erin and Kristin come in during the week to straighten up and refill all of the connect cards in our worship center. You’ve probably never thought about who does that before now.
There’s Howie, Josh, Jordan, and Kyle who serve on our security team.
There’s Martha who comes in to clean all of the nursery toys at our North Main Campus so the little ones share as few germs as possible with each other. Martha — on behalf of the North Main moms — thank you for serving.
You’ve got Amanda who makes cookies that we deliver to first time guests. We’re talking professional level cookies that look and taste incredible.
There’s Becky, Stacey, and Mary who — for years — have been the hands behind nearly every meal served at a Gateway event. Speaking of Mary — because she really loves attention — she randomly stopped by my house recently with a bag full of all sorts of paint for kid activities. She was out shopping one day and saw that paint for kid crafts was on sale, bought them out, and then donated it all to Gateway. Why? Because she just wanted to make sure we had the paint if we ever needed it for a Kidway activity.
There’s Beth who’s always part of the VBS clean up crew. She stays late — after the chaos of kids has departed — to get everything cleaned up and ready for the next day.
You’ve got Terry, Emma, and Carrie who help with childcare for our Tuesday morning women’s Bible study. They serve the kids and the moms who are growing in their faith.
There’s Karla who coordinates our youth ministry’s second Sunday suppers.
Jeff who helped refit the backstage room at our North Main Campus — in addition to doing electrical work in the building. You’ve got Dick who always jumps in with maintenance jobs around our buildings.
There’s Angelina who helps our Go department staff with all sorts of behind the scenes stuff. Keri helps decorate at Christmas time. Cooper and Andrew have helped with stage construction. And Lyn who always welcomes people when they come into the worship center with a joyful heart at our North Main Campus.
And since we’ve talked about deacons today — I don’t want to forget the great group of folks who serve us in this way: Chad, Dana, Paul, Amberly, Harlan, Lisa, Dave, Christina, Kathy, Randy, Peggy, Kristin, Michael, Abe, and Tracy — thank you for serving us.
Gateway, would you join me in thanking God for empowering these individuals — and many more among us? These individuals allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through them and we are growing in our spiritual maturity — and are closer to reaching our full potential in Jesus Christ — because they are doing so.
CONCLUSION: JESUS, THE SERVANT WE FOLLOW
Speaking of Jesus — something I love about this often underappreciated spiritual gift is how it reflects our Savior. For example, when…
Mark 10:32–45 NLT
32 They were now on the way up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear. Taking the twelve disciples aside, Jesus once more began to describe everything that was about to happen to him. 33 “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. 34 They will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip, and kill him, but after three days he will rise again.” 35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.” 36 “What is your request?” he asked. 37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” 39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” 41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Every Christian is called to serve others — but those with this spiritual gift — serve others in a way that’s different from the rest of us. For the Holy Spirit displays himself in and through these individuals so that — those served — are being served by the Spirit of God. Through those with this spiritual gift — the rest of us are doubly served by our God. Served by Jesus — who gave his life for us — and served by the Holy Spirit — who displays himself through individuals with the gift of serving.
Which reminds me of another story of Jesus and his disciples. This takes place on the night when he’d be betrayed.
John 13:1–17 NLT
1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” 8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” 9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” 10 Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.
What’s so moving about this story is that Jesus — the one who came to serve and not be served — serves his disciples by washing their feet. It’s a moment that captures our attention as we imagine how humbling it must have been for the disciples to be served by Jesus in this way. But may we never forget how — through those with the spiritual gift of serving — we are served by the Holy Spirit. Though we don’t experience Jesus washing our feet — we do experience the Holy Spirit serving us in all sorts of ways through our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ — think of all of the examples we just heard of how we’re being served.
And that’s why — again — there are no insignificant spiritual gifts and no insignificant members of this faith family. Don’t ever think, “All I’ve been given is the gift of serving — talk about not being important” — don’t ever think that. Every member matters. We need all of us using our spiritual gifts so that we’re built up to our full potential in Christ as a church. And those with the spiritual gift of serving — reflect our Savior in such a special way — for Jesus came to serve and not be served. And through you — those with this spiritual gift — we are served by our God. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Father, thank you for the countless ways that you serve us — your people. Though we rightly see ourselves as your servants — we must not ignore the many ways that you demonstrate your love for us as displayed in you serving us.
- When Adam and Eve recognized they were naked — because of their sin — you served them by making them clothes.
- When a flood was sure to come — you served Noah and his family by giving him the designs of an ark that would be their salvation.
- You served Joshua and the Israelites by giving them victory over Jericho.
- Your love for us compelled you to give prophets of Old your words of warning to your people so they would return to you.
- And — in the pinnacle act of your love — you sent your Son to be the Suffering Servant whose sacrifice would make us right with you.
Jesus, you are the Son of God who came to serve and not be served. You came to fulfill the promised role of God’s Suffering Servant — the one who considered others more important than yourself. You did everything out of love for your Father and your people, and you humbled yourself to the point of death on a cross. How marvelous it is to think of how you’ve served us in love.
And to you — Spirit of God — thank you for gifting so many among us with your power and presence as displayed through the gift of service. Forgive us for the times we’ve been ungrateful for the work you are doing through so many among us. And thank you for the reminders today of the reasons we have to praise you as we’re grateful for one another.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — one way you serve people is through the act of salvation. Calling us out of spiritual death and darkness and into the wonderful light of eternal life. May you serve many who hear my voice right now by saving them. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.