Service | Service in a "Serve Me" World: Service or Serve Us - Part 1

Send us Fan MailSERVICE IN A "SERVE ME" WORLDService or Serve Us - Part 1Senior Pastor Keith StewartSeptember 18, 2022Do you want to know the secret to a blessed life? It’s no mystery. Jesus couldn’t have been clearer. He said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16.25). Jesus radically reorients our thinking and priorities. Rather than pursuing selfish interests, living for one’s self, and making our own needs #1, Jesus tells us to do the opposite – if we give our lives away, we’ll find what we’ve been looking for all along. Join us on this journey as we explore how to live and serve like Jesus.SERIES: Service or Serve UsIt was the Nobel Prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer who once said, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know, the only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” This is something both Dr. Schweitzer and Jesus shared in common - a stunning reversal of the Me-First paradigm with an approach that is radically other-centered. ---DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1.) Pastor Keith shared, how the more we make our own happiness the focus and center of our life, the more happiness eludes us. Discuss your own thoughts about this concept. How have you seen it play out in your life and that of others?2.) Psychologist Bernard Rimland, at the Institute for Child Behavior Research in San Diego, published a simple test. He tells his students to...“Make a list of ten people you know the best. After each name write either H (for happy) or N (for unhappy). Then go down the list again, this time writing S (for selfish) or U (for unselfish) after each name. Once you have completed your list, add up all the categories, Happy-selfish, Happy-unselfish, Unhappy-selfish, unhappy-unselfish.”Try this experiment on your own or with your group. Discuss the results. Give examples 3.) Pastor Keith shared the signs that something has gone wrong in regard to how we are serving or what is motivating us to serve. In particular, he highlighted three attitudes.•  When I feel used and unappreciated•  When I feel possessive and overprotective•  When I feel disrespect and resentmentHas any of these scenarios ever been something you had to face? If so, which one(s) and did you recognize it as problematic? How did you deal with it?4.) One remedy Pastor Keith suggested for dealing with problem attitudes when it comes to serving is practicing the discipline of secrecy. Secrecy about the ways in which we are serving crucifies our need for self-importance. It keeps the focus on who we are doing this for – the Lord not people. Have you ever practiced the discipline of secrecy in regard to service? Share with the group your experience with that – both your struggles and your breakthroughs.https://www.springcreekchurch.org/#realspringcreekchurch #serviceorserveus #service #serving #serve #Jesus