Volunteers’ Appreciation Night
JOHN 13:1-5 ESV
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.
JOHN 13:1-5,12-17 ESV
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.
Every time you served, you picked up a towel, too.
1. SERVICE IS OUR IDENTITY, NOT JUST OUR DUTY
JOHN 13:14 ESV
14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
Serving others wasn’t meant to be a task list for his disciples; it was meant to be the trademark of their lives.
There’s a big difference between doing something because you have to and doing something because it’s who you are.
Serving isn’t just what we do; it’s who we are.
2. SERVICE FLOWS FROM LOVE, NOT FROM RECOGNITION
JOHN 13:1 ESV
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.
We don’t serve because people deserve it; we serve because Jesus displayed it.
When you love Jesus, serving others stops feeling like sacrifice and starts feeling like worship.
Love that doesn’t get dirty probably never touched anyone.
Love is the only fuel that never runs dry.
3. SERVICE LEADS TO JOY, NOT TO BURNOUT
JOHN 13:17 ESV
17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
The joy isn’t just in knowing what Jesus did. The joy is in doing it.
The towel that serves others wipes joy onto your own heart.
PSALMS 100:2 ESV
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!