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June 12, 2025 26 mins

"Love God, Love People, and Lead Others to Do the Same." Pastor Steve explains that serving is essential for spiritual growth, and the greatest blessings in Christian life come when we fulfill the servant role God created us for.

• God doesn't call people to ministries they hate—He gives a love for what He's called you to do
• Jesus modeled servant leadership by making everything about the Kingdom rather than himself
• Many churches have lost focus on biblical servitude by trying to look like the world
• When families prioritize serving, their decision-making changes to put God first
• True fulfillment comes when we discover what God has wired us to do and pursue it

Covenant Church Houma


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Thank you, reminder for us to recall in today's
divisive and dark culture, fromfoundational truths and
scripture to the hot topics oftoday's culture.
Allow this podcast to inspireand motivate you on your faith
journey.
Well, good morning, pastorSteve.
Good morning, glad to be withyou yet again.
Good to be here.
We are on episode 19, and wehave been doing this for a while

(00:41):
now and it's been a good time.
I appreciate your time andgiving us some of those wisdom
nuggets that you've developedthrough the years.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
I don't know about that but happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
So just to give you guys a recap of what's been
going on those of you who arelistening or watching we're
going through the mission, ourmission statement as a church,
which is love God, love peopleand lead others to do the same,
and we talked about loving Godand the ways we do that through

(01:12):
worship in episode number 17.
And then episode 18, we talkedabout loving people and the ways
that we do that as a church aswell.
So today we're going to talkabout leading others to do the
same, which is the other part ofour mission statement.
And the main idea is as we growin faith, we are called to
serve others and lead themtoward Christ.
And the scripture passages wehave today the first one is
Matthew 20, 26 through 28.

(01:33):
But whoever would be great amongyou must be your servant, and
whoever would be first among youmust be your slave, even as the

(02:01):
Son of the things, for buildingup the body of Christ.
You know, pastor Steve, one ofthe things that I know
personally, that you and thischurch has helped me when I
first came to know the Lord wasallowing me to serve and really
just allowing me to do what Godwas calling me to do and that
really helped me find my way.
And I love that about you and Ilove that about our church,

(02:25):
because many churches you go tothey have these parameters
around what you can do, how youcan do it, and we have some of
that because we want the missionand the vision of the church to
be the same, but you reallyallow people to fulfill the
calling that God has over theirlife and I think that's such a
valuable thing.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Well, thank you, I try.
I think that's the goal.
None of us exist just to takeup space.
God saves us for a purpose, andso anytime somebody is trying
to live their purpose in Christ,you want to facilitate that.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Right, Steve.
Why is serving others a crucialpart of discipleship?

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, it's the very essence of Christianity, it's
the very essence of being achild of God.
You know, scripture tells usJesus came not to be served but
to serve.
Not to be served but to serve.
We are little Christ, literallywhat the word means, and our

(03:30):
heart, our spirit ought to be toserve.
And that can be misconstrued inmany ways.
You know, I often tell peopleI'm here to serve you, but you
are not my master.
I'm here to serve you in mycalling, as God has called and
gifted me to do so.

(03:51):
I'm not here to serve you inyour expectations of what you
think I ought to be doing.
And that's hard for a lot ofpeople because we live in such a
selfish world today.
A lot of people because we livein such a selfish world today.
The other side of that is wenever ask people here to do
multiple things.

(04:12):
Some do, but we certainly don'tencourage that.
We want them to find that thingthat God's given them a passion
for, and plug in and do thatthing Right and do it well.
That's what our desire is, andso, in the very simplest form,

(04:34):
our heart and our mind'sattitude ought to be okay.
This is the place God has putme in.
Why am I here, right?
What is it I'm supposed to bedoing to bring Him honor and
glory, and that's what it meansto serve.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Yes, amen.
I remember when I first startedthe Living Water ministry and I
began to serve and one of thethings that I realized early on
was the fulfillment that Igained personally for doing that
.
And what are your thoughts on?
What do you think people aremissing out on?

(05:10):
Or maybe some of yourexperience in the pastorate?
You know what are some thingsthat people struggle with if
they're not serving, if they'renot plugging in, if they're not
doing fulfilling the callingthat God has on their life.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, first of all, I don't think they're going to
adequately grow in their faithwalk.
You can't grow.
It's just like working outphysically If you don't stretch
those muscles, they can't build.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
And we have faith muscles, I believe, and if
you're not exercising them,doing what God put you here to
do, your faith's not going togrow any deeper, it's going to
be a stale faith.
Furthermore, I think you'recheating yourself out of

(05:58):
beautiful blessings.
You know, I love when we carrysomebody off on a mission trip
somewhere, and you can see it intheir posture, in their words,
in their attitude.
When they come home, all of asudden, they're way more
grateful than they were beforethey went and God just seems to

(06:20):
do a work in them as they giveto others.
That's right.
So I think God's greatestblessings are reserved for us
when we're living that servantrole that he created us to live,
servant role that he created usto live, and so the joy of the
Christian life, I think isexperienced at its best when

(06:48):
we're serving Amen.
How does Jesus model thisservant leadership for us?
Oh my goodness, yes, you couldspend a week on that.
Jesus was the epitome of beinga servant.
Everything he did was about thekingdom.
It was never about him.
And even though we get up in ourpulpits and we preach that

(07:11):
concept, we have to be honest.
In the religious environment welive in in America today, it is
all about us.
If you'll just watch themarketing of the average
preacher, the average church, oh, they're telling you how cool
they are.
We got the greatest church.
You need to be over here.

(07:31):
We're the ones this or we'rethe ones that.
So what you see in Jesus is thetrue picture of humility.
He never needs credit.
He knows he's the Son of God.
He knows who he is.
Now we ought to know who we are.
But especially indenominationalism you can see it

(07:56):
.
All the posturing and thepolitics and all the stuff we do
.
That has nothing to do withhumility and service.
Right, absolutely nothing.
As the Christian church.
In my humble opinion in Americatoday is that we are spending

(08:18):
so much of our time trying tolook like the world and we don't
want the world to think we'reweird.
So Satan's won a major battleright there in our walk and in
our lives and that we want to doour marketing like the world.
We want our church to becomfortable to the world.
You know we don't want anybodyto be offended with us.

(08:41):
Well, we know the gospel isoffensive to people who have not
accepted it.
Some will even be antagonisttoward the gospel, will even be
antagonist toward the gospel,and that scares us, it bothers
us.
So you can't be an effectiveservant if you're like a

(09:04):
four-year-old looking for theapproval of other
people.
One of the things I tell mygrandchildren, trying to help
them understand who they are inChrist.
They'll come home from schoolsometime and you know how school
is.
Some kid's been mean to them orsomething, and I'll go through
it and they've come to hate it.
You know, because they knowwhat's coming and I'll say is

(09:27):
that individual that ruined yourday?
Is that your mama, your daddy,your brother, your sister?
Is that your grandparents?
Is that your mama, your daddy,your brother, your sister?
Is that your grandparents?
Is that your God?
Then nobody else matters.
Why do you care what thatperson thinks?
You're letting someone who hasno investment in your life

(09:50):
decide what your day is going tobe like, and so what we've done
in the Christian church is, Ithink we've totally lost the
focus of being a servant in thespirit of Christ.
Because even this is one of mypet peeves.
You see it on social media allthe time.
Somebody, you know, gives a guy$2 on the street corner, but

(10:15):
they got to post and take apicture and tell everybody what
they did.
Well, jesus, is pretty clear.
You've just got your reward.
You've received it.
So, don't look for anything inheaven for that $2, because you
gave yourself your reward.
So I think we're at a verydangerous time in the church in

(10:37):
that we don't at all understandbiblical servitude.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
That's good.
What are some ways that peoplecan serve in our church?

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Oh my goodness, there are dozens and dozens and
dozens of ways.
You know a lot of it's withinthe church walls.
I believe the most importantperson here on a Sunday is a
greeter.
You know, welcoming people whenthey hit the parking lot, when
they hit the hallways, gettingout of your chair in your

(11:14):
comfort zone, speaking tosomeone you never met in a
worship service, people who takecare of babies and preschoolers
and children, to give thesemothers an opportunity, who've
had a stressful week, to have anhour that they can be in church

(11:36):
and worship and be able tofocus on their relationship with
the Lord.
You know it goes on and on andon.
There's so many ways inside thechurch, but there's so many
ways outside the church, outsidethe walls, and I think that's
where we do our best service.
You know, from time to time,sitting with someone so somebody

(12:02):
can work you know we see thisall the time.
A young family nowadays hasbecome.
Our lifespans have gottenlonger, but the quality is not
any better, I don't think.
And so you have all these youngfamilies trying to care for
their parents and work, andwe've got several that do it.

(12:26):
That'll go sit with someonejust so somebody can go get
groceries, or so they can getaway for a few hours.
Go get groceries, or, you know,so they can get away for a few
hours.
Somebody that'll minister tospecial needs families outside
the walls of the church, takingmeals to a family that maybe you
know they've had a majorsurgery.

(12:47):
Something's going on.
There are dozens and dozens ofways that you can plug in and
serve, but here's the main way.
I don't believe God callsanybody to do something they
hate.
I believe now, you may hate itinitially, but I believe when he
calls you, he's going to giveyou a love for what he's called

(13:10):
you to do, and so I encouragepeople ask yourself what has God
wired me for?
What do I get excited about?
And that's an indicator of thedirection where you want to go
serve.
You know we've got so manypeople here.

(13:31):
We've tried this so manydifferent ways, as you know, in
the past.
We've taken Wednesday nightsand gone out and served in the
community.
We've picked up trash, We'veprayer walked, We've worked at
the food banks.
We've done all kind of thingslike this, and we have a lot of
people who've come to the Lordand are now members here as a

(13:53):
result of getting outside thewalls of the church, and so I
hesitate to say here's what youdo, because I think God can use
things we don't even imaginesometimes in a person's life,
because we're all wired a littlebit different.
Right, Because we're all wireda little bit different.
So I would encourage people,our members in particular, but

(14:18):
anyone listening ask yourselfwhat is it I get excited about?
How can I use that for thekingdom?

Speaker 1 (14:27):
And get busy, right, and, I think, to go along with
that.
I know you'll agree with thisbecause we've talked about this
many times, but people will comeup to me and say, hey, I think
we should do this, and myresponse is well, why don't you
get started on it?
If the Lord is calling you todo that?
See, why don't you take stepsdown that path?

(14:47):
You know, and that usuallyshocks people and normally and I
think it just has to do withthe culture too I think some
people expect the professionalclergy to do their idea, but
really it's God calling them andthey would be robbing
themselves a blessing if webegan to do it.
For them?

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yes, absolutely.
I find that everybody I meethas a better mousetrap.
They know how to do it betterthan we're doing.
It is a better mousetrap, youknow.
They know how to do it betterthan we're doing it, and I
wouldn't disagree.
Maybe some of them do, but Ilearned this many, many years
ago I'd say decades ago.
I'll simply ask, as you feellike God's calling you to lead

(15:27):
that, and because I believe thatthe greatest tragedy in the
Christian church is the modelthat we had for many decades in
my lifetime in the ministry,where we would start something,
then try to recruit people to doit.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
And I firmly believe if God wants you doing a
ministry, he will raise upsomeone who will have a heart
and a passion for that ministry.
One of my biggest frustrationsand I'm not putting down the
Catholic Church, I'm justspeaking reality.
They are designed on areligious, professional model

(16:11):
the priest or everything.
And again, I'm not putting thatdown but because we're in an
environment where most of ourpeople have grown up in that
culture.
If one of us as a minister isnot leading something, they're
almost afraid to step out.

(16:32):
Yeah that's right.
They're afraid they're going tomess it up.
They don't know what they'redoing, and the hardest job that
we have in front of us ishelping them understand that God
is adequate in your life.
What he calls you to, he willequip you, he will make it
possible for you to succeed,because it's his calling, it's

(16:53):
not your venture.
Amen.
And so, yeah, we struggle withthis all the time.
I've noticed on mission tripswe've just, in the last few
years, been able to get peopleto go on mission trips that one
of the pastors wasn't leading.
You know, I'm so excited aboutthat because if we've got to

(17:16):
lead everything that happens,then in reality we're crippled
in our ability to do the work ofthe kingdom.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
That's right and I look at.
You know, 90% of our churchesin America are ran by committees
and nominating committees, andone of the things that floored
me when I first was introducedto this church culture was the
fact that they meet once a yearand they basically say, oh,
so-and-so sounds like a goodname for this committee, so
let's call them and put them onthat committee.

(17:45):
And I began to ask the question, you know, could it be possible
that no one's on this committeebecause God doesn't want this
team or this committee to behere at church, to your point,
god raising someone up to leadit, if that's what he wanted in
the body.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Yes.
Well, when I came to be pastor,we had 17 committees and I
think it was such a dishonoringthing to the Lord's work because
you would elect a nominatingcommittee and then they would go
to work trying to fillcommittees and their usual line

(18:21):
was hey, chet, would you like toserve on the properties
committee?
There's nothing to it.
And not realizing that ifChet's got a busy life, a family
and a job and children and he'strying to do life every day,
you just ask him to do something, that there's nothing to it, it

(18:44):
doesn't matter, he's justfilling a spot.
So it took years slowly lovingand teaching to get our people
to understand that was a deadsystem.
If you don't trust me as yourpastor to run the day-to-day
operations of this ministry,then you've got the wrong pastor

(19:04):
.
And I have check and balances.
We have redesigned it over theyears.
We now have two committeesfinance and personnel and those
two committees are charged bythe church with doing the work
of the church in between our two, our semi-annual and annual

(19:25):
meeting.
So I tell them pay attention towho you put on these committees
, it's important.
And then we have an executivecommittee which is the chairman
of each of those two committeesand myself, and there are many
things that you just need tobounce off somebody.

(19:45):
You don't need an officialmeeting, you just need to get
some feedback before you make adecision, and that's the role of
that executive committee, andso it has freed us to do
ministry, you know, and we don'thide anything.
Everything's transparent.

(20:06):
We want it that way.
I don't write a check.
I'm not on any forms at thebank that allows me to do
anything with money.
I don't want that, and so itprotects me.
Finance committee all get aposting journal at the end of

(20:26):
every month with every dimethat's spent, by whom and where
it went.
So I tell them it's up to you.
You have responsibility to readthis report, and I'm proud to
say that our two committees dotheir job.
They really do.

(20:47):
We get a lot of feedback fromthem and get a lot of questions,
and we never get offended oraggravated because they're
questioning, because they'reprotecting us in doing so.
They're protecting the ministry.
Yes, Amen.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
What are some common excuses, steve, that people use
for not serving, and how wouldyou address them?

Speaker 2 (21:11):
Yeah, it drives me bonkers.
One that I hear that's just alazy excuse is I'm retired.
I did my time.
It's time for the young peopleto step up.
That's an excuse to do nothing.
You don't find the concept ofretirement in Scripture.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
It's not there.

Speaker 2 (21:38):
All you find in Scripture is the concept is to
expire, not retire, right?
And so we're to serve the Lordto the day he stops putting
breath in our lungs.
And so we've taken thisAmerican ideal of retirement and
we've transferred it over tothe church and the Lord's work,
and so, yeah, I've retired.

(21:58):
I do nothing now, anywhere, youknow.
So, basically, you're now awaste of human flesh.
You're just sitting therewatching TV all day.
God didn't save you for that,right.
The other one is and I thinksome of Satan's better work is
I'm not equipped.

(22:19):
I didn't go to Bible school orseminary.
I don't have the skills.
You know.
Those are lies of Satan.
I have seen God in my lifetimeuse people over and over and
over and over again that have nospecial skills that's right

(22:44):
that have no special training,and so I would encourage people
if you feel God leading you,reach out to somebody, get some
encouragement, talk to yourpastors, get an idea of how to
start.
We're here to help you succeed.
We'll help you get started, butwe're not going to do it for

(23:08):
you, right, because you cannotdo what God called me to do and
I cannot do what God called meto do and I cannot do what God
called you to do.
You have to do what he calledyou to do.
So those are the two biggiesthat I run into over and over.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
Yeah, and I've found too, whenever someone gets past
that and actually starts just toyour point earlier, the
blessing their eyes open up andyou can see a change.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
Yes, yes, look, we've got a woman in this church in
her 70s and her husband too.
They're both in their mid-70sand one of them's in the parking
lot every Sunday greetingpeople, welcoming them to
worship.
The other one's working in thesound booth, leading, celebrate

(24:01):
Recovery, going to the prison,working with inmates.
They get it, they get it.
You know, neither one of themwent to college, neither one of
them has any special degrees,but they know God put them here
for a reason.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
And they have a fulfilled life.
Yes, and God takes care of them.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Yeah, and we've touched on this, but what are
the biggest positive changes yousee in individuals' lives and
families' lives whenever theyget bought into the ministry and
start serving the Lord?

Speaker 2 (24:45):
It'll revolutionize your life and your family.
When you do start serving, theexcuses go away.
I'll give you an example.
We have travel ball families inour church That'll make church
four or five times a yearbecause they got a ball game.
We have one travel ball familyin particular that I'm thinking

(25:08):
about, that'll drive all nightto be back on Sunday because,
although they love sports andthey want to do sports, their
first commitment is to the Lordand that drives their decision
making.
See so, when you as a familyget into serving the Lord, your

(25:33):
goals will change the Lord, yourgoals will change.
The object of your goals willchange.
The Lord will become the mostimportant thing driving what
you're doing.
We all got to live life everyday Right.
And so, you know, the conceptthat many of them don't
understand is that I'mrepresenting Jesus wherever I am

(25:59):
today, whatever I'm doing today, and so I think when they get
that understanding, itrevolutionizes their family.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Amen, amen.
Well, I appreciate you, pastorSteve, thank you for being with
us today.
Thank you, my pleasure, anduntil next time.
We'll see you, guys, again.
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