Serving Like Jesus

In this episode, join Pastors Brent and Sol as they explore the impactful journey of serving like Jesus. They're keeping it real about what it means to serve like Jesus did – from the chaos of daily life to the streets of Senegal and back to their living room. Listen in as they highlight the profound impact of putting others first, showcasing that serving others isn't just about grand gestures, but often about the simple, yet powerful acts we often overlook. This episode is a call to recognize the opportunities for serving that surround us, and to embrace them with intentionality and grace. Tune in, get inspired, and let's make serving a lifestyle, not a checkbox.

If you're looking to get even more out of this podcast episode, check out the full sermon on the same topic on our YouTube channel https://go.clc.tv/ps50

Episode Transcript

(00:12):
Everybody, and welcome back to another episode of between
Sermons, where we are taking the Sunday message from
our church and turning it from a monologue into
a dialogue. Sometimes we spend so much time creating
these messages, and we end up just kind of
talking at people. And so I love that in
this show, we're able to really just talk about

(00:32):
these ideas face to face. And so the face
I get to look at today is my favorite
face. It's my wife's face.
Hi.
Hi, soul. How you doing?
I'm doing great.
It's awesome to be able to just hang out
with my wife.
I haven't been on the podcast for a while
now.
It has been a bit. It has been a
minute since. What was it, the relationship series? Very
first message. Yes, but before that, it had been

(00:54):
a little while, too.
Yeah.
So we get to hang out, but we're hanging
out today because you were the one preaching on
Sunday, which was awesome for many reasons. It means
that I didn't have to prepare a sermon, but
it also means I got to sit on the
front row and cheer on my wife. And so
that was a cool moment. So you got to
kick off what was this week? Four?

(01:15):
Three?
I don't even know how many weeks we've been
doing this. I was in Senegal, and it threw
off my whole timeline of know.
I know. It was week three of our, like,
jesus series, which I've been just loving it. I
really have.
Why?
Because I feel like we as Christians sometimes just

(01:37):
fall into this routine of just wake up and
kind of do your devotions and just kind of
see Jesus as an add on to your life.
It is like the bonus points of my day,
and it's just like the nice thing to have
with my cup of coffee type of thing. But

(01:58):
being in this series, I have been challenged that
my relationship with Jesus has nothing to do with
me. It has everything to do with me being
like Jesus. It is about me being minimized so
that he can really be exalted in me, so
that people can really see him when they see

(02:19):
me. Because if all they find is soul, then
they are missing out. And it has been very
challenging. But I'm loving it.
Yeah. No, I think that our relationship with Jesus
should be transformative.
Yes.
And if it's not transformative, then there's probably something
wrong in our relationship with Jesus if we're trying
to have Jesus and still just be completely us

(02:41):
at the same. Like, obviously you're not following scripture.
You're not following Jesus close enough, because that relationship
with him should be transformative. So I'm excited about
the series, but it's cool to hear kind of
your take. Your.
Just. It is a different way of seeing Christianity.
It's a different way of seeing Jesus. He wanted

(03:04):
us to leave everything behind and follow him. That
was even what he was telling his disciples as
he was gathering them. Just live your life and
come follow me. And we see in the Bible
how they will just put their nets down. Then
they will just literally live their life behind to

(03:24):
follow Jesus. And somewhere along the way, we have
this idea of we just add Jesus to whatever
we want to do instead of realizing that the
call of being a disciple means that you leave
everything and you follow Jesus.
Yeah, it's funny. I actually taught that verse in
Senegal.
Oh, really?
And the message was about, that verse is really

(03:48):
the entirety of Christianity in one verse. I love
it. Jesus says, come follow me, and I will
make you into. I'll make you become fishers of
men. That is Christianity. Follow Jesus. Let him transform
you. He's going to make you into something you
weren't before. So follow Jesus, be transformed by him,
and then tell others about him. That's Christianity in

(04:12):
one verse right there at the beginning of Jesus'ministry.
I love it. See that? I didn't know that.
Great mind wavelength. Love it.
But no, I really wanted to kind of start
off the show just by making you feel really
uncomfortable, because I just have to praise you that
so often. As preachers, I like to say, a

(04:35):
lot of times when I'm up there, I'm preaching
to myself. There just happens to be an audience
that gets to listen to me talk to myself
because it's like this is something that I need
to be doing better at, or this is an
area where I'm feeling conviction. And so sometimes as
preachers, we don't have the luxury of getting it
perfect before we help others follow suit. But sitting

(04:57):
there listening to you teach, watching, looking through your
notes beforehand, it was like, man, this is not
soul preaching to herself. This is not an aspirational.
Sometimes preachers will have imposter syndrome where it's like,
I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be the one
telling people how to do. Like, anytime I teach

(05:17):
on finances, I'm like, I'm not a money guy.
Bring Carlton back in here. Yeah, I know how
to budget and I make smart decisions with my
money. But, man, people start having these financial conversations
and I'm like a little monkey just banging my
gong. Like I have no idea what they're talking
about. But there's so many subject matters and topics
where it's Sunday, I'm the preacher. I've got to

(05:39):
teach on it. And so I'll spend all week
studying or all month studying. And we joke about
how if you're going to teach on marriage, then
your marriage is going to have issues that week.
If you teach on money, you're going to have
money problems that week. And that's just kind of
the process. But getting back to you, what I
loved on Sunday is listening to you teach. It
was not that at all. There was no imposter

(06:01):
syndrome because when you talk about serving like Jesus,
because that's the subject that we're addressing. I can't
think of anybody in my life that is more
of a servant than you. It's just, it was
awesome to be able to hear you tell stories
of how you've served and why you serve and
all that. And being able to, I don't know,

(06:23):
bring our congregation into a better understanding of who
soul is because you're a servant. For me, that
was such a proud husband moment where it was
like, see, this is why I love her. And
so everybody else just got to have a little
glimpse of you and so hope that makes you
feel very uncomfortable.

(06:44):
It's weird. Tell me more.
Don't stop. But I am curious, though. How did
soul get to that point? You're in your thirty
s. I won't say exactly how old, but when
did this start? How did this come about? I
got in trouble because I called you old the

(07:04):
other day and you weren't happy with me. So
I'm trying not to be a bad husband.
It's rude.
We were at the mall and you were about
to buy an outfit, and.
I was like, just remember how old you are.
It was cute, okay? But he looked at me
and he said, just remember that you're almost 40.

(07:26):
That's why you should not go shopping with your
husband.
You just made everybody listening to this podcast hate
me.
Bring your friends.
They're like, wow. Brent was doing so good, praising
his wife, and then wow just went downhill really
fast. So back to subject matter. How did you
become a servant? How did this become such a

(07:47):
core, integral part of who you are?
So I think that some people are born with
it, but some people have an easier time serving
than others, for sure. And I think that I
fall in that category, that it is not as
difficult for me to just be able to put
myself second on top of that, I grew up

(08:09):
in a home where my mom was always wanting
to serve people and she was always volunteering everybody's
services to do stuff, right? Yes. The church will
need 50 bags of candy for kids. And my
mom, instead of just saying, okay, we're going to
just buy the bags, she will be like, yeah,

(08:30):
me and my family are going to make, like,
goodie bags. And she will go to the store
and actually buy, like, cloth bags. And then she
will go and buy felt so that we could
make faces and glue them on them. And then
you will have to sew bows around it. Her
bags were extra, but we were always volunteering to

(08:52):
do stuff. So it was another way for her
to say, we're going to serve. We're going to
do stuff. Since I was, I want to say
twelve, maybe 13, my parents will have live groups,
and they were the ones actually teaching the lessons
in the live groups, and we will have everything

(09:12):
happening in the house. But houses in Mexico are
very little, so all of the adults will be
in the living room. And then they didn't know
what to do with all of the million kids.
So they literally will put all of the kids
in a bedroom, which it's crazy to me now
to think about it, but we were all in

(09:32):
a bedroom, and I was in charge of giving
them Sunday school in that bedroom. So the kids
are sitting on a bed, kids are sitting on
the floor. So since I was 1213, I'm teaching
kids, and I had to go and get trained
because everybody has to have the same curriculum and
everybody has to do the same crafts. It was
serving like I was always doing something. And then

(09:55):
I went to our internship, which our second value,
like, our first value was God first, because that
has to be it, right? But our second value
was others before self, and it was very much
ingrained into us. You are never the one serving

(10:16):
yourself first. You wait for everybody else to be
done, and you are never the first one in
line. Like, you're the last one. And you are
always wanting to make sure that the other person
has whatever they need first. And all of that
just kind of made this person that I am
today to say I value other people. And I

(10:38):
understand how me putting myself second makes other people
feel better. And I've seen that with many, many
people that they realize that because I am putting
them first, they feel like they have value. And
that is just beautiful to see when people feel
like they matter, that they are important, just because

(11:00):
you were able to wait five minutes. So I
think that all of that is what has made
me serve. I don't mind. And it's funny because
I tend to be loud. You don't say, like,

(11:20):
Emma, look at me, look at me type of
person. And because of that, I have always been
kind of pushed to the front. Since I was
little, I was always the one doing the ceremonies
at school, and I was the one. I have
never been afraid of the stage or microphones or
anything like that. So I was always the one

(11:41):
that was selected to be reading in front of
politicians and in front of all of the school
boards and all of that stuff, and I never
cared. But at the same time, I don't mind
not being seen at all. I could be in
the back equally as happy as I can be
on a stage. I don't know. I think that

(12:03):
I see it as a gift.
Yeah. It's funny, because I think you and I,
we have very opposite personalities. So you don't care.
Stage or backstage? I would prefer, heavily prefer backstage.
I don't like the spotlight. And it's funny because
we went through the same internship, we went through

(12:25):
the same training, and so a lot of what's
ingrained in you has been ingrained in me. But
I think where we differ is you do come
with that. I don't know, that natural, spiritual gift
of serving. And so there's moments where I watch
you, and I'm just like, man, she makes it
look so easy where, like me, there's a lot
of training behind it. It's a lot of. I've

(12:46):
been coached on how to do this. I've been
taught how to do this.
There's a lot of groaning as you get up.
Here we go. Okay, I got to do this.
There's a lot of. Just reminding myself this is
a priority, and it feels like. And maybe this
isn't true, but it feels like, for you, there's
not really a whole lot of. I need to
remind myself I need to do this. It's just
an instinctual reaction, I would say.

(13:10):
I do think that. Like I said, I think
that some people are just naturally inclined to serve.
Like, there's a lot of people that are just
natural born servants. Truly.
It's a spiritual gift.
It is a spiritual gift. And I think that
there's other people that it takes a little bit
longer to get there, and I do feel like

(13:30):
I am born with it a little bit. That
doesn't mean that it's easy and that it is
always, like, I just always want to serve. All
I want to do all the time and all
day long is to serve, because that is also
not true. That is unrealistic. But I think that
is sometimes how my brain works. Sometimes I'm thinking
about people and I'm like, oh, you know what
will be really good? If they have this. Or

(13:52):
I hear somebody saying something about something that they
need, and I am immediately looking like, how can
we make that happen? So it is just part
of how my brain even processes information. Even with
my kids. There's times that the kids come home
and they're just saying like, oh, I'm going to
need a book. And I'm immediately like, what book?
Let's buy it right now. I want to make
sure that you have everything that you need. It

(14:14):
is just that extra thing. The other day, Bennett
was saying that he needed to do laundry. He
put his laundry in the washing machine, and I
was just thinking, he's playing a game. He's going
to forget about it. I'm just going to change
it. And I was just finishing the stuff for
them, not because they asked for it, but because
I am thinking I want to make sure that
he's good so it just comes out.

(14:37):
Yeah. Which I think is a beautiful thing. Do
you have any encouragement for the people that are
a little bit more like me where maybe they're
like me, but they didn't go through the training.
And so it's like the serving thing doesn't come
easy, it doesn't come naturally.
I think that as everything, the more that you
do it, the easier it will get. So the

(14:57):
more that you are intentional in serving, that you
serve even when you don't feel like serving and
that you are praying about, how can I serve
this person better or, Lord, you know that I
don't like serving. Like, I just don't want to
give me the desire to serve, and when the
opportunity comes, you take it. I think that the

(15:20):
more that you do that, the easier it will
be in the future, the more that we are
just okay with not serving, because this is just
who I am and it's just hard for me,
then it will continue to be hard for you.
So I think that as everything, if you want
to get better at something, you better practice.
Yeah, I read a book years ago. I can't
even remember who wrote it. It's called do the

(15:41):
hard thing. And for me, that's the advice that
I have for people is, I guess for me
personally, there's some areas of serving that are easier
than others. It's like if somebody needs help fixing
something that's broken, I can jump on that because
the way my brain works, the way everything works,

(16:03):
I want to fix problems. So that's really easy.
I've also been very poor and very cheap most
of my life. And so when somebody has a
financial need, that's always a harder area for me
to serve in. For some people, it's like, it's
the gross stuff. When a kid throws up, I

(16:24):
have no problem with that. In our home, when
it comes to the gross stuff, that's when soul
finally does show some lack of wanting to serve
is when it's something gross.
Well, because if one of the kids is throwing
up and you add me to the mix, then
you're going to have to clean up two throw
up. Is that what you want?
That's so gross. But what I found is the

(16:46):
more I do, the harder act of service, the
easier it becomes to do any act of service.
And so I think that, like you said, it's
that consistency, it's always doing it. That really helps.
And it is hard to do. Even if you're
born with this natural instinct, it's hard because it's
countercultural and it's counter instinctual. I think. I think

(17:11):
there's something in a fallen man that it's broken.
Right. You don't have to teach little kids how
to be selfish, but you do have to teach
them how to serve and how to put others
first. But this cultural sharing is caring. Yeah, but
there's this cultural side of it, too, where it's
like everybody, especially nowadays, is trying to teach self

(17:34):
care, self promotion, take care of your needs first.
And there's great illustrations of that when you're on
an airplane and the oxygen mask comes down, you
got to serve yourself before you can serve somebody
else. It's like, yes, in that emergency dire situation,
but that doesn't mean Karen at the office, just
forget her. I don't know. There's this cultural struggle,

(17:56):
I think, right now of learning to be like
Jesus and to be selfless and to put others
needs above your own that, I don't know, we
just don't want to do it.
And I think that it is also just life
because I've noticed for me personally, the moments that

(18:16):
I lack serving is where I am so sucked
up into life. I am so into what I'm
doing at the moment that nothing else even comes
close. So I am running on. I have to
do this, I have to do that. So everybody's
needs, they don't even show up on my radar

(18:37):
because I am so focused on my life. I
have all of this done and I am stressed
out and I am overwhelmed and I have to
do. So I think that sometimes we just have
to slow down to just take a breath and
be able to look around, because that's when you
will start seeing needs. When I'm tired, I don't

(18:57):
want to serve right now, and that is hard
because that usually happens once I'm home. Like, I
have been going, going all day, and finally I'm
exhausted. I get home, and then my kids need
something, and you're like, yeah.
Which means strangers get more service out of you
than family. At least that's the danger, right?

(19:19):
I was met with that a few years ago
where I realized I had all of the patient
and all of the grace outside of the house.
But I came to the house and I was
just like, no, boys, you can do that yourself,
right? But I would have gotten up and done
it for somebody else if they would have been
at my house. So sometimes it's just life, and

(19:42):
you have to learn how to, even in the
midst of it all, being able to see the
need, do something about it, and do it with
a happy heart. Because I could get up and
give my kids a cup of water or warm
something in the microwave for them or wherever it
is that they were needing grudging and being like,

(20:06):
really? You could have done that yourself at that
point. Just don't do it.
And I've been in that moment before and realized
that I was causing my kids to feel sorry
that they asked me to do something.
Exactly.
And it was like, man, that hurt me so
deeply as a dad because my attitude was, I
can't believe you're making me do this right now.

(20:27):
That then my son was like, I'm so sorry.
I'll do it myself. I'm sorry. I'm just like,
dad fail.
Yeah. And that happens across the board. So I
think that we need to slow down. We need
to slow the pace, and we really need to
put people first. Sometimes we put tasks first, and

(20:47):
I understand we all have things that need to
be done by a certain time. We all do.
So, yeah, tasks are important. The thing that is
on your list is important, but people are more
important. Jesus didn't come to just check things of
his to do list. He came for people. So
if we are going to be like Jesus, we

(21:09):
need to prioritize people. And the people have needs,
and people need to be able to have somebody
to talk to, because sometimes it's not about us
doing stuff. It's about just sitting down and listening.
And I've noticed that that can be equally hard
as actually getting up and doing.

(21:29):
I would much rather do something than just sit
and talk. I'm not really a talker, which is
weird that we're doing a podcast, but yeah, I
would much rather let me go accomplish. I don't
know if that's a guy thing or what, but
let me go accomplish something for you. But to
just be here, to just sit and listen to
you complain or do you whine, there's something in

(21:49):
me that's just like, yeah.
So it is very important for us to be
able to understand that people are important. I don't
remember who said that, but I heard it a
few years ago and they were talking about how
sometimes in life we actually. Not sometimes, but always

(22:10):
in life, we kind of classify people. And you
kind of rank people and like, well, you are
kind of like a two and you were more
like a seven and you are definitely an eight,
you might be a five, and you start treating
people in how you have ranked them. So if
whoever was an eight or a nine, they're going
to be like, they're a nine. There's a nine.

(22:33):
We have to make sure that they have everything
they need. But the person that is at two,
you're like, you're a two, you can wait. You
got two. And this person was talking. I don't
even remember who that was, but he was saying,
you have to put a ten across the board
and treat everybody as they are a ten. And
that always stuck with me because I want to
make sure that every single person feel like they

(22:56):
deserve the best of me and they deserve the
best of my service, and they deserve the best
of my attention and they deserve the best of
my time. It is not like, well, you deserve
better than they do. So I'm going to give
you everything you need. You may have a.
It's got to be a John Maxwell thing. I
feel like it's a Maxwell.

(23:17):
It could be. I don't remember.
I was going to say Craig Rochelle at first,
but I think maybe Craig Rochelle took it from
John Maxwell.
And I cannot even tell you where I've heard
it. I just remember it and it has always
stuck with me.
We must have both listened to it. But yeah,
I think that there is something beautiful about that.
Now, the issue, and this is one of the

(23:38):
problems that I've faced, and maybe you can relate
to this. As we've gone through different roles in
ministry. It seems like the higher up in the
hierarchy you get, the harder it is to serve.
Not because you don't want to, but because everybody
is running FPS of you. Yeah, no. Well, not

(23:58):
even that, but that's a valid point too. But
no, because everybody is fighting for this. Like, I
want to honor this. And I think that part
of it is a cultural thing. I think there
is like, a Chicago church culture of high honor
for people that man, I'm going to get in
trouble for saying this, probably. I think some pastors

(24:20):
need to take a step back and go back
to serving. The whole role of a pastor is
a shepherd. It's a servant leader. And I think
because a lot of pastors have gotten into this
place of they love the honor that's given to
them. They no longer have a place to serve,
and instead they try and qualify what they do

(24:43):
as a pastor as well. I'm serving the people
when I'm preaching or I'm serving the people. No.
When's the last time you scrubbed the toilet? When's
the last time you picked up a piece of
trash? When's the last time you just helped serve?
When's the last time you were at a funeral?
And instead of being the first one to go
through the repass line for food afterwards, what if

(25:04):
you were the one serving the food? And I
think that there's just a problem in culture where
as you get to the higher seat, it's like
everybody wants to honor. Everybody wants to honor. Everybody
wants to honor. Don't let that get to your
head. So I don't know if there's any pastors
that listen to this podcast, but if there is
anybody listening to this, just remember that you're a
servant first, and that doesn't mean your sermon on

(25:27):
Sunday. It actually is more than that.
Yeah. And actually it is very interesting to me
because if you read the scripture and you put
everything in the cultural context. Context. I was like,
lane, I struggle with words sometimes.

(25:48):
ESL English is your second language. It's all right.
And entire brain, like, all of that makes it
it's not good.
No bueno.
No bueno. Paranada. But you put it in cultural
context. Nobody wanted to be a shepherd because shepherds
were kind of like the outcast. Like, you're over
there with the animals while everybody else is doing

(26:10):
life right, and they were not allowed into festivities
because you have been touching.
Gross especially in jewish context. So much of the
role of a shepherd broke certain commandments as far
as cleanliness. And so they had to go through
all this ritual cleansing process even more than the

(26:31):
average person because they're touching dead animals. They're out
in the fields. They're doing all the things that
they have to do for their job, but it
disqualified them from a lot of things, so they
had to stay outside.
Yeah, that's why was such a huge moment when
Jesus is born and the shepherds are the first
ones to hear about this good news. Right? It's

(26:52):
like you like the nobodies, like the ones that
are over there with a flock, that makes no
sense. So when you see that and then you
see what happens now when you have the title
of pastor and now all of a sudden you're
the most important person, it clashes. What it's supposed

(27:12):
to be like. We are supposed to be the
ones serving everybody else, the ones that are leading
the people, the ones that are making sure that
everybody's well fed. So you are there to serve
your flock. That's what a pastor did, like a
shepherd did. If this area doesn't have good grass

(27:32):
for my sheep, I have to look and make
sure that I am taking them to a different
place. If this place is going to be dangerous,
we have to make sure that they are going
to be safe. They were actually actively watching over
the flock like they were serving their animals. And
I think that that's what we are supposed to
be as pastors today. We are supposed to be

(27:54):
looking at our people and say, okay, I have
to feed you good food that is 100% bible
based.
Please and thank you.
It's organic. It's organic from the Bible. It is
bible based. I have to make sure that if
I see danger that is coming because of what
the world is doing, what culture is doing, I
have to keep you protected from that. I have

(28:16):
to warn you about it. We are not just
here to elevate ourselves, but to really care for
the people that are around us. Now, I do
have to say that I disagree with you a
little bit. Please, just a little bit. Because I
get very. I don't have words today, but I

(28:42):
feel really weird when people are trying to serve
me. It's very uncomfortable. That's the word I was
looking for. It's very uncomfortable. It's like, you don't
have to do anything special for me. Right? But
I've noticed that sometimes in doing that, it is
not really humility, it's more arrogance and it's more
pride because I don't need you to do anything

(29:04):
for me. I know who I am. And instead
of just being in true humility, I am blocking
somebody that is trying to do something nice and
somebody that is trying to be a blessing just
because it makes me uncomfortable. So there's times that

(29:25):
I also have to put that down and say,
yeah, we don't disagree.
I was hoping we were going to disagree, but
no, I totally agree with that. I think that,
like all things in life, there's a balance to
be. And I think that there's times when somebody
wanting to honor you now remove titles. And I
think we should honor people.
Yes.
Right. And if somebody wants to honor you, I

(29:48):
don't think that that's necessarily a bad thing. I
think that there just has to be a balance.
And especially when my attitude or my heart towards
it becomes corrupted, I think that's when we have
a real issue. But there times, and I've had
to learn this lesson, too, because I'm kind of
the same way. And I don't know if it
was pride or arrogance, maybe that's what it was.
I don't know how to label it, but it
made me uncomfortable. People were trying to serve me

(30:10):
and it's like, no, you don't need to do
that. I can serve. And I had somebody actually
tell me one time, like, well, when do I
get to serve if you keep stopping me from
serving? And I was like, oh, I'm sorry, I
apologize because I had, I was robbing somebody of
their opportunity, of their moment to serve. And so
I've kind of learned this lesson of when somebody

(30:32):
is really trying to serve from the right heart,
the right motives. Now, because you've got that pastor
title, there's some people that will come to try
and serve. And man, I hate to say it
like this, but they're not really trying to serve.
They're just trying to get close. Rabbit trail on
that one.
Yeah. I think that it is that difference from

(30:53):
receiving somebody's honor or somebody's blessing or somebody's desire
of serving rather than.
Asking for it, demanding it, or expecting it.
Yes.
If I walk into the place where they're serving

(31:14):
food and I just go sit down in my
seat and I just wait for somebody to come
bring me my food, I think that's not good.
Now if I'm standing in line waiting to make
my own plate and somebody says, oh, come on,
pastor, go have a seat. Let me bring you
a plate. I'll probably tell them no.
You will definitely tell them no.
I'll tell them no. I'll be like, no, it's
fine. I can, I can do this. If they

(31:35):
insist, then I'll go sit down. Because that's the
lesson that I'm learning in, like, don't, don't take
away somebody's opportunity to serve, especially when they have
the right heart behind it. So I guess ultimately
it comes down to heart. What's their heart in
wanting to serve? And what's your heart in wanting
to be served?
Yeah, absolutely. So what do you think that it

(31:57):
is the most important thing that we need to
do when we serve?
The most important thing when we serve? I have
no idea. It's a really good question, though. I
think when we're being the servant, when we're the
one serving somebody, I think the most important thing

(32:17):
you need to do is understand your motive, know
your heart behind this. I think that it's okay
to start in a place of, I'm doing this
because I'm supposed to. I think that's okay. That's
an okay starting point. Now, if you're 20 years
into this and that's still the only reason why
you're serving, you need some maturity there. But if
I'm ever in a place where I'm serving out

(32:41):
of obligation or serving out of self promotion or
anything like that, I think I've disqualified myself from
truly being a servant if I'm just doing it.
You read a passage that talked about, what was
it? Willingly and humbly. The willingness and the humility

(33:01):
in doing it. And if I lose those two
qualities, if I lose the willingness, and if I
lose the humility in it, and now all of
a sudden I'm serving for the atta boy. I'm
serving because I think you made the joke of
like, I'm not going to pick up the piece
of trash until somebody walks by. Then I'm going
to pick up the trash so that that person
could see me picking up the trash. It's like,
okay, just stop it. Let's just know.

(33:23):
Yeah, it's tricky. This whole serving thing is really
tricky because we want to do it and we
want to do it for the right reasons. But
the line is so fine that sometimes just having
the right feedback can be what motivates you to

(33:45):
keep on going, or that can completely derail the
heart that you have for serving. So we have
to be very careful and very intentional in our
prayer time to lay everything down at the feet
of Jesus and say, Lord, I am doing this
for you. Don't let me ever forget why I
start serving in the first place. Because if our

(34:05):
serving is not to give him glory and for
him to be magnified in everything that we do,
the Bible says that when we are doing good
things, other people are going to glorify our Father
in heaven. They will see your good deeds and
glorify your father in heaven. So when we are
serving and when we are doing what we are
supposed to, when we're being kind and when we

(34:27):
are just being useful, people will notice and people
will even bring glory to God because what we're
doing, so that is so important. But the moment
that the glory stops going towards God and it
starts going to me, that is when the problem
comes. And it is a really fine line. So

(34:49):
we have to always bringing everything to the feet
of Jesus and said, I don't want any of
this. And it felt really good, but it's yours.
It's not for me.
And that fine line, what I learned a long
time ago is it can be demoralizing, it can
be depressing, it can be heartbreaking. When you keep
serving, you keep serving, you keep serving, and nobody
notices, right? And you're like, but I'm not trying

(35:12):
to do it for somebody to notice. But it
would be nice if somebody said thank you once
in a while, right? I've been serving. I've been
serving, and so I don't know how to correct
that in my own life. So instead, what I've
tried to do is not let somebody else experience
that. So if I see somebody serving, I say
something about it. If nobody ever encourages me in

(35:35):
my serving, I want to make sure that I'm
encouraging someone else in serving so that they don't
feel the way I've felt at times when it's
like, man, I've been busting my butt. I've been
going above and beyond. I've been serving. So I've
had that experience before where it's like people don't
even understand how much I've been sacrificing to serve
and nobody's noticing and nobody's saying anything about it?

(35:57):
And I just feel like I'm being taken for
granted and nobody appreciates what I'm doing. And that's
a horrible feeling to have. And in those moments,
I just got to go to Jesus and be
like, I'm sorry that I feel this way, but
I do feel this way. And I know I'm
not really supposed to feel this way, but I
don't know how to stop feeling this way. So
I just cry out to God, hope that the
Holy Spirit fixes me. But I've come to the

(36:19):
place where I don't want anybody else to feel
that way, especially in my presence. If I saw
them doing something and I didn't say something, man,
what if nobody said something and I don't ever
want to be there. So I try and go
above and beyond. Yesterday, after service, there was some
kid probably eaten an orange in the sanctuary and

(36:41):
left, like the orange peel all over the floor.
And I was talking with somebody and I saw
it out of the corner of my eye and
I was like, I'm going to finish this conversation
and I'm going to pick it up. And literally
in the middle of the conversation, he said, hang
on a second. And he had seen it. And
he walked over in the middle of the conversation
and picked it up. And so I praised him
for it because it was one of those things
where I was like, thank you. That was awesome.

(37:04):
That was a beautiful moment. And the funny thing
is, we had just had a conversation. We were
in the middle of a conversation about how he
felt convicted by the message and how he needs
to be looking for opportunities to serve. And I
was like, man, do you recognize that what you
did is what you just said you need to
be doing? You're living it out. And he's like,
oh, I hate when people leave food on the

(37:25):
floor. I was like, yeah, everybody does, but it
wasn't your job to do. And yet you did
something about it. Even though we're in the middle
of a conversation, you're like, I don't want somebody
else to step on it. I was putting it
off. You didn't. And so I want to make
sure that I take notice when people serve, when
somebody picks up a piece of trash, when somebody

(37:48):
takes care of a kid, when somebody does something
that nobody asked them to do and nobody required
them to do. I want to praise that in
people. And I think if I could encourage more
people to do the same, then maybe we could
solve the problem of, man, nobody notices me and
nobody cares what I'm doing.
Yeah. And I think that is important. That is
very important because definitely I have been there. Especially

(38:11):
I think that if you're a mom, you know,
the feeling of they are just taking everything I
do for granted. Nobody sees all of the sacrifice
and nobody sees all of the hours that I
put into this. They just expect things to be
done. We feel it. I don't know, maybe you

(38:31):
as a dad feel the same thing. I don't
know.
I just know we have had that conversation before.
But as a mom, I have been there many
times. But it is understanding that I am not
serving just to hear that. But hearing is nice.
Hearing it does help.
But saying thank you goes a long way.

(38:51):
It does.
So I think that it is a balance between
those things. It is a balance between wanting to
be recognized because you have put the time and
the effort into doing whatever it is that you're
doing to serve. But if you were not going

(39:11):
to get that recognition that you will still be
okay. So it is a lot of work, and
it takes a lot of prayer. It takes a
lot of going to God and saying, give me
the right heart for serving. Give me the right
heart to be able to do all of the
things that I need to do for you. My

(39:34):
main person that I am picturing in my head
as I serve is you. And if anybody else
says anything about it, that's a bonus. That is
a plus. That is like, oh, you noticed, too?
That's awesome. But when God is ultimately the person
that you want to bring glory to and you
are doing everything for him, then everything else is

(39:56):
just extra, and it is nice to have it.
But if you don't, you were not looking for
it.
That's been, I guess my encouragement to myself is
ultimately, I'm not doing it for you. You're my
wife and I want to serve you and I
love you, but ultimately, you're not the one. If

(40:19):
we trace it back to here, I'm doing it
for this motive. This motive, we trace it back
to its root. Its root should always be, I'm
doing this for Jesus because for me, my greatest
desire in life is to one day hear him
say, well done, my good and faithful servant. And
so I got to make sure that I'm serving
right. Because if not, then he's saying, well done,

(40:40):
my good and faithful preacher. No, that's not what
he says. My preaching is not the thing that
Jesus is proud of. It's when I live as
a servant, when I put others before myself, when
I do those things. And I've said on the
podcast before, I don't want to get to heaven.
And he's like, well, you're done. No, I want

(41:01):
him to say, well done. Not just, well, you're
done. There's this kind of this desire that's motivating
me, but I love that the Bible even illustrates
that. Jesus says, when you fed me, you gave
me water. When I was thirsty, you clothed me.
And the people are like, when did we do

(41:22):
any of those things? You haven't even been here.
How did we do those things? He's like, well,
anytime you did it for the least of these,
you were doing it for me. And so that's,
I don't know, my motivation right. When I'm picking
up trash, I'm not picking up trash because I
need to. I'm not picking up trash because the
church will be cleaner after I pick it up

(41:43):
or the street will be cleaner after I pick
it up. No, I'm picking it up because of
Jesus. It's for him that I'm doing it. When
I take food to a homeless guy, I'm not
just taking food to a homeless guy. I'm taking
food to Jesus. I'm serving him in the way
I serve others. And if I don't get an
atta boy on this side of heaven, I am

(42:05):
still looking for the atta boy on the other
side of heaven.
Yeah. And that is the one that we have
for sure. That is the one that counts.
Yeah. That's good.
Yeah, I like it.
So you highlighted something in the message on Sunday.
We talked about it in the car, actually, and
we kind of broke it into three categories. Right.

(42:25):
It's, you see something and so you do something
about it. Then there's the people that see something
and they don't do anything about it. And then
you didn't talk about this in the message. But
I brought up the kind of the third category.
The people that don't see it, so they don't
do anything about it. And so just the idea
there is in serving others, what we need to

(42:46):
do is see a need and do something about
it. I love the fact that they're sitting at
this table with dirty feet. They're already in the
middle of supper. It says as they were eating.
This is supposed to be something that happens when
you walk in to the.
Home and you're talking about Jesus washing his disciples.
Yeah. So it's something that's supposed to happen when

(43:07):
you walk into a home. There's either a servant
or there's a basin, and you're supposed to wash
your own feet. That was very common, too. Like,
clean your own feet, man. That's nasty. And yet
these are a bunch of fishermen. These are some
rowdy.
I mean, there were no bothered by it, right?
Like Peter's cutting off people's ears. These are not
like, I don't know, clean freaks, I guess, fishermen,

(43:30):
you know, and so they're sitting around the table
with nasty feet and nobody cleaned up. Like, y'all
nasty. And Jesus sees it, and so he does
something about it. Everybody else could see it, but
they didn't do anything about it. And so that's
really kind of the heart of your message. Know,
see the need and do something about it. How
about for people? I'm not going to talk about

(43:52):
those people. I'm going to talk about me. For
me, who sometimes has blinders, is very near sighted
or something. I don't know what it is, but
there's a lot of times when I don't recognize
needs. I don't see the opportunity to serve. What
advice do you have for me? How do you

(44:13):
help me actually see the needs and then do
something about it?
I think that you need to start praying for
awareness because there are needs all around us. And
I think that maybe it is back to what
I was saying in the beginning. You got to
slow down and really take a look everywhere you
go. Really pay attention to the words that people

(44:34):
are saying instead of just quickly trying to move
on to really hear what is happening. I know
since you're saying that you are the example, there
have been moments where I feel like now that
we have two dogs and the two dogs are
a little crazy when they are together. There have

(44:54):
been times that I feel like I am yelling
at both of the dogs and I feel like
I'm pulling out my hair. And you didn't come
down. I would have expected you to at least
be like, everything okay? But for your hand, but
it didn't happen. Right? I think that sometimes just.
I heard the tone of your voice. I didn't
want to walk into that because then you're just

(45:15):
turning me and be like, you're the reason why
we have two dogs.
Exactly. You wanted two dogs. You'll deal with them.
Actually, you wanted two dogs.
You wanted two dogs.
No, you started this.
You wanted two dogs.
I will go on the run.
You know how many dogs I want?
Zero.
Zero.
It was your idea to get a second dog

(45:36):
anyway.
So I think that sometimes it's just paying attention
and motivating yourself to pay attention and to do
something, because if you are never intentional about it,
you will not see it. If you don't wake

(45:57):
up and go into the workplace or go around
your neighborhood or go anywhere that you're going with
that intentionality of what can I do to serve
somebody today? You will not see it because we
are consumed by the things that we need to
do, the things that are in our list, the
things that have a deadline, the things that are

(46:19):
just happening in our own lives. You go to
the grocery store with an idea of, I have
to get this and I have to get this
and I have to get that. So not seeing
that somebody cannot reach the top shelf is not
uncommon because you are not looking for that. But
when you go into this place and saying, okay,

(46:40):
is there anything that I can do to help
anybody here, then that will give you an awareness
of what is happening around you when you're talking
to somebody, is there a way that I will
be able to help this person? And as you're
hearing their tone of voice or the choice of
words that they have, as they are having this
conversation, you might say, oh, I think that there's

(47:00):
something I can do there. So I think that
it is having awareness and being intentional. When you
are showing up in different spaces, if you are
not intentional, you will never see it.
And I think that's for me, as the guy
that decided we're going to do a series called
like Jesus. That's my heart is that every day

(47:21):
we would wake up with intentionality, that we'd wake
up every day and say, okay, today I'm going
to look like Jesus. Well, what does looking like
Jesus mean? Well, I'm going to look like Jesus
because I'm going to pray like Jesus, I'm going
to serve like Jesus. Today I'm going to love
like Jesus, I'm going to think like Jesus, I'm
going to live like Jesus. And so for me,
that's why we set up this series the way

(47:42):
we did week one, looking like Jesus. The next
five weeks are all different aspects of what it
means to look like him. And if we will
wake up every morning and just say, today I'm
going to serve like Jesus, then you will be
more aware, you will be looking around a little
bit more. And so I think that if we
do take that intentional approach, even for somebody like

(48:05):
me, that can sometimes have blinders on. And the
funny thing is, we call them blind spots. Right,
because you're blind to them. You don't know that.
You don't know. And that became very clear for
me the more time I've spent around you. And
even Jaden, our oldest son, has challenged me in

(48:25):
that. I've told the story a few times, but
I still remember. We're downtown Chicago with your mom.
We're walking around, we're trying to go from one
place to grab lunch, and I'm trying to navigate
through downtown, an area that we hadn't really spent
a lot of time in. Finally find the restaurant
you were excited.
About, your smashburger or what was it?
No, it was shake shack. Shake shack. It was

(48:48):
a shake shack. And we don't have a lot
of shake shacks in the suburbs. So I was
like, come on, one drag line.
We're going to shake shack.
Come on. I need those red. What are they?
Chili peppers or whatever they put on them, whatever
they are, it's delicious. It's amazing. Clearly, I'm a
guy that likes a good burger. And so we
rush into the restaurant, and all of a sudden,
Jaden is crying. And I'm like, dude, don't mess

(49:11):
with my shake shack burger. They got burgers. You
like burgers. They got chicken strips. They got hot
dogs. You'll find something you like. And he's just
crying and crying, crying. And usually when a kid
is crying in a restaurant, it's because he doesn't
want to eat the food, right? And so that's
where my mind just immediately went, is like, he
doesn't want to eat here. And so I'm trying

(49:31):
to get him to find something on the menu
that he likes, and he's just crying and crying
and can't even talk. He's crying so much. Finally,
I don't know how long it took. It took,
like, ten minutes at least. Finally, he calms down
enough to say, I just feel horrible because we're
about to have lunch, but the homeless guy outside,
he doesn't have anything to eat. And I was

(49:52):
like, what homeless guy? Literally, it wasn't like I
saw him, and I chose to ignore him, or
I chose to do nothing about it. Literally, I
walked the same street Jaden walked. I was following
the same path that he was following, and yet
my brain never even recognized. It didn't register that

(50:14):
there was a homeless guy sitting there. And that
was such an eye opening moment for me, of,
like, my son sees the world in a better
way than I do because he's aware of people's
needs. He's aware of the pain that other people
are in. And I don't know what it is
about my wiring, but a lot of times I'm
not aware. And so I've had to get very

(50:36):
intentional. And the funny thing is, I've been trying
to be intentional even before that moment. And clearly,
it wasn't fully working. And so it really reminded
me in that moment, like, how much more so
I need to really just stop.
And that was a beautiful testimony, because I remember
after we finished eating, my mom gave him money,

(50:56):
and we went back and we said, we're going
to give him money so that he can eat.
So my mom gives Jaden money. I think that
it was, like, $5 or something, because it was
a long time ago, so food was cheaper back
then. So Jaden gets the money. He goes, and
he gives it to the guy. We walk, like,
maybe two streets, and Jaden found like a $20

(51:17):
bill on the floor. Remember? It was like God
was just saying.
Hey, good job, buddy.
Add a boy. So it was just really beautiful.
I will never forget that moment, but I think
that. I don't know, and maybe that's a question
for you, but as somebody that sometimes cannot see

(51:38):
the needs, like we're saying, and maybe you don't
have the awareness all the time, would it be
helpful for you to. With the people that you
are close to, the people that maybe the people
here at work or maybe at home or in
the different spaces that you are, to be able
to say, hey, I would love to serve you?

(52:00):
If you ever need anything from me, tell me,
because that way, at least people know, if you
need me, I'm here. But I might not see
it. But if you tell me I'm game to
help, will that be something that is helpful, or
what do you think?
So what I've started doing with staff, and I
started doing this, I started, like, five years ago,

(52:22):
maybe. So when we do one on ones with
any of the staff, one of the questions that
I always ask is, how can I help? And
that is me trying to constantly be in a
place of, I'm here to serve you.
That got more challenging even as we kind of
rose in the ranks, so to speak, as a

(52:43):
church now, as the lead pastors, it's really awkward
for people to be like, yeah, I need the
lead pastor to help me stuff envelopes. But there's
literally been times when I keep asking that question.
I keep asking that question. I keep asking that
question, and people will be like, oh, well, nothing.
I'm really busy. I got to put together this

(53:03):
packet. Like, oh, I can help. Yeah, I've got
important things that I need to do, but I
can take 30 minutes, and I can help you
put together a packet. There have been times when
I'll have to become more intentional of walking around
the office, walking around different places, going back into
the children's wing, and seeing what they're up to.
Because I've walked back there sometimes, and it's like,

(53:25):
it's chaos, and it's like, we've got to stuff
all of these Easter eggs. And it's like, all
right, I got ten minutes before my next meeting.
Let me take ten minutes to help stuff some
eggs.
And so, forcing myself to do things like that,
I use the acronym C stop, examine, engage a

(53:45):
lot when it comes to this kind of conversation
where I do have to stop because there's purpose,
there's direction, there's a task. I'm very task driven,
right? So people are secondary by nature. And so
I have to force myself to flip that.
And Europe, people are priority by nature. And so

(54:06):
we complement each other well in that. And I
tell people, if it wasn't for soul in my
life, you all would be in trouble. So I
have to really be intentional about stopping what I'm
doing, not just always rushing from one place to
the next. It was a great book by Bill
Heibls about outreach, about evangelism, really. But you can

(54:29):
take it to go into serving as well titled
Walk across the room. And I realized a lot
of times I wasn't walking across the room. I
was sprinting across the room. I was like, I
got to get back there quick. And I would
just run past people's needs. And so that's why
I wasn't being aware. Kind of the restaurant example,

(54:50):
the shake shack, I was focused on shake shack.
I was focused on, I've got to get my
family from point A to point B. I want
to do it quickly because I'm hungry and I
don't want to pay extra for parking. And the
longer we're out here, the more I'm paying for
parking. And so I'm a man on a mission.
We've got to accomplish this thing. And so I
got to teach myself more and more how to
stop, to really examine, to see what's going on

(55:12):
around me. Pay attention to clues. Like when you
ask somebody how they're doing and they say, I'm
okay, it's like, oh, well, that and okay.
That's a bad combination. That doesn't mean they're okay.
Right. But it's gotten to the point where if
I say, I ask somebody how they're doing and
they say, I'm good, my immediate response is, why

(55:33):
are you only good? Why not great? And it
forces them to go, well, no, I'm doing great.
Because sometimes it's just the word that pops out.
Sometimes, though, I say, why only good? Why not
great? And they say, well, my kid just had
this issue at home, but me just kind of
forcing that to become almost a natural response to

(55:54):
the question, how are you doing? A lot of
times, how are you doing? Is followed with nothing
because we don't really care how people are doing.
But I've kind of trained myself to have a
follow up question to how are you doing? Either
based on what they say or what they don't
say. And so I think, I don't know. The
more that we do that, the more that we're

(56:14):
intentional. I think the better we get at seeing
personally as somebody that has poor vision.
That makes sense. That makes sense.
All right, so last thing I wanted to talk
about is I want to encourage people, and I
want to get your take on this, but I
want to encourage people to use what they have
when they serve. Yes, because I think a lot

(56:35):
of people are kind of trying to figure out
how to serve, and I think sometimes we feel
like we have to serve in a way that
we're not really equipped to serve.
You are trying to solve everybody's problems.
Right.
Which is not what we're supposed to do.
Or it's like somebody that has low income is

(56:58):
barely making ends meet. If their default to serving
others is to always buy them groceries. That's not
an area that you can serve in. That's not
a way that you can serve in your current
status, but that doesn't mean you don't serve. Right.
And so we use what we have to serve.
And so there's been seasons in our life, and

(57:19):
thank God we're in one right now where we're
financially more secure than we've been in other times
in our lives. So we are able. There have
been more times when we've financially served somebody in
this season than any other season, but we've always
served. We've opened up our home actually twice for
somebody else to live. It's funny that you chose

(57:40):
the time when we let one person live in
our house instead of the time we let two
people and two dogs live in our house for
a year. But we use what we have, and
so what we have could be a lot of
different things. It could be the finances that you
have could be the property that you have. Right.
It could be the fact that you've got a
working car. I know a guy in the church

(58:01):
that he gives a ride to, a young man
that has to take the bus everywhere he goes.
And so he's like, hey, you got a job
interview. I'll drive you. That way you won't have
to worry about being late. Right. So he's got
a car and he's got time. So he's using
that to serve this young man. And I think
that we just need to take what we have
in order to serve others, and that could also
be. And I'm kind of monopolizing this part of

(58:24):
the conversation, but I do want.
To get go for it.
We can also use the skill sets that we
like. There's a guy on the team, Bret, actually,
our director's husband. He's brilliant with tech stuff. And
so when he serves people, it's usually in that
realm, like, can Brett pick up trash? Absolutely. Can

(58:47):
he pick up a kid that's crying? Yeah, he
totally can. But the best way Brett can serve
is by using his skill set, because he can
serve people in a way that others can't. I've
got a friend that's amazing with cars. He's just
got a brilliant mind for mechanics. And so the
way he serves is somebody's car breaks down and
he's on it. Like, if I'm driving down the

(59:08):
road and somebody's broke down on the side, most
likely I'm not going to stop because I'm going
to be useless in that situation. Now, if it
looks like they could really use a lift somewhere,
absolutely, I'll help out. But if their engine is
smoking and they've got the hood popped, I ain't
stopping because I'm going to be completely useless in
that situation. But my friend, he sees that and
he's like, oh, it's my time to shine. Right.

(59:30):
And so what skill sets do you have? What
knowledge do you have? What understanding do you have?
How can you use not just your physical body,
but your mind in order to serve others?
Yeah, and I have experienced that as well. I
think that a few years ago, more than I
do now, but there were a few times when

(59:51):
we went to the store, and we will have
people that didn't speak English trying to explain things
and trying to figure out pricing and trying to
figure out how to do stuff, and they were
not able to communicate with the other person. So
there were a lot of times that I literally
felt like I was just meddling, but I was

(01:00:11):
like, okay, well, no, they are saying that if
you could do this and how much would it
be if this and all of that stuff, and
I will help because. Because I was able to
translate that, so I was able to speak both
languages, so nobody asked me to do it. I
just realized they are not understanding each other.

(01:00:32):
Yeah, well, and your friend is part of a
ministry in Vegas leading and loving it. And you
were helping translate her sermons and her messages and
things like you were helping translate that. There was,
like, interviews and articles for magazines and things that
you were helping translate. There was stuff that they're
producing as a church that you became one of

(01:00:53):
their translators. Even though you're in Illinois, they're in
Vegas, you're not getting paid to do any of
it, but you have an ability and they had
a need, and so you.
It is just something that it comes. And like
you said, it's not money related. I think that
something that could be very dangerous with everything, not

(01:01:16):
just with serving, but with everything in life, is
comparison. When you are comparing the way that you
can serve to the way that somebody else can
serve, that can be very demoralizing. That can be
very depressing. Because if somebody else can give you
$3,000 so that you don't lose a home, but
I only have 20, you might feel like, well,

(01:01:41):
I can serve. And then you feel like what
you have is not valuable, which that is not
the case. We all have different things that we
can offer, and we need to be focused on
our own journey, and we need to be focused
in the things that God has placed in our
hands and ask him for wisdom in how we
can serve within our means. Because serving doesn't mean

(01:02:03):
that then you are the one that has absolutely
nothing. Because in your serving you gave everything. So
you need to be able to just discern and
ask, God, give me the wisdom. Because maybe for
you, today is about giving some of your time.
Maybe for you it is about just sitting down
and talking to somebody that really needed somebody to

(01:02:24):
listen to them or start creating healthy relationships and
healthy spaces for people that just need to be
able to get all of this stuff out of
their chest, but they don't have anybody that they
can talk to. I know some people and they
are saying, I don't have meaningful relationships. So how
can you be a friend to those people when

(01:02:45):
we're talking about giving people what they are lacking,
what they are without? It is not just money.
Because I think that we all could use some
money, right? Like, I know I can use more
money, but that is not it. If we reduce
our serving to money, we are missing it. Because
there are so many other needs that people around

(01:03:08):
us have, and there's so much that we all
can do. We just have to be aware of
those needs. And I know that money needs, physical
needs, are a little bit louder. They are a
little more evident. You will be able to see
those very quickly. More than somebody that is struggling
with depression or anxiety, or somebody that it is

(01:03:30):
having a really bad relationship at home, or somebody
that just needs friendship, that they just feel isolated
and that they feel rejected, stuff like that. That
is tougher to be able to identify. But those
people need as much help and as much somebody
that will be able to serve them than the

(01:03:51):
person that didn't have a vehicle or the person
that you just need to be able to stay
the course and see what you have and ask
God, okay, within my means and within everything that
I have, how can I serve? And some people
might say I work from home, so I cannot

(01:04:12):
serve anybody at the workplace or stuff. But you
can serve your family. How are you serving your
family? Because just because you are home, that doesn't
mean that you don't have maybe a spouse or
kids or mom and dad or nephews or neighbors.
What about your neighbors aunties or your neighbors? What
can you do to serve? If one of our

(01:04:33):
neighbors were to need something, will they even think
about asking us? Or they're like, let me see
what I can do. I know that there's one
of our neighbors that I know that if I
need something, I can go to them. Do they
feel the same way about me?
It's huge.
It is huge. So don't compare the ability that

(01:04:54):
you have to serve with somebody's ability to serve
because you are two different people. You have two
different journeys, you have two different means, two different
skill sets. So focus on the things that you
have and do the most with that.
Because the reality is everybody does have the ability,
the capacity to serve in some way.
Yes.
How you serve and how somebody else serves may

(01:05:17):
not look the same, but there's something that you
can be doing.
And that doesn't mean that somebody else is serving
in more beneficial ways or that their serving is
better than yours because they can do more flashy
things. That is not the case. All service, I
think that is equal and is equally important.
Absolutely. All right. I love it. So we're going

(01:05:40):
to serve like Jesus. That means with humility. That
means seeing the need and actually doing something about
it. And so we're going to get more intentional
about waking up every day and saying, I'm going
to serve like Jesus today. I'm going to be
more aware of the opportunities to serve the people
that need me to serve. And I'm going to
use what God's given me to serve others. That

(01:06:00):
may be my time, that may be my treasure,
that may be my talents, whatever it is. But
I'm going to use what I have to serve
others.
Yeah, I love it.
Nice. Good stuff. All right, well, thanks for hanging
out, wifey. We're going to be back next episode.
We're going to be talking about thinking like Jesus.
That's going to be an interesting, we went from

(01:06:23):
super practical, like, here's the things to do to
how do we talk about what went inside Jesus's
brain while he was alive? But it's going to
be an interesting conversation.
I think that's going to be good.
So we'll see you back next time on between
sermons.