Service is in the Air – Every sight and every sound

LFC is an active, vibrant, serving and caring church. This fact was underscored by the love and service shown this past Friday night at the Post Game party, following the Lompoc / Cabrillo Football game. With nearly 700 students and over 160 volunteers from both, Trinity and Lompoc Foursquare churches – you could feel the love of God and the appreciation of the students. I was honored to be a part of it. Of course, there is no way I could summarize what took place that night and package the “service that was in the air.” But many of you (even if you were not there) serve in other areas and have found the joy of giving yourself away.
As John Ortberg says in his wonderful book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, “The primary reason Jesus calls us to servanthood is not just because other people need our service.It is because of what happens to us when we serve.” God can do tremendous things with us if we allow Him the opportunity.
But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24
When someone asks: WHAT DO I NEED TO SERVE? We tell them: Bring your heart with you! That is the most important thing to remember about serving. Be willing to commit some time to serve others, whether it is just an hour every few months or several hours every other weekend. The type of service is less important than just being available to serve in whichever way God leads you. Hearts were on display the other night for sure.
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, Ephesians 6:7
Someone has said:
'Good people do for themselves; great people do for others.' "
At LFC we are building a team that says, "Great people do for others." That is, "Let's get everybody involved; let's do something for somebody else."
The prevailing attitude in America today is that great people do for themselves; good people do for others. That is counter to what Jesus told us. He said, “If you want to be great – be a servant of all.” You ask someone, "Who's the greatest in the kingdom of God today in America?" and they're going to name for you those people whose names and faces appear most in public, right? If you ask, "What's the greatest church in America today?" you're going to get named the church that is getting the most print and the most hype and the most advertising. People are going to say, "That is the greatest." Some say, LFC is the greatest because we do so much in the community – but you and I are the greatest when we serve like Jesus. Sometimes our service is out front – like Post Game Party and other times it is quiet, we simply serve someone when no one is looking. I want to tell you that our service to the Lompoc Mobile Manor and our Mission Possible Team was kept to us here at LFC. I chose to not have it in the paper, or on media coverage for several reasons with the main one being that God would keep great books and get all the credit. We don’t serve to get the spotlight and there are times when God cautions us in our service – it is not about the publicity but the purpose – serving God while serving others.
Obviously, when Jesus said to his disciples, "What are you arguing about?" they were a little embarrassed since their debate was over; “who is the best?”
"Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve"--these were the ones who would do ministry, and he wanted them to get it straight just like He wants us to get it straight today. He said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.' He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 'Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.' (Reference / Mark 9: 3 -37)
• Great people put others first
Jesus teaches here that good people do for themselves, but great people do for others. “If you want to be great, you must be last." God, because putting other people first is the very essence of the nature of Christ. Philippians, chapter 2, says that he didn't count himself equal with God-he was equal with God, but he didn't count that as something to brag about-he just lowered himself and became a servant, took upon himself the form of a man that he might serve. Salvation would never have been accomplished if Jesus hadn't put others first. You and I would not have forgiveness if he were not a great person.
• Great people serve all
That means that we do not discriminate. We do not discriminate our service toward other people no matter what their age, color or status in life. LFC is very open to serving others of all walks of life – we have proven that. Our culture has gravitated to the place of “selective service” which states: “If I want to serve anyone, then let me serve someone who can do something for me. Let me be a servant of those who can advance my career or help me make a sale. But God did not love some of the world – portions and pockets but all of the world – so He gave His only Son.
• Great people serve with no thought of reward
Jesus brought this little child and stood him there, and said, "Anyone who does something for this little child does it for me, and not really for me, but he does it for God." Jesus was saying that you will come into a situation where someone that will be as seemingly insignificant as this child will need your time and ministry. It will probably come during times of other pressing demands around you and more important-looking people, and you're going to probably see this need below your gifting or skill-set and you might neglect the need of this little one because he can't do anything for you. If Christian faith is really taking hold in your life, you're going to be able to serve that little one just as you would serve anyone else, and the thought of, “What's going to be repaid to me?, will not override the faith you have in Jesus Christ and the model He provided by serving with His life.
• Great people depend on God to give them what they need to serve Him
It's not easy to be a great person, not in the kingdom of God. It's a lot easier to be great in the public eye, because to be great in the kingdom of God means that I must draw upon the spiritual resources that only God can give and be willing to lay my life down.
Why, why does God ask us to do something we obviously cannot do? It's so that he can reveal his hand to us clearly and all we can say is, "It's of God." When I think of all that God has done in and through the life of LFC I say, “It’s all because of God.”

"The kind of assignments God gives are always God-sized. They are always beyond what people can do, because He wants to demonstrate His nature, His strength, His provision, and His kindness to His people and to a watching world."
- Henry Blackaby
My prayer today is that you will be great for God and that our church will be a great church – serving others and living out our God-sized assignments.
Years from now people may ask; “was LFC a good church or was it a great church?" It will only be determined as each person says to God, "You give me the vision, and I will follow – you show me the way and then I'll express the faith."
Go and be “great” for God,
Pastor Bernie