We Serve Because He First Served Us

serve
October 4, 2026

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Scriptures

KEY POINTS

  • This series is not a push to fill ministry slots. Serving is the fruit of a heart Jesus has already washed.
  • We are not saved by works. Works express the salvation we have already received by grace through faith.
  • Selfishness is what keeps us from serving. Even while someone is hurting, we are often already forming a reply about ourselves.
  • James and John asked for the seats of glory right after Jesus told them he was going to be mocked, flogged, and killed.
  • Greatness in the kingdom is upside down. Whoever would be great must be a servant, and whoever would be first must be slave of all.
  • We serve not to be recognized and not to make it about ourselves, but we serve because he first served us. 
  • Foot washing is received before it is given. If we will not let Jesus wash us, we have no share with him, and our serving stays outside-in.
  • We love because he first loved us. We serve because he first served us.
  • The mind of Christ counts the other person more significant. Humility shows up when “it was me” replaces “it was them.”
  • A towel becomes holy when love for Jesus is the motive. Ministry is a towel, not a title.

DISCUSSION

  • Pastor Bob said this series is not a checklist to please God. Where are you still tempted to treat serving like a way to earn something?
  • James and John asked for glory while Jesus was talking about the cross. Where do you catch yourself making someone else’s pain about you?
  • Peter said, “You shall never wash my feet.” What is hard for you about letting Jesus serve you before you serve anyone else?
  • “We serve because he first served us.” How does that change the motive under an ordinary act of help?
  • Philippians 2 says to count others more significant than yourself. Who is one person you have been treating as less significant than you?
  • The three couples said the change was “me,” not them. Where is the Holy Spirit asking you to own that sentence?
  • If ministry is a towel and not a title, what is one towel you can pick up this week at home before you pick one up anywhere else?