Consumed with service! On Sunday, January 12th, my sermon topic is Consumed with Service. The subject will explore the call and anointing of Elisha and the qualifiers for being a faithful servant of our Lord. When I think of faithful servants that I have known in my life and ministry, I rejoice to realize I have been influenced by dozens of them. In every church I have served, such people have been present. I don't mean to leave anyone out. I could never name them all. I just want to share a few things about some of these servants who are representative of all the servants I have known.
Waymon Needham! Bro. Waymon was a deacon servant in one of the early churches I served, Pleasant Hill Baptist in Benton County, MS. He had been a prisoner of war in World War II. The experience had impacted him. He could never talk about it much - he would always tear up and choke up. But rather than expressing bitterness and disappointment with life, he was a lover of Jesus Christ and an exemplary servant. The very first morning we woke up in the church parsonage, we heard something outside. I went to the door to investigate and Bro. Waymon was heading out the driveway having left two grocery bags of breakfast items for us. This was the kind of kindness I saw him express to us and to others over and over. There were numerous times we sat on the tailgate of his truck and prayed for each other and for people in the community. Bro. Waymon was faithful and devoted to the Lord. His actions in the church were always kind, humble, and loving.
Leon Anthony! Bro. Leon was the chairman of Deacons at another of those early pastorates, Liberty Hill Baptist in the Batesville area. He was at church early and late every Sunday, sweeping off porches, tidying up limbs from the parking lot etc.. If there was something that needed doing, he tended more towards doing something than talking about it. Bro. Leon helped everyone. He would often share fresh garden vegetables with others. He also was a man of prayer. If I saw him coming up my driveway I knew something good was about to happen. We visited together in the community and met needs together. He was a man's man in the highest spiritual aspects of that phrase.
Ray King! Ray was a deacon at First Baptist Church, Ludlow, Kentucky. The inner city community was directly across the river from Cincinnati. He and I visited all the hospitals each Wednesday. They were numerous in Northen Ky and in Cincinnati. We would leave about 8:30 or 9:00 am and visit until we were done—then we would go eat lunch together. There would be no way I could count the number of times that Ray would pray and sometimes weep with people in the hospital, praying for their healing and well being. Ray would often quote this verse of scripture to people in the hospital - one I have come to cherish. Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. Ray could always be found out ministering to people - taking them food, helping them with problems, visiting the sick, and just loving people with a heart from God.
I did not mention any women - primarily because I do not spend alone time with women in our churches. But obviously there have been numerous ladies of the Lord who are fantastic servants. Also there are current servants of the Lord - and one day I may list them. These three just fit in the "Servant of God hall of fame" in my book!
Have you been blessed with servant examples? Surely you have. Here is the thing! We are called to be excellent servants of God and of one another. Consider being and becoming an example of Consumed Service!
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