Jesus said He came not to be served, but to serve. We model Him best when we lovingly serve others. We serve not only those inside the church, but outside the church as well. We serve those in need. Jesus tells us that when we serve the “least,” we are in fact serving Him. When we serve our neighbor, we are fulfilling the Lord’s command to love Him with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves. At Redeemer, we Worship the Lord, Grow in His Word, and Serve others in His Name!

What does it mean to be church? The reformers defined the marks of the Church primarily as where the Word of God is preached in purity and truth, and where the Sacraments are rightly administered. Further, the Church is defined in terms of Christian discipline and mission. In order to honor the historic marks of the Church, as well as capture for the active believer what church membership looks like in practice, we use the three words “WORSHIP, GROW and SERVE.” As believers we should be regularly worshipping God corporately where the Word is taught and Sacraments celebrated, and we should also be engaged in an area of discipleship where we are growing, and another where we are serving. Today, we focus on worship – where we gather together to sit at Jesus feet and receive His gifts!

A Christian author writes: “God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.” (Randy Alcorn) Question: Why does God give us good things? Answer: Because it’s in God’s nature to give. If it’s in God’s nature to give, then we are being like God when we give. Consequently, it’s no surprise that God blesses us with material wealth; that wealth becomes for us an opportunity to practice being like Him in our giving. It also provides for us the opportunity to trust in Him to provide for us when we give. In fact, we may do better to think of giving as sharing – since what we give first came from God, and really is His to give. He simply chooses to give to others through us. Can He trust us to share?

Whether it is 2013 or 1517, the Word of God is strong and powerful! And the Word of God divides people – those who believe and hear its message, and those who reject its Truth. On this Reformation Sunday, we recall Martin Luther’s famous words at the Diet of Worms – “Here I stand. I can do no other; so help me God.” On what did he stand? On the Word of God! Fast forward to today. On what ground can we stand and stake our lives? On that same Word of God. God’s Truth is solid rock, not shifting sand. God does not change, nor does His Word. The question is – are we basing our lives on the changing winds of society and culture or are we building our foundation on the solid rock?

We live in a world of increasing connections. We have more and more accounts on websites, we belong to more clubs; we even have memberships at shopping centers. And who could neglect to speak of Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and so on? We have so many ways to connect – and yet we live in what is arguably the most DIS-connected generation ever. We experience a kind of “crowded loneliness,” which means that we have people all around us, but we still feel isolated and alone. God desires better for us. He’s created us to live in community. In fact God has given us the BEST community to be a part of, and that’s our church family, gathered together as the Body of Christ – at church and in homes.

We heard last week, Philippians 1:6 “May He who began a good work in you carry it on to completion.” Discipleship is a process; one that begins with God… He began a work in you in your baptism and He will carry it on in you to completion. God continues to work in and through you by the power of His grace. Because Jesus is behind every door of your life, that work of God continues throughout your life: past, present and future. Look to your past and see that all your sins are forgiven. Look to your present and see that you’re a forgiven child of God. And look to the future with great hope because Jesus is behind the doors of your future! May God’s continuous presence and hand in your life cause a desire for you to grow spiritually in Him, and may it fill you with confidence that the Best is Yet to Come!

Go into any store and you’ll find that everything has a price on it. Well, any more these days, there’s a bar-code, but the point is the same. If you want it, you have to pay the price. Jesus tells His disciples, and us today, effectively “if you want to be my disciple, you have to pay the price!” But why is there a cost? Doesn’t God offer grace for free? Certainly! Salvation is a free gift from God that none of us could pay for … but discipleship is a lifestyle that comes at a cost. For you and I to follow Jesus in a world that is hostile to Him and His followers, there is a price to pay – a “cross” to bear: We can be assured that we will encounter persecution and resistance; and to live our lives longing for a world that is yet to come, we must forsake (“renounce” in Luke 14:33) the things of this world. There is a significant cost to being a disciple of Jesus.