“What is Service in the Kingdom of God?” Service is not merely an act; it is a calling, a privilege, and a profound expression of our faith and love for our Creator.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not only recipients of His grace and love but also called to be His hands and feet in this world.
We are commissioned to serve one another and, in doing so, to reflect the very heart of God. But what does service in the Kingdom of God truly entail? What are the principles that guide our actions, and what are the rewards of selfless service?
In this sermon, we will delve deep into the teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures to uncover the rich and transformative concept serrmon on what is service in the Kingdom of God. We will learn how service is an act of worship, how it brings healing and hope, and how it leads to a life of purpose and fulfillment.
What Does The Bible Say About Serving In The Kingdom Of God?
God after creating man ( Adam and Eve) and placed him in the Garden of Eden, instructed him to dress and keep the garden (Genesis 2:15) “ And the Lord took man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” Idleness was not God’s plan for man.
The whole duty of man is to serve God, this he can do in various ways and manner according to God’s direction. There is no greater joy than yielding your life to the service of God. Service in the Kingdom of God is to use everything within you and around you to promote His Kingdom.
It is to service the need of God and ensure the work of God on earth is not put to shame, it also involves you having a consistent relationship with God on a daily basis to be properly equipped for spiritual fruitfulness and growth
In the New Testament Christ showed and instructed man on the role of service.
He chose the 12 disciples and empowered them for the kingdom service, Apostle Paul and other disciples continued in the work of the kingdom. ( Mark 10:45) “ For even the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”
Sermon On What Is Service In The Kingdom Of God
Service means the action of helping or assisting someone to do some work. To serve according to English Dictionary means to be of use, to answer a purpose; to suit; to be convenient or favorable; to promote; to be sufficient for.
As a believer or Christian, service means to strengthen your commitment to God; to be useful to humanity in Christ stead.
How could one be of service in the kingdom of God?
Going to church on a Sunday morning, well dressed, seated in the congregation waiting for the pastor to climb the podium and preach is fantastic, but service in the kingdom of God is much more than this. Christians are to work together and serve others, and witness Christ to the world.
I can hear someone ask, in order to serve God do I need to leave my job, my career, my marriage and so on?
As Christians, we put ourselves wholly under Jesus as Lord, everything we have, our habits, career, marriage is for His glory and for the work of the Kingdom.
God calls us to so many different roles and occupations on earth. In all these, our true reality of God’s kingdom must be expressed (Daniel 2: 36-49; Esther3-4)
Life in the Kingdom of God is a life of service, and this is done sacrificially. As a believer, a wife’s relationship with the husband, and that of the husband to the wife should be done as unto God. Every step they take and words that come out of their mouth should reflect God’s character.
Their lifestyle should be that of love, compassion, humility, patience and unity. Parent relationship with the children should also reflect the kingdom of God.
1. Service in the Kingdom of God demands commitment of our body, energy, time, talent, money, treasure. (Romans 12:1) “ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service”
Apostle Paul who went about persecuting the new church after Christ resurrection, met with Jesus and got converted and went on to be one of the most highly –regarded preacher of his generation and written about 13 book of the New Testament to his credit.
God does not only want to work through us, but in us and for us. He called us to partner with Him to work in His kingdom ( 1Corinthians 3:9) “ For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building”
Service in the kingdom of God is God’s business. This demands proper attention and availability. ( Luke 2:49) “ And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?. The early disciples of Jesus Christ were committed to the great commission of preaching the gospel of the kingdom everywhere they went. They were not ashamed of the gospel, not minding persecution, rejection, intimidations by the Jewish religious leader (Mark 3:14)
2. The service in the kingdom of God demand devotion, total submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:11) “ Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord” Paul by the leading of the Holy Spirit went to the unreached at Macedonia to minister to the them the goodness of the kingdom of God (Acts 16: 9-12)
Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach were filled with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and in all manner of workmanship ( Exodus 35:30-35). They assisted Moses with their talent in the work of the sanctuary of God as commanded by God.
The gift of the Holy Spirit and the talent of God in you is not for selfish interest, it is for the work of the kingdom of God. If you can sing, use the gift to minister the gospel through songs to the unreached, be a source of encouragement to the heavy in heart, let your song minister healing to the weary heart.
3. Service in the kingdom of God demand faithfulness- ( 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Timothy 4:12; Colossians 3:23; Matthew 24 : 45-51), (1Timothy 1:12) “And I thank Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry”
Luke 16:13 “ No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”
4. Service in the Kingdom of God demands accountability- ( Deuteronomy 13:4; Ephesians 6:7;Galation 5:13; Matthew 22: 37) God called us to represent Him here on earth and everywhere ( Joshua 22:5)
“ But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all His ways and keep His commandments, and to cleave unto Him and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul”
Service in the Kingdom of God should be done, not under compulsion but with a cheerful heart and not with eye service ( Colossians 3:23; Matthew 6:21; Ephesians 6:4-7),
Colossians 3:23-24 says” And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ”
5. Service in the Kingdom of God demands attending to the less– privilege, the hungered, the thirsty with our time, presence, resources ( Proverbs 19:17) ( Matthew 25: 35-45) “ For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat:
I was thirsty; and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison and ye came unto me——- I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not—–
Then shall He answer them, saying, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me”
As sons and daughters of the Kingdom of God, our Father’s business is our business and demand total focus and commitment and watchfulness for effective delivery, our service to the kingdom is not an act of slavery and should not be seen as one, and is not something that should be done at spare time- it is not optional
( Philippians 3:13-14), ( Galatian 5:13-14) “ For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”
6. Service in the Kingdom of God demands loyalty- Focus and single-mindedness is a priority in God’s kingdom. A person with divided loyalty is unfit for the work of the kingdom.
Luke 9:62 says “And Jesus said to him, no man, having put his hand to plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God”(John 12:26; Romans 6:6; Luke 9:23 As parents, the children God blessed us with, we need to train them in the way of the Lord.
Our prayers is a service to the Kingdom of God- we pray for the work of God to progress, for the unbelievers to come to the knowledge of Christ and His kingdom, and for the captives to be delivered from captivity (Luke 2:37)
“ And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple but served God with fasting and prayers night and day”
7. Service in the Kingdom of God demands humility and should be done passionately- ( Hebrews 12:11, 28-29), (Hebrews 5:4) “ And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of god, as was Aaron”
Christ, our perfect example went about doing good, He healed the sick, fed the hungry ones, cast out demons, was compassionate, delivered the oppressed, showed the right path to follow with love,
was not gender bias, served man from bondage of sin as demanded of the Kingdom of God ( Mathew 5:16) “ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven”
Benefits of service in the Kingdom of God.
8. Service to the Kingdom of God allows us to experience the joy and peace of God and glorify God through us ( 1 Peter 4:10-11) “ As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Service, create a bond between us and others we have come in contact with as a result of the Kingdom pursuit- we literally become a family, looking for the interest of others.
(Hebrews 10:24-25) “ And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhort one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
9. Service in the Kingdom of God allows us to enjoy God’s blessings ( Exodus 23: 25-28) “ And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite and the Hittite, from before thee” (Job 36:11; Hebrews 11:6)
Serving God, create room for us to share in God’s identity and personality (Romans 8:17) “ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified in Him”
10. Service in the Kingdom of God guarantees divine exemptions- ( Mathew 4:18-19 ), (Malachi 3:18) “ Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not”
Being faithful in the service of the Kingdom of God guarantees eternal life and divine honor- John 12:26 “ If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor”
Service in the Kingdom of God assures you of divine favor- God is fully there to work for you where your strength cannot help you ( Proverbs 27:18), ( Psalm 102:13-14) “ Thou shall arise and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof”
11. Service in the Kingdom of God helps us to break the yoke of darkness in the life of our family members, communities, nations. Soul winning and evangelism is a kingdom service that is so dear to God and should not be taken for guaranteed.
Service in the Kingdom of God is a way to answered prayers- Luke 1:5-14), ( 2 Kings 4: 8-11) “ And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread.
And so sit was, that oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread—- Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
Conclusion
Christ present on earth as man was specifically to save man from bondage of sin. He fulfil this through His death on the cross of Calvary.
While on earth He called men to partner with Him and bring others to the knowledge of this saving grace through their lifestyle of love, peace, truthfulness and obedience.
And to relate the message of the kingdom of God to all nations through faithful and committed service.
This, every believer is called for, and could be achieved through, sending money for evangelism, prayers and fasting, spending time and resources with the depressed, the sick and the wounded.
