Christian Service, 3of5

~ Unity In Christian Service ~ 

One Will  ~  “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power” (1 Corinthians 4:19).  “Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.’  But now you boast in your arrogance.  All such boasting is evil” (James 4:15-16). 

One Walk  ~  “Therefore I urge you, imitate me.  For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).  “I urged Titus, and sent our brother with him.  Did Titus take advantage of you?  Did we not walk in the same spirit?  Did we not walk in the same steps?” (2 Corinthians 12:18). 

One Work  ~  “And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear; for he does the work of the Lord, as I also do.  …  Let all that you do be done with love” (1 Corinthians 16:10, 14). 

One Accord  ~  Being in one accord is a great summary of the unity which Christians are to have.  “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1).  “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47).  “So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them’” (Acts 4:24).  “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common” (Acts 4:32).

“And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people.  And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch” (Acts 5:12).  “And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did” (Acts 8:6).  “Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king’s personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country” (Acts 12:20).  “It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul” (Acts 15:25). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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Christian Service, 2of5

~ Qualifications For Effective Christian Service ~

Serve With Sincerity and Truth  ~  “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt.  Serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:14). 

Serve With Sincerity From the Heart  ~  “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.  And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.  But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality” (Colossians 3:22-25). 

Serve With Integrity of Walk  ~  “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing” (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12). 

Serve With a Good Reputation  ~  “From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem.  Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up—and if they were willing to stick their necks out they'd tell you in person—knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion.  It's because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors—the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries” (Acts 26:4-7a, The Message).

Serve With Complete Dedication  ~  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). 

Serve With Uprightness of Heart  ~  “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). 

Serve With Undefiled Conduct  ~  “To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life” (Luke 1:74-75). 

Serve With Sound Motives  ~  “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.  But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:5-6). 

Serve With Wholeness of Being  ~  “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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Christian Service, 1of5

~ Preparation for Effective Christian Service ~

Preparation of the Servant  ~  “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.  Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.  Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.  And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:20-26).  

“And Moses said to the children of Israel, ‘See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.  And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.  He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works’” (Exodus 35:30-35). 

Preparation of the Heart  ~  “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel” (Ezra 7:10).  “Doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men” (Ephesians 6:6b-7).  “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). 

Preparation of the Message  ~  Remember that all Christians are commanded to be growing in the knowledge of the Word of God and to be His witnesses.  “And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.  The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth” (Ecclesiastes 12:9-10).  “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). 

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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Christ as Creator

~ Christ is the Creator and the Maintainer of All Things ~

Jesus Christ Created Everything  ~  “In the beginning God [plural] created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).  Biblical scholars know that while people often read “God” in this passage as meaning the Father, it is actually a plural term—we see the Trinity in the opening chapters of Scripture.  Consider the next verse, “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). 

“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus Christ], and the Word [Jesus Christ] was with God [the Father], and the Word [Jesus Christ] was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him [Jesus Christ], and without Him [Jesus Christ] nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3). 

Jesus Christ Maintains Everything  ~  “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son [Jesus Christ], whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He [Jesus Christ] had by Himself [Jesus Christ] purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty [God the Father] on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3). 

“He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him [Jesus Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him [Jesus Christ] and for Him [Jesus Christ].  And He [Jesus Christ] is before all things, and in Him [Jesus Christ] all things consist” (Colossians 1:15-17). 

the key question: “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). This is the most important question you will ever answer. If you do not answer it, or answer it incorrectly, you have made the biggest mistake anyone can make!

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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