A Seat At The Table | Serving At The Table

Spiritual Table:

What you present to the world through your actions, words, and responses
Week 1: Cleaning the Table

  • Examining our life/sin

Week 2: Preparing the table

  • How to be faithful in a preparation season

 

Today, let’s think of a wonderful meal

  • The smell
  • The decorations

But you didn’t invite anyone

  • Or no one wanted to come

 

SYMBOL of CELEBRATION

  • The meal is the PATHWAY to relationships
  • We do all the prep for the people

As Christian believers, our lives are now “SYMBOLS OF CELEBRATION”

  • Celebrating who Jesus is and What he has done

 

SERVING AT THE TABLE

 

The life of a Christian believer should be make others take notice

 

Matthew 5:13-16

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty?[a] It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Our lives should be examples

  • Our Spiritual table should be offering up the gifts and presence of God in our lives

 

Gonna ask again what I asked the first week?

 

Are you offering an inviting picture of what the Holy Spirit Offers through your life?

 

Scripture gives us a list of things we should be SERVING at our “SPIRITUAL TABLE”
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

 

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

1: Love

 

Romans 5:8

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

Love is:

  • Self-giving
  • Not a feeling but a position that causes action

Love is the choice to be kind, to sacrifice, to consider another’s needs greater than one’s own

 

We are called to serve LOVE to…

  • Difficult people
  • People who have hurt us
  • Even our enemy

2: Joy

Nehemiah 8:10b

Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Joy is:

  • A profound delight and rejoicing comes from knowing and serving God
  • Despite circumstances
  • Despite pain
  • Despite heartache

 

Joy is the natural reaction to the work of God, whether promised or fulfilled

Even on your hardest days, they can be joy

 

We serve JOY to…

  • The hopeless
  • The cynical
  • The bitter
  • The hurting

 

3: Peace

 

Philippians 4:6-7

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Peace is:

  • Unshakable inner calm despite your current circumstance

 

Peace is knowing God will come thru on your behalf in the right time

  • That he is always working
  • He is guiding you
  • He is with you
  • That he Loves you

 

We serve PEACE TO:

  • The Fearful
  • The Anxious
  • Those Weighed down with worry

4: Patience

 

Ephesians 4:2

2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

 

Patience is:

  • Hopeful
  • Persevering
  • Expectant

 

Patience is Persevering, enduring trials, or expectantly waiting for a promise to be fulfilled

 

We serve Patience by…

  • Waiting on God’s schedule with joy
  • Showing kindness when others fall short
  • Allowing those around us to grow in maturity

 

5: Kindness

Ephesians 4:32

32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
Kindness is:

  • Compassion
  • Forgiveness
  • Both heart and action

Kindness is to flavor every word and action with grace, whether deserved or not

 

We serve kindness by…

  • Forgiving those who have wronged us
  • Showing mercy even if it is not shown to us

 

6: Goodness

 

Galatians 6:10

10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

 

Goodness is:

  • Generosity
  • Righteous acts

 

Goodness is virtue and holiness in action

  • Doing good by others and to others

 

We serve goodness by

  • Doing the right thing even when it’s difficult
  • Acting selflessly on behalf of others
  • By providing

 

7: Faithfulness

 

James 1:12

12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

 

Faithfulness is:

  • Trustworthy
  • Enduring
  • Dependable

 

Faithfulness is steadfastness, constancy, or allegiance; it is carefulness in keeping what we are entrusted with; and it is the conviction that the Scriptures accurately reflect reality.

 

We serve faithfulness by:

  • Choosing God’s way, even if it costs us
  • By trusting God with our live and those in it
  • By Working faithfully for God’s kingdom and not our own

8: Gentleness

Proverbs 15:1

1 A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

 

Gentleness is:

  • Discerning
  • Meekness
  • Gentle word

 

Gentleness is humility and thankfulness toward God, and polite, restrained behavior toward others

  • Gentleness is not weakness but chosen Restraint

 

We serve gentleness by…

  • Correcting others gently without arguing or resentment
  • Forgiving readily – because God has forgiven us
  • Not being argumentative
  • Knowing when to reserve our strength and when to use it

 

9: Self Control

 

Titus 2:11-12

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age,

 

Self Control is:

The ability to identify weakness and overcome it through the spirit

 

Self Control is the ability to control thru moderation, constraint, and the ability to say “no” to our baser desires and fleshly lusts

 

We serve SELF CONTROL by…

  • Not giving into our fleshly desires
  • helping others do the same

 

So this is what we should be serving at our SPIRITUAL TABLE

 

Let’s imagine what our families could look like if we lived this way?

  • What would our kids learn from us
  • What would our neighbors experience from us

 

Imagine if our churches demonstrated this for a community

  • What the lost would think of us
  • How would people be attracted to us

 

Another Table

  • To remember who has served us
  • We serve others because Jesus has served us first

Luke 22

14 When the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 Then he said to them, “I have fervently desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

 

 

Email my notes