The Mandate for Kingdom Service V by Pastor Emmanuel S. Olowokere. May 23, 2010.
View photo album of the service
Click to see Part IV of The Mandate for Kingdom Service
Sermon Synopsis
I wish I could say this enough in this series: you and I were created to serve God! That’s not optional, it’s a requirement.
When anything is a requirement, it must be fulfilled. I went to the DMV the other day to renew my wife’s car’s tabs. In the course of this I was asked my ID. Unfortunately I left it in the vehicle. The lady politely told me she needed to see it to keep on processing my request. So I had to comply. It was a requirement. Think also about an engineering undergrad who’s been informed he needs say 14 credits of engineering math to graduate but goes ahead instead to have those credits in languages. He apparently may be awarded a degree in Linguistics but certainly not engineering! Requirements are requirements.
The point is: serving God is a requirement for the Believer. And it’s not good enough to just serve Him, you must serve Him well! That’s why Romans 12:11 advises “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;” and John 9:4 says “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”
Deuteronomy 10:11-13 and 1 Samuel 12: 23-24 respectively underscore Kingdom service as requirement:
And the LORD said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? (Deut 10:11-13).
Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:
Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you (1 Sam. 12:23-24)
And please don’t be mistaken about it, serving God is for your own good. I have benefitted greatly from being a servant of God.
When we were in Baltimore, my wife and I were newly married and things were rough. New to the church but a minister, the Pastor wanted to come visit our home, which other than a dining table was desert bare. And so were our pockets. In fact my wife got more than agitated when I told her about the impending visit. But as God had planned it, I was asked to make the announcements that day. Once done, someone approached me and said they were touched by the way I did the task and gave a $500 check! That was how God stepped in and we extravagantly hosted the Pastor. After the visit, the Pastor made sure we got a TV and the church paid our rent from that day. Serving God pays!
Saints, whatever you do always keep this in focus; you were created to serve God. May God release grace for service unto you in Jesus mighty name.
