Sermon Summary: Beginning to Serve by Meena Awad

The following is a written summary of a sermon initially delivered by Meena Awad.

1. Get out of your comfort zone.

• Take the example of Abraham, God told him to leave his own country and from that came the lineage that lead up to Jesus.

• “Go to a land that I will show you.”

• The hardest part in service is to willingly accept that separation with what you know and entering the unknown…e.g. the foreign land of another state. 

2. Once you have left everything, rely on God.

• “After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision “Do not be afraid…I am your shield.”

• If you rely on God, His plans will me made known to you clearly.

• The more you trust God, the more you will see His hand wherever you go.

3. Surround yourself with Holy people.

• “He who walks with wise people will be wise.”

• The spiritual realm is not that far away, learn from those around you.

 4. Open your eyes to those who are in need.

• Why is it that those without anything are so full of joy and cheer? Who is really the rich person in this situation when the poor are solely content by being in the presence of the Lord?

5. “Pray without ceasing.” - I Thessalonians 5:17

• A service without prayer is like a business.

• Service is the physical manifestation of your prayer life.

• A man who prays is a man that serves.

• To those who pray sincerely, the power of prayer is unrivalled.

• Spend a lot of time in quiet, “Be still and know that I am God.”

  • To be still and know God, requires a level of intimacy which comes from being quiet.

• The biggest service any of you can do is to be YOU!

Points to take home:

• Be like Abraham, if He put you in another state, He wants you there.

• Think about what services you can do interstate that you cannot do anywhere else, and pray about it.

• Trust that God will not forsake you.

Q. How do you trust in God even when you don’t see results or experience those sweet moments from the hand of God?

• Regardless of the outcomes of your service, always have faith in God - and that is the ultimate test…to trust that God will deliver.

• God always gives us sweet moments, we just have to wait for Him!

• “The Lord is good to those who wait on Him.”

Q. How do you deal with feeling lost interstate? What if we weren’t placed there for a reason?

• As Meena describes it, we are called to the second level of service because we are challenged to actually create and initiate the services.

• The pioneers of a service are the ones who receive the greatest blessing.

• “Do not focus on what is back at your father’s home.”

Q. How important is prayer when you serve?

• Prayer is the fuel that stops you from burning out in your service.

• It takes up the burden on your shoulders, and when you’re filled, you’re able to radiate the joy and love of the Lord to others.

• The more you pray, the more you find yourself serving.

• Service is an honour given to us by the Lord, and prayer allows us to discern where God wants to take us in that service.

Q. What is/how do you pray unceasingly?

• Engage in constant prayer, like arrow prayers e.g. “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner”.

• Arrow prayers are short, sharp prayers that bounce to God e.g. pass a traffic light, “Lord I love you”, pass by a tree “Wow your creation is amazing”.

• Sometimes prayer does not always relate to words, it is being in the presence of God, and constantly relating everything you do to God.

• Wherever love is felt, God is there.

• You don’t need to be articulate to pray.

• Practice self-emptying prayer.

• ACTS

  • A: Adoration - give God the glory through hymns and Tasbeha.

  • C: Confession - repent for the mistakes you have committed and seek to do better.

  • T: Thanksgiving - thank Him for the beautiful gifts He has given us, and thank God for being God.

  • S: Supplication - supplicate for others, then for yourself.

Q. At times my prayer seems so powerful, and then it feels like a chore. Why is it inconsistent?

• Often, we say this based off of what we feel, however, prayer is beyond emotion.

• It’s not about the emotion that prays, it’s about the God that hears them.

• Continually pray whether you feel like it or not.

• Example: The legend of the monk that walked long distances to gather water considering the basket had holes in it and he found no use in his service for no water returned to his Abbot, to which he was answered “my son look how clean the basket is” - in its time, we will see the fruits of the service, just hang in there!

Q. How do we turn down a service if we feel like we are not ready to do it?

• With the guidance of your confession father, discern properly what your calling is.

• Stop fighting God, when God calls, we must answer.

• You may be ready, sometimes humility is not always from God.

Q. Does being close to God ensure us an easy life? Often we say “Ease our lives and guide us to act according to your will.”

• In life you will always face troubles as it is part of the human condition.

• Being a Christian does not grant you immunity from experiencing hardship and sufferings.

• In the service, we will find that there are many struggles, for example, you will always find a lot of opposition when you serve, but God will ease all your tribulations when you rely on Him.

• The beauty of this is not that trouble won’t come to you, but rather when tribulations come we thank and praise God anyway.