The Truth About Great People

Minister to us, I pray, Lord, that you would use me as your unworthy servant in order to speak your word to your people, and I pray, Lord, that you would instruct all of us through your word, and that Lord, by your grace, you would help us to embrace what it is that you might have for us, that you would help us to receive and that Lord, you would transform us to some degree, Lord, through your word, Lord. we ask that you would make your presence felt, that your glory would be manifest, and that, Lord, you, at the end of the hour would truly be exalted.

Lord, we do come before you, confessing the fact that we do fall short of your glory and acknowledging our need for you. And we thank you, Lord, that in you we have provision for our need, that Lord, through the shedding of your blood, our sins have been atoned for, and that Lord, you have given to us your spirit.

We are sealed by your spirit and therefore empowered by your grace to minister. So, so Lord, I just, commend this time to you. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

I'd like to begin by asking a question of all of you, everyone from the old to the young and in between. the question is this, do you want to be great? What a question is that to ask, at the beginning of a sermon, but, but still, do you, do you want to be great? do you aspire to greatness?

I would submit to you that there is nothing at all, intrinsically wrong with the desire to be great. None of us wants to be a failure at things. We all want to do things, well. There is nothing wrong with the desire to get an A in a difficult college course.

how many of you, if you were called to step up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, want to strike out and lose the game for your team? You don't want to do that. We aspire to greatness. how many of you would, would like to, step up to the plate in the midst of a, a recital, and here you are with your instrument at hand, and you just totally flop, you totally mess up.

I would submit to you that there is no one who wants to mess up. there's nothing wrong, for example, with climbing the corporate ladder as a result of proving your character and ability to your employer. There is nothing wrong with getting first, the first place ribbon. At a national art contest.

Indeed, no one, no one would say that there is anything intrinsically wrong with the desire to be great. The disciples desired to be great. They aspired to greatness. In Mark chapter 9 and verse 30, you don't need to turn there yet, we will be jumping into Mark here in a minute, but in chapter 9, beginning in verse 30, we will read that the disciples were discussing with one another which of them was the greatest.

They were discussing with one another which of them was the greatest. The interesting thing about this particular incident is that Jesus had already been speaking to them about the fact and for the first time he was speaking to them about the fact that he was going to suffer. He says that he is going to be delivered into the hands of men, they will kill. Him and when he has been killed, he will rise 3 days later and it's against this backdrop of Jesus' teaching that the disciples themselves are discussing with one another which one of them is going to be the greatest.

Well, what is cool about this is the fact that Jesus doesn't necessarily rebuke them for such a desire, but he offers some correction to them. their understanding was, was off just a little bit, and so Jesus is going to step up to the plate and, and help them to gain a more proper understanding of what in fact it does mean to be great. He does say that if anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all. So what is clear is that while the disciples aspired to greatness, they desperately needed to know what true greatness really was.

They needed to know the truth about great people, and that is the title of the message this morning, the truth about Great people, please turn in your Bible to Mark chapter 10, verses 32 to 45, and I trust that many of you have studied this passage to some extent within the context of family worship as we have been working our way through the gospel according to Mark in our summer advance and so hopefully some of this will be familiar and Lord, willing, I'll be able to impart some additional thoughts to you and that we will be ministered by the Lord through His words here this morning.

But again, the message is entitled The Truth About great people, for Truths that will challenge, instruct, direct, and motivate you along the path of greatness. Truth number one, great people are guilty. Of sinful pride.

What a way to start, huh? Great people are guilty of sinful pride. In other words, they are not perfect, and we will see this unfold for us as we take a look at Mark 10:32 all the way until verses through verses 41. Let's read this together and as I read it to you, I'll, I'll make some Comments and Lord willing, we'll begin to see a profile of great people, OK, not as they are being great here, but as they will at some point in the future become great.

Let us read together. It says as they, they were on the road, verse 32, going up to Jerusalem and Jesus was walking on ahead of them. OK, so you've got the picture, right? Jesus and his followers are heading towards Jerusalem and Jesus is taking the lead.

He is ahead of them. How far I do not know, but the fact of the matter is, is that he is leading the way. Jesus is intent on going to Jerusalem. And it says that they were Amazed and those who followed were fearful.

Now, for whatever reason that they were amazed, I don't know exactly. Perhaps they were amazed because of the many miracles that Jesus had performed along the way, and they were blown away by the things that he did, the miracles that he performed, the healing of people and the mastery over nature and things of that nature. they were amazed, but it also says that those who followed were fearful, and maybe they were fearful because Jesus, though he was like them, In many ways was unlike them.

He was altogether unique.

He was set apart from them, and he did things that they had not seen anyone do before, and that may be why they were fearful. I'm not exactly sure. Perhaps they were fearful because of what Jesus instructs them along the way, what he says to them along the way, and we will read about that here in a second, but what is clear is that they knew at At least Jesus had taught clearly to them that, that he was going to suffer, he was going to die, and maybe there was something about the fact that he was going to die that induced fear in them.

At any rate, there were an array of emotions that were being exhibited by these followers of Jesus and then we read and again he took the 12, again, this is not the first time he had done this.

Before, he took the disciples aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him, saying, behold, listen up, listen carefully, sit up and pay very close attention to what I am about to say. This is important, men, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles, and they will mock him. And they will spit upon him, and they will scourge him, and they will kill him, and 3 days later, he will rise again.

And so here in this passage, Jesus for the The 2nd time in no uncertain terms, very clearly presents to his followers the fact that he was going to suffer excruciating and agonizing pain as he is delivered over to the enemy and put to death. That is the backdrop and now in verse 35, we come upon two great people. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, and please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying that they are great within the context of this particular season of their life.

I am not saying that the portrait that Mark is about to paint of James and John, portrays them to be great here, but what I am indicating by my statement that these are great men is that they go on to become great, OK, so please understand that. It says that James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, incidentally, their mother would have been Salome, I think it's how you say her name, and she evidently was the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and so they are related to the Lord Jesus Christ.

it says that they, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to him saying to him, Teacher, We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. Now stop and think about that.

We want you, Teacher Jesus, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. Is there not something wrong with that request? Is there not something wrong with that, that approach to Jesus and that concern being at the forefront of their minds? Think about it, because Jesus had just got done explaining to them that he was going to suffer.

It should have been clear to them that they were headed to Jerusalem, and there Jesus Christ would suffer excruciating and agonizing pain, and these two men, James and John, approached Jesus, and this is what they have on their mind, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. This indicates a self-centered, self-oriented approach to the Lord Jesus Christ. This indicates a lack of concern and compassion for their master and their best friend, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This indicates a pride below the surface.

They were primarily concerned about their own personal gain. And what they wanted is they wanted for Jesus to commit up front to the request that they are about to make. I notice that it says, Jesus in verse 36 said to them, well, what do you want me to do for you? Let's jump to the quick, guys.

Let's get right down to the nitty-gritty, be specific with me. What is it that you want me to do for you? And they said to Jesus, Grant that we may sit in your glory, one on your right. And one on your left.

You see, they were focused on securing a position of prominence. They left the other disciples out of it. They desired for themselves to be exalted. And they understood that Jesus was about to inaugurate His kingdom.

This is what their belief was. They believed that Jesus was on the verge of initiating His kingdom, his earthly reign. He was going to Jerusalem. He was going to overthrow the Roman government.

He was going to establish himself as the king. And these two disciples wanted in on the action. They wanted to have the right hand and the left hand seat of prominence and power and authority. They were not asking for the authority or the power, but they wanted to participate in that and they wanted a position of prominence.

Again, Jesus is going to suffer. And they are absorbed with their own little world and their own little kingdom and their own desires and their own interests, and they lacked much in reference to what it means to be truly great. It's interesting to note how Jesus responds to them. He could have blasted them, to be honest with you.

He could have jumped down the back, he could have said, do you not understand what's going to happen to me in Jerusalem? Do you not get the fact that I am going to suffer, I am going to be mistreated, I'm going to be beat up and spat upon and nailed to a cross. Do you not understand? he could have responded that way.

He could have soundly rebuked them. But notice his response. Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking for. And then he goes on to ask, are you able to drink the cup that I drink?

See here once again, the matter of his crucifixion was very close to his mind. Very important because he knew that such an act was necessary to secure salvation. He says, Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? This is a cup of suffering.

This is a cup of wrath, he says, or to be baptized with a baptism with which I am baptized. He is not speaking here about water baptism. He is speaking here about immersion and suffering. Are you able to experience the intensity of suffering with which I am about to suffer?

You guys have no clue what it is that you are asking. Are you able to enjoy these things? These are rhetorical questions, and the, the, the, the answer, the proper response ought to be obvious. They should have very, very quickly says no.

We get it, Jesus. You've made it clear at least on a couple of occasions, you're gonna suffer, you're gonna die, and what, we're unable. There should have been a check in their spirit. There should have been something inside of them that says, what, we are unable to drink fully from the cup that you are about to drink of.

We are unable to experience upon herself all of the wrath of Almighty God poured out upon the sins of all of humanity. We won't be able to take that one in. Listen to their response. In verse 39, they said to him, we are able.

We are able, we can do it. And this indicates a proud, self-confident insistence that they could enjoy. In reality, they did not really have a clue about what Jesus was asking, let alone their own inability to remain faithful. Now think a little bit into the future.

What are they going to do? They are going to forsake Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. They are going to flee. They will not stand by the side of their friends, but they will abandon him and leave him all alone to suffer alone.

And so they, they thought that they were able, but in fact they were not able. And notice that Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you shall drink, and he is not saying that you will drink of the, you won't, he's not saying you'll drink the exact cup that I drink. No one can. Only one, only Jesus can take upon himself the cup of wrath for the sin of humanity that we deserve.

Only Jesus could do that, but they would share in his suffering, they would partake in the cup, and Jesus here is prophesying to them, he is predicting to them something that would at some point eventually happen to them. He is saying that you will suffer. For the sake of my kingdom, you will suffer. You shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized, but to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give, but it is for those to whom it had been prepared.

And Jesus' response here is a response of humility. It's not mine to give. I am not the one in total authority here, and, and, and the interesting thing is, Jesus came. as a servant, and the Bible tells us in Philippians and Carlos referred to that section of scripture in communion.

But he did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but the Bible says he emptied himself. In other words, he laid aside his, he laid aside his divine prerogatives. He chose not to exercise the full force of his deity, but he came in submission to the Father to do his will and at the end of the day, what the Father wanted from him was for him to lay down his life as a ransom, and he will get to that here in a second. And so we've got these two great followers of Jesus, not so great at this time in their life, but again they go on to be great, James and John.

But the problem is intensified because in verse 41 we read and hearing this, the 10, the other apostles, if you will, the other followers, the, the rest of the 12, the, the, the 10 began to feel indignant with James and John. They were not happy and, and this is not righteous indignation. They weren't in the right for their attitude towards, towards the two. They began to feel indignant.

Perhaps they were, teed off because these two had beat them to the punch. These two had sought to, to gain a foothold and to position themselves in such a way to where they would have the seats of prominence, and they weren't happy about that. They were jealous about that. They felt indignant with James and John and Jesus himself has a problem on his hands.

His followers were not behaving in a manner that was worthy of the kingdom. His followers are arguing and bickering about which of them is the greatest. They were seeking to have boasting and bragging rights, they were seeking to be an authority, they were seeking to be placed in a position where they could rule over others, and such is the way of the world as Jesus is about to explain to them, and this is not the way that you are to be. And so Jesus has a problem.

And this leads us to the next point. This leads us to the place where Jesus is going to respond to this problem, and this next point, great people are taught. And embrace the way of humility. Great people are taught and they embrace the path, the way of humility.

I would submit to you, brothers and sisters, that what we are about to read is probably the most important section of scripture in the entire gospel according to Mark. I have heard some theologians say that this is perhaps one of the most important passages in the entire New Testament canon. Don't know if I would go that far, but it is extremely important. Deception of scripture.

In verse 42, we read that Jesus calling them to himself, Jesus said to them, OK, he's appealing to them on the basis of something that they knew, right?, and he had already been seeking to teach them these lessons in times past, but he's coming up with a different way now and so he says, that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles. Lorded over them. Those who are recognized as rulers, the earthly rulers, these earthly rulers of the Gentiles of the nations, they lorded over them.

This is their approach to being great.

They seek to be great by positioning themselves in seats of authority, and then once they get into those seats of authority, they boss people around, they lord it over them, they forced them into subjection to themselves because after all, they have the seat of prominence. guys, that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles, rulers of the nations, the rulers rule it over them, and they're great men, they're hotshots, if you will, exercise authority over them. This is the way of the world.

This is their approach to greatness.

And then he goes on to say, but it is not so among you. By way of contrast, This is not the way you are to be. And what, sadly to say, that's exactly how they were behaving, at least up until this point. And Jesus steps up to the plate and offers a correction to them.

He says, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant. Y'all wanna know what it means to be great? Let me help you understand what greatness really is all about. If you want to become great, Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.

I want you, my disciples to position yourself below one another and the one who can position himself at the lowest place, that will be the one who is the greatest of you all. The one of you who can be focused in on the interest and the concerns and the needs and the well-being of the others more than their own well-being, that one, I tell you, is great. The one who is willing to do all of the menial tasks and all of the things that go unnoticed and unrecognized, the one who is willing to step below you and to do all that he can to help you be all that the Lord would have for you to be, such a man Jesus is saying is great.

This is what it means to be great.

It means to be a slave of all, if you will, to wait on others and to minister to their needs. And to consider your needs to be as of no importance in comparison to the needs of those around you. And so Jesus doesn't mince his words. I think what he says is extremely clear.

You want to be great. If you want to be great. The greatest among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. And so great people are taught and embrace the way of humility, the way of humble service, if you will.

What is interesting now is that the Lord Jesus Christ will go on to present himself as the example. He will present himself as the example. He's, he's not just telling them what to do. But he's actually going to be fleshing itself out in his life and he presents himself as the example of humble servanthood.

He, he, he calls them to look to him as the example and eventually at some point in the future, he will flesh it out when he goes to the cross and he dies there. And I believe, brothers and sisters that on the other side of the cross, that is what made all of the difference in the world for these men who at this point aren't necessarily great, but they go on to become great, James and John. The 3rd point then is that great people behold, the crucified the Lord. Great people, behold the crucified Lord.

This is what Jesus does, he presents himself as the example for his followers, and for James and John and even the other 10, if they are to go on to become great, they must lay hold of the crucified Lord. And Jesus Christ in verse 45 says, for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. That is an absolutely astonishing fact. Here we have the King of kings, and the Lord of Lords.

We have the second person of the triune God, God the Son here. We have the one to whom all things were created, and for him all things were created. We have the King, Creator, and sustainer of the universe here saying that he came not to be served, but to serve. And he says, and to give his life.

A ransom for many. And he's pointing once again to his crucifixion. The difference between this time and the two previous times is he offers an explanation, he gives a reason. What is the reason, Jesus?

You've been telling us that you're going to suffer and die, you're going to be killed, you're going to be mocked, you're going to be spat upon, you're going to be beaten to a pulp, you've been telling us these things, but why is it that you have to do these things? And in this passage, finally, the Lord Jesus gives an answer. He says, as a ransom, as a ransom, the word here is the price paid. For the release of a captive.

The idea that is painted for us here is that Jesus is saying, I am going to pay the price so that prisoners can go free. There are prisoners out there in the world. There are those who are in bondage to sin and depravity. There are those who are in bondage to the evil one, and I have come to be a ransom.

I will pay the price demanded by Almighty God so that they can be set free from their condition. And so here's Jesus, he's directing them to himself, and he's calling his people to behold Himself, the crucified Lord. And obviously they are to identify him as the example of humility that they are to emulate. He presents himself as the example, but they are also to identify him as the solution to their pride problem.

He is the solution. To their pride problem. Behold him. See him.

And on the other side of seeing Christ, there is something that will happen which will take us to the next point in a moment. But I think, one of the things that was interesting to me as I was reading through portions of Mark, I came to Mark 15:39. This is an amazing passage. Jesus was there on the cross, and he was about to breathe his very last breath.

His very last. He had already gone through a hell of a day, if you would excuse my French, he had gone through a very, very, very painful, excruciating and difficult day. He had been abandoned by his friends, he had been mocked at and spat upon, he had been abandoned by God the Father, who was on the cross alone. Isolated, naked and clothed in nothing but his own blood, in total humiliation, he is on the cross, and in Mark 15:39, we read, and when the centurion, One of the Roman soldiers who was standing right in front of him.

He was standing right in front of Jesus as he was on the cross, saw the way that he breathed his last, he observed the way that Jesus breathed his very last breath, and guess what happened on the other side of that one singular breath that he observed. It tells us that when he saw the way Jesus breathed his last, he said, truly, Truly this man was the son. Of God. I would submit to you that therein is his conversion.

Therein was the difference that he needed in his life to be a changed man. Finally, he acknowledged the truth and he was changed as a result, and I would like to think that he perhaps went on to be a great man himself. But you see, He, he saw the Lord, the crucified one, and there was something about seeing him. That made a difference in his life, and Jesus is directing his 12 to consider his crucifixion and to think about what it is that he is going to do, and Jesus is calling James and John to give thought to His crucifixion.

Because Jesus knows, as he indicates in the passage, as a ransom for many, that through his death, their change would be affected, which leads us to the 4th and to the final point here. Great people are transformed. Through the power of the gospel. Great people are transformed through the power of the gospel.

At the end of the day, the path to greatness leads us to the cross. It leads us to the foot of the cross. And like I said, at this stage of the game, James and John weren't all that great after all, were they? But let's, let's jump ahead now.

And I would submit to you that the difference was the actual cross of Christ. Think about James. He was the first of the apostles to die. He ended up dying a martyr's death as recorded by Luke in the book of Acts.

Listen to what Luke says. Now, about that time, Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them, and he had James, the brother of John, put to death with a sword. Well done, good and faithful servant. Such is an indicator of greatness.

You were willing to follow in the very footsteps of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as he laid down his life, so you also laid down your life for the glory of God and for the advancement of His kingdom. And so I submit to you that he was great in the Lord. We've got John. John will go on to write the Gospel of John, and he goes on to write 3 additional epistles as well.

Would you listen with me to some of the things that he says coming out of First John? First John 1:7, if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son purifies us from all sin. He never lost sight of the cross. He never lost sight of the fact that through the blood of Jesus, we are purified from our sin.

First John 2:1, he says, My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He himself The propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but for those of the whole world. Again, he's got his mind fixated on the cross of Christ and how through his death propitiation for sin was made. First John 3:16, John says, we know love by this.

That he laid down his life for us. I'm sure there were echoes of the words of Jesus when he says the Son of Man will give Himself as a ransom for many, echoes of that event in his life as he is writing these verses in First John, he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. He gets it. He gets it.

He finally understands it. No more self-serving, no more self-exaltation, no more pride inside of him, but what, that, that, that was dissolved at the foot of the cross and through the power of the cross, he became a transformed man, such a man who himself was willing to lay down his life. And he was exiled and he suffered martyrdom in a living sense. James, the first martyr, the first apostle to die, suffered martyrdom physically, but, John is going to go on to be exiled to the island of Patmos and he's gonna suffer, if you would, a living martyrdom.

And first John 4:10, listen to what John says, and this is love, not that we love God. As I reflect upon my life and as I look hard inside of my heart, I come to this conclusion. It wasn't that I loved the Lord first. there wasn't much in me that, that would commend myself to the Lord, not that we love God, but that he loved us and he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. The basis for our loving one another is rooted in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. These two men, as I have said, By Mark in the passage we looked at specifically were portrayed in a negative light.

These great men struggled with sin. But they were taught and they embraced the way of humility, they were directed to the cross of Christ and they saw the crucified Lord, and on the other side of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were transformed, they were changed, they were brought to the place to where they understood the path of greatness. It's the path of humility, it's the way of the cross, it's Jesus himself, the great one. And so this passage helps us to understand the truth about great people.

Great people are guilty of sinful pride, they're not perfect, you will find their flaws. Go after the greatest person and spend some time and do some research, you'll find reason to find fault with such a person, but that does not disqualify such a person from greatness necessarily. Great people are taught and embraced the way of humility. There's a sense in which they repent of that way and they seek to live in such a way to where they are emulating humility in their lives and they understand that the only way to do so is through seeing the Lord and so great people behold the crucified Lord.

And through that, through the gospel, great people are transformed through the power of the gospel. Brothers and sisters, I want for us to just stop and to consider for a moment this fact. I submit to you that, that you need not look necessarily any further than the person next to you to identify the marks of greatness. There is greatness exhibited in the lives of the people of this church.

There is greatness being exhibited in the lives of your loved ones, your family members. There are people in this body who are faithful to the ministry of prayer and such is an indicator of greatness. I know that there are people here who take the prayer sheet and they pray through that thing regularly, if not daily. My oldest daughter, as an example, not that I want to present her as a model of greatness, but I see a trace of greatness in what I am about to share.

And she has faithfully prayed for adopting parents in our body for years now. And we have seen the Lord answer such prayers as Daniel and Cindy Benshandler, Joe and Patty Torres, and Mike and Pliquino all have successfully brought children into their homes, and, and prayers, such prayers as these and such prayers that you are offering to the Lord on behalf of your fellow brothers and sisters are an indicator of greatness. You are coming before the Lord of glory and you are beseeching Him on behalf of these people.

you care about and they're concerned about and such is a wonderful way to serve.

There are folks in this body who get up faithfully every Sunday morning before the, before the light of dawn, and they get up and they get the sound system going and they come and they prepare the worship and they seek to sing, lead us in worship. what, such sacrifices do not go unnoticed by the Holy One. Such sacrifice. are indicators of greatness.

We have care group leaders, many of which who have invested much of their time and even their resources in an effort to bless people in their care groups. I have spoken to many of the care group leaders, and when they tell me about some of the things that they have done or are doing, I am blown away by the indicators of greatness that we see in the lives of our elders, and I would exclude myself from the equation. I'm looking at the others and I would submit to. that there are indicators of greatness in the lives of each of these men, and I feel it a privilege and a blessing to even be able to rub shoulders with these great men in the faith.

We've got deacons who are faithfully discharging their duties, folks in our body who prepare meals on a regular basis and deliver those meals to others in our body who have needs. These are indicators of greatness, brothers and sisters. Your willingness to serve is an encouragement. I think first and foremost to the Lord, but it is an encouragement to the body here as well.

We have fathers in this congregation. Listen, children, please listen to what I have to say. There are dads in this church who rise up every morning, 56 days out of the week in order to go out into the world and to work hard so that they can meet the material needs of their family. Such men oftentimes work 40 to 50+ hours a week and they do it in service to their family.

These are the indicators of greatness that I am talking about and some of these men, many of these men, Lord willing, all of these men are also seeking to lead their families in worship and in devotion to the Lord. And every effort to do so is an indicator of greatness. It's an indicator of service. We have wives in our body who, under the leadership of their husbands, have chosen not to enter into the public workforce because they understand that their primary ministry is to their husband and children at home, and joyfully minister to such needs in their family.

That is an indicator of greatness. And on the flip side, we do have wives who, though they desire to remain at home, they willingly take on a vocational job in order to minister to the needs of their family until the time comes in which they can return home. This is, these are indicators of servanthood, indicators of greatness. We even have single moms who are working hard day and night in order to minister to the needs of their children and to bless their children and to provide bread for them.

We have single folks in our body who regularly volunteer to minister to families by watching the children so that mom and dad can get away for a day. Just over the last couple of months, I think it's been, I have personally, my wife and I have been blessed personally by people in this body who have watched my children so that my wife and I could either go away to a retreat or we could, go out to dinner on an evening. This is what Jesus is talking about, if you want to be great, be a servant, be a servant, be a slave to those around you and seek to minister to their needs, and we ought to rejoice in the fact that there are indicators of greatness even surrounding us in this body.

Praise be to the Lord because it's the result of his work in our lives that we even have the desire to lay down our lives in service to one another.

And though I bring these examples by way of encouragement, We have room for growth. None of us has arrived, and we need not go any further than Jesus hanging there at the cross to realize that, what? He alone is great and there is always room for us to become more and more like him. I want you guys to consider this as well as we come close to an end here.

We are given opportunities every day to emulate greatness, every single day, every single one of you is presented an opportunity to walk in the path of humility, to walk in the path of servanthood, to walk in the path of greatness. Every single one of you is given countless times, every single day to emulate the Lord Jesus Christ. It happens all the time. When someone sins against you, for example, you can respond in forgiveness.

You can respond in humility, mercy, and compassion. You can choose not to hold that offense against such a person, and you can instead respond in kindness and in love. And when you do that, you walk in the way of greatness. When your spouse says something that offends you or they do something that just makes you mad and they've done it for the 1000th time.

And you respond in humility and grace, you are demonstrating greatness. When you take the opportunity, the initiative to perform a task that you weren't asked to do, you are walking in the way of servant, servanthood, of, of humility, of greatness. Kids, let me speak to your kids again. When you see that the dishes are all dirty and the sink is full of them and there's a lot of work and when you, without even being told, take the initiative to wash those dirty dishes, you walk in the path of greatness according to Jesus.

And when you young men notice that the trash can is full and overflowing, And every part of you wants to get to that Wii game because that's what you want to do or you want to watch that video or do whatever it is that you were doing, get out there and play some baseball or whatever, and you see this trash can overflowing and you stop and you say, I am going to serve my Lord. I will serve my mom and my dad. I will serve my family. I will take the trash out and put it in the bigger trash can.

That is an opportunity for greatness. And when you take the initiative to mow the lawn so that your dad doesn't have to, and your dad comes home from work and he notices that, hey, the lawn's been mowed, and all the while he was expecting that he would have to do it himself. And when you do that young man or even young lady in service to your parents, you are walking in the path of greatness. You are being a humble servant.

You are following in the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ. And perhaps you decide to clean up your room or to put all of the clothes away, or, or wash the clothes. There, there's so many ways, young person, that you can walk in the path of greatness, and I would implore you this morning to consider. Jesus' teaching on greatness and to be great.

Every day you are given the opportunity, and I can guarantee, if you, if you are faithful with the little things, if you demonstrate to be great in the little things, the Lord has something bigger in store for you. And what he has that is bigger in store for you may very well be the very thing that you do that in which you find fulfillment in your life. So seek to be faithful here and now in the little things. Husbands, you have opportunities at greatness, fathers, husbands, as you love your wives, as Christ loves the church.

If we could stop and preach a whole sermon on that one, but because of time we won't, but you have an opportunity there for greatness wives, same thing as you submit to your husbands, as you respect them, even though at times they don't deserve to be respected, but you do so anyway in service to the Lord, you are walking in the path of greatness. recently, My son, and I'm drawing attention to two of my kids, not to say that they are the model of greatness because, they're not necessarily the model, but I see traces of it in their lives, but we were on vacation and my son Andrew, I noticed that was a distance and he, he, he walked through the door of, of this, convenience store at the gas station and, and as he walked through it, he turned and he noticed a couple of elderly ladies.

One of them was walking with a walker. And he just stopped there for about 10 seconds and just waited and waited and waited till they finally got there and he left the door open for them, allowed them to walk through first, and then he walked in afterwards.

And after that, I had to say, I walked, I, I approached my son, I said, Andrew, what? That is great. That is great. And what?

According to the biblical teaching on greatness, that thing is indeed great. To seek, to look to the needs of others and to serve others. Brothers and sisters, let us seize the opportunities that God gives us through the power of the gospel to walk in the way of humble servanthood. The way up is the way down, the path towards greatness is humble service as taught and modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm gonna ask you to pray with me, please. Heavenly Father, we just come before you with a matter of greatness, and we understand here this morning that greatness happens through humble service. And I would pray, Lord, that You would help each and every single one of us, Lord, to walk in the way of humility, to put on Christ and to emulate him and to be humble servant leaders and to lay down our lives for others to consider their interest is more important than our own. Give us the grace, oh Lord, that we need to do this, and I would pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.