Serving Like Jesus: Finding Your Purpose Through Helping Others
In Do As I Do, Part 10 – Service, Melissa Robinson from Open Arms Community Church shares a message that calls believers to live out their faith through serving others. The heart of this message is simple yet powerful — following Jesus means loving, giving, and helping the way He did. Service is not a task for a few; it’s the calling of everyone who follows Christ.
Created to Help
From the beginning, God designed humanity for community and connection. He made people to need one another and to reflect His own nature as a helper.
Genesis 2:18 (NIV)
“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
The Hebrew word for helper in this verse is ezer — meaning help, rescuer, or strength. This same word is often used to describe God Himself. That means helping is not weakness; it is divine strength in action. God built His image into humanity when He gave the ability and the desire to serve.
Being a helper is not a lesser role — it’s a reflection of the Creator. The world often overlooks those who serve quietly, but in God’s Kingdom, serving is sacred. Every act of service mirrors His heart.
The Example of Jesus
Jesus modeled the perfect life of a servant. Though He was equal with God, He chose humility, obedience, and sacrifice.
Philippians 2:5–8 (NIV)
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”
This passage reveals the very heart of service: humility. True service flows from surrender. It gives without expecting, helps without recognition, and loves without condition.
The Call to Follow
When Jesus invited His disciples to follow Him, He called ordinary people — fishermen, tax collectors, outcasts — and gave them extraordinary purpose.
Matthew 4:19–20 (NIV)
“‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’
At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew 9:9 (NIV)
“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”
These men were not chosen for their skills, status, or education. They were chosen because they were willing. Following Jesus is not about perfection — it’s about availability. The same invitation still stands today: Come, follow Me.
The Humility of Service
One of the most beautiful and humbling scenes in Scripture is when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet.
John 13:12–17 (NIV)
“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.
‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them.
‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord,” and rightly so, for that is what I am.
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.
Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.’”
Jesus transformed a simple act of hospitality into a powerful lesson on humility. He showed that no task is beneath the servant of God. Every gesture of kindness and compassion can be a reflection of heaven.
Serving the Way Jesus Served
Serving is more than volunteering or being kind — it’s a lifestyle. It’s how believers demonstrate the love of God to a broken world. Four principles guide a life of service:
1. Serve with Love
Love is the foundation of all service. Without it, actions lose meaning.
Matthew 22:37–39 (NIV)
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Love fuels every act of service. It opens eyes to see the needs of others and hearts to respond with compassion.
2. Serve in Hiddenness
Real service doesn’t seek attention or praise. It is content with God alone seeing the sacrifice.
Matthew 6:1–4 (NIV)
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others.
Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The unseen moments — the quiet acts of generosity and encouragement — are where the character of Christ shines brightest.
3. Serve with Availability
Service often happens in interruptions. Jesus was never too busy to stop for someone in need.
Matthew 9:18–22 (NIV)
“While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said,
‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’
Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.
She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’
Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed at that moment.”
Availability means being present — willing to pause, listen, and care. The interruptions may actually be the ministry God intended.
4. Serve in Kinship
Service is not about hierarchy but relationship. Jesus restores, includes, and calls believers into community.
John 21:17 (NIV)
“The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’
He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
Serving is how the love of God is extended through community — feeding, tending, and caring for one another.
Greatness Redefined
Jesus redefined greatness through servanthood.
Mark 10:43–45 (NIV)
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
True greatness in God’s Kingdom isn’t measured by influence or power but by love in action. Serving is the mark of a disciple.
A Life That Reflects Christ
Every believer is called to serve — not from obligation, but from gratitude. Service is the natural response of a heart transformed by Jesus. It’s how faith becomes visible, how love takes form, and how the world encounters God through His people.
The world doesn’t need more people trying to be important; it needs more hearts willing to serve.
“Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
— John 13:17
📺 Watch the full message:
👉 https://youtu.be/p9vm7GDscLM
Plan Your Visit
If this message encouraged you, we’d love for you to experience what God is doing at Open Arms Community Church. Whether you’re new to faith, searching for purpose, or ready to grow deeper in your walk with Jesus, there’s a place for you here.
Join us on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM for worship, teaching, and community. Come as you are, bring your family, and discover what it means to live and serve like Jesus — together.
👉 Plan your visit today: https://openarmscommunitychurch.org/visit/
