Serving One Another

Joel Osteen @ Lakewood Church

• Matthew 20:27-28…and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• BE OPEN TO HELP ANYONE
• Johnny McGowan is a friend of Joel's and Joel always recounts how much of a servant he is. He's always trying to help someone or make someone feel important. Joel told a story about when he called Johnny to go somewhere with him and he said that he couldn't because he was helping someone repair their roof. The person he was helping was a friend of his neighbor.
• Matthew 10:42 KJV
• And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
• When you serve others its like you are serving God
• Dont look for people to pay you back
• JJ Moses: is a former American football wide receiver in the NFL. During his career he was listed as the shortest player in the NFL at 5'6".
• Even though he was an NFL player he would volunteer as an Usher at Lakewood and continues to do so. He counts that as his most honorable time is as an usher.
• When you do God's will you will be recharged. You will be Fed because you are doing God's will
• John 4:32 KJV
• But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
• John 4:33-34 KJV
• Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
• When you lift Others God will lift you.
• Kind words work wonders.
• This should start at home
• John 13:1-17
• Jesus washed the disciples' feet
• Matthew 20:28 ...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
• Be willing to carry someone.
• Lakewood Church offers water baptism and occasionally Joel Osteen baptizes people himself. On the day of the baptism, a younger man came in with an older man who appeared to have been confined to a wheel chair. He helped the man get up the stairs to the baptism pool and then carried him into the water. Afterwards, he carried the man out. Joel asked him if the man was his father. The young that older gentleman said under his breath, "I wish I could go". The younger man sitting next to him overheard him and told he older man that he should. But the older man said that he wouldn't be able to get to church or into the water. The younger man made arrangements to pick the older gentleman up, bring him to church, AND help him in and out of the water. Everyone wanted to know how he knew the man. Everyone was moved to find out that he was a stranger.
• Matthew 25:40 KJV
• And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
• Don't give up.
• God sees you helping others.
• Matthew 6:4 KJV
• That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
  
• Victoria Osteen

• ① God wants us to see what we cant
• ② I can't live in The place where I am unhappy
• ③ Delay is not denial
• Luke 18:2-8 KJV
• ...There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect,
  which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
• Don't judge God's ability by the condition of the circumstances

Just Do It

Joel @ Lakewood Church

• Sometimes God Wants us to do things that do not make sense, do not fit into my schedule, or are Outside of our budget.
• With every act of Obedience there is a blessing attached
• You have to have bold obedience. Faith is not in your head, faith is in your heart.
• Before the red sea was parted The Israelites had to get their feet wet.
• Exodus 14:15-16 
• God said to Moses: “Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving.
• Hold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground.
• John Osteen collected $6000 to pour the foundation for and sanctuary. The Lord told Him to donate the money to a nearby church. He did and Then after that donations flooded in.
• Joel is reaping a harvest from a seed that was sown years ago.
• God told Isaac to plant his crops in a Famine which did nor make sense.
• Genesis 26:12 KJV
  Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
• Acts 9:1, 11-13 KJV
• And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
• God commanded Ananias to heal someone who had been persecuting Christians. This did not make sense. But since Ananias was obedient Paul went on to preach the gospel and write much of the Bible.
• Acts 9:17-18 KJJ
• And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
• Paul Osteen left his successful medical practice to help his father's church. now he gives medical treatment to assist at Lakewood after his father died. Now Paul uses his medical practice to spread the gospel in countries where people wouldn't usually have access to health care!
• God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his promised son. Abraham obeyed and just as he was about to do it, this happens...
• Genesis 22:15-18 KJV
• And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord , for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

• Victoria Osteen @ Lakewood Church

• Jeremiah 29:11 KJV
• For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord , thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
• Sometimes When it take long we put down what we believe and pick up what me see became me get good at being human when aid wants us to be supernatural because we serve a supernatural God. So we have to Watch and See
• Watch
• Observe.
• Observing is a long process. You have to take hold of what you see and absorb them.
• Long Processes produce brilliant results
• A diamond IS produced when coal Is put under pressure.
• David spent most of His young life watching His Father's sheep until one day his father sent him to the enemy line. Before he faced Goliath he remembered his past victories. His brothers ridiculed Him but he had to look past those distracting voices because that pressure is making me shiny and brilliant.
• 1 Samuel 17 34-37: But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
• See
• Isaiah 43:19 KJV
• Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.. .

Moving Forward

Joel Osteen @ Lakewood Church

• As long as l live in regret looking the past it will keep me from my bright future.
• Don't let what someone did or didn't do for me hold Me back or  poison my future.
• Resentment Regrets Disappointment are bags that can weigh you down and God didn't create me to carry that much weight
• In the car, the rearview mirror is smaller than The windshield because what lies ahead is more important than what is behind you.
• My bad breaks did not stop Gods plan for my liFe.
• Philippians 4:8 KJV
  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
• Quit thinking about it and quit talking about it. when there negative pictures come up, change The channel because I have the remote
• Isaiah 61:3 KJV
  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord , that he might be glorified.
• You have to let go of the negative to receive the positive. The enemy would love for me to sit in the ashes.
• Philippians 3:13-14 KJV
  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
• 1 Samuel 16:1 KJV
  And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth–lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
• There is a problem with excessive mourning.
  God can take What I see as a stumbling block and use it as a stepping stone.
• I SHOULD sow my losses as a seed.
• James Franco
• James Franco become trapped in a canyon. A boulder has him pinned down…after a few days his arm dies so he cuts it off.
• IF something Is dead in my liFe l had to not due with it. I have to be willing to walk away
• Job 2:8 KJV, Job 19:25
• And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
• For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
• Isaiah 61:7 KJV
• For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
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• Victoria @ Lakewood Church
• Proverbs 18:21 KJV 
• Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
• James 3:4-8 KJV
• Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and
  hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
• James 1:5 KJV
• If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
• You can take your tongue and turn your life around.