In Steve Hopkins' sermon titled 'What are you doing for God?', he challenges listeners to focus beyond their personal needs and problems, urging them to see and respond to the needs of others. Drawing on Philippians 2-4, he warns against the 'numbness' that can occur when Christians become too self-focused, using the parable of the Good Samaritan as a cautionary tale. The sermon emphasizes that true religious practice involves acts of service and compassion, as seen in Isaiah 58 and James 1:27, which call for actively helping those in need. Hopkins encourages believers to engage in personal ministries of mercy, such as visiting the sick or supporting the fatherless, highlighting biblical examples like Tabitha and Cornelius who were recognized for their good deeds. The sermon concludes with a call to Christians to live out their faith by helping others, regardless of societal distinctions, as an expression of God’s love.

In Philippians 2-4, the apostle says to the church at Philippi, look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. It is a call to get outside of ourselves. It's a call to not be so fixated on our own lives and our own problems and our own needs, so fixated on our own things that we don't see or maybe are even aware of the problems and needs of those around us. Self-focus is blinding. We can be blinded to the needs of others when we become too focused on our own things.

It happens so often with Christians that we become almost blind to the situations affecting those around us. When a Christian can't see beyond himself or herself, it's a kind of numbness. A kind of numbness. Think about the kind of numbness that we see in the story of the good Samaritan, the man laying by the roadside and you have very religious people who go to church and all and they pass by on the other side without seemingly even noticing what's going on. And like that the man in Luke 19 we start to say like this man said to Jesus who is my neighbor maybe not with our lips but with our actions and and the kind it's the kind of numbness that sets in where we're no longer either aware of what others are going through or we are aware but not moved with any compassion concerning others.

We can get so busy with our own things and so absorbed with our own things that we become like the Levite and the priest in Luke chapter 10. You just don't seem to notice that there's a man bleeding in the ditch as they walk by on the other side. It's kind of like out of sight, out of mind. When others are lying in various kinds of ditches, on various kinds of roadsides, and suffering in various kinds of ways with various types of needs and they really need someone to help. If someone asked you today, what are you doing for God?

I was watching a clip by video clip. I sent it around I think to our family. I don't know if I sent around to the men of the church or not. It was Paul Watcher. You know he was saying you know are you useful?

He was Exposing a passage of scripture saying are you useful the king for the kingdom of God if so what? And he was wherever he was preaching he was saying just just write it get a piece of paper and write it down now What how are you useful for the kingdom of God? What are you doing? What are you doing for God? How would you respond in Isaiah 58 the people went to church they went to the temple they prayed even fasted They were doing all kinds of religious stuff, but their hearts were numb to the needs of those that God had placed in their paths.

And God said to them through Isaiah, Is this the kind of fast that I've chosen for a man to afflict his soul to bow down his head as a bull rush? Is it a fast to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord Is not this the fast that I've chosen to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out into your own house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you don't hide not yourself from your own family members, your own flesh.

Then shall your light break forth as the morning and your health shall spring forth speedily and your righteousness shall go before you and the glory of the Lord shall be your reward. If you draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul then will your light rise in obscurity and thy darkness shall be as the noon day and the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in times of drought and make fat your bones and you will be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not. Jesus said blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. I sat our family down here just recently said you know we just really you know what is your personal ministry we you know we do do things as a family and all what is your what are you doing what is your your personal ministry you know is there Do you have any ministry of mercy? Isaiah 1.17, learn to do well, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge or give justice to the fatherless and plead for the widow.

James 1.27, everyone knows, Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows and their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Talking with Eric last night, we were doing our prayer for the church. And you know we we had a you know a ministry for a long time this is a church going to the local nursing home and and just we should really get back to that. There were so many you know people that were helped I think through that and I just think we should we should get back to that. In Acts 10 for an angel appears to Cornelius and he's terrified and he says what is it Lord and the angel said your prayers and your alms Have come up for a memorial before God We kind of just skim over passages like that This guy was singled out his prayers that he was praying and All the things that he had done for those who are in need his alms had come up for a memorial before God Wow In our last session we looked at the Proverbs 31 woman, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

Somehow she finds time in her busy schedule to look to the needs of others. In Acts 9, 36 you have all of these elderly ladies that are weeping, They've gotten together, they're widows and they're weeping because Tabitha, also known as Dorcas, had died. And when Peter comes on the scene, they're all gathered, they're weeping and everyone's showing everyone the coats and garments she had made for them while she was alive. Her name was Tabitha and we read, this woman was full of good works and alms deeds, which she did. Here it is again, we just, we kind of skim over these, these people, these people, these insignificance of scripture that are so very significant in the sight of God and lifted up.

I mean, God sends Peter to raise her from the dead. To raise her from the dead. Being a mother is a full-time job with overtime. Hard for mothers to add anything to their plate or go out and do anything, but I've heard of mothers gathering their children during the day to pray for the needs of others and tell their children the stories of people in other places who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus or who are just in need, gathering them together so that in that process, They're teaching their children that it's not all about them. It's not all about us Let's get together and let's pray for those who are in need How they need to be concerned for the things of others an elderly man with serious health issues dies after he dies Those who survive and find that he's been supporting this vast number of orphaned children in other countries and no one ever knew it.

An elderly woman who could barely get out of bed in the morning, she dies, and the people from her church find a prayer log and a drawer in her nightstand with check-off lists next to the names of people, circumstances that she's been praying for for years. And they're on the list and they never knew it. There's just so many things that we can be doing. We need to look on the things of others and not on just our own things. Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others.

As we have opportunity therefore, Galatians 6 10, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Hebrews 6 10, God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love that you've shown toward His name, and that you've ministered to the saints and do minister. And of course Jesus said, in as much as you've done it unto me, unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. And I'll just end this pre-message message with Christians are the only people in the world. We're the only people in the world who help others no matter their societal status, no matter their age, no matter their skin color, no matter, no matter, because we are the recipients of the love of God and God makes no distinction between any.

Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners. We just want to serve and we just want to get out of ourselves, out of our own confines and our petty little worlds that we have built and our petty little kingdoms. Get outside of the box and get outside of ourselves and look not only on our own things, but also on the things of others.