Sunday, July 28, 2013

SERMON: I AM WORRIED

Audio Link
28 July 2013

 I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Luke 12:22-34

Luke 12:22-34 (NIV)

22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!
29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.
30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.
31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

            -- many people in our world today worry -- they worry about the past -- they worry about the future -- they even worry about things that will never come
            -- it's like the patient in the mental hospital -- the attendant was walking by and he noticed one of his patients had his ear pressed up against the wall, listening intently to what was going on in the next room
            -- the patient saw the attendant watching and motioned for him to come over and join him -- the attendant pressed his ear to the wall for a long time and finally said, "I can't hear a thing" -- the patient replied, "You're right -- it's been like that all day!"

             -- I can certainly understand that patient's fears -- the Apostle Paul writes in scripture that he is the chief of sinners -- well, I am the chief of worriers -- I worry about everything -- I worry about my job -- about my finances -- about my health -- about the state of our vehicles -- and every week I worry about what I am going to preach on the next Sunday -- but it doesn't stop there
            -- I worry about our country -- our Government -- our economy -- I worry about natural disasters -- I worry about tornadoes and flooding -- I worry about the bird flu -- killer bees -- sharks -- bears -- I even worry a little bit about zombies

            -- just yesterday I saw an ad on the internet put out by FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency -- it was called, "Today is the Day Before," and the premise of the ad is that today might be the day before something bad happens like an earthquake or a tornado or a terrorist attack -- the ad closes by saying, "Today might be the day before -- are you ready?" -- and I thought, "No, I'm not -- what am I going to do?" -- and it just gave me more to worry about

            -- you see what I mean? -- if there were a support group for worriers, I would be it's most avid member -- I can see it now -- "My name is Greg Lee, and I worry"
            -- but, more than likely, I'm not the only one in this room who worries -- worrying is one of the most common afflictions in this country -- and, as some have said, worry is our most acceptable sin
            -- but Jesus knew that -- Jesus knew our hearts -- He knew our doubts -- He knew our fears -- and He knew we were going to worry -- several times in Scripture Jesus told His followers to stop worrying and start trusting -- that's exactly what He tells them in this passage that I want us to look at this morning
            -- so if you would, please join me here in Luke 12 and let's look at what Jesus had to say about this subject

II.  Scripture Lesson (Luke 12:22-34)

            -- verse 22-23
22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.
23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.

            -- now let me set the scene for you -- Luke tells us several thousand people had gathered around Jesus to hear Him speak -- so many, in fact, that they're tripping over each other -- they're literally pressing up against Him so they can hear His words
            -- one of them impatiently hollers up to Jesus and demands that Jesus tells his brother to split the inheritance with him -- at which point Jesus delivers a parable about the rich fool who laid up wealth and treasure on earth because he was worried about the future, but who found it all for naught because his very life was taken away that very night
            -- Jesus then turned to His disciples and began sharing with them these thoughts on worrying about life -- He says, "Therefore, don't be like the rich fool -- don't worry about your life -- what will you will eat -- and don't worry about your body -- what you will wear -- life is about so much more than this"

            -- when I was looking at this passage, I found it interesting that Jesus was speaking these words privately to His disciples -- these were men who had been around Jesus for some time now -- they trusted Him enough to leave their jobs and their families and all they had behind and to follow Him -- more than anyone else there that day, these were men we would expect to live on faith, but still they worried
            -- the problem of worry in our society today is not just for unbelievers -- but it is an epidemic that also plagues the church -- Christians worry, too -- even Jesus' own disciples -- the apostles that God used to build His church on earth -- even they worried about their daily lives -- even they were concerned about food and clothes and how they were going to get by in life
            -- the point I want you to get here is that we all worry -- Christians -- non-Christians -- everyone -- but that doesn't mean it's right -- worry is a sin -- it's the opposite of faith -- and so Jesus turns to His disciples and tells them point-blank, "Do not worry."

            -- you know, when you think about it, you have to wonder about Jesus' command here to not worry -- I mean, think about who this passage is written to -- who Jesus was actually speaking to -- He was speaking to His followers who lived in the first century in Palestine

            -- this wasn't a good time to be a Jew -- living conditions in that time were harsh -- the Israelites were people under subjection to the Romans -- they were limited in what they could do to make a living and where they could go and they were taxed to excess by both the Romans and the Jews -- most people in that day struggled to just survive and make a living -- they struggled to find enough to eat and drink every day
            -- think about the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and why that miracle is included in all the gospels -- Scripture tells us that when Jesus got done speaking that day, the disciples tried to get Him to make the crowd leave because they didn't have food to eat and the disciples didn't have any food to give them
            -- not having food or clothes was a common state of affairs in their day -- the majority of their population would have lived below what we call the poverty line -- in other words, they had more poor people in their day than we do in ours today -- and they didn't have Government assistance to help them
            -- if you think about it, the world Jesus lived in was similar to that of a third world country today -- they had real problems with the basic necessities of life, yet Jesus tells them in this passage, "Don't worry"
 
            -- makes you wonder why worry is such a big problem in our society today -- we live in the most affluent country in the world -- the U.S. uses more of the world's resources than any other country -- even the poorest in our country is blessed compared to the world's standards -- you've probably seen the quote: "If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep at night, you are richer than 75% of the world" -- even our homeless are better off than most people in other countries
            -- the biggest health problem in our country is obesity -- we don't have to worry about getting something to eat here -- we should be worrying about eating too much
            -- but incredibly, even though we have more than any other nation in the world, we also lead the world in worrying -- Worry is the number one mental disorder in America.
            -- “The Mayo Clinic claims 80-85% of their total caseload is due directly to worry and anxiety -- and many experts say that coping with stress is the #1 health priority of our day -- one leading physician has stated that, in his opinion, 70% of all medical patients could cure themselves if only they got rid of their worries and fears"1  
            -- that's what Jesus is trying to get us to do here

            -- verse 24-28

24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27 "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!

            -- to make His point, Jesus turned to nature for two examples -- first, He told His disciples to consider the ravens -- they don't worry -- they don't stress over food -- they don't have storerooms or barns where they sock up food for the winter -- but still they survive because God knows their needs and He takes care of them
            -- it's the same way with the lilies -- they don't worry about how they look -- they don't fret about what they're going to wear -- but God knows their needs, and He provides them dress that is finer than even what King Solomon wore
            -- Jesus' point is this -- if God goes to such extreme measures to take care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, don't you think He's going to take care of you? -- if they don't worry but trust God to give them what they need, right when they need it, shouldn't you -- who know the living God -- do the same?
            -- why worry anyway? -- Jesus pointed out that we can't even add one hour to our lives through worrying -- in fact, science has proven that worry will actually shorten your life -- so stop worrying!

            -- Jesus goes on to give us four principles for overcoming worry in the rest of this passage:2

            1.  Trust God

                        -- look at verse 29-30

29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.
30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.

                        -- in the Lord's Prayer Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us THIS DAY our daily bread" -- notice He didn't say, "Fill our barns with food -- give us enough food to get by this year -- make our jobs secure -- give us enough resources where we never have to worry again"
                        -- Jesus was trying to get us to live on faith and to understand that God will provide what we need -- He reminds us here that God knows what we need -- we shouldn't run after our needs like the pagans do, who worry about -- instead, trust God to meet your needs -- this is an act of faith

            2.  Put God First

                        -- verse 31

31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

                        -- don't set your heart on the things of this earth -- don't make them the focus of  your life
                        -- we've talked in here before about idols, and we've discussed how an idol is anything that you place more emphasis on and more attention to than God -- food and clothing can become idols if we spend more time worrying about them than God
                        -- Jesus tells us here to put God first -- put your focus on Him -- put your eyes on Him -- and He will meet your needs
                        -- sometimes God will even let you experience unmet needs in your life in order to get you to turn your eyes to Him -- our first and utmost priority in life should be to glorify God and put Him first and then to trust in faith that He will provide all that we need -- both spiritually and physically

            3.  Fight Your Fears

                        -- verse 32

32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

                        -- fear is the number one cause of worry -- fear of the future -- fear of the past -- fear that something bad is going to happen
                        -- 365 times in Scripture we are told, "Do not fear" -- fear and worry are the opposite of faith and trust
                        -- Jesus tells us here again, "Do not be afraid -- don't fear" -- God has given you His Kingdom -- what do you have to be afraid of?
                        -- as Carl Henry pointed out in an article in Christianity Today magazine:3
                                   -- For believers, the worst that can happen is already past -- sin has been judged
                                    -- For believers, however dark it may be, the present has a brighter side
                                    -- For believers, the best that will happen lies in the future.

                        -- God has given us His kingdom -- we are heirs to the throne -- we have been blessed beyond belief with every spiritual blessing and we have already been seated with Christ in the heavenlies because of His death and resurrection
                        -- we have nothing to fear because our future is secure -- we can walk through storms with praise on our lips because we know that God's sun is shining on the other side of the clouds -- and He is with us through it all

            4.  Change Your Perspective

                        -- verse 33-34

33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

                       -- just as He told the rich young ruler, Jesus counsels His disciples to cast off the things that are causing them to worry -- get rid of your possessions, and you don't have to worry about them
                        -- I've really gotten better about this lately -- I guess, in part, because our vehicles are getting older and no one really wants them or wants what's inside of them
                        -- everybody knows how bad the crime is in downtown Atlanta -- a couple of years ago, we went up to a Braves game -- and, as you know, the stadium is not in a good part of town -- people have their cars broken into all the time while they're at a game
                        -- we went to the game and came out and found we had left our car unlocked -- I thought Kim had locked and she thought I had locked it and there we were -- leaving our car completely unlocked in the middle of one of the highest crime areas in the entire state -- and nothing was missing -- nobody had even bothered it
                        -- that experience taught me to stop worrying so much about material things -- I can go into the store now and not worry about whether I've locked the car because even if it or something in it goes missing, I really haven't lost a lot
                        -- I've learned that nothing material is irreplaceable -- in other words, I really don't let possessions weigh me down -- I try to do what Jesus says here in these verses -- I try to travel light and not worry about my possessions to the point they control me
                        -- Jesus tells us to change our perspective -- to focus on what is eternal and what will never wear out or be stolen or be destroyed -- but to live for God and His kingdom and to trust in Him for all things
                        -- let God be your treasure and guard it with all your heart and you will never have to worry about the things of this world again

III.  CLOSING
            -- the story is told about this Eastern monarch who lived many years ago -- he had great wealth and treasure -- he had many fine things in his palace -- and many wives in his harem -- he lived his life plagued by worry, concerned that he might lose what he possessed
            -- so one day, this monarch called all his wise men together -- he asked them to invent a mantra -- a few magic words that would help him in time of trial or distress -- something that would take away his worry and replace his fear with strength
            -- and he gave them these guidelines -- the phrase had to be brief enough to be engraved on a ring so that he could have it always before his eyes -- it must be appropriate to every situation, as useful in prosperity as in adversity -- it must be wise and true and endlessly enduring -- it had to be words by which a man could be guided all his life, in every circumstance, no matter what happened.
            -- The wise men left the monarch and put their heads together -- they thought and thought and finally came to the monarch with their magic words -- this phrase, they declared to the monarch, were words for every change or chance of fortune -- they fit every situation, good or bad -- they would ease the heart and mind and take away all fear and worry
            -- and then, with a flourish, they presented their monarch with a ring engraved with these words, "This, too, shall pass."

            -- that is one of my favorite sayings in all the world -- it holds the key, I think, to what Jesus is trying to get us to see in this passage -- all the things in this world -- all the things that we hold dear at this moment -- all of this shall pass
            -- those possessions we worry about and fret over and fear will be stolen -- these, too, will pass
            -- our family and our health -- even our own life -- these, too, will pass
            -- this storm we are walking through -- this trial and test that we are facing -- no matter how difficult or overwhelming it appears -- this, too, will pass
            -- the only thing, then, to worry about is that which will not pass -- our eternal life
            -- why spend time chasing after the wind, running to and fro like the pagans, worrying about what we are going to eat and what we are going to wear and what we are going to do, when we have a God who knows and meets all our needs and who has done even more than that -- a God who has prepared a place for us with Him -- and a home in heaven for eternity

            -- let me close by reminding you of that familiar praise song that counsels us to stop worrying and to start living our lives by turning our eyes and our attention to Jesus -- the chorus goes like this:

            -- "Turn your eyes upon Jesus -- look full in His wonderful face -- and the things of earth will grow strangely dim -- in the light of His glory and grace"

            -- let us pray

----------------------------------------------------------------------

1Craig Simpson. “Don’t Worry About Anything.” SermonCentral.com

2Modified from outline by John Hamby. "The World's Most Acceptable Sin." SermonCentral.com

3Carl F.H. Henry, Christianity Today Magazine, "An Eye on the Cradle"

Sunday, July 21, 2013

SERMON: ENTERING INTO FAITH

Audio Link

21 July 2013

I.  Introduction
            -- turn in Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

1 Thessalonians 5:22-23 (NIV)

22 Avoid every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            -- not many people today are familiar with the name of Amy Carmichael -- in fact when people mention ministries and outreach to the poor in India, her name is not the one that pops into their mind -- but it was Amy Carmichael who paved the way for Christian evangelism and ministry in India and whose legacy and faith inspired Mother Theresa to devote her life to the mission field
            -- Amy Carmichael was born in Ireland in 1867 and was called by God to be a missionary at the age of 25 -- at first she was led to Japan, but her ministry there was short-lived -- God called again and Amy found herself alone in India in 1895, where she remained until her death 56 years later -- never once taking a furlough -- never once returning home to her beloved Ireland -- the work was too great, she said, the need never-ending
            -- Amy spent her career reaching out to the children who were being sold into prostitution in the temples in India, beginning first with girls, later with boys, and eventually opening an orphanage for both children and infants -- the children there called her "Amma" -- "mother" in Tamil -- and she fought tirelessly to rescue them from the bonds of forced prostitution and to protect them from those who sought to gain from their servitude
            -- how was this ordinary girl from Ireland -- without any formal seminary or Bible college training -- able to survive in a hostile country and make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of boys and girls while influencing untold others to devote their lives to Christ?

            -- in Amy's own words, it occurred when she was ushered into a life of faith -- for Amy this life of faith came after conversion -- it occurred when she finally trusted God for all -- when her fledgling faith became real and she truly believed in a God who could do all
            -- in September 1886, Amy had been struggling with the problem of how to live a holy life, and she found the answer at a series of evangelical meetings in Glasgow -- it was not the message of the speakers that God used to reach her, but the closing prayer of the chairman -- in his prayer he paraphrased Jude 24, which conveys the same message as our text from 1 Thessalonians 5 -- "To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy"
            -- when Amy heard the promise of God's faithfulness and providence in those words, she realized that God loved her and would lead her down new paths of faith and victory if she would quit trying to live her faith on her own but trust Him instead -- thus started a life of faith that touched others for eternity1

II.  Aspects of Faith
            -- what is it that keeps Christians today from making an impact on our world like Amy Carmichael? -- what is it that keeps us from reaching our potential in Christ?
            -- ultimately, it comes down to one word -- faith
            -- when we think of faith, we tend to think of salvation -- but over the last several years, I have come to understand the depths of this simple word and have begun to grasp the idea that faith is multidimensional
            -- in order to grow as Christians -- in order to do great things for God -- we have to embrace faith and let it mature in our lives to the point where we trust God in all things and in all ways -- not only for salvation -- but also for our sanctification and our ministry

            -- let me give you an example of what I'm talking about -- when we speak of grace in the church, we recognize three separate aspects of grace in our lives -- first, we speak of prevenient or preventing grace -- the grace that reaches out to us to call us to the cross before we even know who Christ is -- secondly, we speak of justifying grace -- the grace of the cross -- the grace that saves -- and, finally, we speak of sanctifying grace -- the grace that matures -- the grace that grows -- that makes us more and more like Jesus -- the grace that leads us into holiness and maturity

            -- I am convinced that faith works hand-in-hand with grace in every step of our lives -- and that there are aspects of faith active in our life just as there are aspects of grace that God uses to reach us
            -- as such, we move from a reasoning faith -- a faith that believes in the known fact of God's presence -- head-knowledge, if you would -- the faith that says with the intellect, "there is a God and He is real"
            -- to a saving faith -- a faith that includes both the head and the heart -- the faith that says -- not only is God real -- but God has saved us through the atoning death of Christ on the cross -- it is this saving faith by which we know that we know that Jesus is Lord and we receive Him as our Savior -- saving faith comes when we trust God, and God alone, for our salvation
            -- from there we move to a maturing faith -- a faith with feet -- a faith that trusts God in all ways for all things -- as we grow in Christ -- as we begin to live life with Him -- we stop trying to do religion on our own and trust in God, through this maturing faith, to do it all for us
            -- this maturing faith is the faith of relationship -- the faith of true trust -- the faith that allows a 25-year old girl from Ireland to touch an entire continent for Christ

            -- it is this faith that separates people like Amy Carmichael and Mother Theresa and other well-known Christians from you and me
            -- it is this faith that we desperately need if we are to be who God calls us to be and to do what God calls us to do
            -- it is this faith that Amy Carmichael responded to when she heard the words of Jude 24 and it is this faith I believe Paul is referring to in this passage in 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5

II.  Scripture Lesson (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
            -- let's take a moment here and look at these verses from the concept of maturing faith

            -- if you would, let's read these again -- 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

1 Thessalonians 5:22-23 (NIV)

22 Avoid every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            -- Paul begins his benediction at the end of this first letter to the Thessalonians with the phrase that marks the difference between a saving faith and a maturing faith -- "God Himself" -- between nominal Christianity and phenomenal Christianity
            -- the agent of sanctification is God Himself -- it is not us -- we cannot be holy on our own -- we cannot do great things for Him on our own, no matter how much we want to
            -- as Jesus told His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed before the cross, "The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" -- although we may have the desire in our spirit to do great things for Christ -- although we may have the desire to become more holy in our lives -- our flesh fails us

            -- we simply cannot grow in grace on our own -- we cannot grow in holiness on our own -- holiness in our lives only comes through God Himself working in us and through us -- as Paul says, "through and through" --  to make lasting change in our lives
            -- in order to mature as Christians, our faith must mature to the point where we trust in God and God alone to mold us and shape us into His instruments of grace

            -- Paul goes on to refer to God as the God of peace -- when Paul writes of peace, he is referring to more than just a feeling of calmness or tranquility -- in fact, Paul is referring to peace as the absence of warfare -- spiritual warfare
            -- the Bible tells us that before we came to faith we were enemies of God -- our spirits warred against Him -- but now we are reconciled to God through the cross -- where before we were enemies, now we find ourselves at peace with God -- where before we worked against Him, now we work with Him as we allow Him to control our bodies and minds and spirit

            -- this is a hallmark of a maturing faith -- it signifies the point where we stop struggling with God -- we stop wrestling with Him and kicking against the goads -- and start allowing Him to direct our paths
            -- when Paul refers to the God of Peace, it is a reflection of a change in our nature and our approach to God -- it implies submission and surrender in the arms of complete faith and trust -- it is only when we trust God through faith in our daily lives as well as in our salvation that we begin to do great things for Him

            -- Paul says that God Himself is sanctifying us through and through -- to sanctify means to set apart for a purpose -- to make holy -- to make useful -- in the New Testament, the idea of sanctification is making the common holy through the spirit and power of God -- it is through sanctification that we become the people God can use -- and Paul tells us here this occurs only through God's action in our lives
            -- in all that God tells Christians to do, He never intends that we would do it in our own strength and our own power -- instead, God wants us to rely on His power to do it through us -- we fail when we rely on ourselves rather than God
            -- as Dave Guzik wrote, "more Christians are defeated on account of self-reliance than on account of Satanic attack" -- and as the cartoon character Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us"
            -- a maturing faith moves us from self-reliance to God-reliance in all aspects of our spiritual and daily lives -- it is when we begin to rely on God that we begin to do great things for Him
            -- notice the order of sanctification is from within to without -- spirit -- soul (mind) -- and then body

            -- one reason we are so ineffectual as Christians is we try to make the body clean without first allowing God to clean the inside -- Jesus reproached the Pharisees for cleaning the outside of the cup while allowing the inside to remain dirty and He accused them of white-washing tombs to make them look good to others while remaining unclean on the inside
            -- God works from the inside out, and His emphasis is on the "whole" person -- the word Paul uses here for "whole" means entire, perfect in every way -- as God sanctifies us, He removes the blemishes from our spirits and our souls and finally from our bodies
            -- and as we grow in our maturing faith, we move from someone who relies on ourselves for our own holiness to God, who alone can make us perfect through Christ
-- it is our maturing faith along with God's sanctifying grace that makes us blameless -- without fault -- whole and complete and perfect

            -- it all comes down to trust -- we have to reach the point in our faith where we believe and trust that our sanctification depends on God and God alone -- and where we believe and trust that He is faithful to complete the good work He began in us
            -- just as we cannot save ourselves -- just as we cannot do enough good works to win our salvation and atone for our own sins -- we cannot sanctify ourselves -- we have to rely solely on the presence and power of God to sanctify us and make us holy
            -- our faith comes into play in sanctification when we truly begin to realize this and to know we must trust in God and not ourselves for holiness
            -- Paul writes, "God will do it" -- God -- not us -- this is where most Christians fail -- this is what keeps us from becoming who God has called us to be

            -- we have a pretty good concept of salvation -- we understand we cannot save ourselves -- but most of us still have not grasped the idea that it is God who works in us and through us to sanctify us -- we still feel like we should do something after we are saved -- and when we begin to try to do this Christian life in our own strength and in our own power, we fail and we doubt and we falter -- we find ourselves caught up in a cycle of sin, repentance and failure and never grow in our Christian lives
            -- it is only when we trust God with our sins and with our daily lives that we begin to see growth in our spiritual lives -- we can never resolve our sin by working on it -- just as striving to sin less does not keep us from future sins, Paul tells us here that striving to become holy will not make us so
            -- it is only when we allow God to work in us and through us -- when we surrender ourselves to Him and trust in His power in our lives -- that we become truly holy and begin to see victory over sin and begin to grow into the men and women He has called us to be
            -- it is only when we reach the same point that Amy Carmichael and so many others have reached that we truly live the Christian life -- this is the point where we realize that we cannot live this Christian life on our own and in our own strength but we must depend of the God of Peace who is faithful and who will perfect us and complete us and use us to accomplish His will on earth

IV.  Closing
      -- I want to close by sharing with you the story of another person who demonstrated entire and total trust in God through his maturing faith -- George Mueller

      -- George Mueller lived in Bristol, England, in the early 1800s -- and just as Amy Carmichael did, Mueller reached the point in his life where he became determined to live a life of total faith and trust -- he realized that in his own strength he had no power, but through Christ he could do all things -- Mueller dedicated his life to ministry and wanted to prove to others through his life and faith that God answers prayers -- as a result, in the course of his life, he became known as a man who depended on prayer in all circumstance
      -- by the time he died at the age of 92, Mueller's ministry had started five large orphanages in England -- with no income from his ministry, Mueller saw over 50,000 specific answers to prayer and received almost $7.5 million dollars in support of God's work in that place -- all because Mueller trusted in God and no himself to provide
      -- let me give you an example of one famously answered prayer in his life that showed how he depended on God and trusted Him in faith for every minute detail of his life and his ministry

      -- one morning at Mueller's orphanage, there was no food for breakfast and no money to buy food -- all the children were gathered there in the dining hall, waiting to be fed before school -- the workers didn't know what to do, but Mueller did
      -- he told them to go ahead and set the table for breakfast with cups and bowls just like normal -- "God will provide," he said -- then he had the children take their places and he led them in their morning prayer before the meal -- "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat."
      -- about the time he finished the prayer, there was a knock on the door -- the baker from down the street stood there, and said, "Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night -- Somehow I felt you didn't have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted me to send you some -- So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it."
      -- Mueller thanked the man and they brought the bread inside -- now they had food, but still nothing to drink but water.
      -- No sooner had the baker left then there was a second knock at the door -- It was the milkman -- believe it or not, but his milk cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage -- since they would have to empty the wagon to repair it and since the milk would go bad before they could get it delivered, he wanted to know if the orphanage could use it
      -- within minutes of praying and thanking God, God provided both food and milk to the orphans that morning and showed every single one of them the power of God in response to one man's maturing faith

      -- there is no reason in the world God cannot use us as He did Amy Carmichael and George Mueller, except one -- faith

      -- we must believe in God and in His providential care -- we must trust that God is not only able to save us, but He is able to provide for us in our daily lives -- we must trust that God will sanctify us and make us into the men and women He has called us to be so we will do great things for Him
      -- it all comes down to faith -- it all comes down to submission and surrender -- to humbling ourselves and admitting that we can't do it -- to laying it down -- and trusting in God to do it for us

      -- Amy Carmichael did not do a single thing in India -- God did
      -- George Mueller did not do a single thing to obtain food and drink for his orphans on that day -- God did
      -- the difference between them and us is that they let God do it for them -- they trusted in Him for their salvation and their sanctification and that made all the difference

      -- what great thing does God want to do in your life? -- what great thing does God want to do through you? -- it can only happen if you believe -- it can only happen if you have faith


      -- let's pray
 

1Wiersbe, Warren W.  10 People Every Christian Should Know, Chapter 8: Amy Carmichael.

 

Monday, July 15, 2013

SERMON: PRAISE AND WORSHIP


14 July 2013
 

I.  Introduction
            -- turn in Bibles to Psalm 135:1-3  

Psalm 135:1-3 (NIV)
1 Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD,
2 you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. 

            -- when was the last time you got excited about worship? -- when was the last time you really got excited about coming to a worship service?
            -- not too long ago I learned about this Christian church in South Korea that is the largest church in the world -- at the time this church had over 200,000 members who met in a worship hall that could only seat about 20,000 people -- because of this, the church had to have several back-to-back services each weekend to accommodate everyone who wanted to worship with them
            -- they start real early in the morning, and they bring the people in one door at the back of the church and then have them exit out another door at the front of the church so they can keep things moving -- and the way they approach their worship services is like nothing we have here
-- before the first service is over, church members who are coming for the next service begin lining up in front of the doors for church -- and when the doors finally open, they run as fast as they can to the front of the church and start filling up the pews from the front to the back -- and as soon as they get in their seats, they don't start talking -- they don't start walking around greeting each other -- they start praying -- they pray for God to touch them and to anoint the service with His presence
-- if you have ever seen any photos or videos of this, it is an amazing sight to see all of these people so excited to be in the house of the Lord and so excited about praising and worshiping Him -- and God is really blessing this church and all the churches in Korea

-- we pride ourselves here in America on being a Christian nation -- we like to think that we are the heart of Christianity -- doing more for God here than is happening anywhere else?
-- but, do you know what country sends out more missionaries than any other? -- South Korea.  -- Do you know what country has the greatest number of converts every year?  South Korea -- do you know where the fastest growing churches in the world are? -- South Korea, but the continent of Africa is coming in a close second 

II.  Excited about Football?
-- why is this? -- why don't we get this excited about praising God in America?  -- Why do we come to church in the first place? -- isn't it to praise and worship God in the presence of other believers? -- We need to start getting excited about God and about praising and worshiping our Lord

-- I was thinking about that this week -- I was talking with a guy at work about college football and we were getting excited because there was only fifty days -- seven more Saturdays -- until the first college football game rolled around
-- we were talking about getting ready for it and how happy we were going to be to just sit down and watch that first game, no matter who played -- seems like everyone is getting ready and getting excited for college football -- we were in Academy Sports yesterday and their shelves are literally full with college-related items -- from shirts to mugs to stadium seats to those little flags that people put on their car on game day -- people get so excited about going to a football game they literally start preparing months in advance
-- and I was thinking about this and thinking about how excited I am about football and how I'm getting ready for it and I had to stop and ask myself, "Why don't I get as excited about worshiping God as I do watching football?"
-- think about it -- as much as we like the Georgia Bulldogs and the Auburn Tigers and, yes, even the Alabama Crimson Tide -- what have they really done for us that deserves our praise? -- national championships are nice, but how does that compare to what God does for us each and every day?

-- just this morning, God woke me up -- put breath in my body -- provided food for me to eat -- made sure I made it to church safe -- and brought me together with all of you  -- through Christ I have been redeemed -- my sins have been forgiven -- I have been seated in the heavenly realms and have been blessed with every spiritual blessing possible -- and I have been given the promise of eternal life and a spiritual inheritance as a child of God
-- so tell me this -- why do people get more excited about a football game than about worshiping the Lord God Almighty -- El Shaddai -- the Creator of this universe? -- I think we have gotten our priorities somewhat shifted -- we need to be offering our praise and worship to the One that is truly deserving of it, and we need to get excited about being in the house of the Lord 

            -- last week, as we looked at Paul's opening remarks in his letter to the church at Colossae, we talked about the four ways Paul encourages us to live out God's will for our lives: bearing fruit in every good work -- growing in the knowledge of God -- demonstrating endurance and patience through the power of God -- and thanking the God who has saved us and qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light
            -- this morning, I wanted us to continue on our discussion from last week by expanding our thoughts on what it means to truly thank God in our lives -- as we talked about, it is through our praise and worship that we express our thanks and gratitude for who God is and what He has done and continues to do in our lives
            -- so let's spend a few minutes this morning talking about how we can get excited about praising and worshiping God

III.  Scripture Lesson: Psalm 135
      -- if you would, let's look back at Psalm 135 and see what we can learn about praising and worshiping God from David's Psalm

-- verse 1-2
Psalm 135:1-2 (NIV)
1 Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD,
2 you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God.
 

-- David opens this Psalm with a call to praise -- and while this Psalm was originally written for the ancient Israelites and refers here in these verses to the servants of the Lord who minister in the house of the Lord -- the priests -- and those who minister in the courts of the Lord -- the Levites -- this call to praise and worship God is for all who name the name of Christ
      -- in 1 Peter 2:9-10 we read that we have been chosen by God, through Christ, to be His people -- a royal priesthood -- a holy nation -- God's special possession -- to praise Him for what He has done in our lives
      -- God wants us to praise Him -- He wants us to worship Him -- He wants us to get excited about who He is and what He has done for us


-- I think there's two reasons why people don't get excited about worshiping God
-- first, I think it's because most people tend to approach worship like the ancient Israelites -- they see worship as something the professionals do -- as something only the priests and Levites are supposed to do
       -- we've talked before about how our worship services here in America tend to be more passive -- more like entertainment -- than an interactive service -- the pastor and the worship team are generally elevated on a stage and the people sit in the congregation like an audience -- watching as the professionals lead the show and do the worship -- this is especially true in the larger churches, but look at us -- we've gravitated right back to that format even though we tried to change it up when we envisioned this ministry -- it's what we know -- it's what we expect, so it's what we see on Sunday mornings
-- but that's not the way it should be -- just like we can't depend on others for our salvation, we can't depend on others to do our praise and worship for us -- we have to be personally involved -- as Jesus told the Samaritan woman by the well, we have to reach the point where we are worshiping from the pews in spirit and in truth -- not just sitting passively and singing words on a screen

-- somehow we've got to come up with a way to invite personal worship in our services in such a way that everyone is actively and excitedly participating

-- and the other reason why I think people don't get excited about praising God is that we don't really understand what the Bible means by praise and worship
      -- do you know what the word "worship" actually means?  -- it means to give "worth" to something, to ascribe value to something
      -- when we worship God we are telling Him He is worthy of our praise and our adoration -- we are telling Him that He is our all in all -- we are telling Him He is valuable in our sight
      -- Rick Warren said that when we worship God "we enjoy what God has done for us, and when we express that enjoyment to God, it not only brings Him joy, but it increases our joy"
      -- anything that we do with God and for God is a means of worship and a means of strengthening our relationship with Him -- worship is more than just gathering on Sunday morning -- worship goes far beyond that
      -- worship should be the daily recognition of God's presence in our lives and in all creation and the daily offering of praise and thanksgiving to God for His presence in our lives
      -- worship should be a lifestyle -- where every moment of every day we bring glory to God by enjoying Him and expressing our enjoyment of Him -- by living our lives as He commanded -- and by giving Him all the honor and glory and praise for everything that goes on
      -- when we get back to the heart of worship -- when we adopt a lifestyle of worship -- then we are truly starting to understand what the Bible means when it commands us to praise and worship God

-- look at verse 3-14
 
Psalm 135:3-14 (NIV)
3 Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
4 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.
5 I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.
7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, the firstborn of men and animals.
9 He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings--
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan and all the kings of Canaan--
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, through all generations.
14 For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.

            -- in these verses David proclaims all the mighty acts that God has done on behalf of the Israelites -- he reminds the people of Israel that God is a good and great God -- that we should sing praises to His name because of His mighty acts He has done

            -- David tells the people to praise God because He controls all of creation -- he tells the people to praise God because of the way He has cared for and protected Israel and brought them safely into the Promised Land
            -- in the same way we need to stop and think about who God is and what He has done for us -- look back over your lives and see how God has guided you and led you -- the paths He has brought you down -- the people He has placed in your lives -- the blessings He has given, both in times of plenty and in times of famine
            -- think about God's redemption and the forgiveness of sins we have through Christ -- think about the promises we have in Him that are all "yes" -- an inheritance as children of God -- spiritual blessings -- eternal life

            -- there's an old hymn that we used to sing in church growing up that didn't really mean much to me at the time, but now it means more as I have gotten older and can really see God's hand in my life -- it's called "Count Your Blessings" and the chorus goes like this:
            -- "Count your blessings, name them one by one -- Count your blessings, see what God hath done -- Count your blessings, name them one by one -- and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done"

            -- when we stop and count our blessings like David does here for the Israelites, you can't help but respond with praise and worship and thankfulness for who God is and what He has done and continues to do in your life
            -- just look at what David writes in verse 14 -- he says the "Lord will vindicate His people" -- to vindicate someone means to clear them of blame or suspicion -- you remove their guilt -- you justify them -- you make them right -- David is talking here about the redemption we have through the blood of Jesus -- our justification through Christ's atoning death on the cross
            -- if nothing else does it, this should make you excited -- this should make you want to praise and worship God and show Him your thanks for saving you for a life with Him

            -- verse 15-18

Psalm 135:15-18 (NIV)
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see;
17 they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

            -- David reminds us of the many things that vie for our worship -- we may not be worshiping statues and bowing down to the stars and sun, but if we are not careful, we can certainly let idols come into our lives
            -- anything that you place a higher value on than God can become an idol -- your job -- your skills -- your family -- money -- prestige -- power -- even your football team
            -- David reminds us that these idols are nothing -- they are created by man and not worthy of worship -- they have mouths but can't speak -- ears but cannot hear -- eyes but cannot see -- they are not real and have no lasting value -- don't worship them, he says, but worship God instead

            -- one thing that struck me as I read this is how we begin to resemble what we worship -- if you worship an idol, you begin to take on that idol's appearance -- you lose the ability to see and hear and know the truth
            -- but when we worship God, we begin to take on His appearance -- the more we worship Jesus -- the more we walk in His paths -- the more we become like Him -- the more we reflect His nature in our lives
            -- we become what we worship

            -- Crawford Lorritts points out that worship is a privilege -- it's something we should take very seriously -- we need to worship God and God alone -- and we need to worship Him with a pure and undistracted heart

            -- verse 19-21

Psalm 135:19-21 (NIV)
19 O house of Israel, praise the LORD; O house of Aaron, praise the LORD;
20 O house of Levi, praise the LORD; you who fear him, praise the LORD.
21 Praise be to the LORD from Zion, to him who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
 
            -- just in case you didn't get it, David wants you to understand the point of this Psalm -- Praise God -- this is not a suggestion -- this a command
            -- everyone is to praise God -- the whole nation of Israel -- the priests who minister in the temple -- the Levites who serve in the house of God -- the people who gather together for worship -- everyone is to praise God and no one else
            -- David is advocating for a lifestyle of worship -- where our worship is motivated by love and thanksgiving and delight -- not out of duty -- not out of tradition -- not done just because it's Sunday and that's what we do
            -- worship should be a part of who we are -- it should reflect our thankfulness to God and it should come at all times and in all places

            -- Steven Curtis Chapman caught David's idea of lifestyle worship in his song, Moment Made for Worshiping"
            -- the song says, "When I'm praying with my children -- as they're running off to school -- when I kiss my wife good morning -- just to say I still love you
            -- "when I'm feeling loved and happy -- when I'm feeling all alone -- when I'm failing to remember -- all the love that I've been shown
            -- "every beat of my heart is another new place to start -- this is a moment made for worshiping -- cause this is a moment I'm alive -- this is a moment I was made to sing -- a song of living sacrifice -- for every moment that I live and breath -- this is a moment made for worshiping"

            -- "Praise God," David writes, "Praise God"

IV.  Closing
            -- I want to close by sharing with you a story from Max Lucado that was in his book, "The Applause of Heaven"

-- he tells the story of the building of the Taj Mahal -- the reason the Taj Mahal was built was because the favorite wife of the Mogul emperor Shah Jahan died -- in grief, the emperor began to build a temple around his wife's coffin -- he got obsessed by project -- it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger -- one day while he was looking around and making plans to expand yet again, he saw an old box in the corner that seemed out of place and ordered it removed -- it was his wife's coffin
          -- The one the temple was intended to honor was forgotten and cast away, but the temple was erected anyway

-- Lucado writes, and I'm quoting here:

-- "Difficult to believe? Perhaps -- But eerie nonetheless -- Could someone build a temple and forget why? -- Could someone construct a palace, yet forget the king? -- Could someone sculpt a tribute and forget the hero?
            -- "You answer those questions -- Answer them in a church -- The next time you enter an assembly of worship, position yourself where you can see the people -- Then decide.
            -- "You can tell the ones who remember the slain one -- They're wide-eyed and expectant -- They're children watching the unwrapping of a gift -- They're servants standing still as a king passes -- You don't doze in the presence of royalty -- And you don't yawn while receiving a gift, especially when the giver is the king himself!
            -- "You can also tell the ones who see only the temple -- Their eyes wander -- Their feet shuffle -- Their hands doodle, and their mouths open -- not to sing, but to yawn  -- For no matter how hard they try to stay amazed, their eyes start to glaze over -- All temples, even the Taj Mahal, lose their luster after a while.
-- "The temple gazers don't mean to be bored -- They love the church -- They can cite its programs and praise its pastors -- They don't mean to grow stale -- They put on hats and hose and coats and ties and come every week -- But still, something is missing --The one they once planned to honor hasn't been seen in a while.
-- "But those who have seen him can't seem to forget him -- They find him, often in spite of the temple rather than because of it -- They brush the dust away and stand ever impressed before his tomb -- his empty tomb.
-- "The temple builders and the Savior seekers -- You'll find them both in the same church, on the same pew -- at times, even in the same suit.
            -- "One sees the structure and says, "What a great church." -- The other sees the Savior and says, "What a great Christ!"
-- "Which do you see?"

-- let us pray

 

 

Sunday, July 14, 2013

SERMON: MAKING IT COUNT

7 July 2013

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Colossians 1:1-14

Colossians 1:1-14 (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints--
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
6 that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

            -- 17,149 days -- as of this moment this is how long I have been alive -- and I tell you that for a reason -- in Psalm 90:12 we are told to number our days -- to make each day meaningful -- to make each day count
            -- however, as the author of "20,000 Days and Counting" points out, most people sleepwalk through our day-to-day lives -- we don't think about living life to the full -- we don't think about what we are doing in the moment -- but we passively wish away our lives by counting down the days and years to major events -- like your 16th birthday or vacation or retirement -- we just let time slip away, and before we know it, it's gone
            -- but rather than living life like that, the author suggests we do what God told Moses to do almost four thousand years ago -- to start living life based on days and not years -- to count our days and then make them count -- each day we are to live our lives as if it were the last -- each day we are to live our lives in the moment with meaning -- the author suggests we celebrate daily milestones rather than yearly milestones

            -- 17,149 days -- that is how many days I have been alive -- but that's not the important number -- the important number for me is 13,533 -- assuming I make it to 84 years of age -- the average lifespan for a man in this country -- that means I have 13,533 days left to be counted -- 13,533 days left to make a difference -- 13,533 days to live a life with meaning -- with today being Day 1 -- lived like it was the last day of my life

            -- the point of Psalm 90:12 and of the author of "20,000 Days and Counting" is to make every day count -- to number our days and to be aware of the fleeting nature of life so we will live intentionally -- so we will live in the moment -- so we will live lives of purpose and meaning

            -- this morning I want us to look at the introduction to the Book of Colossians, where Paul talks to the church at Colossae about this very thing -- about living a life that has meaning -- as he puts it in verse 10, a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way
            -- so let's look at this passage in the light of eternity and think about the days we have ahead of us and how we will make the most of them

II.  Scripture Lesson (Colossians 1:1-14)

            -- look back at verse 1-2

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

            -- if you've spent much time in Paul's epistles, this greeting to the church at Colossae is familiar -- "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" -- he pretty much says the same thing in all of his letters to the churches
            -- and part of that is form -- we know that in Paul's day, people put their names at the start of a letter rather than signing at the bottom like we do in our day -- but Paul does more than just tell the Colossians who is writing to them -- he tells them he knows who he is
            -- "I am Paul -- an apostle -- called by name by the living Christ -- on a mission from God to the Gentiles -- trying to live my life in such a way as to fulfill the will of God and please Him in all I do -- I am Paul"

            -- I get requests from various ministries like Voice of the Martyrs asking me to send messages of encouragement and hope to persecuted Christians around the world -- much as Paul is doing here in this letter to the Colossians -- if you were asked to write such a letter, how would you describe yourself? -- what words would you use?
            -- notice that Paul doesn't focus on the past -- on who he was as a Pharisee among Pharisees -- a student of Gamaliel -- a persecutor of the church
            -- Paul focuses on the moment -- "This is who I am -- this is what I am doing -- and this is how I am making a difference"
            -- who are you? -- what are you doing? -- how would you describe yourself?

            -- Paul goes on to remind the Colossians of who they were in Christ -- a lot of times we live our lives based on what the world tells us we are -- we live our lives based on our titles or our positions -- we let others define us -- but Paul reminds the Colossians of who they were in Christ -- holy and faithful -- set apart saints on a mission for God in Colossae just as Paul was on a mission for God in Rome
            -- as we start to think about counting our days and adding meaning to the moments of our lives, we need to remember who we are -- we need to let God speak into our lives the truth of our identity and not take our identity from the world -- knowing who you are is the first step in living intentionally with meaning

            -- verse 3-6a

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints--
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel
6 that has come to you.

            -- Paul begins this letter by telling the Colossians he thanks God for them in his prayers -- too often we think our lives are meaningless -- too often we think no one sees or cares who we are or what we have been doing -- too often we go through life thinking we are invisible
            -- but Paul's prayer is a reminder of those who see -- whether you believe it or not, others see you and are paying attention to what you are doing -- your life always affects someone else, even if your interactions are brief and fleeting
            -- how are you remembered at the end of the day? -- did you show Christ to someone today? -- was your faith evident even in the trials and frustrations of daily life? -- did someone see Jesus through you?

            -- Paul knew about the faith of the Colossians, even though he was not there -- word of it was brought to him by those who were touched by the Colossians in some little way -- the Colossians weren't just waiting for Paul to show up to demonstrate their faith in Christ -- they weren't just waiting for Sunday to live it out -- but their faith and love was on display every moment of every day

 

            -- as I was studying this passage, I found it interesting to note the "Big Three" of the Christian life -- the three virtues of a Christian life -- mentioned here by Paul -- everyone here is probably familiar with the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 -- "and now these three remain -- hope, faith, and love -- but the greatest of these is love"
            -- notice Paul mentions the three virtues in these verses -- Paul says he thanks God because of the Colossians' faith and love that spring from the hope they have in Christ
            -- but Paul tells us more about the working out of these virtues in our lives here than he does in Corinthians -- faith comes from hope -- and love flows from faith -- who we are and how we live is based on these three:  hope, faith, and love
            -- if your hope is in heaven, as Paul tells the Colossians here in verse 5, then your faith will lead you to share God's love with others
            -- what is our hope in? -- what drives our faith? -- what leads us in love? -- your actions will follow your beliefs

            -- look back as the second part of verse 6b-8

6b. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

            -- Paul tells us our belief and actions should be based on the good news of Christ -- the hope of heaven -- the hope of salvation and redemption through His blood
            -- this message of hope, Paul says, continues to bear fruit and grow
            -- he reminds the Colossians of where they first heard it -- from the person who brought the good news to their ears -- why? -- why does he remind them of Epaphras, who Paul describes as a faithful minister of Christ?
            -- it's because this passage is about doing -- it's about being -- it's about living in the moment
            -- it was not enough for the Colossians to have hope, faith, and love -- they had to put feet to their faith -- they had to share the love beyond their small community of believers
            -- as Christians we are called to go and plant the seed of the gospel, just as Epaphras did with the Colossians -- we are called to go and bear fruit -- to carry the message of hope and life and love to others -- to live our lives with purpose so we might bring meaning to the lives of others
 
            -- Paul was telling the Colossians to be the Epaphras for others -- to carry the message to those around them -- that it might continue to bear fruit and grow and change the lives of those around them
            -- think about your life -- think about your faith -- who told you about the gospel? -- where did you first hear the good news about the hope we have in Christ?
            -- and now ask yourself, what you are doing with what you heard? -- who can you be that person to? -- is someone this morning sharing the good news of Christ with others saying they first heard it from you?

            -- verse 9-14

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully
12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

            -- Paul prayed that the Colossians might know God's will -- that they might live out God's will in their daily lives -- he says the knowledge of God's will comes through spiritual wisdom and understanding -- the knowledge of God's will comes as we listen for His voice through prayer, the church, Scriptures, and circumstances -- the knowledge of God's will comes as we hear His voice and do what He calls us to do and share His love with others
            -- we come to know God's will as we experience Him in our lives -- by hearing and by doing
            -- when we know God's will -- when we understand that He wants us to share our lives and our love with others -- regardless of the cost -- we live lives worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way
            -- Paul points out to us here four aspects of God's will for our lives -- things that God has called us to do that will give our days meaning and purpose

            a.  Bear fruit in every good work -- there's a principle here that we shouldn't miss -- we know that Christians are called to bear fruit -- we all know that Jesus said we would know a true Christian by the fruit they bear -- but if you are not planting, then you can't bear fruit
            -- we have to get intentional about watering the ground and sowing the seed and working to bear fruit in every good work
            -- I think we do a lot of watering the ground here at Koinonia -- the outreach to the homeless -- giving food and school supplies to the needy -- we may not be intentionally sharing the gospel with those people, but we are watering the ground -- we're getting the soil ready for others to sow the seed -- and we share in the fruit that will be harvested
            -- we need to start thinking of our actions in that way -- we need to start thinking about what we are doing today to water the ground and prepare the soil and sow the seed -- we need to start living each day with the thought, "Today I will do a good work for Christ -- if nothing else, I will at least water the ground by sharing my love through faith to others"

            b.  Grow in the knowledge of God -- when Paul tells us to do this, he's not talking about facts -- he's talking about relationship -- we've got to keep in mind that the Christian life is not about knowing the right things and answering a test at the Pearly Gates -- it's not about a creed or a motto -- it's about a personal relationship with Christ
            -- think about dating your spouse, for those of you who are married -- when you first start a relationship with someone -- when you first go out on a date with them -- what do you do? -- you learn about them -- you learn who they are -- what they like -- what they do -- what excites them about life
            -- but you don't do that just to collect facts -- you do that so you can know them -- so you can enter into a relationship with them
            -- it's the same way with God -- we study God's word and we come to church and we listen to sermons and Christian music, not so we can know more about God, but so we can know God -- so we can understand who He is and so we can share in His life
            -- that's what Paul is talking about when he tells us it's God's will that we grow in the knowledge of God

            c.  Demonstrating endurance and patience through the power of God  -- just this week we started a new Bible study on Tuesday nights in the Book of James -- and in James 1:2-4, James writes that we should count it all joy whenever we face trials of any kind, because we know the testing of our faith develops perseverance and matures us in Christ

            -- that's what Paul's talking about here when he says we should have patience and endurance through God's power and strength in our lives -- learn to walk through the trials of each day -- learn to trust in God -- to lean on Him -- when things get hard -- and trust in the hope you have for eternity
            -- faith is demonstrated more in times of adversity than in times of blessing -- and others see that when you persevere and endure in faith and hope

            d.  Thank God who has saved us "qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light" -- the Westminster catechism says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever
            -- we glorify God when we praise Him for what He has done -- when we offer up prayers and hymns of thanksgiving for who He is and what He has done
            -- every day we should thank God for our salvation, our redemption -- for the forgiveness of sins -- it is because of these mighty acts of God through Jesus that we have eternal hope and enjoy the inheritance of the saints
            -- we need to thank God for the blessings He pours out on us and seek His blessings in the midst of what we call adversity
            -- as Paul says here, we need to thank God for rescuing us from dominion of darkness and for bringing us into His kingdom
            -- God's will is for us to glorify Him and thank Him for all that He has done and to share His blessings with others

III.  Closing
      -- let me bring this to a close

      -- a few years ago, I watched a movie called "Pay It Forward" -- it starred Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and the little boy from the Sixth Sense -- in this movie, Kevin Spacey is a 7th grade teacher, and he gives his students the following assignment -- he tells them to "Think of an idea to change our world, and put it into action"
      -- the rest of the movie is about what happens when one little boy does what the teacher says -- he comes up with a plan called "Pay It Forward" where he does a good deed for three people and then they have to each do a good deed for three people and then it just continues on and on -- the idea is that instead of paying each person back for the good deed, they pay it forward to someone else
      -- I'm been in Bible studies where we were asked to do something similar -- to do one anonymous good deed every day for a different person every day -- to make that day have meaning
      -- think about it for a minute -- what impact could you have on this community if you put into effect the "Pay it Forward" concept? -- what lives could you touch for the Kingdom if you would just serve as Christ's hands and feet to reach out to others in this way every single day?
      -- in the movie, one little boy changed his community when he decided to make a difference in the life of someone else

      -- that's what the book, "20,000 Days and Counting," is all about -- that's what Psalm 90:12 is all about -- that's what this passage is all about
      -- living each day intentionally -- living each day with meaning and purpose -- living each day so that it counts and the ground gets watered and seeds get sown and fruit gets harvested

      -- you've probably all heard the story of the man picking up starfish on the beach -- he walks along and every time he finds a starfish stranded by the waves, he would throw it back into the ocean -- someone saw him doing that and said, "Look at this beach -- look at all these starfish -- there's no way you can put all those starfish back -- you can't make a difference"
      -- the man looks at him for a moment and bends down and picks up one last starfish and tosses it back into the ocean and replies, "I made a difference for that one"

            -- Saint Chrysostoam wrote, "If only ten among us be righteous, the ten will become twenty -- the twenty fifty -- the fifty a hundred -- the hundred a thousand -- and the thousand will become the entire city
            -- "As when ten lamps are kindled, a whole house may easily be filled with light -- so it is with the progress of spiritual things -- If but ten among us lead a holy life, we shall kindle a fire which shall light up the entire city."

            -- one day -- what difference does one day make? -- one day out of 13,533 days -- what does it matter?
            -- it matters a lot -- it matters for eternity

            -- let us pray