Sermon Transcript
Everybody, if you would, take out your bulletin. Inside the bulletin are 2 sheets, 2 half sheets. One of them is a survey. I’d like to start with that, then we’ll jump over to the message note sheet. But if you didn’t get a bulletin, we’ve got a few of the surveys, and so you could get one of these.
If you’re with somebody and you only got one bulletin, actually the survey has another opportunity on the backside to take it. It’s the same survey both sides, so it doesn’t matter which side you want. You could just use either one. But if you would take that out, we’re gonna— I just— we would really appreciate it if you would fill this out for us. We’re not gonna ask your name.
We’re not asking your name. We’re not asking your address. We’re not asking any of that stuff that you don’t want to give us, so we’re okay. All right, so hopefully everybody could do this for us anonymously. If you would also, if you don’t have a pen or a pencil, then look down the row there and find somebody who does and make eye contact with them.
And, you know, maybe you can use their pen or pencil after they finish with it. Looks like we got a bunch of people looking around right now. If you got some extra pens, then pull them out of your purse or your pocket or whatever it is, engineer type with the, you know, in the pocket, but whatever. So get some extra pens out, share those with with everybody. Hey, I just want to call attention to 2 main questions on here down at the bottom, the last 2 questions.
So the first one says, what small group or groups are you active in? And this could be any group even outside the church. Oh, look it, Rich is bringing some pencils, golf pencils. That’s awesome. But anyway, so this could be a group outside the church.
Maybe it is one of our life groups or missional community here at the church or Bible study at the church, YOPros, whatever. But specify the name of the group or the names of the group there, would you, for us? So it doesn’t have to be within the church. The last question asks, what ministry or ministries are you regularly serving in? And again, this could be here or it could be somewhere else.
It doesn’t have to be just here. Women’s Ministry, Child Evangelism Fellowship, the CEF there, Gideons, whatever. Just list what you’re involved in in terms of serving other people, okay? And then the rest of this is pretty obvious. So once you finish this, if you don’t want anybody to— and by the way, please put your actual age down here, okay?
I know, it’s like, really? So nobody— we don’t know your name, all right? We’re not going to associate it with your name. So then if you would finish it, pass it down the row to the aisle, and the person at the end is going to collect those for us. We’ll have the ushers collect them just right now.
And if you don’t want anybody to see even your age, you think they’re going to see it, so you can fold it over or whatever. Okay, just help us with that. I’ll give you a couple more seconds here to finish that off. What we’re going to use this for— I didn’t tell you that, did I? And yet you’re trusting.
Thank you so much. We’re going to use this to help us with our planning. So we have started planning now for next year, our ministry year, which starts in September. And this will give us a little bit of information as we’re working towards some BHAGs. Some of you in the corporate world are used to BHAGs, right?
We don’t use the BHAG acronym as you use them in the corporate world. We call a BHAG a Big Heavenly Awesome Goal. Big heavenly awesome goal. So you could look up what the others say. That’s how we use it in the church.
All right. So this will help us with some planning that we’re doing, and we really appreciate your help in this way. All right. So just pass it down to the outside, inside, wherever they are, and the ushers will pick them up even as we get going. All right.
Now, just as we get into this message today, we’re in Colossians 3:17. Hopefully you got a message note sheet or a Bible or whatever is going to help you follow along with that. But I’ve been thinking this week about the roles and the responsibilities that we have. We often call it a person wearing different hats. Okay, so we all wear different hats, or we all have these different roles, or we all have these different responsibilities.
Okay, so before you put your pen away, would you just take a minute and write down some of the roles or responsibilities that you have right now? Okay, the roles and responsibilities that you have right now, or if you don’t want to write it down, just turn to your neighbor and tell your neighbor a few of those roles and responsibilities that you have right now. Okay, just take a minute or so to think this thing through.
Okay, so it’s anywhere, doesn’t have to be here in this building where your roles and responsibilities are. I’m an usher Yeah, that, that would be one.
Thank you.
Now that’s what I call folding up the survey. You did that so you’d have to take it apart, Andrew. That’s great.
All right, so you’ve had a chance to think a little bit about your roles and your responsibilities. I got thinking about this this last week in light of the hats that I’m wearing, and I first thought, well, I’m probably just wearing about 5 hats. And so I, you know, thought of them in my mind and saw myself wearing all these hats. It moved quickly to 7 different hats as I continued to think about it, but then it went from 7 to 10 And then after thinking a little bit more about it, it went to 12, and then it ultimately went to 14. And I thought that I was good with 14 until this morning after, you know, reflecting on this after the first message and talking to people a little bit about this, I can still now think of another one.
So I’m somewhere around 15. Anybody here above 15?
And actually, I want you to understand, if you think about this for a while, you’re probably going to think of a number of different hats or responsibilities you have.
Did you write down I’m a brother, I’m a sister, I’m an aunt, I’m an uncle, I’m a grandparent, you know, I’m a citizen of the United States of America? There’s a role, there’s a responsibility. I’m a friend, I’m a mentor, I’m a discipler, I’m a helper, I’m a mom, I’m a dad, I’m a son, I’m a daughter, I’m a parent. This thing goes on and on, right? I work at such and such, I’m an employer of, and with the employer hat for me, this is my reminder of that.
A friend actually over in Phoenix gave me this clergy hat. Is this not an outstanding hat? And he said, I want you to wear this, you know, when you go out on visitation and that sort of thing. He was a— he was getting— he was going to be a monk, and it didn’t work out for him to be a monk, so he found Christ and gave up monkhood and— or whatever you call it. And, you know, went a whole different direction, but he still had this higher church thing in him.
And so he came to him one day and said, Dave, I really think you need to wear this hat. So this is my reminder of my clergy responsibilities, pastoring responsibilities. But actually, in my 14, 15, that’s just one. Okay, so I didn’t take the one responsibility and turn it into 12 or something like that. You would be surprised how many responsibilities that you have, how many roles that you have, how many hats you’re wearing.
Now, what got me thinking about this is Colossians 3:17 where it says, whatever you do. So whatever you do, thinking about your roles, your hats, your responsibilities, whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through Him. What that tells us is God is immensely interested in how we do what we do. He’s really interested in what we’re doing. In fact, In Ephesians 2, some of you are familiar with part of this passage.
Maybe you’re familiar with the verses 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It’s a gift of God, not as a result of works, that nobody should boast. But then the very next verse, Ephesians 2:10, it says, for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. That’s a verse about works. It’s about the things that we do, and it’s saying that God is interested in what we’re doing, even to the degree He’s actually designed us in such a way that we would do certain things.
He’s actually designed certain works for us to do where His workmanship— I love that word because in some translations they say this means masterpiece. You ever think of yourself that way? You are His masterpiece. And He has created you as a masterpiece with a unique design, and He in advance has designed for you to do certain things. And He’s interested that you do these things.
He’s interested that I do these things because they’re God-designed, God-planned, God-ordained.
Right now, whatever it is that you’re doing, I mean, not necessarily in this building, but when you think about your roles and responsibilities and hats you’re wearing, That’s of God. I mean, unless you’re living outside His will and you’ve just been blowing God off and you say, I don’t care what you think about my life. But if you really are seeking to live in His will, then you are right where He wants you to be right now. Whatever’s going on, He’s got you right where He wants you to be. God put me here at this church right now to be a part of this ministry.
And yes, even to be a part of this message. I mean, that’s an incredible thought. That of all the people that God would want to use this morning here, He wants to use me. And where He’s got you, He wants to use you. You are like an Esther.
I’m like an Esther. God put us in a location for such a time as this. Isn’t that amazing? So He’s interested in what it is that we do. But this verse, Colossians 3:17, talks about the how of what we do.
He’s interested not only in what we do, but He’s interested in how we do what we do. Another way to say this is the Nike slogan is not enough. What’s the slogan? Just do it. Well, actually, if you just do it, you’re going to miss out doing what it is that God wants you to do because that’s not enough from His perspective.
And that’s what Colossians 3:17 is all about. It’s more than just getting the list done. It’s more about, yeah, I just got to go to work. It’s more about, you know, I just got to drop the kids off at school. It’s more about, oh, I just got to do the laundry.
Oh, I just got to do— I just came off of jury duty. I just got to do jury duty. No, he’s deeply interested in how we do what we do. And so it says in Colossians 3:17, to read it again, whatever you do, whether in word or deed, Do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. What that tells me is that there’s at least 2 must-dos for what it is that we do.
Okay, 2 must-dos for what God has us doing. The first must-do is that we’re to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, what does that mean? That means to do this as if Jesus was doing this, to do it like Jesus would do it, meaning we’re standing in his place. It’s as though the Lord was doing it, but the Lord wants to use me in doing whatever this role or this task is.
To say it’s in the name of Jesus is to say we are doing it on his behalf. So instead of Jesus doing it, he’s got us there to do it on his behalf. In fact, I like the New Living Translation. This is how it translates this verse: Whatever you do or say, do it as a representative representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. So God wants us in how we do what we do to think of ourselves as representing Jesus, standing in His place.
Have you heard of power of attorney? Power of attorney, what’s that? Well, power of attorney is where a person represents another person or a person acts with authority and responsibility on behalf of somebody else. And so papers are drafted and so forth. My mother, my stepmother, was given power of attorney when my dad was moving toward the Alzheimer’s deal.
And so she was given power of attorney so that when there were decisions that needed to be made because my dad was not cognizant, she would make those decisions. But she made those decisions in light of dad’s wishes, in light of what dad would do if he was able to make those decisions. And that’s essentially what this is saying here, is that we need to see the roles and responsibilities that we have as responsibilities that we’re carrying out in Jesus’ name. We oftentimes end our prayers with, in Jesus’ name. Well, what do we mean by that?
In essence, one of the things we mean by that is that we’re praying as Jesus would pray. I’m praying fully aware of Jesus’ will. I want to do this according to his will, according to his desire. And notice that it specifically says that this should show up a couple of ways in our lives. It says, whatever you do, whether in word— there’s the first way— or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
So what we do should impact our walk and our talk. And the talk is mentioned here first, so it should impact what we say and what we do. So we want to live with 2 aspirations. First aspiration is to say what Jesus would say. So in any given moment, whatever our role is or whatever hat we’re wearing right now, we want to ask ourselves, what is it that Jesus would say right now?
What would Jesus say to this person? Well, this person needs some comfort, then he would comfort them through the words. Do they need some counsel? Do they need exhortation? Do they need a challenge?
Do they need some training? Do they need discipline? Do they need to be prayed for? Do they need to be corrected? Remember when the children were coming to Jesus and some leaders stood in the way of the children coming to Jesus?
And Jesus said, let these children come, for such is the kingdom of heaven. You remember that correction? That’s what the need was at the moment. You remember that Jesus even on the cross said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. At that moment, these people who were crucifying him needed forgiveness.
They needed a whole different perspective on what it was that Jesus was doing. So the picture is we want to represent Jesus by using words that are fitting to the moment. And that word fitting, I think, is an appropriate word to think about as we think about what it is that we’re saying right now as a mom, as a dad, as a friend. What is fitting? What is the fitting thing for me to say right now?
Proverbs 25:11 says it this way: the right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry. What’s that? Something that just fits perfectly. So Jesus modeled that when he was with the Pharisees. They needed to understand that they were dead.
It was a dead religion. And when he was with the potential disciples, he called them to follow him. And as they began to follow him, they needed to understand that they needed to count the cost. This is going to cost you something if you want to be one of my followers. And when he was with the woman at the well who didn’t have a relationship with God through Jesus, he offered her living water.
Do you remember that? He said, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give shall never thirst. The water that I will give will spring up to eternal life. So the point is, is that we want to use words that are fitting, asking ourselves, so what would Jesus say? Because I’m here in his place and I want to do that which he wants me to do.
What, what does he want me to do right now? Last Saturday, I was flying back from Phoenix. I had been over there to minister in Scottsdale on Saturday morning. Bernice and I were flying back. We got on the Southwest plane and the bulkhead, there were a couple of seats there, so we grabbed those 2.
I sat in the middle, Bernice sat on the aisle. There’s already this woman who was sitting there. She was brought into that seat because she was in a wheelchair and she needed some assistance. And so she’s sitting at the seat and the shades were down and we’re pushing back from the gate now and the shades are still down. And I love to see the takeoff.
You know, I don’t like to go into these things blind. I like to see what’s outside. And so even though she was sort of sleeping, I, you know, quietly whispered and said, would it be okay if I opened one of the 2 shades? You know, there are 2 shades there. And she woke up and she said, oh yeah, that would be fine.
In fact, let’s open them both up. And I said, well, you don’t have to do that. She said, oh no, I really love seeing what’s outside. It was always my favorite part of taking off in the Cessna before the accident. Before the accident.
You know, I’m thinking in my mind, do I chase this thing or do I just get the shades up and shut up? Okay, sit here, say nothing. And I said, before the accident? So what was that? And she went on to describe a car accident and come to find out later that it was the accident that ended her flying days, but where she was flying a plane.
But she said, I was sitting at the signal and this car, I guess they weren’t paying attention, but they just came right through me. And that put me in the hospital. I was in the hospital for a while. I’m still— it’s been over 10 years. I’m still dealing with all of these injuries and headaches and neck problems and other things like that.
And so you’re sitting next to this person and now she’s like told you all this information, you know, and you’re thinking what? I think I’ll put my earbuds back in and go, you know, or do you chase this thing or do you possibly follow the conversation? The point is, is that, you know, you’re, you’re there and you weren’t expecting this. And now all of a sudden, you possibly could be a person who could be an encouragement. I don’t know.
So I said to her, tell me, and I don’t, you know, think of these things. I just think that God often gives you the words. You know, it’s not like if she gets into a spiritual conversation, I’ll go with her on this or something. You know, I think you just got to pay attention. Or actually, as you’re having these conversations, just be asking, Lord, what should I say right now?
I mean, my kid just made me really angry. What do I say right now? Because I know I’m supposed to represent you, and I don’t think I’m gonna do a good job right now representing you unless you show me what you want me to say. And so anyway, I said to her, well, tell me something, how did your spiritual beliefs help you get through that accident? She said, well, they’ve been very important to me.
And she went down this whole road. She opened up to me about her spiritual beliefs and her belief in God. At some point in there, I said, so would you say that this accident drove you closer to God or drove you farther away from God? Because usually it’s one of those two things. Typically, when pain comes into our life, we’re either going to run to God or we’re going to run away from God.
And I said, so how did this work out for you? And she said, oh, this drove me to God. And then she started talking about other friends that have been in other circumstances that, you know, have changed their lives and how God has been somebody that they’ve run to as well. Well, we went farther with that conversation and then she said, I gotta take a nap. I have to take a nap.
So I’m like, okay, that’s fine with me, you know, at this point. And so she had a nap and then after the nap, just before we were to land in San Jose, she woke up and she began the dialogue again, but she picked it up. I keep looking over here because this is the side. If, if we had sat on that side of the plane, I’d be looking at you guys, okay? But we sat over here.
So anyway, as we’re just about ready to land, she’s, she’s talking to me again, and, and at one point she says, so what do you do anyway? And I said, well, I’m a pastor at a church. And she said, you know what? I thought so.
Now, I don’t know why she thought that, you know, if it’s just my haircut or, you know, I look sick or something. I don’t know. But anyway, I think that it was probably connected to the fact that we just talked about spiritual things.
I think that’s what this passage is saying, don’t you? And it doesn’t have to be spiritual things. It just has to fit the moment. And a lot of times we miss the moment because we’ve got our mind on something else. You know what I’m saying?
We want the conversation to go somewhere else. And God is saying, just go with this thing. See where it goes. Say what Jesus would say. But this also says, whether in word or deed.
So this is the do what Jesus would do thing. It’s to determine the need. What’s the need right now?
What’s happening here? Jesus was at a wedding. He wasn’t thinking about doing a miracle with wine. Remember this one? His mother came up and said, hey, we ran out of wine.
And He said, well, it’s not my time. In other words, in His mind, it’s too early to go for the wine, lady. You know, I mean, Not time for me to be doing the miracle stuff. But he reconsidered that. It’s amazing.
He reconsidered that and he, he made wine out of water. It was an amazing miracle. That was the need at the moment. There was the paralytic. The paralytic was brought to Jesus and they were thinking, we’re going to get this guy to heal our friend.
You remember that? The friends brought the paralytic in. What did Jesus do? What was the first thing that he did? Heal him?
No, not— at least not heal him physically. He healed him spiritually. He said, your sins are forgiven you. That was the greatest need the guy had. Jesus took care of the greatest need first.
His greatest need was a spiritual need. He’s separated from God. He needed forgiveness for his sin. And Jesus said, you’re forgiven. Everybody there started mumbling about the whole thing because how in the world could he forgive sin.
Only God could do that. And to prove that he is God, he healed the guy. The guy got up, walked out. He met the need. When he was with Zacchaeus, what did Zacchaeus need?
He needed to come down out of the tree for one, and then he needed to take Jesus to his home, be hospitable toward Jesus so that they could have a conversation about all the people that Zacchaeus ripped off. And they did have that conversation. And the end of it was Zacchaeus evidently had some kind of conversion experience. What about Nicodemus? That religious leader that came to Jesus at night, what did he need?
He needed to be born again. He needed to hear something that he knew nothing about. He needed to not go back into his mother’s womb, but he needed to be born again spiritually. What about the woman at the well? What did she need?
She needed a whole change in her relationship with God and a change in relationship with men because she’d already been married 5 times and the guy that she was living with was not her husband. And Jesus wants her to see that there’s a much better life than that in a relationship with God, and there’s a much better relational future for her if she would turn to God. In other words, I want you just to hear that Jesus tailored his approach to meet the need of the moment. As far as I can tell, he never presented the gospel the same way twice. He tailored it to the person that he was speaking to.
And when we think about, you know, where God has us right now, you’re in all these different roles and you’re wearing all these different hats. And the big idea here is not only to know what it is Jesus wants you to say, but also it’s to do what it is Jesus wants you to do. And it could just be that role that you’re not even thinking that you have, where you’re going to love your neighbor, and all of a sudden a person comes along who you have the opportunity to love. I think about a mother of 3 children of ages 14, 12, and 3. She and her husband went over to McDonald’s.
They were going to get breakfast. They had the 3-year-old with them. They got in line. They’re waiting in line. A bunch of other people were in these lines there.
And all of a sudden, they just noticed everybody’s kind of backing away. They looked behind them and they saw that there were these 2 homeless men who had come in and they, they stunk. They smelled. And so the people were moving away from him. That hit this mother’s heart.
This is what she wrote about the experience. She said, as I looked down at the short gentleman close to me, he was smiling. He said, good day, as he counted the few coins he had been clutching. The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally deficient and the blue-eyed gentleman in front of him was his salvation.
I held back my tears as I stood there with them. The young lady at the counter asked him what he wanted. He said, coffee is all, miss, because that was all they could afford. I smiled and I asked the young lady behind the counter to give me 2 more breakfast meals on a separate tray. I then walked around the corner to the table where the men had chosen to sit and rest.
I put the table— the tray on the table, and I laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, thank you. I leaned over and I began to pat his hand, and I said, I did not do this just for you. I did this for God, who is here working through me to give you hope. And then I turned and I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.
That to me sounds like she was doing it in Jesus’ name. There was a deed there and there were words there. She was doing it as Jesus would have done it. And I got a feeling that we could just do it But that wouldn’t accomplish what it is that God has us in the world to do.
We’re here to do something more than to just get it done, just get the list done. We’re here to represent Jesus. So Paul says, so do it like Jesus would. And then he goes on and he says, giving thanks to God the Father through him. He says not only do it like he would do it, but do it with a thankful heart.
Do it with a spirit of thanksgiving in what you’re doing. And again, this fits Jesus even in the face of death, even when he knew he was going to the cross. So take your worst circumstance, your worst situation, and multiply it even beyond that. Jesus is about ready to die and he’s still giving thanks. For his privileged ministry.
Matthew 26, last week we mentioned this, but I just want to mention it again as we had communion last week, where it says in Matthew 26, while they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and then broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, take and eat, this is my body. And then he took the cup, gave thanks, and offered it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I mean, this is amazing. Here in the midst of what he’s about ready to do, which is give his life, he’s giving thanks that he’s going to give his life.
That’s unheard of to us. The point is, he’s not doing this out of obligation. He’s doing this out of selflessness, as a servant, as an expression of his love. The attitude that we have in what we do shows up in 2 perspectives often. The first perspective is an I have to perspective.
I got to do this. I have to do this. I’m obligated to do this. I have to go to work. I have to go to that business trip.
I have to go to that meeting. I have to take care of the kids. I have to play with the kids. I have to drive the kids to school. I have to get the kids to their lessons.
I have to make their lunches. I have to clean the home. I have to go shopping. I have to do the laundry. I have to clean the garage.
I have to weed the backyard. I have to pay the bills. I have to pay my taxes. We already mentioned that today. I have to give an offering.
I have to make this call. I have to send this letter. I have to send this email. I have to text message this person. I have to.
The whole other perspective is the get-to side, right? Instead of obligation, it’s a privilege. I get to go to work. I get to go on a business trip. I get to go to these meetings.
You know why I get to do this? Because I got a job. I’m thankful. I get to take care of the kids. I get to play with the kids.
I get to drive the kids to school. I get to make their lunches. I get to get them to their lessons. You know why I get to do this? Because we have kids.
I get to clean the house. I get to go shopping. I get to do the laundry. I get to clean the garage. I get to help out in the backyard.
And why do I get to do this? Because we got a house.
I get to pay the bills. I get to pay my taxes. I get to give an offering. Why? Because I have money.
I get to make this call. I got a phone. Can you believe that? I get to talk to this person. I have relationships.
I get to go to the hospital. I get to go to the doctor. I get to get this physical. Why?
Because there are medical people around here that can help me in my time of need. I was talking to a pastor in Kenya this week. They live hours, hours from medical help, and usually people die before they get to medical help there.
See, what, what this is saying is don’t just do it. Don’t just put the hat on and just get the job done. Well, I just got to get this list done. No, that’s, that’s not the point. Do it with a thankful heart, appreciative heart, a grateful heart.
This is just a small change, but this is a big change. To have a have-to approach to whatever it is that you’re doing— homework— to have a have-to approach to shift to a get-to approach, man, that’s, that’s an amazing change.
I don’t have to work out this morning, I get to work out. You know why I get to work out? Because I have enough health to be able to work out. I don’t have to go to this appointment with these guys, but I get to go to this appointment with these guys because I have friends who care about me and we get together and we encourage one another. I don’t have to stop by the grocery store.
I mean, I don’t have to do that on my way home. I get to stop by the grocery store instead of stopping by the field and picking the plants. Are you kidding?
This week I had jury duty.
At the beginning of the week, I was on a have-to attitude about jury duty. This was one of the whatevers. Yeah, I wouldn’t choose to do this whatever, but it was one of the whatevers of my week. I got to Tuesday. On Tuesday, we as a staff looked at this verse together, Colossians 3:17.
It was really a great discussion. The first part of the discussion, we focused on the different attitudes in the text. And it was interesting because most of the staff were focusing on the thank you part.
Of this passage. It seemed like there was more there for us to process and to work through. And as a result of that discussion, I remember thinking, oh man, I’ve been missing this one already for a couple of days this week because my attitude toward jury duty has been I have to instead of I get to. I get to. I get to represent Jesus potentially at a place that needs help.
I get to serve the Lord there. Who knows, maybe he will use me as salt and light. I don’t know, but I get to serve our community. And if I get to serve our community, then I get to love our community. And isn’t that something that I can be grateful for?
Watch yourself in this area. I promise you, it is not a quick shift to go from a have-to to a get-to. Yesterday, as I was coming back, I was just about ready to leave Merced, one of my family members said, so are you going to stay over till Sunday because Bernice is still in Merced? And I said, no, I have to get back to preach. And then I caught myself.
Wait a minute. I don’t have to go back and preach. That’s, that’s not how I feel. I get to. And that’s how I feel.
It honestly is. I get to come back and I get to be a part of this ministry. I get to do that. And then this morning I saw Dave. He was out in the parking lot.
And I said, hey, let me show you the worship building. Let’s see how it’s coming along. But I’m going to have to keep this short because I have to get to the prayer meeting. And then I caught myself in my mind and I said, wait a minute, I really want to be at this prayer meeting right now. So why am I saying I have to?
I gotta, I gotta do that. No, wait a minute. You know, there is a huge shift in our minds. That will take place if we’ll just change the language in the roles and the responsibilities that we have. See, the bottom line of this text is very simple.
It’s don’t just do it, do it like Jesus would. Don’t just do it, do it like Jesus would. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to represent 2 presidents and one bestselling author One of those presidents’ name was Bruce Wilkinson. He was the founder and the CEO of WTB Ministries, Walk Through the Bible Ministries. And they asked me, and I’ve told you this story before, but it fits here.
They asked me if I would go in his place because he was unable to during the time of the Prayer of Jabez and that book that came out that sold millions of copies. They asked me if I would represent him in Portland, Oregon, and speak on his behalf and teach a Jabez seminar. So they sent me up to Portland to be at Western Seminary where they’re going to have a theological discussion, a panel discussion about whether or not the theology of the prayer of Jabez and what was being taught was accurate. That was fascinating. And so there I was.
And obviously, it was a privilege. It was an honor to be able to do that. But it was a great responsibility. And the entire time I did that, I was thinking to myself, I am here and Bruce’s place, and I’m here to represent Walk Thru the Bible Ministries. I hope I do this well.
A few years after that, I was asked by the Purpose Driven Church organization, or Rick Warren and Rick Warren’s organization, to represent Purpose Driven Church Ministries over in Penang, Malaysia, and then another year or so later in Singapore. They sent me in his place. They sent me all of his notes. To teach a 2-day Purpose Driven Church conference to pastors and leaders that were over in that area. And again, it was the same thing.
Here I’m representing this best-selling author that sold millions and millions and millions of books that people know. Obviously, they would have preferred that Rick was there and not Dave Gudgel, but they got Dave Gudgel because they felt that, you know, I could help with this cause. And so they sent me over to teach that 2-day conference 2 different times. And again, it was the same thing. I remember thinking, this is such an honor.
I’m really grateful for this honor. It’s a privilege for me to teach this. I don’t want to mess this up. I want to teach what I’m teaching so as it represents Rick Warren well. A few years after that, Walk Thru the Bible called me up.
It was an emergency situation. They said, Dave, we would like to send you up to Michigan. There’s a camp there that Phil Tuttle, who was our second president and is still the president of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, they said, we want to send you in Phil’s place to this camp because Phil can’t come. Here at the last minute, he got appendicitis and he’s in the hospital right now, and we’re not even sure if he’s going to make it. But would you please go in his place?
Can you do this? I looked at my calendar, we made things work out. I got up to Michigan and it was the same thing. It was an honor for me to be there. It was a privilege for me to be there.
And it was a great responsibility for me to be there. And I didn’t want to mess it up. And I wanted to teach in such a way that hopefully I’d represent Walk Thru the Bible Ministries and Phil Tuttle well.
Those 3 opportunities came back to my mind as I was considering this passage. And then I realized this, you know what? This passage is telling us that every one of us, every day, through the roles and the hats that we wear, are given these kinds of opportunities. They’re just as important, and perhaps they’re even more important, because the point is, is that they’re God-assigned, right? They’re God-assigned.
God has got you and me in different roles and different responsibilities wearing different hats. And he doesn’t want us just to do it. He wants us to do what it is that we do as Jesus would, to do it as Jesus would, with hearts that are filled with thanks.
Let’s pray.
Father, I pray that we could see that, that whether we’re a parent or we’re a student or we’re a family member or an aunt or an uncle or an employee, a neighbor, whatever the roles or responsibilities are that you’ve given to us, we would thoroughly enjoy them, but we would represent you well. We would do it in your name. We would say what you want us to say. We would do what it is that you want us to do, and we would do them, do those roles and responsibilities, wear these hats With hearts filled with thanks. We get to do this.
And so I pray for each one of us as possibly this morning we came in here just ready to throw in the towel on some of these roles and responsibilities. I mean, Lord, if that’s what you want for us, show us that. But better yet, God, if you want us where we are, then help us have your attitude in how we do what it is you’ve given us, God-given assignments to do. And I pray that for each one of us. We know, even as I’ve mentioned in my life this morning, Lord, this is not an easy shift, but help us make the shift, and may it result in not only good for our experience of serving you in this world, but the good of what serving you could be in the lives of other people.
And they see a difference in our lives. And I pray too that if there’s anybody here this morning that’s not yet said yes to a relationship with you, they would take that step first. They would say, yes, I want you as my Savior. Thank you, God, that you came, that Jesus came to make it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins.
And if you’ve never received the Lord this morning, tell God you want that, that you want a relationship with him. Maybe that’s the main reason why you’re here today, is to begin this new life with Christ. Just tell him, Lord, I want you. I want this relationship with you. I’m so sorry that I’ve lived my life up to this point in time as if you didn’t exist.
Forgive me. Make me a new person. Make me the person you want me to be. Help me do what it is you put me on this earth to do. God hears those kinds of prayers.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Lord, we pray that as we go out and live this week, we’ll live to your honor and glory, in your name, thanking you all the way for the opportunities we have to serve you. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, hey, we’ve got a couple this morning that we’re going to welcome into membership. And so the Tokars are here because they had the privilege of getting to know this couple and checking them out. And they’re just a great couple. So Paul and Kate, come on up. We’ve got a microphone over here for you, and you can introduce this couple to us this morning as we have our traditional members mugging.
Okay. Here we go.
Are we on? Oh, we are. So are the Lynches here?
Come on up. We’ve gotten a chance to know you. We want everybody else to have a chance.
Lots of you probably already know this dear couple, and we’ve just gotten to know them and feel privileged that we get to do this. Yes. So this is Amanda, and I’m going to rehearse with you and her a couple of the roles that she has played and is playing. First of all, she’s a traveler. They came to us from Braintree, Massachusetts, where they both grew up, right?
And they then became researchers and went online and found Bridges Community Church and have been here about a year and a half, not quite a year and a half. She is also, and they are also, joiners. So once they came here, they joined the AIM class, which— yay!— which stands for Adventures in Marriage, for those of you that might Not no. So she’s also a wife, and she is a mom. She has 2— they have 2 children.
Sienna is about 3, correct? 3 and a half. Yeah, it’s important when you’re that age, the half. 3 and a half. Yes.
And then this is little, um, Jonah, and he’s just 4 months, and he looks like a pretty contented little guy. She’s also chosen to be a stay-at-home mom. So she’s going to be a teacher by chosen profession, but she’s also a teacher by training. So she was a teacher of childhood education, early childhood education. So you got a mom that’s all set to go there.
So, um, that is Amanda, and I’ve been thrilled to get to know her. And she has indicated that when the children are old enough, whatever that magic age is, that she’d like to, to work in children’s ministry here or perhaps in missions. So that is something that we will look forward to. So Paul, you want to tell us about Mark? Sure.
One of the great joys of being on the elder board is that I get to interview people like Mark, and Mark has a very rare, unique occupation. He’s a software engineer.
There might be one or two in the Valley, you know, I don’t know about that. But anyway, it’s great to get acquainted with Mark, and every time I have a computer question, I know now who to go to. He works, I guess, for LinkedIn. Is that right? LinkedIn.
So there you have it, all those of you who are linked in, he’s responsible for that. So anyway, it’s great to get acquainted with Mark. I found out that Mark, he told me that he’d been in the church most of his life, almost all of his life, some 32 years. In the Braintree Church in Massachusetts. And he told me that he solidified his Christian faith when he was on a youth mission trip in Arizona some years ago.
So that was exciting. So, but what really turned me on or got me excited was that he said his passion was, or his great interest is in missions. I said, well, you need to meet Andrew Hill. He says, well, I know Andrew because we’re in the AIM class. So he’s already linked in and well acquainted with the membership here.
And so what we really like, and one of the things I’ve really enjoyed in meeting this couple, is that it took me back some 32 years when Kay and I joined this church. It’s hard to believe we’ve been here 32 years, but I just pray that their experience and their relationship here will be as great a blessing to them as it has been to us. And so those of you who haven’t joined the church yet, I certainly hope you’ll give that great consideration and become a part of the membership here and the family of God, and look forward to serving in whatever capacity the Lord opens doors of opportunity. So wonderful to have Mark and Amanda here and the little people too. And now the mugging time has come.
Well, hey, here are our mugs. So we don’t mug you, we just mug you this way. So we’re, we’re so grateful to have you guys come into the membership. And all those are members, do we welcome them in? Amen.
That’s a yes. Okay. Amen. We welcome you guys. We’re so grateful God brought you here.
Lord bless you in all the ministry years ahead. Praise God. Hey, make sure to come up and welcome them too. Have a great week. Thanks everybody for coming.
Thank you very much. Good to see you. Likewise.
