Christian Goals

Introduction

Pleasant good evening to everybody. This afternoon I was thinking about the comments that Jim Capps made this morning before we left the service, how he was I guess challenging me to uh to live live up to some of some expectations, and he talked a little bit about uh how he had imparted such vast knowledge and wisdom upon me. And I got to thinking that uh perhaps Jim was going to be a little more on the spot tonight than than I was. And then he got up here tonight and exonerated himself completely, so here I am back on my own. I’m I appreciate the encouragement and the the words of support that many of you have have given me, uh especially since I was here last time.

Uh I I think it was early last fall or late last summer when when I stood before you and and uh preached a lesson for the first time. And lest anybody ever think that those kinds of words of encouragement fall on deaf ears, I assure you that at least with me they do not. I think I I got up here in the first place because of the encouragement that I received from many of you, and I’m back here again, I think for the same reason, and and I’m very grateful for that. I also want to take this opportunity to thank the elders for their support and for for allowing uh Christians here like myself to have this opportunity. This truly is a a learning kind of experience and and a Christian growth opportunity and one that that I cherish very much.

Certainly there are those even here tonight who are much more capable than me to stand before you and try to proclaim the word. But as I said, I do appreciate the opportunity and and it’s been I assure you it’s been a rewarding experience for me, and I hope that the things I say have some special meaning and somehow touch each of you in a proper way. I will be using the scriptures at length tonight. I would encourage you, I would ask you to open your Bibles and follow along with me. I do this for a couple of reasons. First of all, I think it’s important that it will help you as I present the message and then the points that I’ll be making. I think it’ll help you better understand why I’m saying what I’m saying.

I think, secondly, and equally important, is that you all have a responsibility to yourselves and to me to make sure that the way I use the scriptures, the scriptures I’m using and the way that I’m using them are proper and appropriate according to God’s word. And should you find a misuse, uh you would be my friend if if you will let me know that. If you have any suggestions for me in any way after I finish tonight, I assure you that I would welcome your your words and comments. I’m going to talk tonight about some Christian goals, and as I get started, I have to make a confession. This is not a totally original lesson with me, at least the points. I’m going to talk about seven major goals.

And the points that we’re going to discuss, as I said, were not mine. I didn’t compose these points. Perhaps some of them you’ve heard before, and certainly you’ll be hearing them again. But the the points that we’re going to talk about for a few minutes tonight were actually this particular list was composed by several Christians that are here tonight, and they are the teenage class. Brian Pauly and I, you’ve heard us talk many times about you know some of our experiences and some of the things we talk about in that class. Personally, I take a great deal of pride in them. I think they are an exciting group of young Christians. I find them to be very sincere, I find them to be very diligent. And at the end of this past year, 1989, just before we changed classes and teachers, Brian and I were finishing up a study in the First Principles of Christianity book.

And so we thought one of the last things we would do would be to challenge and exhort them a little bit to set some goals and priorities for the coming year based upon some of the things that they had been studying for the previous six months. And so they came up with a list of goals that they wanted to accomplish for 1990. And I’m going to be going to be real honest with you.

We sent them home one Sunday and asked them to come back the following Sunday with their list. And we told them that whatever you do and whatever you put on this list has to be two things.

1. Pray More Daily

So I think you’ll see that they didn’t take the easy way out. And so what I want to do tonight with you is share with you a little bit about what they said. And I think in this particular instance, we can learn some valuable lessons, and certainly there’s some application here for all of us. So let’s go ahead and get started. The first thing that they said they wanted to do this year was to pray more daily. Certainly, I think this is an admirable goal. Mark Copeland talked to us this morning a little bit and mentioned some of the importance and the significance of prayer as both a uh a blessing and as a responsibility that we have as Christians. And I would just elaborate on that a little bit by saying, from my vantage point, from my perspective, I think prayer is probably one of the greatest blessings, one of the greatest privileges that we have as a Christian.

It’s our way to be able to communicate, it’s our way to be able to talk with God. We can go to him through the avenue of prayer in times of joy, we can go to him and share our sorrows. And in every case, in every situation, we have the knowledge, the assurance, and the promise from God that he is going to hear our prayers, and that one way or another he’s going to answer our prayers. It truly is our ability, our way to be able to talk with God. And as I said, I think this is probably one of the greatest privileges that we have as Christians, and I commend the teenagers for recognizing the importance of it and the serious nature with which they approach it.

Prayer, of course, I think is more than just putting words together. As I said, it’s truly talking with God. Lots of people are very eloquent, have the ability to word prayers very nicely, and I think that’s fine. But I also think that God is more interested in hearing what’s in our hearts, what’s on our mind, what’s truly in there. And he’s more interested in the what than the eloquent kinds of words with which we speak. Turn with me, if you will, to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, and look at verse 39. And as you’re turning there, I would point out something earlier in the book of Matthew, in Matthew 6, verses 9 through 13, where Jesus taught his disciples to pray. And I think that’s significant that we mentioned that because if Jesus took the time to teach his disciples to pray, it obviously meant that it was important.

It had meaning, it had merit, because Jesus received his instruction, he received his direction, his admonition from God the Father. So Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, and I think that in and of itself validates the meaning of prayer. Now look at Matthew 26 and verse 39. And he went a little beyond them and fell on his face and prayed, Jesus saying, My Father, if it is possible. Whoop, I’m looking at the wrong verse here, I think. No, I’m right. My Father, if it is possible, let this cut pass from me, yet not as I will, but as thou wilt. The reason I put this particular scripture in here, because there’s an important message here about prayer, and that is that when we pray, our first concern should be what is God’s will, not what is our will.

What is our desire, what is our want. Our first priority as Christians when we’re praying should be pray to God and keep in mind that our ultimate goal as Christians should be to please him. So our prayers should be focused in that direction. And I think certainly in the way that Jesus taught the disciples to pray, we saw that. Not my will but thine be done. And then we have another example of that right here. I think there are also examples throughout the New Testament, and I looked at several of them as I was preparing this lesson. In the interest of time, I’m not going to go through all of them right now, but certainly you can find examples where New Testament Christians prayed with regularity.

My second point, major point about prayer is that we indeed are taught to pray without ceasing. Lots of discussion. What does without ceasing mean? Does that mean we sit around 24 hours a day and pray and pray? Maybe, maybe not. I think perhaps that’s an individual thing. How much you pray, what is praying without ceasing is is a personal thing. But I think that the point of praying without ceasing is that we pray with some degree of regularity, that we pray on a regular basis. Turn with me over to the book of Colossians. Colossians 4. Colossians 4, verse 2. Paul writes, Devote yourself to prayer. He’s admonishing the Colossians here to take time to focus their efforts and their energies upon prayer. Devote has a special meaning.

Devote doesn’t mean that you just go do it. Devote means you focus on it, you concentrate on it, you dedicate yourselves to it. And I think that’s the admonition that he’s giving to the Colossians here. I’d also like you to turn over to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5, and look with me, please, at verse 17. If there’s any confusion about whether or not we’re supposed to pray with regularity, I think it’s stated very succinctly here when it says pray without ceasing. I don’t know how many different ways you can interpret that. And I think it’s very clear, and that is certainly the message that God has put out for us in his word. I think those who don’t pray regularly, as I said, are missing a true spiritual blessing.

2. Attend Bible Study and All Services

I think they’re denying themselves of one of the true essentials of a good spiritual life. But I also think that they’re robbing themselves, as I said, of one of the true blessings of being a Christian. So goal number one is to pray more daily. The second thing that they said they wanted to do this year would be to attend Bible study. Now, I would expand that just a little bit, and I would I would say all services in addition to Bible study. Why is this important? Well, look with me at the book of Hebrews. Hebrews verse chapter 10. Hebrews 10 verses 23 through 25. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Now I think there are three points in these three verses of scripture here. The first one is in verse 23, and it applies to, you know, if if you read the whole thing in context and then you break it down a little bit, I think you’ll agree with me. First of all, I think not forsaking the assembly or attending services and Bible studies truly is a profession of our faith. I think it signifies an unwavering confession of the faith and the hope that we have in God through Jesus Christ. And I think that’s part of what verse 23 is saying here. I think the second reason it’s important is because attending the services, attending Bible study gives us an opportunity to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

And I say that because of what I read in verse 24. And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and to good deeds. Gathering together and meeting together in Bible study, in worship should be a rewarding experience for each of us. Each of us should leave, feeling that we have been strengthened, that somehow we have been edified. But I also think that we have a responsibility to our fellow Christians to exhort, to encourage, to help them. And you can’t do that if you’re not here worshiping with the brethren, studying with the brethren, be it in Bible study or formal worship. I often have to ask myself, who among us, and I as I said, I asked myself this question: am I strong enough to say that I don’t need to attend Bible study, that I’m knowledgeable enough, that my faith is strong enough, that I’m unwavering enough here on this earth, that I don’t need the kind of encouragement and support that coming together as a body gives me.

I have to answer that question no, because there’s certainly a lot of temptations out there to do other things. And it’s not always easy to get up and come to all the services as they’ve been scheduled. I think it’s something that takes a commitment, it takes some effort, it takes a little bit of self-discipline. But I think if we all ask ourselves that question, only you can answer that. If you’re strong enough, if you’re knowledgeable enough, if your faith is unwavering enough that you don’t need the support of other Christians, then you probably have a case in your own mind for not coming. But I don’t think that’s what the Bible teaches us, and I think we can look to scriptures like this to support that.

The third point that I pick out of these particular three verses in Hebrews 10 is that basically we are directly commanded not to forsake the assembly. And again, I think that’s put put very clearly and stated as simply as it can be. This morning, Mark was talking about coming together and some of the reasons that we need to do that. And he made the point that you can’t get to know other Christians here. You can’t get to know the other brethren if you’re not here, visiting, socializing, studying, learning with them. And therefore, you can’t exhort others. You can’t impart some of what you know or some of your experiences that somehow might benefit somebody else if you’re not here. And then, of course, there’s a self-edification point as well.

If you’re not here, you can’t do any of these things, which we specifically are commanded to do. I’m probably talking a little bit to the choir here, but I think that this passage here, these scriptures and others that say the same thing mean that every time Christians come together for study, for worship, that we all should be making the effort to do so. Now, last year, Brother Harkrider preached a whole lesson about this one point, and I wouldn’t even pretend or want to begin to try to add to anything that he said, but he he drew a very important distinction with regard to not attending the worship services, and that is that there’s a different difference between missing and forsaking the assembly. Missing basically means that situations beyond your control sometimes cause you not to be able to be here.

Poor health. You need to take care of somebody else in an emergency kind of situation. Sometimes our work and our jobs require us to be away. Those are situations beyond our control. But forsaking, as we read about here in Hebrews 10, it says not forsaking our own assembly. Forsaking means there’s an attitude.

No, I’m not. And as I said a minute ago, I I think we all have to ask ourselves when we’re missing services. And you know, I’ve had to miss services myself for for work and various and other sundry reasons. And I always have to ask myself am I missing for an acceptable reason or am I forsaking the assembly? And only you, again, this is something that only you can answer. But I do think when we look at passages like this, we need to recognize that perhaps with a little bit of planning, a little bit more effort, and a lot more self-discipline, we can all do much better. And that is the second goal that the teenagers stated they wanted to pursue this year. And looking in the class from time to time since January and peering through the door, I see that several are doing much better than they used to, perhaps.

3. Worship in Truth and Spirit; Prepare Class Lessons

Number three, and this again was a very commendable goal. They want to worship in truth and spirit. Now we spent a couple of weeks, I think, talking about this in the class, and it coincided again with a lesson that Brother Harkwriter preached about worshiping, and he talked specifically about worshiping in truth and spirit. And on one hand, this sounds perhaps a little philosophical, and maybe it’s a little difficult to understand, but on the other hand, I don’t really think it is that difficult. I think worshiping in spirit means that we need to worship from the heart. We need to take a look at our attitude toward our worship. Are we there? Are we sincere about being there? It requires us to do more than just come in and fill a seat.

Anyone can fill a seat, but you’re not truly worshiping if you’re just sitting there. You have to come in with a proper attitude toward the worship service. That I’m here because I want to be, I’m here because it’s an opportunity to learn, I’m here because I want to exhort and encourage my fellow Christians. I think in truth means that we need to do more than just worship with emotion. I think what we do, in other words, are we performing acts of worship as they’ve been commanded in the scripture is just important as how we do it. And I go back to the old adage that you can be sincerely wrong. You can your intentions can be the best in the world. And you they can be very strong and they can be very sincere, but it doesn’t necessarily make them right.

So we have to look to the scriptures to determine are we doing the right thing? And so if you put those two things together, I think that’s what we mean when we talk about worshiping in spirit and in truth. Turn with me, if you will, over to Matthew, the 15th chapter. Matthew 15. And look at verses 7 through 9, if you will. This is Jesus talking here to the Pharisees and the scribes, and he says, You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching his doctrines the precepts of men. I think what Jesus is saying here is that they’re giving the right kind of lip service, but their hearts are in the wrong place, and therefore they’re not worshiping in truth and spirit, and therefore their worship is a vain worship.

And I think we all need to be careful that our worship doesn’t become a vain worship, because if if we’re not truly worshiping in truth and spirit, it is a vain worship, and it’s not acceptable to God. I think the consequences of unacceptable worship according to the scriptures also are very significant. Turn over to 1 Corinthians the 11th chapter. 1 Corinthians 11. And look, please at verses 27 through 29. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup, for he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly.

Whether or not you’re doing it in truth and spirit dictates your own judgment about that particular act of worship. So I think this is very important. I think what we need to always ask ourselves with regard to our worship, and at the end of every worship service, at the end of every Bible study, I think we need to be asking ourselves was my worship acceptable to God. Did my worship help bring me a little bit closer to heaven? The fourth goal that they talked about was that they want to prepare their class lessons. It’s a fun one. I think this goes hand in hand with the correlation we just made in talking about worshiping in truth and spirit. I think it’s an attitude. I think you come to class with an attitude.

And part of your attitude toward your class certainly has to do with are you prepared when you come into it to a class? Have you done your work? Because that determines whether or not you’re going to be able to sit there and participate and ask questions that will help you become more knowledgeable. You can’t have questions about the lesson material if you don’t know what the lesson material is. If you don’t know what the lesson material is, you don’t know what you don’t understand about it. But I think the other point, and what I was talking about a few minutes ago, is that you also have a responsibility to others. Perhaps you can through working your lesson, you will have some points or you can raise some questions that will help others as well.

And you have that responsibility both to yourself and to others. And only through adequate class preparation are you able to come to class to participate in an intelligent and acceptable manner. There are several in here tonight who are involved in the teaching program. And I don’t need to tell you that teaching is a is a tremendous responsibility. And teaching the classes here at any level, because you’re you’re talking about the Word of God and you’re trying to impart knowledge to others who hopefully are eager to learn, it requires a lot of time and a lot of preparation. Believe me, if you’re not a teacher, that this is true. And I think if for no other reason, when you bring it down to a real personal level, don’t you have there?

Shouldn’t you be giving the teachers who put in that kind of time the courtesy and the respect of the time that they’ve given? Shouldn’t you also come prepared if they’re willing to put in that kind of time on a volunteer basis? And I think that’s something we should ask ask ourselves all the time. I think we also have a responsibility as Christians to develop our own knowledge about the Word of God. And I think that means that we need to search the scriptures, that we need to study the scriptures on somewhat of a regular basis.

Corinthians chapter 2, verses 11 through 14. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. Also turn over to the book of Colossians again. Third chapter, Colossians 3, verse 16. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

I think when you put passages like this together, when you study them, when you examine them a little bit, I think what we’re being told here is that it’s very important for us to study the Bible, to search the Word of God, to try to expand our knowledge of it. And so I think all these things together make a very admirable goal, and I think they’re questions we all need to ask ourselves. And you know, from experience, it’s it’s very easy to take class materials and just go through and write down the answers to the questions. I don’t think that’s totally being prepared for class. And I assure you that I’ve been as guilty of that as anybody sitting here. I think preparing for class is more than just having your question sheets answered.

I think it’s studying and researching the material. The questions are designed only for guidelines and to help you focus in on some specific thoughts. And so I think we can all, you know, examine ourselves and ask ourselves are we coming to class on Sunday mornings to our Bible studies and Wednesday nights adequately prepared? And I would also say at this point that if if anyone here is not partaking of the Bible classes, you’re missing something special. We have a very good curriculum here for everybody of all ages. We have some very good teachers and people, as I said, who work very hard at teaching. And if if you’re missing out on that, you’re missing out on a real opportunity to learn and grow with your brethren here at South Bumby.

4. Respect Others More

Another goal we talked about was that they want to respect others. They said respect others more. I wasn’t real sure what that meant when they first said that, but we talked about it a little bit. And I think, especially where Christians are concerned, there are several things involved in this kind of setting this kind of a goal. And I think the first one has to do with unity within the body of Christ. Look with me back at 1 Corinthians again. 1 Corinthians the 12th chapter. I’m going to read verses 12 through 14. For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit.

For the body is not one member but many.

Sorrow. Looking down a little further at verse 26 in the same chapter, 1 Corinthians 12. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. We should share one another’s victories and triumphs and happiness, but we should also be there for one another in times of sorrow and when the chips perhaps are down a little bit. I think it also means that we need to be attentive to those who are in need. Certainly we have examples of early Christians helping one another. Turn with me over to Acts, the fourth chapter, Acts 4. And let’s look at verses 32 through 35. Acts 4, 32 through 35. And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

And with great power, the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of their sale. What we see here is a genuine and sincere attitude of believers, making sure that their fellow believers were not in need, and they were willing to sell their land, to sell their homes, to share in their property and whatever possessions they had that might help those in need.

They set a timetable and they said, I think it’s six times a year, they’re going to, as a group, work to deliver meals or prepare something, some kind of food and deliver to the sick and to the shut ins. And they made one person in that class accountable to see that that was happening. On a weekly basis, they get together and they talk about who is sick, who is shut in that we can send a card to. I don’t know if they’re doing this in their homes or if they’re doing it a few minutes before or after services, but I know that it’s going on. And if if if we can learn anything, it’s that perhaps this kind of discipline to a point where they’re making somebody accountable, where they’re making a list, and you can go back there in that classroom, and you’ll see that that is on the board.

Every Sunday when they come into class, every Wednesday night when they come into class, they see that in front of them. And I applaud that. I think that’s very special. I’m a list person. I live or I die by a list. And if it’s not on a list, chances are pretty good that I’m going to forget it. And maybe this is something we all need to do. Maybe we need to put it put a list on a refrigerator and remind ourselves that next time we go down to the mall or over to the grocery store, let’s pick up a card and think about who was sick. Maybe we need to bring a pad in here and during announcements, write down those who maybe a card or a phone call would cheer up a little bit.

Again, I think this is something that’s very easy for us to do. It just requires a little bit of self-discipline on our part. And I think generally this means that we also need to look out for one another. Turn with me over to Hebrews. Hebrews, the 12th chapter. Let’s look at verses 12 through 15. Hebrews 12, 12 through 15. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather healed. Pursue peace with all men and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.

5. Teach Others by Their Own Examples

Again, I think this is a very general admonition to us as Christians that simply put we are to look out for one another. And I think that’s inherent in respecting each other. The sixth point or goal that they set for themselves, a tough one, was that they wanted to teach younger children. They wanted to teach others by their own examples, by the things they do, the things they say, the people they run around with. And I think that’s difficult for any of us, but perhaps it’s more difficult in this day and age for a group of young Christians like like the teenage class. And I was both surprised, frankly, and I was also very impressed when they said that this was going to be one of their goals.

It’s a tremendous self-challenge, and it should be the same kind of self-challenge to all of us to live our lives in a way such that it will be an example, or we can be an example for others to follow. When we wear the name Christian, and hopefully everyone here does that, we automatically put ourselves under microscope, because if we’re truly living as Christians, we’re functioning a little bit differently than everybody else in the world. We should be different by the things we we say, the things we talk about. As I said, the people we socialize with, the attitudes we carry to work or to school. We put ourselves under micro microscope, and there are people there waiting for us to stumble. When we wear that name Christian, we’re in the spotlight all the time.

And when we stumble, it tends to become exaggerated much more. What we never know is who’s looking, who’s listening, who’s waiting for us to stumble. And so I think that’s something that if we’re going to wear the name Christian, we need to be very conscious of, because even when we think somebody isn’t watching us or listening to us, you just stumble and you’ll find out somebody was. And I’m sure that all of us at one time or another can relate a story that would verify that. Read with me, please, in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians, the fourth chapter. And let’s look at verse 10. Excuse me, verse 1, I’m sorry. Ephesians 4, verse 1. I therefore, this is Paul, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.

I think what he’s saying there is, Christians, be careful. Be careful that you’re walking the right kind of path. Look over perhaps the same opening to Ephesians 5, verse 1. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children. Be imitators of God. And I think this bears out what we were talking about as far as how we carry ourselves. I think we need to take time to read and make note of the Christian virtues that are outlined for us in the Bible here in Galatians 3, or excuse me, Galatians 5 and Colossians 3, and throughout Ephesians 5. You can read some of the virtues and some of the traits and qualities and characteristics that should separate us from the rest of the world and better enable us to carry that label Christian in a proper manner.

Look over, please, to 1 John. 1 John, the third chapter.

6. Teach One Non-Christian

1 John 3, 10. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. I think the message here is that the way we carry ourselves, the way we project ourselves, sends a signal. And there are only two ways the signal goes. It tells the world that we’re children of God or we’re not. And we’re not kind of children of God, and we’re kind of not. We’re basically one or the other. And that’s a burden that we carry when we accept that label of Christian, and something we need to be conscious of all the time. And the seventh goal that they wrote down was that they want to teach one non Christian in 1990.

All of us, I’m sure, have heard that goal preached from the pulpit here. We’ve read about it, and it’s something that we should all be striving to do, but it’s hard to do. And I think for a group of young Christians like this to set that as a goal is something that is worth noting. Turn with me over to Mark, Mark 16. Passage we’re all familiar with, I’m sure.

Mark 16, verses 15 and 16. And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. We’re commanded specifically to teach, to share the gospel with others. And why is it important? It’s important because of what it says in verse 16. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved. If we’re not teaching, if we’re not spreading the word and putting the word out there for others to follow, chances are that nobody else is either. And they’re not going to have the same opportunity that we all have had to share in the joy of being a Christian. Now turn over to Galatians 6.

Galatians 6. And look at verse 10. Galatians 6, 10. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. All he’s telling us here is do what you can as you have opportunity to do it. Look for those opportunities. Sooner or later, everybody is going to have an opportunity. And what you do with that opportunity, you’re going to be judged for.

Conclusion

This is this is the parable where God compared Himself to the vine and said that the Christians are the branches and the branches are responsible for bearing fruit. If the branches are not bearing fruit, they’re going to wither up, they’re going to dry up, and they’re going to be cast into the fire. And that is the judgments that we all face if we’re not going to be diligent and attentive to spreading the vineyard. Those are the points that they talked about, and they’re the ones that I wanted to share with you tonight. Now to wrap all this up, I want to talk for just a minute about something called Christian economics. I think what you see here applies to the goals that we just talked about.

Are you taking time? Are you making time for the kinds of things that we’re instructed to do? But this says that there are 10,080 minutes in a week. And if you’re a fairly active member in the church, you’re probably spending about 645 minutes total doing the following things. On Sunday, you’re giving 180 minutes to God. On Wednesday, maybe 120 minutes. Reading the Bible throughout the week, a little bit at a time, another 120 minutes. Maybe praying 15 minutes daily, 105 minutes, visiting the sick, 180 minutes a week. So you have 645 minutes there. How else we spend our time as Christians? Sleep eight hours daily. This assumes you don’t have a baby at home. And it’s 3,360 minutes. Work, five days a week, eight hours a day, if we’re lucky, 2, two thousand four hundred minutes.

Rest and relaxation, 3, three thousand six hundred and seventy-five minutes. The sum total of all that is that we spend probably about 36.5% of our time in pleasure, 33% of our time sleeping, 23.8% working, and we give the Lord 6.4%. And I think the question we need to ask ourselves, am I a 6.4% Christian? And nobody can answer that except you.

In some cases, it may be.

Again, I think that’s something that you’re going to be accountable to uh the Lord on when the day of judgment comes. And I think you need to ask yourself: Am I prepared to meet the Lord at judgment and account for my time if I’m a 6.4% Christian or from a 20% Christian. I think the things we we’ve talked about tonight, and the points that were outlined by the teenage group are important. I think they’re things we need to meditate upon as we think about our Christian lifestyle. But I think we also, before you can even get to these things, you need to think about am I in a saved or lost condition at the beginning? And we haven’t talked much about how you get into that saved condition to begin with, but essentially there’s a there’s a very simple plan that God has outlined for us.

And the plan says that the first thing we need to do after we’ve heard the gospel is believe it, as we read in Mark 16:16. Also says we need to repent in Acts 2:38, and we need to repent as the 3,000 did on the day of Pentecost after they listened to Peter and said, What shall we do? Next thing we need to do is we need to confess, as in as we read about in Romans 10, verses 9 and 10. We need to confess that that Jesus is indeed the Lord, uh the Savior, which God raised from the dead. And the next thing we need to do is we need to be baptized and buried with Christ in baptism so that we can walk in newness of life, as we read in Romans 6, verses 3 through 4.

And if you haven’t taken these steps, you have the opportunity to come forward tonight, and we’ll help you. The baptism the baptistry is ready, it’s waiting, and we’ll be glad to assist you. For those who have been baptized, which probably are the majority here tonight, I think you need to think about what kind of a Christian are you. As I said, ask yourself the question, what percent of my time am I giving? And and I can’t tell you that, and I don’t think anybody here can tell you that 10% is good enough or 20% or 50%. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. Again, that’s a decision that you’re going to have to live with when you face the day of judgment and when you face Christ.

You know, and Christ knows, and that’s all that’s all that really matters, and nobody here will ever challenge you on it. If the answer is that I’m not spending enough time doing these kinds of things, if if I’m wearing the label Christian, but I’m not doing the things that I should be doing, and you want to make that right, you too can come forward tonight, and we’ll pray with you and make your desires known, and we’ll work with you in whatever way we can. If in any way you’re subject to the invitation tonight, we bid you come as we stand and sing.