Learn to Do Good

Introduction

Good morning, everyone. This weekend, we have been blessed to have with us Brother Gabe Chavez. Gabe is one of the preachers for the North Terrace Church in the Tampa area. And believe it or not, but we actually go back about eight years together. Gabe trained to become a gospel preacher at the Dallin Road Congregation under Max Dawson and David Banning. And we kind of formed a connection through through that, us being trained by the same congregation and by the same people. And I am very proud of the work he has done as a gospel preacher. I’m proud of the work that he did for several years in Mauriceville, Texas, after leading the Dallin Road, leaving the Dallin Road program. And I’m tired, and I’m also proud, not tired, but proud of the work he’s also doing in the Tampa area.

He did a wonderful job with our teens yesterday. He taught some very, very practical lessons, some things that could help them serve the Lord right now, living in the culture we’re in today. So that was some time well spent for our young people. And we look forward to hearing him preach the gospel to us as a church family as he completes his series. Now, before he comes up, I do want to take just a moment to thank our shepherds.

We are blessed as a congregation to have shepherds that care about young people and who want to invest time and resources and grounding them in the truth and allowing them to learn the Bible more and to be able to bring in speakers such as Gabe to teach them. I’m very thankful for our shepherds. I also want to thank the teens. I want to thank all the teens that attended this weekend. I want to thank the parents. I want to thank the grandparents. They encouraged their their young people, their children to come to this event. And we also want to thank those who helped with food or who gave money as individuals so that we could get food. I want to thank those who helped with the registration.

Sister Marion spent a lot of hours with that yesterday. Really thankful for the work that she does behind the scenes. And I just want to thank those of you who may just pray about this event. If you spent time in prayer talking to God and asking God to bless this to be a successful weekend, thank you so much for that. Thank you to all of you who took part in this weekend in any way at all. It was truly a blessing and a success. At this time, we’re going to encourage, we’re going to encourage you to get your Bible out, get your spiritual thinking caps on. We thank Brother Gabe for investing time to come here and be with us this weekend. And we look forward now, Brother Gabe, to listening to what you have to say from the scriptures.

Well, good morning.

I want to thank the elders for inviting me to be here. I want to thank uh Walcott and Bonnie for letting me stay with them at their uh at our at their home. Uh, brother Walcott, you’re an honorary Costa Rican. We have so much in common. So thank you so much. Uh, I want to thank Sean for getting to know him. You know, at Down Road, Max would talk very highly of Sean. So, Sean, meeting you, it’s been like meeting a celebrity. So, thank you so much for Max always talked highly about you. So, when I grow up, I want to be like you. And I want to thank uh Brother JR and getting to know his family. Thank you for reuniting me with my long-lost twin brother.

You know, it it’s so funny just how many similarities JR and I have together. So he’s Puerto Rican, I’m Costa Rican. We get confused a lot. He has two Siamese cats. I have two size meat cats. Our Siamese cats are actually the same age. Jared preached in Texas for a while. I preached in Texas for a while. Man, I don’t, man, it’s getting kind of scary, honestly. I didn’t ask you what your favorite color was, but I bet it’s green, so it’s it’s kind of wild, but but here’s the thing. I have to admit this though, Jared, I think you’re more handsome than me, so thank you. But thank you again, you guys. Thank you for your teens. I I’ve really gotten uh I really enjoyed getting to know them.

We have a lot in common, like a lot of TV shows and a lot of movies that we both like. Um, so it’s been great getting to know your kids, and it’s been a very fun weekend, and it’s definitely been very encouraging for me. I want to ask you all this question this morning, and and it’s this let’s say you’ve had a long day at work, and at the end of work you’re tired, you you want to go home, but there’s one last thing that you need to do. And maybe it’s not work, maybe it’s school. And what you have to do is you have to go and you have to clean the bathrooms at your workplace. Or maybe it’s not the bathroom, maybe you have to take out all the trash and all the classrooms.

How does that how would you make how would that make you feel if you had to do that? What if that was expected of you? And it would be shameful if you if you didn’t do that. What if from the time that you were very small, you were required and requested of you? What if you had to clean your school’s bathrooms and classrooms? In Japan, many schools actually don’t have full-time custodians. It’s the job of the students to clean their schools. And after class is over, many kids are asked to stay afterwards and clean their building and clean the school. Look how happy these kids look. That wouldn’t have been me. But this is done to teach them important skills as they grow up as adults.

And look, this system works. It not only works, it works very well. It’s so well that Japan has actually begun to export this type of curriculum to other countries. And the children that participate in this kind of system where they either before school or after school are asked to clean their classrooms and participate and helping make sure that everything at school is clean and orderly, they begin to cooperate outside of school. They begin to offer to help at home. They become more well adjusted, more respectful of their parents. In fact, during the last Soccer World Cup that happened in Costa Rica, we call that football.

Because what would happen is that their fans would stay after the game was over and they would help clean the stadium. And so they knew if they were going to play against the Japanese, the Japanese fans would actually stay and clean. And so here’s a picture of some of them. All those are trash bags, and they’re making sure that their area where they were is nice, clean, and orderly. And they learned these skills because from a young age it was expected of them to make sure that they cleaned up after themselves and they were respectful of their hosts wherever they went. Now, why am I talking to you guys about all these things this morning? And here’s why. If you notice in this building, there is a section of it that’s dedicated to helping educate our young people about the Bible.

From the time they’re very young to the time they’re teens, and even now, we have buildings and we have material and we have time dedicated to help our children understand basic biblical principles from a very young age. And this is important to us. I know it is, I’ve seen it. Thank you so much for dedicating time for these kids to have this weekend where they can be together and study the word of God. And why is it that this is so important? Is because it helps us become godly people so that when they’re older, they can continue being people of God. Now here’s the thing. When we’re young, we’re taught very basic skills. We’re taught how to read, we’re taught how to write, we’re even taught how to brush our teeth by our parents.

But it also makes sense that if those things are important, right? And even simple other simple things like being polite, saying please and thank you, and those things, it’s also important that we learn about morality, that we learn about God and how to behave as godly people.

Brothers and sisters, we have to learn to do good. And earlier I asked that we could be read from Isaiah chapter 1 and in verse 17, where God is encouraging the Israelites to do just this. I’m going to be reading Isaiah chapter 1 and in verse 17, and it says this learn to do what is right. Your translation might say, learn to do what is good, promote justice, give the oppressed reason to celebrate, take up the cause of the orphan, defend the rights of the widow. Isaiah is asking the people to reject their worldly ways and go back to the ways of God. In effect, God is telling them that they need to learn how to be godly people. But he’s asking them to follow God.

And the interesting thing is that he’s calling them to learn this.

It has something to be something that has to be learned, that has to be practiced. And this means something. Being good and being a good person doesn’t always necessarily come naturally. Doing good is something that must be learned. And if we want to do good, then we must learn it and we must teach it. If we want to be good people, and if we expect our children, then the future generations that will come after us to be good, then brothers and sisters, this is something that has to be taught. This is something that has to be practiced day after day. But what is good, right? So when we say, oh, you’re good or it’s all good, what do we mean by that? Well, there’s several definitions of what good is.

Here’s the boring definition from the dictionary. Something around something to the effect of this behavior that is morally justifiable, behavior that is right. But that can be kind of subjective, right? Because you’re good and my good and what’s right, it’s different from different kinds of people. So from a biblical perspective, I prefer this definition of what good is. And Jesus Himself says that only the Lord is good. And so I would say that a better definition of what goodness is this characteristics which favor attribution of God Himself. Or better yet, goodness is that which resembles God. When something is good, it resembles the Lord, brothers and sisters. When we are good, we are simply being mirrors which shine the light of Jesus Christ in this world.

That is what goodness is.

What did the Lord say after he created everything? The Lord said it was very good. Why? Because the creation of God shined and exemplified the glory of the one who made it all. Nature is good because it reflects God’s mighty power and his glory. And when we do good, we are simply shining God’s light to other people as well. Doing good is being like God. Psalm 145, and in verse 9, it says this. The Lord is good to all and has compassion and all he has made. Being kind and goodness is a quality to have, it’s a good quality to have, because that was first found in the Lord. And so here’s the thing because goodness, being good, and learning to do good are all ultimately this.

It’s ultimately a call to be more like God. Goodness is a quality that we as human beings should strive to have. Goodness is a quality that we need to have because it was first found in Jesus Christ, who gave the ultimate expression of goodness by dying on the cross for his creation. And this means loving others, doing what is right, and avoiding evil. Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 and in verse 48 said these words.

Goodness is also having the right heart and attitude when we do such things. For Scripture itself says, for the mouth speaks from what fills the heart in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 34. Oftentimes our actions and our words are simply a reflection of what is inside here. And what we must have inside our hearts each and every day is goodness of the Lord. It’s about being kind, it’s about being compassionate, and it’s also about being forgiving. And look, goodness is not always going to be easy. We live in a selfish world, and sometimes that selfishness can infect us. And so it’s hard to be selfless, because as I said, goodness is simply reflecting God. But it is always worth it, brothers and sisters. Goodness can bring joy to our lives and to the lives of those around us.

1. Practice Doing the Right Thing

So here’s three steps that I think we can be taking to learn to do good, to be more good people, the way that the Bible defines good, not that the world, because again, being good is being like God. And so goodness is something that needs to be practiced. And so the first thing that I want us to see is we need to practice doing the right thing. Perhaps another way of saying it is that we need to do hard things sometimes. Things which oftentimes don’t always come naturally to us. Throughout the Bible, people did good even when it was difficult for them. Moses, he led the Israelites out of Egypt, even though it meant facing Pharaoh’s wrath and leaving behind earthly luxuries. You think about Moses’ life, and he could have been a prince in Egypt for all of his life.

But he left that all behind to follow God. I think about Daniel. And Daniel, he refuses to bow down to the king’s statue, even though it meant being thrown into the lion’s den. He could have bowed down and saved himself. Who knows? He may have even been promoted in some way. But he chose to stand up for what he believed in, even though it meant facing death. I think of Jesus. And what is Christ do? He washed the feet of his disciples, even though his apostles were his servants. And while he could have had his feet washed, Jesus chose to wash theirs so they would understand and learn that humility and doing good is required of all, even of their master.

But one thing that is so fascinating is after Jesus washes his apostles’ feet, we never again hear about them arguing about who is great. Because they understood if you wish to be great in the kingdom of God, you must first be a servant. Why? Because God himself came to this earth to serve others first. In each of these stories that I just told you of Moses, of Daniel, and of Christ, we see people who make difficult decisions to do good.

It must not become something that is a burden to us. And Paul, and in Galatians chapter 6 and in verse 9, Paul in Galatians chapter 6 and in verse 9, he says this so we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith. We should not grow weary of doing what is right. It may be difficult at times, but it’s important to continue to do it. We should also make it a priority to do good with our church family. To do good with our brothers and our sisters next to us.

And why is that? Why is it? Now, sometimes people when we say this, we think that that means that we only help people in the church and we don’t help anyone else. And that’s not the point. The point is this. How can the world expect us to love others if we do not even love our own Christian family? How can the world know who we are this way by loving one another? And so, how can we learn and practice doing good then? Well, well, doing good oftentimes, this is one thing that I talked about with the young people, is sometimes doing good is going to require us to sacrifice our own comfort, our own conveniences, and sometimes getting out of that comfort zone that we like to be in.

It’s going to require effort. Sometimes it’s going to require determination to do things even when we don’t want to.

I think of what Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 3, and if you’d like to read, read along with me, 1 Peter chapter 3 and in verse 13. This is what Peter tells us and encourages us. 1 Peter chapter 3 and in verse 13, Peter says this, for who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is good? But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken. But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and with respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.

For it is better to suffer for doing good if God’s wills it than for doing evil.

Let us fear the one and serve the one who has the power to save our souls.

And remember, we don’t do it for our own glory, but we do it for the sake of God and his glory. And so, here, what are some things that we can be doing? Well, if a friend or co-worker asks us, asks us a question about our faith, or why we do things a little bit differently than others. We should be ready to give an answer. And so, in order to be ready to give an answer, brothers and sisters, I would encourage all of us to dedicate some time out of our schedule to study God’s word. So that when we are asked these difficult questions, we have an answer. Or maybe you need a little bit of help and guiding you in that way. Please turn to the wisdom of your elders and to your preachers and to your deacons.

I am sure that they would be more than happy to help you in that way. Or maybe you set some time with some brothers and our and sisters to get together to study God’s word. We need to do things that often can be difficult for us. Because look, I understand that practicing doing the right thing can be difficult and it can be discouraging. There’s a phrase that I like, and it’s called this small beginnings, great works. The things that we do that seem small, if we’re consistent with them, can lead to greater and greater things. So we need to continue to do good even when it’s difficult. We must stand up and do what’s right even when it’s not popular. So you young people, that might mean not participating in some of the things that are going on at school.

That might mean not going and hang out with your friends if they’re doing something that they ought not to be doing. That might mean standing up respectfully, of course, the things that are being taught at school that are ungodly. And adults, that might mean standing up for God in your future jobs. That might mean you telling your boss, I’m not going to participate in that because that’s go that goes against my Christian faith. And those are small things.

But if we do these small things consistently, they can help train us. They can help mold us, they can change us, they can help us become more like God in the sense that we are becoming and reflecting his righteousness. Be that example to other people. And so I would encourage you, please find someone that you can confide in. Please find a mentor or somebody here. I’m sure all your elders would be more than happy to be able to speak with you and to help you in that way. Another difficult thing that we need to be practicing that is also very hard is to forgive someone that has wronged us. Forgiving is a hard thing.

To forgive someone because we have no idea, brothers and sisters, how guilty that person must feel. That person might feel because of what they have done to us. And the thing that they might want more than anything else in this world is to hear these words from you. I forgive you. But that is hard. And so it is something that we must be practicing as much as is possible. That it becomes second nature to us to forgive others. Forgiveness is not always easy. And yes, I understand this may take time. This might take some effort on your part, but it is always worth it. And look, when you forgive someone who is wrong, you’re not necessarily saying that what they did was okay. But you’re no longer going to let that resentment come in between the two of you.

I think about in Philippians 4, and there seems to have been these two sisters in Christ’s name, Euodia and Syntichy, and they have this disagreement, and we don’t know what the disagreement is. Paul doesn’t tell us, but he tells, he says this, they need to be agreeing in the Lord. Whatever they had in between them came second to serving God. And let’s remember and let’s have that mindset that whatever’s going on, we are serving God first. Forgiveness is a powerful tool of healing. And so practice doing some of these things. It may not be easy, but brothers and sisters, it is always worth it. And if we do, and if we practice doing the right thing, if we do hard things, as I talked to the kids this morning in Bible class, something amazing will happen.

2. We Need to Be Encouraging Others

I can guarantee you that if you are being an example, there’s other people that are going to want to join. And so what I would say about this is step two is that we need to be encouraging others. Doing good is contagious. Doing good is contagious. One act of goodness can lead to others. When Jesus healed the blind man in John chapter 9, what did the blind man do? He went and told other people about the greatness of Jesus Christ. The early church, what were they doing? They were sharing their possessions with one another. And it says that no one was in need. The Good Samaritan, what did he do? He healed the injured man, even though they were from a different nationality. Romans chapter 12 and in verse 21 says this.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Brothers and sisters. When we do good, when we turn the other cheek, we show the world this, that there is no greater power than that of love and of forgiveness. And people will want to be free from the darkness that surrounds them. People will want to be a part of it. When people see our light.

A church like this one where love is the norm, not the exception, and so we need to be encouraging others to come. They want to be part of something that will set them free. And so I would encourage you to do small acts of kindness. And those small things can lead to greater things. Even something so small as holding the door open for someone. That’s a small thing. But it is a good thing. Writing a card for someone, that doesn’t seem like that much. That card might have meant so much to that person in that time. I know for a fact that there are people who have had cards sent to them by the church, and they keep those cards for years and years and years because of how much it meant to them in that in that hard time.

Calling someone and asking them how they’re doing. That might not seem like a lot, but it matters so much. Even going up to someone that you don’t know very well and just saying, hey, how can I pray for you? Or just talking to them a little bit. That can mean so much. It can be so encouraging. And in the Bible, we see many examples of people who did good and inspired others. Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies and to do good to those who hated them. We’re also called to help others. Help our neighbors. Get to know our neighbors. And I mean actual neighbors, people who live next door to us. Our neighbors should know who we are. Our neighbors should know that we care about them.

That if there’s anything in need, that we’re always there for them. That people know that Christians care. We need to be a light in the world wherever we go. Smile at someone who’s having a bad day. Be that person who know you know that that brother or sister is having a hard time. Be that person that doesn’t wait for someone else to solve that problem, but you be that person to call them. Maybe invite for someone, maybe you don’t know someone very well at church. Be the person that invites them over to your house for lunch or for dinner. Get to know them. And one other thing that you can be doing is inviting others to come and be part of your church family. I know that you guys have invitation cards that you like to hand out to people.

And so here’s my challenge when it comes to that. Keep at least five cards in your wallet at all times. And make it a goal, right? This doesn’t have to be a hard rule, but make it a goal that you’re going to try to invite at least one person a week by giving them a card to church. And it’s very easy, right? Just give them a card. And make that a goal of yours. So that averages about one person a week per month. And just make that a goal. It’s okay if you don’t get to do it once or twice a week, but make that a goal that you want to do to be inviting others to church. And also invite people to participate. Maybe there’s something that you want to do at church.

Maybe you want to go and visit some brethren, maybe some people that haven’t been able to come. Invite a brother along and join. Maybe one thing that you want to do is you want to teach a Bible class. Maybe get one of the young men to join in on the class and be a mentor to that person. There’s so much that we can do together and we can do on our own. And that’s one of the great blessings that God has given us. He’s given us this gift of the church so that we do not have to do all these things by ourselves, but we have this amazing church family. And so, as much as it is possible, let us encourage others as well. Let us make church family the best it can be by encouraging one another.

And let us be shining our lights wherever we can. And even in our workplaces, whenever you have a coworker who hasn’t doing very well or is having some issues or a friend at school, just tell them, hey, I’ll be praying for you. Just leave it at that. Good things come when we encourage people.

3. Doing Good Requires Patience

Sometimes people respond immediately. Sometimes there’s a change of heart right overnight, but not always. And sometimes these things are going to take time. And so look, we also need to be patient as well. Doing good requires patience. And I think of Jesus and his apostles, and Jesus needed to have a lot of patience with them. What we often need to do is simply be that person to plant a seed and to keep watering and wait and see what will sprout. Doing good isn’t always going to make us popular. In fact, it may lead to us being persecuted. But Jesus tells us not to be discouraged by this. Matthew 5 and verse 11 says this blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kind of evil things about you falsely on account of me.

Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven. For they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way. And I know that this is difficult at times, but always have the end goal in mind that I want to get to heaven, and I want to bring as many people along with me as possible. And remember this that as you are being patient, we should be working, and we’re participating in God’s work. God is using us to reflect his character in this world. Now, when we help someone, we may not always see the immediate results. In fact, sometimes we study with someone, and we’re not the person that can ultimately brings them to Christ. It might be someone else, but we’re the ones that are planting that seed.

What we need to be doing in the meantime is working. We’re trying to help bring others to Jesus Christ. And these things take patience. And so here’s one thing, and this is one of the most important things that we need to be doing. Because in many ways we’re an impatient society, is always pray to God to give us patience. Give us patience with ourselves. Give us sympathy and mercy with our own selves. Because sometimes we get frustrated that we don’t know as much, that we that we’re not where we want to be. But please pray to God for patience, that He is slowly transforming us. And so sometimes that’s going to be just helping someone out. Maybe it’s helping your neighbor out with yard work. Maybe it’s studying to offering to study with someone.

And sometimes those studies with those people might take years before that person comes to Christ.

Conclusion

Maybe that means someone visiting someone who’s sick or elderly. Maybe it’s just going up to someone and talking to them. And just that quiet person that doesn’t really talk to a lot of people. Maybe that just might be, hey, how are you? I hope you’re having a good day. And just leaving it at that and being patient that maybe one day that person will open up to you. Every time we do good and we do these small things, and we just have patience, and that we’re just working in God’s kingdom, we’re reflecting God’s character and his work in our lives. Let us be patient, brothers and sisters. And so here’s my challenge for us this week. Let’s practice doing good things. Let us always be encouraging others.

And let us be patient. Let us commit to doing the work and to keep doing it. Maybe for you, that might be finding someone here in the church, uh, some something here in the church that you’re passionate about and getting involved. If you don’t know what to do, please reach out to the elders and the deacons and the preachers, and I’m sure that they will be happy to guide you in the right direction. The important thing is to start that work, to start doing and participating, no matter how difficult it may be. Remember this learning good is an ongoing process. It’s going to take time, but it is a journey that is well worth taking. Young people, I promise you this. If you start dedicating your time now into the things of God, I promise you that when you look back at yourself a year from now, you will just see how you’ve grown.

And that goes for everyone here. The best time to follow Christ, the best time to learn to do good is right here and right now. And I challenge you to see just how how amazing of a transformation God will do in your life, even in as simple as short of a time as a year. If we remain steadfast in his word, if we remain encouraging others, if we remain doing the work of God and reflecting God’s goodness in this earth. The important thing is to start now, no matter how long and how difficult that process may be. You must trust that process. But it is a journey that is well worth taking. When we as Christians do good, we’re not only making a difference in the world, but we’re also drawing closer to God.

And parents, if you have kids, please teach your kids how to do good. Be that example in your life. And kids, maybe you don’t have that example in your household. That’s fine. There’s plenty of people here who could encourage you in any way that you can. And let us remember this. There’s a lot of great things that we can be doing. There’s a lot of amazing accomplishments that we can have. But the greatest good, the greatest accomplishment that we can ever achieve is not how much we’ve earned, not how much time we worked in our jobs or whatever, but the greatest good that we can do, even if our names are ultimately forgotten, is to lead others to Jesus Christ. But we must first be the ones to take that step to become Christians.

And so here’s my offer and my invitation is to follow Christ, to be a servant of his.

Day to grow in you. Please help them remain on the path which leads to heaven. Please, Lord, keep them away from evil. Shield them from the snares of the devil. And Lord, please, as much as is possible, encourage us to encourage them. Help us to be examples to these young people. Help us to shine your light. And help us encourage them so that they may shine that light as well. We ask all these things in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen. And if we wish to learn to do good, then the first step that we must do is to become a Christian. And if you wish to do so, the opportunity is available now to hear that word of God, to believe it, to confess that Jesus is Christ, to repent of our sins, to have our sins washed away, and to live faithfully until the end so that we can be with the Lord forever and ever.

And that is my prayer for all of us, and especially to you young people. I cannot wait to see you all in heaven and celebrate with you for all eternity. What a great day that will be. Please come forward as we stand and as we sing.