156 Sermon Illustrations on Priorities

Luxury items that can be bought for dogs. $150 coats, $500 minks. Reflects condition of owners' souls. Outrageous descriptions. Sub-title: "We gave them minks, but they've lost their souls."

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According to an August WASHINGTON POST profile, Maura Hall of Washington, D.C., has spent more than $25,000 (an amount which a United Nations food program says will feed 350 third-world children for a year) for a kidney transplant and post-operative care for “Lily,” her longhaired gray cat. (Among the post-op procedures: weekly, $200 blood tests for the rest of her life.) Hall said she encounters hostility from not only those who disagree with her priorities but also other pet owners who feel guilty that they can't afford such expensive care.

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Washington Post, 8/29/04

Britt Rognaldsen's one-month-old baby, Cara, was killed by her Rottweiler in 1983. Baby was dragged from bed and chewed to pieces. Britt's response: "I can always have another baby, but I can't replace my dog Byron." She was convicted (twice) of misdemeanor negligence, fined $2,000 and sentenced to a year in jail.

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Robert G. LeTourneau was a hugely successful engineer and corporate business man in the 30's, 40's and 50's. His life was recognized by all who knew him as the epitome of self-control. He was always on the lookout for ways to use his God-given time, talent, and treasure more efficiently and effectively.

He experienced how God could turn a spiritual failure into a success. On one specific occasion, LeTourneau decided to "reinvest" in his business a $5,000 commitment he had pledged to missionary work. As his business continued to prosper, he reasoned, he would be able to give even more to the Lord. "What foolish lengths man will let his pride drive him," he confessed later. His business immediately began to falter, and LeTourneau struggled for months to bring it back on an even keel. But more important than saving the business, LeTourneau viewed his experience as one more God-given resource he could put to use in his life. He renewed his annual pledge and met it along with all his company's other obligations. And, typical of his habit of using success to build more success, he began an annual increase in his giving that eventually led to giving 90 percent to the Lord's work while keeping 10 percent for himself.

LeTourneau's slogan became, "It's not how much of my money I give to God, but how much of His money I keep for myself." He described himself as an ordinary man that an extraordinary God chose to use in an extraordinary way. An essential part of that process was an ordinary understanding of biblical self-control, of setting aside those fickle, flighty human impulses for the more sure and steady progress of obedience to God.

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Another version from Rev. Shelton Cole:

R.G. LeTourneau, the Christian earth-moving machinery manufacturer who died in 1969, failed often in the earlier years of his career.

Ironically, though, he made $35,000 profit one year in the middle of the depression. Puffed up with pride, he withheld the payment of his $5,000 annual pledge to the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in order to reinvest it in the business and give the Lord an even greater share the following year when he anticipated a net profit of $100,000.

God was not mocked by LeTourneau’s withholding of his tithe from the storehouse. Within a year, his anticipated $100,000 profit was turned into a $100,000 loss, and brought the erring servant to his knees. It was a thoroughly chastened and repentant LeTourneau who by much courage and faith pledged not only $5,000 to his church for the year he skipped, but also the same amount for the following year — in the face of a $100,000 debt and no money for payroll. On top of that, his bookkeeper was ready to quit.

From that point on, LeTourneau’s fortune changed and within four years, he and his wife founded the LeTourneau Foundation comprised of 90 percent of the stocks of LeTourneau Corp., the earnings of which financed evangelical Christian work world-wide. At one time, this foundation was worth $40 million.

LeTourneau often said: “It is not how much money I give to God, but how much of God’s money I keep for myself.”

Tony and young friends considered breaking into a department store and switching all the price tags as a prank. Christians must do the same thing - change the values put on objects and people by the world.

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Actual version from Campolo:

One year, my best friend and I devised what we thought was a brilliant and creative plan for mischief. We decided to break into the basement of the local five-and-dime store. We did not plan to rob the place (Sunday School boys would never do that sort of thing); instead, we planned to do something that, as far as the owner of the store was concerned, would have been far worse. Our plan was to get into that five-and-dime store and change the price tags on things. We imagined what it would be like the next morning when people came into the store and discovered that radios were selling for a quarter and bobby pins were priced at five dollars each. With diabolical glee, we wondered what it would be like in that store when nobody could figure out what the prices of things really should be.

Sometimes I think that Satan has played the same kind of trick on all of us. Sometimes I think that he has broken into our lives and changed the price tags on things. Too often, under the influences of his malicious ploy, we treat what deserves to be treated with loving care as though it were of little worth. On the other hand, we find ourselves tempted to make great sacrifices for that which, in the long run of life, has no lasting value and delivers very little gratification. Sometimes I think that one of the worst consequences of being fallen creatures is our failure to understand what really is important in life.

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Tony Campolo, WHO SWITCHED THE PRICE TAGS?

Contributed by Jeff Strite, church of Christ at Logansport, Indiana

Turkish mom of two, divorced Hatice Anutkam, 37, sold a kidney to a man in England for $6,000. Five years' earnings for her. She feels it was worth it because she paid her debts and a year's rent, and bought a sofa, two rugs, a mirror and a dining room table. There have also been presents and toys for her two boys.

#778

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Variety of articles on the passages concerning weaker brothers and stumbling blocks. Liberty on non-essential issues is explored.

#903

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Sermon in 1 Corinthians series: 6:1-8 Focus is on Christians and lawsuits.

1. Lawsuits are important in American culture.

2. The Corinthians were tied down by lawsuits.

3. The case against lawsuits.

a. Pagan courts have this-world perspective.

b. Christians must have future-world perspective.

4. The case for lawsuits.

a. Old Testament practice.

b. Teaching of Jesus.

c. Life of Paul.

d. 1 Cor. 6 is limited to Christian-on-Christian lawsuits.

5. Difficult passage for modern Christians.

a. We don't want to be defrauded.

b. We are materialistic and this-world oriented.

6. Christian view of legal rights.

7. Lawsuits can't bring happiness.

8. Being on trial for being a Christian.

Failure is hard for us to accept.

One of the most prestigious universities in America is Harvard. Its graduates have a reputation for becoming world leaders. A few years back the class Senator Ted Kennedy was in, had a reunion. Many of the classmates wrote personal testimonials of how their lives had turned out.

One testimonial stood out from the others. This man said that he had succeeded in the eyes of the world. He had made a lot of money and wielded power in his industry. Yet he thought of himself as a failure. His marriage had broken up. He was estranged from his children, who didn't talk to him. Several of his kids had drug and money problems. This man had no friends.

His was a sobering story, but one that all of us can relate to to some extent.

Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.

1. Jumbled Priorities.

2. Can You Escape?

3. Wait for Instructions

a. "HE PRAYERFULLY WAITED FOR HIS FATHER'S INSTRUCTIONS"

b. But we do know that Jesus' prayerful waiting for God's instructions

freed Him from tyranny of the urgent. It gave Him a sense of

direction, set a steady pace, and enabled Him to do every task God

assigned.

4. Dependence Makes You Free.

a. Freedom from the tyranny of the urgent is found in the example and

promise of our Lord.

b. Many of us have experienced Christ's deliverance from the penalty of

sin. Are we letting Him free us from the tyranny of the urgent?

5. Evaluate.

a. A quiet time of meditation and prayer at the start of the day refocuses

our relationship with God.

b. In addition to your daily quiet time, set aside one hour a week for

spiritual inventory.

6. Continue the Effort. [1453 DS]

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With a bit of sanctified imagination, one man offers this dialogue to illustrate just how much is involved in releasing our all to God so we are free to serve others:

"I want this pearl. How much is it?"

"Well," the seller says, "it's very expensive."

"But, how much?" we ask.

"Well, a very large amount."

"Do you think I could buy it?"

"Oh, of course, everyone can buy it."

"But, didn't you say it was very expensive?"

"Yes."

"Well, how much is it?"

"Everything you have," says the seller.

We make up our minds. "All right, I'll buy it," we say.

"Well, what do you have?" he wants to know. "Let's write it down."

"Well, I have ten thousand dollars in the bank."

"Good--ten thousand dollars. What else?"

"That's all I have."

"Nothing more?"

"Well, I have a few dollars here in my pocket."

"How much?"

We start digging. "Well, let's see--thirty, forty, sixty, eighty, a hundred, a hundred twenty dollars."

"That's fine. What else do you have?"

"Well, nothing. That's all."

"Where do you live?" He's still probing.

"In my house. Yes, I have a house."

"The house, too, then." He writes that down.

"You mean I have to live in my camper?"

"You have a camper? That, too. What else?"

"I'll have to sleep in my car!"

"You have a car?"

"Two of them."

"Both become mine, both cars. What else?"

"Well, you already have my money, my house, my camper, my cars. What more do you want?"

"Are you alone in this world?"

"No, I have a wife and two children..."

"Oh, yes, your wife and children, too. What else?"

"I have nothing left! I am left alone now."

Suddenly the seller exclaims, "Oh, I almost forgot! You yourself, too! Everything becomes mine--wife, children, house, money, cars--and you too."

Then he goes on. "Now listen--I will allow you to use all these things for the time being. But don't forget that they are mine, just as you are. And whenever I need any of them you must give them up, because now I am the owner."

#1468

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Do you realize how few people really hear the inaudible? How few really see the invisible?

An Indian was walking in downtown New York City alongside a friend who was a resident of the city. Right in the center of Manhattan, the Indian seized his friend’s arm and whispered, “Wait. I hear a cricket.”

His friend said, “Come on! Cricket? Man, this is downtown New York.”

He persisted, “No, seriously, I really do.”

“It’s impossible!” was the response. “You can’t hear a cricket! Taxis going by. Horns honkin’. People screamin’ at each other. Brakes screeching. Both sides of the street filled with people. Cash registers clanging away. Subways roaring beneath us. You can’t possibly hear a cricket!”

The Indian insisted, “Wait a minute!” He led his friend along, slowly. They stopped, and the Indian walked down to the end of the block, went across the street, looked around, cocked his head to one side, but couldn’t find it. He went across another street, and there in a large cement planter where a tree was growing, he dug into the mulch and found the cricket. “See!” he yelled, as he held the insect high above his head.

His friend walked across the street, marveling, “How in the world could it be that you heard a cricket in the middle of downtown busy Manhattan?”

The Indian said, “Well, my ears are different from yours. It simply depends on what you’re listening to. Here, let me show you.” And he reached in his pocket and pulled out a handful of change -- a couple of quarters, three or four nickels, and some dimes and pennies. Then he said, “Now watch.” He held the coins waist high and dropped them to the sidewalk. Every head within a block turned around and looked in the direction of the Indian.

It all depends on what you’re listening for.

[see also Leadership, Winter 1983, p. 82 for exact same illustration by Tim Hansel in “When I Relax I Feel Guilty.”]

It was 99 degrees on a September day in San Antonio, when a 10-month-old baby girl was accidentally locked inside a parked car by her aunt. Frantically the mother and aunt ran around the auto in near hysteria, while a neighbor attempted to unlock the car with a clothes hanger. Soon the infant was turning purple and had foam on her mouth.

It had become a life-or-death situation when Fred Arriola, a wrecker driver, arrived on the scene. He grabbed a hammer and smashed the back window of the car to set her free.

Was he heralded a hero? He said, "The lady was mad at me because I broke the window. I just thought, What's more important - the baby or the window?"

Sometimes priorities get out of order, and a Fred Arriola reminds us what's important.

Police in Ontario, Canada, are on a campaign to ensure motorists wear their seatbelts. They stopped a car in Mississauga after seeing a child unrestrained in the back. The officer found the child couldn't be belted in because the seatbelt was already in use -- to secure a case of beer.

"It was like this guy cared more for his precious beer bottles getting smashed than he did for his son going through the windshield," an officer said.

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Mississauga News

[original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickId #6104]

Interview with Jimmy Johnson, head coach for the Dallas Cowboys. The most important thing in his life is the 3 championship rings he has earned in sports.

There are some key ingredients for NFL head coaches: #1: Jettison all influences and experiences that don’t have to do with winning. Johnson divorces his wife, Linda Kay, after taking the Cowboys job because they’d grown apart and because he didn’t want family stuff getting in the way of the biggest job of his life. “My nightmare is to sit at some three-hour dinner party between a couple of coaches’ wives, making small talk.” His ideal dinner: Heineken on ice, nachos, salsa. He doesn’t remember birthdays, not even his two sons’, and doesn’t do Christmas. But he’s stern about it. Don’t tell me how to live my life, his glare tells you, and I won’t tell you how to live yours.

“Look,” Johnson said, his eyes pointing lasers. “I’ve prepared my entire life - 48 years, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - for 16 Sundays. Everybody out there in the world judges whether I’m a successful human being based on how I do on those Sundays. If we lose, I’m a complete bum, a worthless human being. If we win, I’m a success. That’s the way this business is. I will not be a loser.”

Somebody mentions how bad Johnson must feel for Ricky Blake. Blake, a backup running back, was helping the team run out the clock on the last play of the game when in a freak accident he sheared a leg bone from a hip socket, possibly ending his career. Now the team probably would have to use a valuable roster move to bring Curvin Richards, a rookie, onto the roster, or risk putting him on waivers and exposing him to the league. But poor Ricky. Hard worker, great kid, really wanted to play in the NFL. “Well,” Johnson shot right back, and here came the truth, “as bad as it is for Ricky, all I’m thinking about is: Can I get Curvin through waivers without losing him? And how are we gonna beat Houston?” He saw the look of disbelief in his questioner’s eyes. A kid is on his way to the hospital, his career may be over, and this guy, his mentor, can’t spare a few minutes of melancholy for what might have been. “Hey, the crisis is not the issue. The issue is how you handle the crisis. Is feeling sorry for Ricky gonna help us win? No. And remember something: My whole life revolves around us winning.” Understood.

A word of advice on the importance of family relationships. It comes from a man who took his own life. Vince Foster, deputy presidential counsel to President Clinton, spoke to the 1993 graduating class of Arkansas University School of Law only six weeks before his death. His words now echo back to us from somewhere in eternity. This is a portion of what Mr. Foster said to several hundred young lawyers on that historic day:

Three weeks ago my wife, Lisa, and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, and it was here in Fayetteville (University of Arkansas) law school, where we celebrated our first. Like many in this audience, she began by putting me through law school, and for 22 years she always encouraged me to persevere and to aim higher. She has been my editor, my jury consultant and my best friend. I wish for each of you a Lisa.

A word about family. You have amply demonstrated that you are achievers willing to work hard, long hours and set aside your personal lives. But it reminds me of that observation that no one was ever heard to say on a death bed, "I wish I had spent more time at the office." Balance wisely your professional life and your family life. If you are fortunate to have children, your parents will warn you that your children will grow up and be gone before you know it. I can testify that it is true. God only allows us so many opportunities with our children to read a story, go fishing, play catch and say our prayers together. Try not to miss a one of them. The office can wait. It will still be there after your children are gone.

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From "Reflections by Vincent Foster and Law and His Life," The National Law Journal, New York: The New York Law Publishing Company, p. 31.

In his sermon “God Is an Important Person,” John Piper used a negative approach to help listeners see their need to honor God:

“I’ve been to church-growth seminars where God is not once mentioned. I’ve been to lectures and talks on pastoral issues where he is not so much as alluded to. I have read strategies for every kind of recovery under the sun where God is not there. I have talked to students in seminaries who tell me of manifold courses where God is peripheral at best. I have recently read mission statements of major evangelical organizations where God is not even mentioned.

“I admit freely that I’m on a crusade, and I have one message: God is an important person, and he does not like being taken for granted.”

In the winter of 1988, nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, an order led by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, were walking through the snow in the South Bronx in their saris and sandals to look for an abandoned building that they might convert into a homeless shelter. They came to 2 fire-gutted buildings on 148th Street and, finding a Madonna among the rubble thought that perhaps Providence itself had ordained the mission. New York City offered the abandoned buildings at one dollar each, and the Missionaries of Charity raised $500,000 for the reconstruction. For a year and a half, the nuns traveled from hearing room to hearing room, presenting the details of the project to city government officials. Finally, in the fall of 1989, the project won approval.

Providence, however, was no match for the law. After they had begun reconstruction, the nuns were informed that the building code required an elevator in every new or renovated multiple-story building. It would add $100,000 to the cost, and the law could not be waived even if an elevator didn't make sense. Mother Teresa and the nuns gave up. They didn't devote that much extra money to something that wouldn't really help the poor.

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Version in Rev. Brett Blair's "Illustrations by e-mail," September 26, 1999:

In the winter of 1988, nuns of the Missionaries of Charity were walking through the snow in the South Bronx in their Saris and sandals looking for an abandoned building that they might convert into a homeless shelter. Mother Teresa, the Nobel Prize winner and head of the order, had agreed on a plan with Mayor Ed Koch after visiting him in the hospital several years earlier. The nuns found two fire-gutted buildings on 148th Street, and the city of New York offered the buildings to the mission at one dollar each. The Missionaries of Charity set aside 500,000 for reconstruction. The plan was to create a facility that would provide temporary care for sixty-four homeless men. The buildings would provide a communal setting that included a dining room and kitchen on the first floor, a lounge on the second floor, and small dormitory rooms on the third and fourth floors. The members of the order, in addition to taking a vow of poverty, avoid the routine use of modern conveniences. As a result, the facility would have no dishwashers or other appliances, and laundry would be done by hand. For New York City, the proposed facility was a godsend. Then Mother Teresa's Missionaries of charity encountered the bureaucracy of New York City, For a year and a half, the nuns, wanting only to live lives of service, found themselves traveling from hearing room to hearing room, presenting the details of the project. In September 1989, the city finally approved the plan and the Missionaries of Charity began repairing the fire-damaged buildings.

Then, after almost two years, the nuns were told that according to New York's building code every new or renovated multistory building must have an elevator. The Missionaries of Charity explained that because of their beliefs they would never use the elevator, which would also add $100,000 to the cost of the project. The nuns were told that the law could not be waived even if the elevator would not be used.

Mother Teresa gave up. She did not want to devote that extra money to something that would not really help the poor. According to the representative, "The Sisters felt they could use the money much more usefully for soup and sandwiches." In a polite letter to the city expressing their regrets, the Missionaries of Charity noted that the episode "served to educate us about the law and its many complexities."

As Philip K. Howard observes, no one decided to spite Mother Teresa. It was just the law. Yet he argues that the story of the Missionaries of Charity in New York reflects how rules can replace thinking. The result? What Howard calls "the death of common sense."

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Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America, New York: Random House, 1994, 3-4. Adapted by James Emery White, Rethinking The Church, Baker Books, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997, 92-93.

[see also #3089]

#4107

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You’re busy. You’re very busy. You’re overbooked, overstressed, overburdened. You’re on a schedule that increasingly represent the baseline tempo of American life - a harried, Lucy Ricardo-in-the-candy-factory level of frenetic activity that’s impossible for anyone to sustain except in a state of mental and physical overload.

A series of recent studies purports to show exactly how bad it is: wage earners log an extra month on the job compared to 20 years ago (Harvard); half of all people would willingly receive less pay for more free time; working mothers juggle seven things at once, while men only juggle three.

Not everyone is convinced Americans are all THAT overloaded. Time expert Harry Balzer contends people just like to complain they’re overworked. His studies show people actually are working less and relaxing more. “The biggest difference is we THINK we’re working more and spending less time on leisure acclivities. But we’re not,” says Balzer, who works for the NPD Group, a consumer marketing research firm in Rosemont, Ill. “There’s only 24 hours to the day, and that hasn’t changed,” he says, though he notes that “once you reach working age, there are more things you HAVE to do that crowd out the things you WANT to do.” [used 8/25/96 ?]

One way the workload has increased: Men are spending more time cleaning the house - somehow without easing women’s load of chores. Apparently, says Balzer, “women have to clean up after men get done ‘cleaning up.’”

Free time

Another set of studies comparing the way Americans spend their time now to the way they spent it 30 years ago shows that, on average, people today have one more free hour a day. “The irony is that people say they have no time and then watch three to four hours of TV a day,” says Geoffrey Godbey, a Pennsylvania State University expert on leisure time. In other words, rushing home and putting dinner in the microwave while flipping the channel to “Friends” is not really an example of a frenetic lifestyle. [used 8/25/96]

Overload may in fact have as much to do with too many choices as with too little time. “We’re responding to the much richer set of challenges and options that are present now,” says Csikszentmihalyi. “We tend the think we have to read all the papers, watch all the news, take the kids to their games and fill up every moment. That’s not something you have to do. The mix of stimuli we’re exposed to is much broader and more insistent than before. If you let that run your life, you’re surely going to feel more pressed.” A more expensive lifestyle adds to our stress and anxiety by requiring long work hours to pay mortgages, etc.

Clutter

So does clutter, which is the most universally bemoaned side effect of modern life. Pam Young, a professional clutter-buster based in Vancouver, Wash., says, “If everywhere you look there’s a pile you have to sort through, it’s like having a red light go off in your head.” She has seen couples break up over conflicts about clutter. She has seen upstairs bedrooms stuffed as tight as rented storage units. “Think how you feel in a hotel room furnished only in the things you need, without any excess. You feel wonderfully stream-lined.”

How fast does clutter build? Young says the average person can clear out at least one large grocery sack of clutter weekly, in addition to what would normally be thrown out as garbage and recyclables. “If you haven’t removed any clutter from your house in a year, you’ve accumulated at least 52 grocery sacks per person.”

Many people have the mistaken notion that clutter overload is the result of too little storage space. Not true. Anyone who’s ever packed a suitcase knows that no matter how big the bag, you always end up struggling to close it. One unexpected benefit of living in a smaller house is that there’s less temptation to fill it with things you don’t need.

Information overload

Our problem is not seeking out information, but screening it out. Richard Saul Wurman says, “Pitch anything that doesn’t genuinely strike your interest. To wade through data you’re not interested in is a waste of time, because you aren’t going to remember it.”

Calling for a new paradigm in missions giving, Cal Guy said the evangelical church is at a crossroads in reaching the world for Christ.

"There has never been a time in the history of the world when reports of people saved and congregations established were as thick and furious and encouraging as they are now," said Guy, visiting professor of missions at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, at the Wake Forest, N.C., campus Jan. 31.

Christians must redouble their efforts to be about the Father's business at this critical juncture, Guy said, adding, "I have no right to simply enjoy God's grace without sharing it."

But, Guy said, "Our giving is not keeping up with our volunteering." Noting there are upwards of 3,000 candidates in the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board pipeline prepared to go around the world in the name of Christ, he stated: "Unless giving increases, they're not all going to be able to go."

He estimated that within the next five years there will be more missionaries from non-English speaking countries than from the United States. "These people seem to be more obedient than we are," he added.

Guy, who taught missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, 36 years, denied his statements were simply an insincere cheerleader's "rah-rah," noting, "God is at work in a brand new way."

Yet Guy said he is not confident evangelicals in the United States are up to the task. "I have such a fear that we will throw it away because we are going to keep on doing business as usual," said Guy, who many suggest has taught more missionaries than anyone else in Baptist life during his tenure at Southwestern.

Guy told the Southeastern audience while Southern Baptist foreign missions efforts are being guided by "the best leadership team" the Foreign Mission Board has ever had, a lack of commitment to missions giving within the church threatens to betray the current opportunity to reach the world for Christ.

"Slogans don't win the world; sacrifice does," Guy said, suggesting the church needs sacrificial giving, not catchy phrases. "We've had all the sloganeering we need; it's time to either put up or shut up.

Guy disputed the mind-set that says a church should give a maximum of 10 percent of its budget to missions, calling the assertion "garbage."

"I don't think there's a dime's worth of Bible truth in that at all," he continued. "The dollar that goes into the local church's collection plate does not belong to that church, those deacons or that pastor -- that's God's dollar."

For instance, he said he and his late wife, Terry, gave an amount equal to what the couple spent on their family's Christmas gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for foreign missions each year.

As pastor of a rural Texas church for 19 years, Guy said he led the church to give 45 to 55 percent of its budget to mission causes. Yet he added as the church grew bigger, it began to cut its missions offering. He scolded such decisions saying, "That's gone on all over Baptist life: The bigger we get, the more selfish we get."

Calling church family life centers "tax-exempt country clubs," Guy said in too many instances these recreation buildings simply provide a place for church members to play while "the world goes to hell."

Continuing to focus on what he sees as distractions from the church's purpose, Guy said, "We buy these expensive buses to take our old folks to Branson, Mo. -- that really wins the world, doesn't it?"

Salvation comes as an undeserved second chance, he said. God does not send anybody to hell; it is their choice, he added.

"It is powerless and compromised to fail to preach the biblical doctrine that man without Christ is lost and headed for hell," Guy said, noting a failure of the church to act would be "a betrayal of the lost."

There is a world ready to hear the gospel, Guy concluded, saying no one is exempt from the responsibility. "We dare not be the watchman who doesn't give the warning."

Copyright (c) 1996 Baptist Press

RNbp6205mrjB6205d626e

#3806

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Sermon in Ecclesiastes series. Taking hold of life. Eccl. 11:7-12:1

CARPE DIEM - SEIZE THE DAY

==========================

I. Seize the day.

II. Life is meant to be enjoyed.

A. Life is good.

B. Youth is good.

III. There are always limits.

A. Positive statements are harshly balanced with negative.

B. Judgment is coming.

C. We need a goal worth reaching.

IV. The priorities of the life that matters.

A. The test of eternity.

B. The test of humanity.

C. The test of conformity.

V. Know God now.

A. Positive approach to life must rest on something substantial.

B. Our greatest challenge in life is the right commitment.

C. Now is the best time.

There is a story of a little boy with a learning disability. He worked really hard to keep up with the others in his classroom, but because of his unique challenges, he kept falling behind. As a result, his backpack was crammed full with homework every night. There was no letup. He no longer could play outside with his friends after school. By the time he had made a swipe at all his school work, it was time for bed.

The parents consulted with the elementary school guidance counselor and decided that their son needed to be placed with a class of slower learners. It quickly became apparent that the right decision had been made. The third grader got his childhood back, complete with after-school play, positive self-esteem, and grades that matched the front end of the alphabet.

After several weeks of asking his dad if they could play together after dinner, he grew weary of the same response: "I'm sorry, buddy, I have a briefcase full of work I have to do." One day he simply said, "Well, Dad, can't they just put you in a slower class, too?"

Personalities of the Passion sermon series. Luke 10:38-42

WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS?

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I. What was your busiest day this week?

II. Martha was a commendable person.

III. Where Martha went wrong.

A. Her service became slavery.

B. Distraction soon mushroomed into worry.

1) Little urgent things can gain a life of their own.

2) Martha's worries exploded in a storm.

IV. Doesn't Jesus care?

A. Jesus appeared to be oblivious to her situation.

B. It is amazing how sin can skew our perspective.

V. Choosing the best.

A. What did Martha need to learn from her disastrous day?

B. Is contemplation superior to action?

C. Listening to Jesus does not always require contemplation.

VI. Learning the lessons.

A. Don't let the little things distract you.

B. Don't let worry fester and become a rage.

C. Choose what is best, every day and in every situation.

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The last to board the plane from Seattle to Dallas were a woman and three children. “Oh please don’t sit next to me,” I thought. “I’ve got so much work to do.” But a moment later an eleven-year-old girl and her nine-year- old brother were climbing over me while the woman and a four- year-old boy sat behind. Almost immediately the older children started bickering while the child behind intermittently kicked my seat. Every few minutes the boy would ask his sister, “Where are we now?” “Shut up!” she’d snap and a new round of squirming and whining would ensue.

“Kids have no concept of important work,” I thought, quietly resenting my predicament. Then in my mind a voice as clear as a song simply said, Love them. “These kids are brats, and I’ve got important work to do,” I countered to myself. My inner voice simply replied, Love them as if they were your children.

Having heard the “Where-are-we-now?” question repeatedly, I turned to the in-flight magazine map, in spite of my important work.

I explained our flight path, dividing it into quarter-hour flight increments and estimated when we would land in Dallas.

Soon they were telling me about their trip to Seattle to see their father who was in the hospital. As we talked they asked about flying, navigation, science and grown-ups’ views about life. The time passed quickly and my “important” work was left undone.

As we were preparing to land, I asked how their father was doing now. They grew quiet and the boy simply said, “He died.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, me too. But it’s my little brother I’m most worried about. He’s taking it real hard.”

I suddenly realized what we’d really been talking about was the most important work we ever face: living, loving and growing in spite of heartbreak. When we said good-bye in Dallas the boy shook my hand and thanked me for being his “airline teacher.” And I thanked him for being mine.

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By Dan S. Bagley from A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Barry Spilchuk

#4524

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Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day."

"How shall we do this?" shouted the angels.

"Keep them busy in the non-essentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husband to work 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day so they can afford their empty lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work. Over stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ.

"Fill the coffee table with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogues, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes. Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so the husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Ha! That will fragment those families quickly!

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted, and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead. Keep them busy, busy, busy!! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion.

"Go ahead, let them be involved in soul winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!"

It was quite a convention. And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and to rush here and there.

I guess the question is: Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge!

B-Being

U-Under

S-Satan's

Y-Yoke

Two people look up to a cloudy sky. One sees a threat of rain, the other a promise of rain.

When I was in South Africa a black pastor told me his church had a written order for public prayer for healing but they never used it. Why? 'Because white hands may have to be laid on black heads!'

Fear, pride or ignorance are behind the slogan 'We've not done it that way before!'

Although what happened in Antioch was outside Barnabas' experience, he was a big enough person to believe that God was doing a new thing. How often church leaders are bound by history - especially the history of their own group. God isn't allowed to step outside the structures and habits and orthodoxies of one's own church or denomination! Many of us are so threatened when God does something new we react according to the mindless adage 'If you don't understand it, condemn it or discourage it!'

The history of the church is beset with a litany of blinkered leaders committing the sin of unbelief. Small-minded people cannot believe that God is versatile enough to operate in ways beyond our experience and understanding. This is the kind of arrogant pride that has seen prophets killed, change resisted and renewal discouraged.

When the Spirit of God fell on seventy leaders (Numbers 11:25 ff.) and they began to 'shout like prophets' Joshua couldn't cope, and told Moses to stop them. Moses replied: 'I wish the Lord would give his Spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!' We can understand Joshua's fear of what is new and strange, but Moses had the larger view.

Today, as I type this, Psalm 78 is the lectionary psalm, where the Israelites are berated for sinning against God by believing his power was limited to their experience (Psalm 78:17-20).

When the Messiah came, and his opponents said 'Prophets do not come from Galilee' (John 7:52) they were expressing the same sort of blinkered unbelief.

When Savonarola in Florence, Jan Hus in Bohemia, the Englishmen Wycliffe and Tyndale, or Luther in Germany advocated reform in a decadent church, the powers-that-be persecuted them. When the Anabaptists preached doctrines commonly held today, thousands were burnt by Catholics or drowned by Protestants. Because Servetus had ideas John Calvin didn't agree with, he was executed by burning. When Wesley tried to 'reform the church and spread Scriptural holiness over the land' churches closed their doors to him, so he went into the market-places and countryside. When William Carey suggested that God wanted the gospel preached to the heathen he was told to 'Sit down. When God wants the heathen converted he'll do it without your help or mine!' When the Plymouth Brethren opposed formalism and spiritual deadness in the nineteenth century British churches and advocated a return to apostolic simplicity they were often criticized as untutored and ignorant. (But when Christian Brethren people have an experience of the Holy Spirit that is too 'charismatic' they too are sometimes persecuted). When some brave German Christians opposed Hitler, Father Alfred Delp, a Jesuit, Dietrich Bonhoeffer a Lutheran, and others were executed. Indeed, more Christians may have been tortured and slain in this century than any other. In many places it is dangerous to be a Christian - particularly a Christian who helps the poor.

A pastor in a church which believes baptism is essential for salvation quoted one of their sayings: 'Now abideth faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is baptism'! (For other groups substitute 'bishops', 'tongues', 'sacraments', 'Saturday sabbath', 'ecumenism', '1662 prayer book', 'Latin mass' or whatever). It must be interesting for the angels to look down on our planet to see thousands of different denominations, each one believing it has a monopoly on the truth, and that heaven is going to be populated only with people like them!

The body of Christ, Paul affirms, comprises people with different spiritual gifts, who serve the Lord in different ways, with different abilities, but who all affirm 'Jesus is Lord!' and in whose lives the Spirit's presence is shown (1 Corinthians 12:1-7).

Stanley Jones asked a missionary how they obtained such a lovely property, and was told: 'The man who owned it built such high and expensive walls he went bankrupt and had to sell the property.' Bankrupt building walls! Is that not a parable of our churches?

Discuss: (1) If your church were to become divided over some issue of doctrine or method, what might that issue be? (2) What are your church's 'distinctives'? What can you learn from what God has taught other churches?

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