Good & Faithful Servants

Gtcotr/ss052007

We may never serve Christ in this life except we engage ourselves in service to others.

Colossians 1:10: The way you live will always honor and please the Lord while you will continually do good and kind things for others. (Paraphrased)

Key Scriptures: Ephesians 5 (New Living Translation)

1 ¶ Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

2 Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.

God is all about others.

In fact, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for others, even those others who were the worst sinners.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John contain the accounts of the life of Jesus. These stories show that He spent His earthly ministry on others and not for Himself.

We are told in Philippians 2 that Jesus chose the life of a servant.

Philippians 2

7 He made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant …

Whether teaching one person, the 12 disciples or whole multitudes of people, Jesus occupied the days of His earthly life with ministry to others.

If we wish to be more like Jesus perhaps we too must consider our willingness to serve and what we are doing with our opportunities.

Two accounts in the book of Matthew show Jesus spending quite a long time, sitting in one place teaching exhaustively on one central topic to a group of people.

In Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7 Jesus, very early in His ministry, taught a multitude on a hillside in Galilee. We have come to remember this as the Sermon on the Mount, the Mount of Beatitudes.

Later, at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, on the side of another famous hill, the Mount of Olives just outside the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, Jesus again teaches a long sermon a single topic. He begins in Matthew 24 and continues for two very long chapters.

In this sermon Jesus responds to a question about the end times.

Matthew 24: 3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (NKJV)

Jesus takes the following 94 verses to tell His disciples about the coming end of the world and what people must do to escape the deceptions of this age.

After His long discourse detailing:

* wars and rumors of wars

* false prophets

* mass deception

* the love of many waxing cold

* the gospel proclamation reaching around the world

* afflictions, sorrows, tribulations and woes

* false Christs

* deceptive signs, wonders and miracles

* He talks about the parable of the fig tree and

* the fact that only God knows the day and the hour

* but we are to be continually ready, serving the Lord

Matthew 24

44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

46 "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

Jesus continues in Chapter 25 with:

* the parable of the Ten Virgins – 5 wise & 5 foolish

* the parable of the talents & the difference between:

> v.23 “Well done, good and faithful servant”

> v.30 “Cast the unprofitable servant into …”

Then He concludes this sermon with a description of the final gathering in heaven.

Matthew 25 NKJV

31 ¶ "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

33 "And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36 ‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?

38 ‘When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?

39 ‘Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

40 "And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

These are the things righteous people do. In other words:

People who are right with God serve God by serving others.

We serve others because we love God and because we know our sacrifice and the demonstration of our love pleases and honors God.

Serving others is the fruit of a life right with God.

It is God’s will and purpose for our life that we:

* Make A Living

* Make A Life

* Make A Difference

Consider a lifestyle of service to God by committing to serve others with your time, your talents and your resources.

Make room in your life for others outside your self, your family and your circle of friends.

God is all about others.

We may never serve Christ in this life except we engage ourselves in service to others.

“Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better.” Colossians 1:10 (NLT)

Brother McGee’s altar call opportunity.

Happy Mother's Day

gtcotr/ss051407

Every daughter’s father is but some mother’s son.

We don’t get to life without a mother.

The one who brought you to life, is equipped to help you through life.

The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. (William Wallace)

(Perhaps other quotes from the last page of this sermon before our: …)

Key Scripture: Psalms 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. (KJV)

I. Judges 5:6 In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways.

A. In the days of Shamgar & Jael

1. Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad ...

> Judges 3:31 And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.

2. Jael, she went softly and drove a tent peg into Sisera’s head

> Judges 4:21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

Note: (Even though in those days there were mighty men and women of God … Judges 5:6 tells us that:)

B. The right ways were abandoned (good paths --- highways)

C. People walked a hard, dark and dangerous path (byways)

II. Judges 5:7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased …

A. Village Life Ceased?

1. No community

2. No family, friends or social life

3. Everyone afraid of everyone else

4. No common bond with others

B. Judges 5:7 The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.

Until … when it gets bad enough for mama to get up, something is going to change.

Conversely, when mothers do not arise, things often deteriorate.

What Happens When A Mother’s Job Goes Undone?

Proverbs 29:15 ¶ The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. (KJV)

III. Judges 5:8 They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?

A. On top of what we have already read:

1. v.6: People abandon the right way for the wrong way

2. v.7: Family, community & eventually society will cease to meaningfully exist

B. When there are no mothers making their voice & demands heard:

3. v.8: People will choose new gods and stray from Jehovah God

4. v.8: Fussing, fighting and all out war comes into the house

5. v.8: People grow defenseless without a Mother’s protection, or perhaps without a mother to protect.

IV. Mothers We Need You … Arise … Take Your Place

Note: When God needs a job done, a child is born … however, God entrust these children to Mothers!

Remember, Mary gave her Firstborn & Moses’ Mother gave her son, but they raised them first!

Every man and woman is nothing more than some mother’s child.

Mothers, we need you to:

A. Teach us the straight ways of life

1. not to lie, cheat, steal, loose our tempers, be dishonest

2. to respect our elders and honor our parents

3. to keep our commitments and pay our just and honest debts

B. Build our family and give us community relationships

1. you have the grace for intimacy - for kononia - relationship

2. you have the pattern for family imprinted in your lives

C. Introduce us to the Living God

1. Don’t leave us to our own imaginations

2. Don’t leave us to fashion our own gods

D. Keep our homes free of fussing, fighting & all out war

1. make us a peaceful people

2. teach us the value in others

E. Arm us against our enemies

Teach us to both defend ourselves and conquer our enemies

Defense & Offense

> Ephesians 6:16-18

* The Shield of Faith

* The Sword of the Spirit

* The Spear of Prayer

Mothers Arise – Lets Pray For Mothers & Women To Be Mothers

Biological Mothers

Spiritual Mothers

Mothers who rise to the day

Make Mother’s Day a Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day Quotes

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. ~Oscar Wilde, 1895

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. ~Irish Proverb

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it. ~Haim Ginott

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese Proverb

A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother.

A mother understands what a child does not say.

One ounce of mother is worth a ton of priest. Spanish Proverb

God could not be everywhere so He made mothers. Jewish Proverb quoted by Rudyard Kipling

“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” George Washington

“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother” Abraham Lincoln

No one makes it to life without a mother. (rlh)

The one who brought you to life is equipped to help you through life. (rlh)

Every daughter’s father is but some mother’s son. (rlh)

Each time a child comes into this world, a mother is born. (rlh)

All Roads Lead To God

Gtcotr/ss050607

Key Scripture: 2 Peter 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Have you ever been lost? There are a lot of roads in this world and even some dead end streets. Every road leads somewhere so Even if you are lost you’re still headed somewhere.

Life, like taking a trip in a car, is not too complicated. Every road leads to a predictable destination and even if you’re lost you are still headed somewhere … somewhere you, or anyone else can predict with certainty just by the simply checking a roadmap.

Eternity, like life here on earth, is also predictable.

Have you ever heard the quote, “All roads lead to Rome”? It’s commonly known as the circular system. Imagine a hub with roads like spokes of a wheel all leading to and from the hub. No matter where you are on the outside circular, any road you choose to take will lead you straight to the hub.

God is the eternal hub of the universe and as such, no matter which road we choose to take leads us to Him.

All roads lead to God!

This week I came across some interesting facts while searching the CIA’s website. (Everyone has their hobbies …)

Lets look at some current World Facts together:

The CIA World Fact Book

Population: Languages:	6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.) Mandarin Chinese 13.69%, Spanish 5.05%, English 4.84%, Hindi 2.82%, Portuguese 2.77%, Bengali 2.68%, Russian 2.27%, Japanese 1.99%, Standard German 1.49%, Wu Chinese 1.21% (2004 est.) note: percents are for "first language" speakers only and therefore do not add to 100%
Age structure:	0-14 years: 27.4% (male 931,551,498/female 875,646,416) 15-64 years: 65.1% (male 2,174,605,518/female 2,124,494,703) 65 years and over: 7.5% (male 217,451,123/female 278,474,917) note: some countries do not maintain age structure information, thus a slight discrepancy exists between the total world population and the total for world age structure (2007 est.)
Median age:	Total: 28 years male: 27.4 years female: 28.7 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:	1.167% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:	20.09 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:	8.37 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio: Life expectancy at birth: Total fertility rate:	at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.064 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.781 male(s)/female total population: 1.014 male(s)/female total population: 65.82 years male: 63.89 years female: 67.84 years (2007 est.) 2.59 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Religions:	Christians 33.03% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.8%, Orthodox 3.42%, Anglicans 1.23%), Muslims 20.12%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.89%, Sikhs 0.39%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 12.61%, non-religious 12.03%, atheists 2.36% (2004 est.)
Updated:	Last update April 17, 2007

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/xx.html

A lot of information, A lot of people, A lot of roads in life

And yet I say all roads lead to God, even the atheism road which denies the existence of God.

Buddhist belief teaches Four Nobel Truths and an Eight Fold Pathway which leads to the end of all pain. Siddhartha Gautama was a man who lived in the 500’s BC in Nepal. In his mid thirties he claimed enlightenment as the result of his sufferings and became the Buddha.

The Hindu religion involves a caste system and a series of reincarnations in differing forms of life to practice and prove one’s worth in efforts to merge with the ultimate reality through works, knowledge and devotion to achieve nirvana and live a peaceful escape from the cycle of reincarnation.

Islam embraces Mohammad as the last and greatest messenger of God who received the Koran dictated to him and his disciples by the Angel Gabriel. Muslims believe in one God, Angels, Resurrection and Eternal Judgment, Prayer, Fasting, Giving and Jihad. Jihad is the sixth religious duty which requires one to give their life to defend or spread Islam. If a person dies in this manner, without respect to any other fact, they will be immediately escorted into Paradise and allowed to experience special sexual pleasures which are prohibited here on earth and in Paradise except to those who are martyred for Jihad. These special privileged martyrs are also blessed to bring other family members into this Paradise as well.

Judaism follows the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah, as law. Jews believe they have a covenant through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and are heirs to the land promised them by God. Heaven is their future by covenant and keeping of the Law. They await a coming Messiah which will set up His Kingdom and deliver them from all persecution and bondage forever.

Christians come in many forms and believe the Jesus is the Son of God. However, many who call themselves Christian embrace non-Christian doctrines such as: Dual Covenant Theology; The Brotherhood of Man; Ultimate Reconciliation; Universalism; and Mormonism, just to name a few.

With so many roads to God, which one is right?

The fact is, All roads lead to God.

Romans 14:10b For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (NKJV)

The question is not will everyone see God but rather what will God say when He sees you?

Everyone gets to God but what does God do with you when you get there?

All roads do lead to God but not all roads lead to heaven.

Every religion other than New Testament Christianity demands that one work to prove worth and earn a relationship with God to gain entry into heaven.

The Apostle Paul tells us that we do not earn but rather are given this relationship with God by grace through our faith.

Ephesians 2 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

We are saved by grace through faith so then where do works come in? Are works important? Much, in every way!

Revelation 20 NKJV

11 ¶ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Which Book of Life is this? … Well, glad you asked.

Revelation 21: 27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (NKJV)

The Lamb … Who is the Lamb?

Look into every religion you wish, there is but One Lamb, His Name Is Jesus! No one else even lays claim to Him as Lord and Savior except Believers in Jesus as Messiah and Christ.

What are His demands?

His demands are simple:

Believe in Him

Call upon His Name

Love His Father God more than you do yourself

Love others as much as you do yourself

If you will do these things, you will gain heaven and rewards throughout eternity.

How long have you heard and when will you believe that only the blood of the Lamb will save your soul.

Believe in Him and call upon His Name right now.

He will save, He will set free and He will secure your soul for all eternity