Our Love for God & Our Quality of Service

2001029

Subject: love; attitudes; appreciation for Jesus

Introduction:

A.     Live in society given to self satisfaction & instant gratification. 

1.      Society = full of sound byte attention spans; busy lives; and little time to stop & relax.

2.      lives divided between God/family/chores @ home/fun/TV/study/etc.

3.      40 hour week = a thing of the past – 50-60 work week now common.

4.      2 jobs now common just to pay the bills.

B.     Get home: want to relax; but can’t b/c stuff at home needs to be done.

C.    Easy to compartmentalize everything.

1.      easy to put relationship with God in little compartment & only pull him out as necessary.

2.      Natural result of this: giving God our leftovers.

D.    No greater problem facing the Lord’s church than Christians who are faced with giving God leftovers.

1.      reason why many congregations aren’t growing.  Some stagnant; others in a state of decline; decay; death.

2.      Greatest need for Christians in this church to awake; arise; strengthen the things that remain & increase our service to the King.

 

I.  Common ways we give God our leftovers:

A.     In our attendance:

1.      work; hobbies; sports; you name it; all wreak havoc on our attendance.

2.      PAST: people would stand up to employer.

a)     Certain times on Sunday/Wednesday; unavailable – b/c we were going to give some of our time back to God.

b)     NOW:  it would seem: attending bible classes; both worship services on Sunday; Wed PM BS; a low priority w/many.

3.      Seems to be a chronic problem w/some Christians.

4.      Must work on it – Mt. 6:33 – must understand that disrespect to God is shown when we fail to attend worship service when we can.

5.      Let us commit ourselves to be here regularly.

B.     In our time:

1.      Eph. 5:15-17: must not waste time.

a)     time = short.  Must use ALL the opportunities given to us.

b)     Are we giving some of our time to God by turning off the TV and engaging in BS; evangelism; prayer; fellowship?

2.      Evaluate our priorities – seem to always find time for:

a)     recreation; golf; fishing; hiking; etc.

b)     sleep

c)      work; vacation

d)     where does God factor in?

C.    In our Giving:

1.      Materialistic society.

a)     all of us to a certain degree could be charged w/materialism.

b)     Many things we own not necessary to sustain life.

2.      Easy to get caught up in obtaining things/paying for things so that we can’t afford to give back to God.

3.      God’s portion should/must come first!  Facts about our giving:

a)     2 Cor. 9:6 – give bountifully.

b)     2 Cor. 9:7 – as we purpose in our heart.

c)      2 Cor. 9:7 – cheerfully.

d)     1 Cor. 16:2 – regularly.

 

II.  Problems listed above are merely symptoms of a much greater problem!

A.          Learn something that you didn’t know in the first part of this lesson?  Something not heard before?

1.       We have harped at brethren in past for needed improvement in this area.  Been forward about the needs to improve here.

2.       Don’t want to sound harsh; mean; or put myself on a pedestal as a better Christian.

3.       Tire of lessons dwelling on points above.  Why?

a)     don’t want people to attend/work/give of time – so that preacher will quit harping on them.

b)     But want them present because they love the Lord and appreciate His sacrifice!

B.          Giving God our leftovers in the things mentioned above are all symptoms of a much greater problem: that is:

1.       a poor relationship with Almighty God.

2.       A lessened amount of love for Jesus

3.       a low appreciation for salvation from sin.

4.       a weak desire to go home to heaven.

C.          So today: instead of preaching the same ole same ole on better attendance; giving; and donating of our time – I want to spend the rest of our time together discussing the correlation between our relationship with God & the quality of our service.

 

III.  A Congregation that doesn’t want leftovers must work on helping Christians develop better relationships with Jesus Christ.

A.     Must work on changing our attitude. 

1.       Must serve God because I want to not because I feel that I have to!

2.       Romans obeyed from the heart! (Rom. 6:17)  So must we!

a)     Goes doesn’t want mind numbed robots serving Him – we have a choice!

b)     Either sin/devil or God/Jesus!

c)      God will not force us to serve Him – 2 Tim. 2:11-13

B.     I will want to serve God when I realize how much I need Him!

1.      Americans = independent.  “I can handle this myself;” I’m my own man”

a)     can’t do this w/receiving forgiveness from sin.  Salvation comes only from God – Eph. 2:8-9; Jhn. 3:16

2.      I need him for salvation – Jhn. 8:24; Acts 4:12.

3.      I need him to take away the burden of my sin – Mt. 11:28-30; 1 Jhn. 1:8-10; Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5

4.      I need him because the devil is real – and seeks to destroy us! 1 Pet. 5:8-9

5.      I need him because there are other faithful brethren serving Him who can help me as I go through life. 1 Cor. 12:26

6.      We are not to be a bunch of independents running around trying to handle our Christianity on our own – must develop a relationship with God & let Him help us bear the load!

C.    I will want to serve God when I realize the vileness of my sin & truly repent.

1.      Do we realize how sinful we are?  Maybe we gloss over the imperfections/bad habits – “I’m not really that bad…”

2.      sin = serious thing w/God!  We need to treat seriously as well!

a)     Psa 5:4-6; Prov. 3:32; 11:20; Lk. 16:15

b)     Pictured as pollution to the soul – Isa. 1:18; Psa. 51:7; Isa 44:22; Rev. 7:14

c)      Picture something repulsive – that is way sin b/f God!  We engage in repulsive behavior b/f God daily!

d)     Sin must become repulsive to us! Psa. 26:5; 101:3-4; 119:104; Prov. 29:27

3.      As we begin to realize seriousness of sin – we should draw closer to God – Js. 4:8-10

D.    My relationship with God will be improved when I take time to learn about Him!

1.      God gives us opportunity to get to know Him through His word.

a)     congregation have responsibility to present God’s word in clear, concise, way that makes His word practical/relevant to today’s Bible student!

b)     Christians have responsibility to attend those classes and to study on their own!

2.      2 Tim. 2:15

E.     Finally, my relationship with God will be improved when I learn to appreciate Christ’s sacrifice on my behalf.

1.      Jhn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8-10; 1 Jhn. 3:16;

2.      Eph. 1:6-8 – note: lavished on us!

3.      Just how much do I appreciate what Jesus did for me & am I willing to demonstrate that appreciation?

4.      He died to set me free!

 

 

Conclusion:

A.     As we work on improving our relationship with Christ:

1.      changing attitude for better:

2.      realize our utter dependence upon God

3.      realize the pollution that sin is to our soul

4.      turn to the pages of His word to know more about Him…

5.      better appreciate His sacrifice on my behalf…

B.     I will refuse to give God the leftovers.

1.      I will consistently give of my means.  Cheerfully; abundantly

2.      I will be faithful in attending ALL the services of the church; bible studies, etc.

3.      I will not complain when people ask me to volunteer my time to the work of the church.

C.    Clearly – the better relationship w/God – the better my service will be!

D.    How is your relationship w/God?  Need improvement?

1.      Not a Christian?  You don’t have a relationship with God presently!

2.      Obey Him today!

3.      Christian?  Giving God the leftovers?  Quit! Stop! Halt!

4.      Renew your relationship with God today!  Rededicate your life!

E.  I N V I T A T I O N