(audience chattering) - First birthday. (audience chattering) - Your sauces are great. (audience chattering) - No, that's not right. - But they were good to me this week, so. - Yeah, but I have like, like, planes are in my head all the time. (audience chattering) - I like, I never really knew what else to, how else to fix it.
(audience chattering) No, no, no. We, everything within the BCC playlist is up for game. I try to have, obviously, easy transitions. I always try to have one that's like, kinda like a call to worship, which is the firm one, and then the second one, kinda related to the theme or topic.
But, it's kinda crazy, but most of the weeks, when I'm praying through the songs, I'll just put it on the Spotify playlist, and as I, after I pray, usually the song, or the next couple songs that come up, I'm like, this is it. (audience chattering) So, I feel like, I wanted to sing the second song, like, weeks ago.
- Okay. - It just came into my heart. And this one, like, just passed me. It's an oldie. (audience chattering) - Are you gonna do seven, or seven out of five? - Two. (audience laughing) - I'm gonna get some water. (audience chattering) - I've done it. (audience laughing) - I did it.
(audience laughing) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) - It's crazy how many people are here. (audience chattering) If you think about it, this is like, this is bigger than some churches. - It is. I think it's bigger than Cross Life.
- Oh, really? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They only have, like, a couple hundred? - Yeah, this is at least 200, I think. They have more. - It's like 250, 300? Both sides? - Yeah. It's crazy. (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (gentle music) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) - Hello, hello.
All right. Good evening, everybody. Let's take our seats and get ready for the beginning of our Bible study. Okay, please join with me in a word of prayer as we begin. Our God, we wanna take time to thank you in prayer and also worship you with song. We are so grateful, God, that you have, through every generation, proven yourself to be trustworthy and faithful.
And in our own lives, God, we know that you are working and you are guiding us. We pray, Father God, that you would help us to continue to go to you in faith, to be about your work, and continue, Lord God, to serve your great kingdom. We ask, God, that you would continue to grant to us strength and wisdom as we look at your word, discuss the book, and have our time of fellowship, and cause it to be fruitful to us, Lord.
And at this time, again, we want to lift up our voices, to sing your name and continue to lift you up. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. - Amen. (gentle music) Sing, my Jesus. ♪ My Jesus, I love thee ♪ ♪ I know thou art mine ♪ ♪ For thee all the follies of sin I resign ♪ ♪ My gracious Redeemer, my Savior, art thine ♪ ♪ If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now ♪ Sing, I love thee.
♪ I love thee because thou hast first loved me ♪ ♪ And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree ♪ ♪ I love thee for where my foes have hid ♪ ♪ If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now ♪ ♪ I love thee, my Jesus, 'tis now ♪ ♪ In mansions of glory and endless delight ♪ ♪ I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright ♪ ♪ I'll sing with a lettering crown on my brow ♪ ♪ If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now ♪ ♪ There is an endless song that echoes in my soul ♪ ♪ I hear the music of thee ♪ ♪ And though the storms may come, I am holding on ♪ ♪ I am holding on to the rock I leaned ♪ ♪ How can I keep from singing your praise ♪ ♪ How could I ever say enough ♪ ♪ How amazing is your love ♪ ♪ How can I keep from shouting your name ♪ ♪ I know I am loved by the King ♪ ♪ And it makes my heart wanna sing ♪ ♪ I will lift, I will lift my eyes ♪ ♪ In the darkness night ♪ ♪ For I know my Savior lives ♪ ♪ And I will walk with you, knowing you'll see me through ♪ ♪ Knowing you'll see me through ♪ ♪ And sing the songs you give ♪ ♪ How can I keep from singing your praise ♪ ♪ How could I ever say enough ♪ ♪ How amazing is your love ♪ ♪ How can I keep from shouting your name ♪ ♪ I know I am loved by the King ♪ ♪ And it makes my heart wanna sing ♪ ♪ Wanna sing ♪ ♪ See I can sing, I can sing in the troubled times ♪ ♪ And sing when I win ♪ ♪ I can sing when I lose my step ♪ ♪ And I fall down again ♪ ♪ I can sing 'cause you pick me up ♪ ♪ And sing 'cause you're there ♪ ♪ I can sing 'cause you hear my heart beat ♪ ♪ Call to you in prayer ♪ ♪ I can sing with my last breath ♪ ♪ Sing for I know that I'll sing with the angels ♪ ♪ With the angels and the saints around the throne ♪ ♪ How can I keep from singing your praise ♪ ♪ How could I ever say enough ♪ ♪ How amazing is your love ♪ ♪ How can I keep from shouting your name ♪ ♪ I know I am loved by the King ♪ ♪ And it makes my heart ♪ ♪ I know I am loved by the King ♪ ♪ And it makes my heart ♪ ♪ I am loved by the King ♪ ♪ And it makes my heart wanna sing ♪ - Father, we just thank you for this time of worship.
God, we just love you 'cause you loved us first. Even when we were yet still sinners, Lord, you demonstrated your love by dying on the cross for our sins and God, we wanna pray that your love will not only just fill our hearts, but that it would overflow out of our hearts for us to just be in your word, to share your word, to share the gospel with others, that we will continually be led to just abide in you, just trust in you, and really have your heart and attitude to reach not only unbelievers, but even evangelize and disciple within our own church.
So God, we pray that your love would just bring us to a point where we just can't help but to sing, to shout, to just worship and praise your name, all for your glory and really just to magnify your kingdom through your work in us, God. We thank you for your time and it's in Christ's name we pray, amen.
- All right, good evening again, everybody. So tonight is the last night to sign up for the Thanksgiving Outreach Dinner. So specifically, the Outreach Team is hosting, again, a dinner and a gospel presentation for family and friends. It's gonna be held at 6 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall, so please make sure to sign up if you are hoping to bring somebody to church this Saturday.
Another announcement is that on Saturday, November 23rd at 9 a.m., we're gonna be having an all-church cleaning day and we still need some extra helping hands, so please sign up for that. We still need about 30 more people so that we can get all the various places of the church covered.
And then I wanna make a highlight about the regional Thanksgiving dinner. Again, that's taking place Sunday, 11/24 at 5 p.m. If you have signed up, the confirmation and the assignment emails have gone out. So if you signed up but you didn't get one, please make sure to contact Justin ASAP so that we can get that sorted out for you.
And then for everybody who is a part of the family ministry, please note that there is a Christmas party that'll take place Saturday on the 7th, December 7th at 5 p.m. And it's gonna be a great time of fellowship, food, and performances, so please make sure that you sign up for that.
You aren't automatically signed up just because you're doing one of the performances. A lot of the home groups have been assigned to do something like a performance, so please make sure that you individually go ahead and sign up for that, okay? The final announcement that I have for you guys is the BBA season is going to be starting up soon.
And so for both the men's BBA and the women's BBA, sign-ups will go ahead and open up, and you can check that out here on the QR code on the app or the web. Please go ahead and check the schedule. And then something to note is that because of the intention of making this a fellowship and intentional activity, we are asking that those who are either in membership class or membership sign up.
Unfortunately, if you aren't a member or just checking out, this isn't something that we're opening up to everybody yet, okay? Alrighty, thanks, everyone. Please go into your discussion. We'll be back at eight for the teaching time. 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(laughs) (coughs) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) All right, well, if you're in the other rooms, if you could make your way over.
(faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) We'll give it just a minute more, so everyone can come over. (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) (faintly speaking) - All right.
I think it looks like most people have arrived, and so let me go ahead and pray for us to open us up this time. Father, we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for the discussion we were able to have, and Lord, as we listen and as we go back into our discussions afterwards, we pray, God, for hearts that are very moldable, God, ones that are ready to receive your word and to apply, it's out of our love for you to obey.
So thank you, God. Thank you for the opportunities that you give, the privilege it is to be your children. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay. Well, to start here, the master's plan for the church, you should have read this chapter, The Lord's Work, The Lord's Way, and I put out here some of the headings that were in this book, just as a reminder to you, you were able to kind of talk through some of that, perhaps, a vision for the future.
So when we're thinking about the Lord's work, we also have to remember it needs to be done the Lord's way, because many times we think we can just kind of have maybe a basic understanding of what the Lord's work is, and then we get to do it our way.
We get to call the shots as to what that looks like, and the scriptures are going to tell us what it's supposed to look like, or what it ought to look like. And so here, even when it comes to a vision for the future, you should have been reading about this thought of, well, it has to be God's vision, not our vision.
We don't get to dictate the terms of this, and we'll talk about that a little bit in today's covenant anyway. A sense of flexibility, because it's going to many times feel inconvenient, or perhaps when we want to do things our way, it's not going to happen the way that we would desire for it to happen, and so we need to be flexible.
There needs to be a commitment to thoroughness, a commitment to present service, an acceptance of opposition as a challenge. It's going to be difficult. A team spirit, that's where we're united in this. That's the way God would desire. And a sensitivity to the spirits leading in others. I'm just going to bring three quotes up.
The first one here is, "The work of the Lord "is never described in the Bible as being easy. "The words 'work' and 'labor' in verse 58 "carry the idea of working to the point of exhaustion. "Commentator G. Campbell Morgan said "that Paul had in mind the kind of toil "that has in it the red blood of sacrifice." That kind of toil that wears and weakens, by the way.
And so the idea of this quote is-- Yeah, that's my favorite one. The idea of this quote is that you work hard. You work hard, that this labor and toil is in fact supposed to be sweat work. It's supposed to be difficult. That our lives here is going to be filled with this.
"Secondly, anyone committed to the Lord's work "and motivated to reach others "will see many needs that haven't been met yet, "so he will plan how to meet them. "Such a person has a visionary perspective." So it's not just working hard, but it's working smart. Working smart. That is, you have a vision for this.
There needs to be a perspective. There needs to be something driving us forward because it's not just if you work hard, then great. There's a direction to all of this that God would want of us. Here's the third and final quote that I wanted to bring up. "We also have to be working to prove ourselves useful "in the present so that we're ready "when the opportunity presents itself.
"We need to prove ourselves worthy." And so the idea of this is that would work now. Whoa, that moved pretty quick there. Okay, so we'd work now. That if we aren't working now, then when the time comes for us to act, then we won't be ready at that moment.
And so those were three things that I wanted us to keep in mind even as we go into this covenant because I think they do have a lot in common. So covenant number nine is, "I commit to the best of my ability "to advance the kingdom of God "through sharing the gospel locally and globally." "I commit to the best of my ability "to advance the kingdom of God "through sharing the gospel locally and globally." And so we're nearing the end of the covenants here.
And this one, the words are very carefully crafted, I'm assuming here, to advance the kingdom of God. It talks about it not just locally, not just globally, but both. Why? Because that's God's heart. That's how God wants it. Right? So then we begin by asking this question of what is evangelism?
And what is evangelism? It's very simple, evangelion, to proclaim or to share good news. Very, very easy. And so many of us, most of us, ought to be able to define what evangelism is. But when you think about the heart, the simplicity of this heart, to proclaim or share good news, is if you think of any type of good news that you've had, there's a sporting event where your favorite team won, or you got engaged to be married, or you want to share about the news of your child that's going to be born, or something like that, then it's much easier to understand the emphasis on the heart of something like evangelism.
This was actually just a simple word. It's a broad term. And it's used to show when there's like an announcement given that overflows from the heart. It's proclamation of good news. And that's all it is. And so we're going to go through five different slides here, or five different points.
And I'm going to ask a question on each of these points. So the first question is, do you want to glorify God? And so you have to answer the question, do you want to glorify God? And if your answer to that is yes, then we would evangelize. We will evangelize.
If you want God to be glorified, then it has to be in the picture. But I want to ask you to think about this. If this is actually what we think, I want to glorify God, is that the best way to just kind of go about evangelism? Oh, I want to glorify God.
Or is that the best way even to live your life? That's my desire, and that's all that's needed. My desire to glorify God is enough. And I want to pose that perhaps it might not be enough unless we start asking this question, how would God be glorified? And the chapter that we read kind of talks about this a little bit.
The Lord's work, but it's the Lord's way. So we can't just say, I want to glorify God and dictate terms of what that means to glorify God. It has to be dictated by God himself. In other words, what in fact glorifies God? There are plenty of people in this world who desire to glorify God.
But is God glorified? How would he be glorified? That's the question each of us needs to ask ourselves. So if we want to glorify God, and we try to kind of dictate the terms of that, it's the same thing as, I've shared this example before, but it's kind of similar to me trying to give a gift to my wife that I say, well, I liked it.
I thought it was kind of a practical gift. It was a cool-looking gift. It was something that would be useful, something like that. But if I don't ask the question of what would my wife actually like, then whatever gift I might give, it could be from the depths of my heart.
It could be something that I genuinely think is a good thing to give. But I have to be thinking about her. And so where do we find an answer like this? Where do we find an answer to this question, how would God be glorified? It has to be found in God's Word.
It has to be found in God's Word. And it can't just be lifted from pieces of text. The whole of Scriptures is going to show us how God is glorified, what would actually bring Him glory. And so this actually brings us to the second question. Do you want to do God's will?
Not only do you want to glorify God, but do you want to do His will? Do you want to do what He desires? Then the answer is, then you will evangelize. And so we're going to do the same exercise here. I want to do God's will. If this is true to all of us, it's not enough until we ask the question of what is God's will.
That makes sense, right? Like if I say I want to do God's will, and then again I begin to dictate the terms of that, then that's not good. We need to be asking what does God actually desire? What does God actually want? And so we go to the Scriptures to begin to kind of look for things, right?
In 2 Peter 3, verse 8, we see, "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." And so hidden in this, right in the middle, it says what God wishes.
He does not wish for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. That is His desire. That is what He wants. And so start thinking about this in very practical terms. Like what do you think God wants for you in your life? What would God want for me in my life?
What would God want for Berean Community Church? What does He want for each and every individual here? And ask yourself that question. Do you think God's will has to do with just us becoming like a teacher, or an engineer, or furthering our careers, or something like that, right? And kind of broaden the scope of that a little bit.
Like why--ask yourself that question. Why would God be--like His will would be so unwrapped around like a career choice, for example? But many times, I think that's how we go about it, right? What is God's will for me in my life? Should I like date this person, or get married to this person, or should I go like for this job, or move here?
Where should I move to? What should I do with my free time? All of these kinds of things. Is that those individual islands, those individual places, is that going to be the thing that moves God's heart? And at the end of it, we would see that probably not, right?
Probably not. Why? Because we know that God has told us that this world is passing away. Intense heat. Elements will be destroyed. He says interesting things. I don't know exactly what it means, but He says there is no marriage in heaven, right? So I don't know what that means for me and Keziah.
But at the end of the day, we know that the things that are given here in this world, there's a purpose to it. So do you think God's will is going to be isolated to what job that I get? The scriptures tell us a broader scope of that, a broader picture of something like that, right?
Why would God's will have to be with me just finding the spouse, or for just having children, or limited to a world that He knows is going to be passing away, in other words? John Stott says that our God is a missionary God. That's His desire. That everything in scriptures is redemptive.
It's pointing forward to a fact. It's pointing forward to the end. It's pointing forward to the reality of Christ coming back, that the heavens and the earth will pass away. And so that brings us to our third one, which is this question, do you believe in what you preach?
Or do you believe in what you believe? If you do, then you will evangelize. So moving forward, 2 Corinthians 5, 6, it says, "Therefore, being always of good courage, "and knowing that while we are at home in the body, "we are absent from the Lord, "for we walk by faith, not by sight." That means that the dictation of terms is not going to be based upon me, just my fleshly desires, and these things that are going to be passing away.
And that's what tends to happen. Our eyes lock on things in this world. So it locks on things like career. It locks on things like family, and things that are happening just right in sight. Because these are the things that we see in the here and now. And so we become engrossed in these things.
We lose sleep because of these things. We sit there and we look for counsel. We look for places that God will actually begin to answer these questions for us. But we can't just say, with dictation of my own terms, like, "I want to glorify God. "I want to do God's will." We have to ask, "What is God's will?
"What does bring glory to God?" And so all of these things are more like vehicles that move us into a direction. So our spouse, our careers, the things that we do with our time, all of these things are going to be wrapped up in this, right? As Christians, we want to do what brings God glory.
And so we cannot get stuck on the things that are just by sight, because we are people who live by faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, "the conviction of things not seen, "for by it the men of old gained approval." So that's what our faith is.
It's the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things that aren't seen, that we know that what we see here in this world is passing away. So, for example, in 1 John 2:17, it says, "The world is passing away, and also its lusts, "but the one who does the will of God lives forever." What does that even mean?
Well, if we believe this, we believe that the world is passing away, then we cannot get engrossed in the things of this world anymore, because it makes no sense to. If we believe in what we believe, if we believe in what we're preaching, then we know our houses, our cars, and our very own bodies are going to waste away.
And so with something even as simple as like eating healthy, sleeping right, exercising, things like that, our bodies are going to die. And so we will keep it healthy inasmuch as it will what? Make us effective in this lifetime to God's purposes, right? And so if we get stuck on the things by sight, and we're not living by faith for the things yet unseen, then we're going to forget, and we're not going to be believing what we're preaching.
And so there goes our witness. "The world is passing away, and also its lusts." Revelation 21.1 furthers that, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, "for the first heaven and the first earth passed away." If you keep reading this, I was tempted to kind of put out more of this text, but this text goes on to show that everything rolls away like a scroll, you know?
It's like it's gone. Everything as we know it is gone. And so we will evangelize. If we believe in what we're preaching, if we understand what it is that's going to actually occur, then we are going to be an evangelizing people. Number four. Do you love people? Then you will evangelize.
If you love people, you will evangelize. Here's a longer one. Hebrews 12.25 says, "See to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking, "for if those did not escape when they refused him "who warned them on earth, "much less will we escape who turn away from him "who warns from heaven.
"And his voice shook the earth then, "but now he has promised, saying, "'Yet once more I will shake it, "'shake not only the earth but also the heaven.' "This expression, 'Yet once more,' "denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken "as of created things, "so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
"Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, "let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God "an acceptable service with reverence and awe, "for our God is a consuming fire." And so if this is what we believe, number one, that we want to glorify God, number two, we want a desire to do his will, number three, we believe in what we are preaching, then number four, this question of do we love people is going to be brought front and center.
Do you love people? If we know that all things are passing away, if we know that the end is coming, if we know that judgment is coming, and we care about people, then there is only one logical conclusion. We'll evangelize. We'll evangelize to our neighbors, our coworkers, our roommates, our family members.
We'll evangelize to every person that we care about. If we're not, the natural question is, do we actually love them? Or is it that we don't believe what we're preaching? There's something broken in this line of thinking if we're not evangelizing. Matthew 9:36, "Seeing the people," this is Jesus, "he felt compassion for them because they were distressed "and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
"Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, "but the workers are few. "Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest "to send out workers into his harvest." Look at what draws him to call people into the service. Look at what draws him to call people into evangelism. It's because he looked upon them and he felt compassion on them.
It was a love, love for people that actually drew him towards this. And so if we love people, we will evangelize. Just one more. Mark 10:21 says, "Looking at him, "Jesus felt a love for him." This is the rich young ruler. "And said to him, 'One thing you lack, "'go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, "'and you will have treasure in heaven.
"'Come, follow me.' "But at these words he was saddened, "and he went away grieving, "for he was one who owned much property." But look at what causes Jesus to evangelize here. To go and sell all that you have. Give to the poor. You will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me.
What draws him to that is his love for this man. So if we love people, then we will evangelize. All right, here's our last point, number five. Last question. Do you understand the purpose of the church on earth? Do you understand the purpose of the church on earth? I hope that with the reading of the book and going through these covenants, we know that church isn't just about, like, we come together, and then we have accountability sessions with each other, and we sing songs together, and listen to sermons together, and things like that, right?
That there is a mission given to us. If we understand the purpose of the church, then we will evangelize. In 1 Timothy 3, 14, it says, "I am writing these things to you, "hoping to come to you before long. "But in case I am delayed, "I write so that you will know "how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God." And look at how he says it.
"Which is the church of the living God?" He describes the church as being the pillar and support of the truth. So this is something that when we look at our covenant, that we're committing as individuals, but together, right? That we're united in front, in sharing the gospel locally and globally, wherever God has placed us, because that is what the church is.
And the church is the pillar and support of the truth. So we're very familiar. I know you knew we were gonna go through this passage today. But 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some were doubtful.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, "baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son "and the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.
"And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." So this is the mission that God has left us with. When Christ left, he said that this mission is there for you to go and make disciples of Christ. If we're not doing this, if we're not making disciples of Christ, if we're not collectively having that heart, if we're not individually being challenged, that we need to see whether our priorities are God's priorities, if our desires are God's desires, and if we actually want to bring glory to God.
Like, if we want God to be glorified, even when we think about what is it that produces great joy in heaven, what produces such great joy in the Father, when one is brought to faith, right? That's what brings such joy to the Father. That's what makes heaven rejoice. And so this mission is here, and this is an expiring contract.
This is it. Whatever amount of time that we have, this is the only time we are going to be able to evangelize like this. There will be no other time in eternity for this. And so we're supposed to be consumed with this idea of evangelism in the here and now.
We'll have plenty of time for everything else. We'll have plenty of time to go and travel and visit places, right? Like, some of that is so ridiculous because we try to find the most beautiful places that this world has to offer, and we know that the kingdom is going to be eternally more beautiful, eternally better, and we're going to be able to experience that.
That's like an eternity in this kind of new heaven and new earth. It's mind-boggling, isn't it? Like, each of us can spend like 1,000 years with each other and no time has gone by, you know? Like, we can do that. We can go on vacations together, I guess. Like, we have time for that.
We have time to enjoy and to fellowship and all of these things. This is expiring on us. This is why God has us here. This is what the church is for. Are we sitting there asking God to present his will to us? Are we saying with empty words, "God, we want you to be glorified," and yet we're pursuing our lives however way we desire, using our time in the ways that we feel like are permissible to us?
Romans 10, 12, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, "for the same Lord is Lord of all, "abounding in riches for all who call on him. "For whoever will call on the name of the Lord "will be saved. "How then," here are the questions, "how then will they call on him "in whom they have not believed?
"How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? "And how will they hear without a preacher? "How will they preach unless they are sent? "Just as it is written, "'How beautiful are the feet of those "'who bring good news of good things!' "However, they did not all heed the good news, "for Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed that report?' "So faith comes from hearing, "and hearing by the word of Christ." And we are the ones who go and take the word of Christ.
We cannot be pointing to other people. We cannot be pointing to missionaries and pastors. We have to be looking at ourselves. We have to be looking at each other. That God has called us to this. So I was going to put this idea of evangelism being a command, because it is.
But I didn't want us to leave today with this thought of evangelism being a simple duty. It is. It is our duty. It is a command from God. But this idea of proclamation of good news really caused me in the short 30 minutes that we have to not want to go down that path too much, because it's supposed to be a great privilege and joy.
We're proclaiming good news. It's supposed to be something that abounds from our hearts. We share the gospel. It's not just apologetics. It's not just trying to convince somebody of something. It's sharing of the God that we love. It's sharing the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. And this is a great challenge to each of us.
Okay. Let's see. Look at verse 17. "For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me." I think that's a really good way to think about this. "What then is my reward? That when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel." And so there's this thought that's being kind of seen here of voluntarily or stewardship.
Both are proper. And I want to remind us of the fact that it's voluntary. All right, to conclude here, there are some misconceptions about evangelizing. Again, as I just mentioned, some of us have a temptation to think it's for the missionaries and pastors and super Christians to do this work.
It is not. And that's why this is part of the covenant that every member signs on to. It is not, "I will try my best," or something like that. It is, "I commit to." Very, very big difference between the two. "I commit to evangelizing." You have signed your name next to such a thing if you are a member of this church.
Don't take that flippantly. It is a commitment you are making, and we are making one to another because we know this is right and true. This idea of, "I need to go on missions to do that," it's not true. "I need to be extroverted to do this," not true.
"I need to be fully trained to do this," it's not true. In 1 Corinthians 1:26, it says, "For consider your calling, brethren, "that there were not many wise according to the flesh, "not many mighty, not many noble, "but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, "God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, "and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen the things that are not, "so that He may nullify the things that are, "so that no man may boast before God.
"But by His doing," look at that. He's saying He will use us. "By His doing, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God "and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, "so that just as it is written, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'" "And when it came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, "proclaiming to you the testimony of God, for I determined to know nothing among you "except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
"I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, "and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, "but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, "so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." I hope that we're able to encourage each other with this covenant today as we go back into our discussion groups, that we're committing to the best of our ability to advance the kingdom of God through the sharing of the gospel locally and globally.
Be practical, encourage each other, make a habit of coming back the following week and asking, like kind of following up, even if it's real quick. I know we don't have that much time to go through all the material, but make a habit of kind of following up with each other.
And so going back to the master's plan, this idea of working hard, working smart, working now, I think has everything to do with evangelism. So the Lord's work is for us to go and share the gospel, is to build up the church, to make disciples of Christ, and it has to be done the Lord's way, not however we dictate the terms.
All right, so these are the passages, the quiet time, the devotions for this coming week. So I believe it gets kind of sent out to everybody, so if you want to take a picture of it, you can, or just wait for maybe your facilitator, your small group leader to send this to you.
And these are the discussion questions. So number one, if you were to answer the question, what is God's will for my life, how would you answer it? And please don't supply the answer that the teacher is looking for kind of thing. Actually try to answer what you think, how you have been living that out right now.
What have you been supplying as an answer to that? What is God's will for my life? What is it that we've been praying? When we pray, we're praying God's will. Whatever we think God's will is at least. So ask that question, answer that for one another. How would you answer it?
Why? And how does evangelism fit into your answer? If that is in fact the mission that he gave us, with the answer that we give, where does evangelism fit into that? Number two, what are some comfort zones that you have roped off in your life that prevents you from faithfully evangelizing?
So this is a place I think we could try to encourage each other. What are some places, let's reveal the places where we've kept hidden because we're afraid, you know? Like home, or work, or clubs, or old friends, or whatever. Whatever thing that we're a part of. I don't know, you can figure that out.
What exactly is it that might cause you to veer away from sharing the gospel with them? Number three, how do you continue to share the gospel to someone you have already shared the gospel to? Someone that you have shared the gospel to multiple times already. And so, share some ideas, tips, and encouragements.
Maybe even discouragements. Sometimes, your discouragement is my encouragement. You know what I'm talking about? When someone's sharing something hard they're going through, you're like, "I don't know why I'm so encouraged right now." So, use that to propel each other, okay? We'll use good things and bad things to propel each other.
So, especially in this thing of like, let's try not to do the hit and run type of gospel. If there are people that we've already shared the gospel with, let's persevere, and let's kind of encourage each other in those things. All right, let me close this in prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray, God, that you would help us to move.
God, to apply. Father, that your spirit would awaken and enliven within us a real desire to do your will, to live for your glory. God, teach us your heart. And Father, show us, remind us how much you loved us. That you are a missionary, God. And Father, that the time here is short.
That it might cause us to grow urgent, even in our love, for those that you've sent around us. Thank you, God. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.