Go For The Gold! Series

Today is "Get In The Game" Sunday. Today we are launching our "Get In The Game" giving campaign. Our goal in this campaign is for each of us to prayerfully consider what God has to say to us about what we should give over the next four years to help our church pay off our debt on the construction of our Children’s Education building that we built about two years ago. Each of us needs to consider what God says to us about what our part ought to be and then commit to doing our part.

Since I believe it is God’s will for me to be a member of First Baptist Church; and because God’s will for First Baptist Church is to pay off our debt so we might move forward in making more room to reach more people; I know it is God’s will for me to "Get In The Game" and help pay off the debt over the next four years.

Make no mistake about it, God has a plan for each of our lives; and for those of us who are part of this church, that means that the welfare of the ministry of First Baptist Church is part of His will for our lives.

Each of us has a "race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). Each of us is called on by God to "Get In The Game." But how can I make sure that I am playing in "God’s Game?" How can I make sure I am living in such a way as to make sure that I am running the race that God has marked out for me?

George W. Truett defined true success as "Knowing God’s will and being in the center of it." That’s what I want us to deal with over the next few Sundays, as we prayerfully consider what God wants our part to be in helping our church become debt-free.

First of all, of course, we understand that the Bible tells us that God’s will for is people to come to know Him in personal relationship. That’s why Jesus came. That’s why Jesus died. That’s why Jesus was raised from the dead.

"(God) desires all men to be saved and to come

to the knowledge of the truth." - 1 Timothy 2:4 (NASB)

So if I am going to "Get In The Game" and make sure that I am walking in the will of God for my life, I need to make sure I have entered into a personal relationship with Him through trusting Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord.

Beyond that, I need to understand that God’s will is for people to come to know Him in personal relationship. Once I have been saved, I cannot become satisfied with just my knowing Christ. I must seek to make Him known to others.

"(God) wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned." - 1 Timothy 2:4 (The Message)

This is why our church has adopted as our mission statement:

"To know Christ and make Him known"

God calls upon His children to give our lives to the spread of the Good News, so that as many people as is possible might come to know Christ as their personal Savior.

(READ TEXT)

Notice how Jesus calls us to "Get In The Game." He calls us to be concerned with what God is concerned with: the spread of the Good News. He calls us to be involved in the spread of the Gospel and God work of calling a lost world unto Himself. As Rick Warren puts it: "God wants His lost children found!"

Like the shepherd in the parable of the parable of the lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14), we are called to never rest, to never be satisfied, but to be passionate about seeing as many people come to faith in Christ as we possibly can.

That is why First Baptist Church must always seek to grow. That is why we must always be praying, working, and planning for growth. God is in the people business, and we are called to participate in God’s business.

How about you? Have you "Got Game?" As we look to this passage over the next few weeks, we are going to consider four things that need to be true of God’s people if we are going to "Get In The Game" for God. We can know we’ve "Got Game" if we:

Go for the gold;

Aim for excellence;

Make the commitment; &

Expect God to work.

Let’s talk today about "going for the gold."

In verse 38, Jesus speaks about the fact that one day, every believer will give an account for the life we lived here below. On that day, some believers will stand before Him with their heads held high and some will stand before Him with their heads hung low.