Built In Jesus For Employment Series

Everyday all across the world people are working. In many ways work can be a fascinating responsibility. Now each of you here either has a job or is looking for a job. Even my son Kamden has a job. He has to clean his room and do all of his homework. And everyone would agree that work is essential to surviving in this crazy world.

Now there are some people who really enjoy every aspect of their job and there are even others that wish they never had to go back to the jobs that they have.

But when you examine work and look at all the intricacy that go in to work and employment you begin to see in some ways how complicated we have made working. And how some people find ways out of work.

Let me share with you all some of the fascinating things that studies have show us in recent year concerning work.

 Forty-three percent of men have changed employers at least once within the last five years.

 Sixty-one percent of Americans confess to having regularly lied to their bosses.

 Over a life span, the average American worker will spend 76,900 hours on the job.

 Fifty percent of Americans will procrastinated at work and do absolutely nothing about one full day in five.

 Absenteeism at work accounts for $10 billion a year in losses.

 On average, jobs in this country last only about 3.6 years.

 Fifty to 80 percent of Americans are in the wrong job.

In some degree those are some freighting statistics. In some ways it makes you wonder what people are doing really when they go to work.

It is even scary to think we have logged all those hours of work and some feel like we have nothing to show for it.

I know that there are many days I go home after being here in the office or busy going here and there and I feel, as the day comes to a close that I have done nothing. And on others days I feel like I have accomplish a lot.

But there is always on thing that a stand out to me is knowing that I have done something for the Lord. That even in a tangible way I have accomplish something even if to a degree it is only bring home a pay check to provide for my family and the needs of my family that I have praise God by the work I have done for the day.

And really that is why we work to accomplish something to provide for our family and give the glory to God.

Webster’s defines work like this: exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil, productive.

In many regards there are many different types of workers here in this room. But what kind of worker is our Lord. What productive and exertion does are Lord do? Let us see what masterpieces the Lord has done and our responsibility.

Open your Bibles with me this morning to Ephesians 2:10 as we continue our series looking at The Church.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (NIV)

Listen also to the Good News Translation of verse 10.

Ephesians 2:10 “God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.” (GN)

When we look at verse 10 of Ephesians 2 there are two defining things that stand out.

1. God’s Action 2. Our Reaction.

Let begin with what God Did!

1. God created a masterpiece anchored in Jesus Christ We are His Masterpiece. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (NIV) “God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus.” (GN)

• We are God’s Workmanship.

• The Greek word for workmanship is poiema and it is where we get our word for poem. It literally means—a beautiful hand tooled masterpiece.

When you read a well-written poem it can move you to tears and bring joy to your heart.

Because in examining a poem you soon discover no two poems are the same, each and every poem in the world is unique and different. And God has designed each and everyone of in His mold and His design and we are that Masterpiece.

For God is the master craftsman of our salvation.

Isaiah 29:16 “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?” (NIV)