Faith At Work Pt 2 Series

Video Illustration: Faith and Work!

Series: You work Matters!

Thesis: We were created to work! Yes, it’s true and it is part of God’s plan of creation! Work is a place God uses us as Christians to influence our fallen world. Work is a place where we make a difference for the Kingdom of Heaven. We are created to contribute to our society for the good. Work can even be a place where we worship The Lord.

Series Scripture Verse: Colossians 3:22-24: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Sermon: Faith at Work pt. 2

Thesis: We are created to contribute to our society for the good. Work can even be a place where we worship The Lord. The ultimate judge of a person’s character is their ability to exceed expectations with little recognition from others or when praise is not given especially at work. The Bible is filled with unsung heroes of the faith whose names may be obscure to us but to God they are His heroes of the faith.

Introduction:

I subscribe to a Magazine which highlights church leadership and for a while they were only focused on the large and the mega church news, the focus was on their leaders and their awesome programs. These pastors and leaders where praised and highlighted over and over. It actually frustrated me because when I wrote my thesis for my Master’s Degree I wrote a thesis about the importance of the small to medium size church in the Usa.

The truth is many of the servant leaders in the small/medium churches go unnoticed and even have a stigma placed on them for being too small to make a difference. But this is not the truth according to Scripture about these churches or their leaders. They too are making an eternal impact for the Kingdom of God in their communities.

I am reminded in Scripture over and over that Jesus always pushed the crowds away to focus on His twelve or even the 70. He was not focused on massing the crowds – He really pushed them away at various times.

The truth is most churches in the world are under a 100 people (70-86 on avg. according to studies in the USA and Canada) and in America around 80% of the Christians attend churches considered small to medium size churches. (Churches 0-300) (http://www.usachurches.org/church- sizes.htm).

These Godly leaders and Christians are not in the limelight – their names will go down in history as virtually unknown. They could be called the unsung heroes of the faith. But to the Lord they are important pieces of the puzzle to the growth of the Kingdom of God. These unsung heroes are a vital piece of the overall puzzle of the mission. These unsung heroes will be rewarded in Heaven for their faithfulness and their commitment to the Kingdom of God. These non popular – non headline makers – non church media stars names are however known in Heaven and that’s important to remember in our celebrity world of today.

I watched a commercial for Pizza Hut with the celebrity country singer “Blake Shelton” - Who said in essence and jokingly – It’s great pizza! “You can trust me and take my word for it because I am a celebrity.”

I want today to explore the unsung heroes of the faith, the non-celebrities, the obscure ones, the not well known crowd – Why? So we will learn valuable lessons from these humble lives. We will see that these individuals never made the headlines or had their names up in lights. These are the people who live their lives in the shadows of others as great helpers. They feel the pressure like the famous ones and they deal with responsibility like the stars do but they never get the attention or the pat on the back they deserve. These gifted people are blessed with God-given gifts called “helps” and other lack luster names.

The gift of “helps” is not very glamorous. So, what do you do for the Kingdom of God? I am a helper! Does not sound like a big wow – for some people it’s not a “I am impressed statement to make!”

But these unsung heroes accomplished on a daily basis the important tasks of the Kingdom all the while remaining virtually anonymous. These unsung heroes are most likely uncomfortable being in the lime light any way. These men and women do their jobs – use their God-given gifts to fulfill their divine destiny. They do it quietly and efficiently, they serve and give of themselves and I want you to know that God notices and takes notes. The truth is these are the people who make the world a better place and help thrust the Kingdom of God forward in its mission.