God's Plan At Work

1. You’ve seen them… they’re plastered on cars all over the place.

“I Owe, I Owe, It’s off to work I go.”

“How can I soar with the eagles, when I work with turkeys all week?

“I’m so broke I can’t pay attention.”

They are the various attitudes and opinions about work!

And work is a very important chunk of our lives…

2. 97,760. That’s a big number.

a. Some might want to see that on their W-2 at year’s end.

b. Some might want to have that in their pocket right now!

c. But… 97,760… that’s an interesting number.

3. YOU SEE it’s not only interesting, it’s IMPORTANT. WHY?

a. Well, it’s the amount of hours the average person will spend at work during the course of their lifetime.

b. Yes… from age 18 to age 65, working just 40 hours a week, you’ll spend more than 1/3rd of your life at work!

c. BIG DEAL Ed… we have to work. It’s necessary & needful.

d. Sure it is. Through work, God supplies & provides…

4. NOW CHRISTIANS… Work is where it’s at! Where what’s at?

a. Work is the theater of God. His movie screen if you will.

b. AND Who’s the main attraction? Who’s the star? YOU!

c. Work is where the world watches…

d. Work is where the Christian is on display.

YOU SEE with all the stress & strains, all of the tensions & tests…

· As you face the deadlines and the demands…

· The world gets to see one of Jesus’ own in action!

· Why don’t you let that bother you… they think.

· Why do you work so hard… they wonder.

· OUR WORK IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO WITNESS…

· Yet it’s not what they see, it’s what HE SEES.

SO WHAT’S BEFORE US is a matter of our perspective…

· Is work a place of drudgery & pain?

· Or is it a place worship & devotion?

NOTE: Someone coined the phrase: MONDAY MOANING.

· Rather than getting up charged and ready to run off to work…

· Oh, man, I hate Mondays… Oh God please bring on Friday.

· I’m waiting for the weekend… I don’t like my job, I don’t like my work, I don’t like my boss, I don’t….

· Monday Moanings, Monday Miseries, Monday Madness

“OH ED… you’re out of touch man. I wish I had you’re job.”

· You work IN THE MINISTRY… You work with the angels, you’re in the Bible, you get to pray, everyday all day.

· No problems, No hassles, No stress, No nothing!

· I mean what DO YOU DO Ed?!!! What exactly is your job?

· I bet Monday’s you’re out golfing. Tuesdays Tennis. Wednesdays Bike Riding. Thursdays Video Games.

· That’s not true… I don’t ride bikes!

· 45 minutes of teaching… Man, you’ve got it made!

· You work for the LORD!

· You’re in the Sacred places and I’m in the Secular world…

· It’s hard being a Christian in the REAL WORLD…

Q: Did you know the Bible never makes that separation?

Col. 3.22-24 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Whatever we do… God is using us to draw people to His Son…

Everything you touch is sacred, set apart for the Master’s use!

John 12.32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

How is He lifted up at King Soopers, or at Compaq, or at the School, or at Raytheon, or on the Base at Buckley...? THROUGH YOU!

And so the Holy Spirit takes time this morning to exhort & encourage, to teach & train you in the workplace…

· After all, those are 97,760 of God’s hours He’s invested in you through your relationships at WORK.

I. (6.5-8) EMPLOYEES

1. (1) Obey your masters.

a. SO… you think you have it tough where you work?

b. Paul was addressing Christian Slaves.

c. Roman Empire then there were over 6 million slaves…

d. They were viewed as being less than human, as property.

e. They were treated horrifically, brutally, and often fatally.

AND Paul writes to these men & women who wholeheartedly committed themselves to Jesus Christ…

· Be OBEDIENT to your Masters. Do what they tell you to do.

THOUGHT: It’s really hard to imagine the atrocities under which they lived.

· They worked in unsafe, unhealthy, and unclean conditions.

· They were tasked with the hardest, cruelest work assignments.

· But still, as a follower of Jesus Christ… be obedient.