Investing Your Life

Sermon-7/25/04-Investing Your Life

Open your Bibles to Mt. 28

Hook: What will My Reward be?

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman. “You should be working rather than lying on the beach!”

The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”

“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer.

“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling.

The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!”

“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.

The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said.

“And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.

The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!”

Once again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”

The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I’m doing right now?”

(Source Hot Illustrations Published by Youth Specialties)

A lot of us are probably looking for a way we can reach that goal. An investment strategy that will help us reach the point where we can be like that fisherman, with out a care in the world. Well this morning we’re going to look at an investment strategy that isn’t just for today, it is an investment strategy for eternity.

Pray.

We all want to make good investments w/ our $. Want the money we have to grow & earn more $. I know some of you put a lot of thought into that. This morning we’re going to talk about how we can invest the most valuable asset that we have been given, our lives.

Chuck S. “Your life is like a coin, you can spend it anyway you want, but you can only spend it once, How are you spending this coin called life?”

We all have that choice, how to spend our lives.

-wisely or foolishly

-invest in things that will last

-waste on things that are temporary

What are you living for–living for the moment or eternity?

When X left the earth He left the disc. With the challenge to invest their lives wisely, invest them in things that would last, invest them in something that would live on long after they were gone. Other people.

Read Matt. 28:19-20

When X left His disc. They didn’t have to say, “wait Jesus, before you go, what does that mean, how do we make disciples?” They knew. He’d spent the last 3.5 years making disciples, pouring His life into them, investing His life in them.

One verb 3 parts to fulfilling it.

The Verb-Make Disciples

How do we do that 3 ways

1. Go-could be translated “as you are going”, the first step in the disciplemaking process is to be reaching out to those who are around us as we go through life.

2. Baptizing-To be baptized was to identify w/ the cause of X His person and work. This shows us the next step in disciplemaking process is the priority of building believers as they establish deep roots of understanding, resulting in an identity with the person and work of Christ in every area of life.

3. Teaching-Here, the emphasis is on obedience to all that Christ commanded. Equipping others to live for & serve X

Their mission now was to go and do the same pour themselves into others, teach those around them what X had taught them.

Doesn’t stop at salvation, making disciples is teaching others to be disciplemakers.