INTRO.- ILL.- A reporter covering a coal-mine disaster wrote a story that began: “God looked at the grief today in this little West Virginia mining town, and He wept.” The city editor emailed back: “Forget the mine cave-in. Interview God.”
Obviously, getting to know God in a personal way should be our greatest priority in life. If we plan on spending eternity with Him then it seems like a good idea to get acquainted with Him now. And it may be later than we think.
ILL.- He played the French Horn at age 12. By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally with some of the top jazz musicians of the day. He became the first black musician to break the Hollywood color barrier as a composer. He’s best known as the composer of the score for The Color Purple.
But it hasn’t come easy. Quincy Jones has been married three times, survived two brain surgeries, and endured a complete emotional breakdown. Many years ago he faced surgery for an aneurysm that threatened to kill him. The doctors told him that his chances of recovery were 100 to 1. Miraculously, he survived.
Jones was asked, "What did you start doing differently after your operation?" Jones said, "The first thing I started doing was hugging a lot. When you get to be 50, you start dealing with the countdown, and you can deal with it in a positive or a negative way. I [see] this little life to be this great gift. You know that old cliché about your life passing in front of you? Well, it really does." —Ray Pritchard
I don’t know if Quincy Jones is a Christian or not, but hugging others isn’t a bad priority, that is, with the right motive. And certainly realizing how quickly life goes by is a good priority to have. We are, in a sense, here today and gone tomorrow. WE MUST HAVE OUR PRIORITIES RIGHT.
What are your priorities in life? And what are your priorities for any given day? What’s your first order of business besides getting out of bed and cleaning up your body? Coffee? Breakfast? Read the paper? TV news? Or pray and read scripture or a devotional book? (I would suggest reading Max Lucado’s GRACE FOR THE MOMENT devotional books.)
Here was the priority of Jesus for morning time.
Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” If Jesus needed to pray the first thing in the morning, what about us?
Whatever you do in life, PLEASE DO THIS:
I Cor. 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Matt. 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God..."
If you always seek first in life to glorify and honor God you won’t go very wrong in life.
PROP.- There are three basic priorities that I believe every Christian should have in life. Consider and remember them. 1- worship 2- work 3- witness
I. WORSHIP
Heb. 10:22 “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Heb. 10:25 “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
It should be obvious from scripture and common sense that we need to worship the Lord.
ILL.- A church suddenly stopped buying pencils from a certain office supply. The manager called the preacher to ask what the problem was. The preacher, "We ordered some pencils from you to be used in the pews for visitors to sign their visitors’ card." "Well," the manager said, "Didn’t you receive them from us?" The preacher replied, "Oh, yes, we received them all right, BUT YOU SENT US SOME PENCILS STAMPED WITH THE WORDS, ’PLAY GOLF NEXT SUNDAY’!"
The world calls to us all the time. The world calls us to worship it and we certainly don’t need to help it by advertising what it has to offer.
Worship of the living God MUST be a priority in our lives. God is our creator, sustainer and savior. WE OWE HIM BIG TIME. He deserves our attendance and attention. He deserves our best worship in church and outside the church.
ILL.- Some people are idol struck, meaning they get stuck on people. We see in the world of entertainment and sometimes we see it in the church. Rick Warren, for example, is a very popular preacher in CA. I suspect that some people go to his church for him, but if Rick Warren knew it he wouldn’t like it.
One time a lady said to me in church, “I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to you preach.” I think she got over it, however. We are here for the Lord and Him only!
ILL.- When Billy Sunday (former baseball player) was converted to Christ, a Christian man put his arm around his shoulder and said, "Billy, there are three simple rules I can give you, and if you hold to them, no one will ever write BACKSLIDER after your name. Take 15 minutes a day to listen to God talking to you. Take 15 minutes each day to talk to God. And take 15 minutes each day to talk to others about God."
Talking to God and letting Him talk to you is a matter of worship, which needs to happen at home and at church.
ILL.- William Gladstone once said, "Tell me what the young men of England are doing on Sunday and I will tell you what the future of England will be." I say, tell me what people are doing every day and every Sunday and I will tell what their future will be!
If daily worship is a part of our lives then Sunday worship will be a priority.
Heb. 12:28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”
II. WORK
ILL.- The boss said to Jones, "How long have you been working here?" Jones replied, "EVER SINCE I HEARD YOU COMING DOWN THE HALL."
Some people need motivation in order to work. It may be the boss keeping his eye on them, it may be money, it may be shelter, it may be children, etc. But everybody needs to work in some form. It’s a shame, however, that it takes a lot to get some people moving in that direction.
And I think God’s people should work hard. Many of us here today were raised by parents who knew about hard work.
Then on the other hand, I’ve seen people who worked hard at their jobs but when it came to the church it was a different matter. Someone said it this way: “The world is full of wiling people: some willing to work and the rest, willing to let them.”
Rom. 16:12 “Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.”
I Cor. 15:58 “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
He couldn’t speak before a crowd,
He couldn’t teach a class
But when he came to Sunday School
He brought the folks “en masse.”
He couldn’t sing to save his life
In public couldn’t pray,
But always his jalopy was
Just crammed on each Lord’s Day.
And though he could not sing nor speak,
Nor teach, nor lead in prayer
He listened well, he had a smile
And he was always there.
With all the others whom he brought,
Who lived both near and far-
And God’s work prospered, for he had
A consecrated car!
No, he had a consecrated heart. And if the heart is right, the hands will work.
What kind of work can you do for the Lord in 2007? Let me give you a list of things from which to choose. There are things that can be done for Christ in the church and outside the church: prepare communion once a month, help serve the Lord’s Supper, give a communion meditation, serve the Lord’s Supper to shut-ins if needed, put up the church signs out front of the building (although Paul does an excellent job and we don’t want to rob him of that pleasure!), help clean the building once a month, teach Sunday School, work with the youth in SS, youth meetings, VBS, etc. Play the piano or organ or other musical instrument. Sing with a praise team, help with the handbells, or provide special music. Also, put up and take down Christmas decorations, which we just did this last week. Contact absentee people, etc.
Brothers and sisters, we don’t do these things to serve the Lord because we want to be saved, but because we are saved! Good service is evidence that something good has happened in our hearts and lives! And we all need to think about what we can do to serve the Lord in 2007.
Romans 12:11 "Never be lacking in zeal, BUT KEEP YOUR SPIRITUAL FERVOR, SERVING THE LORD."
III. WITNESS
Matt. 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
I Pet. 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
ILL.- Verizon may be getting the job done. (Can you hear me now?) In FAIRFAX, Va. Verizon has flooded mailboxes, gone door to door and even handed out free ice cream as it seeks to sell its new FiOS (fiber optic) television, telephone and high-speed Internet service.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? They’ve gone door to door, sent out mailers and gave out free ice cream in order to sell their product! It just makes me wonder what we should be doing to sell the greatest product/person of all time.
ILL.- The preacher of a large church in MO went to see an advertising executive. He said his church had marketing dollars to spend and wondered which medium would be most cost effective for them. Television? Radio? Newspaper?
The executive paused, then said, “I recommend that you construct a single billboard.” The answer was surprising to the preacher to the point of being comical, but he listened patiently.
The executive said, “Build that billboard on your church property and face the message inward, toward your parking lot.” Huh? The confused preacher suspected his question had been misunderstood.
The executive went on to explain, “You don’t need advertising. In your church members you have what amounts to the largest sales force in town. Use the billboard to encourage your people to do what God has called them to do.” GREAT STORY AND A GREAT TRUTH.
ILL.- As Robert Speer said, "Any man who has a religion is bound to do one of two things with it: change it or spread it. If it isn’t true, he must give it up. IF IT IS TRUE, HE MUST GIVE IT AWAY!"
More than ever before we need to witness for Christ. We need to give away our faith to others. We need to advertise, talk, invite, encourage, etc. in order to lead people to Christ and the church. If we’re sold, we should be selling.
Acts 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”
CONCLUSION-------------------------------
ILL.- When Dr. W.A. Criswell, pastor of the largest Southern Baptist church in the world at one time, was preaching in the North Shore Baptist Church in Chicago, he was entertained at the home of deacon James L. Kraft, who was superintendent of the Sunday school and founder of Kraft Foods.
Kraft said that as a young man he had a desire to be the most famous manufacturer and salesman of cheese in the world. He planned on becoming rich and famous by making and selling cheese, and began as a young fellow with a little buggy pulled by a pony named Paddy.
After making his cheese, the youth would load his wagon, and he and Paddy would drive down the streets of Chicago to sell the cheese. As the months passed, young Kraft began to despair because he was not making any money, in spite of his long hours and hard work.
One day he pulled his pony to a stop and began to talk to him. He said, “Paddy, there is something wrong. We are not doing it right. I am afraid we have things turned around. Our priorities are not where they ought to be. Maybe we ought to serve God and place him first in our lives.”
Kraft then drove home and made a covenant that for the rest of his life he would first serve God and then would work as God directed.
Many years after this, Dr. Criswell heard James Kraft say, “I would rather be a layman in the North Shore Baptist Church than to head the greatest corporation in America. My first job is serving Jesus.”
