Over the past few weeks I have highlighted several overarching qualities that I see in the people of our church. These are not a source of arrogance. This does not mean we are superior to any other church. We celebrate these qualities because God has assembled a group of people who share similar qualities. This makes us the unique body of believers we call Faith Baptist Church. I focus on these qualities in order to praise our Heavenly Father for His gifts. I also focus on these qualities in order to commend you for allowing God to magnify these in your life and your church. I have discovered that God uses our unique qualities as a source of ministry. The quality I highlight today is faithfulness. Faith Baptist Church has been here seven years. A new church will go through trials as it is being established. New churches confront such trials such as shortage of money, shortage of workers, issues concerning values and issues concerning church polity. You have faced many of these trials. However, you have been faithful. As a church, faithfulness has become a part of your character. However, faithfulness has become a part of your expectations. I have been working with a group to define our vision, values, expectations and identity. As we worked to define our values I noticed that faithfulness underlies many of our value statements. Our people feel very strongly about being “genuine, sincere, loyal and faithful.”
Faithfulness is an important quality. It is important in any endeavor of life.
Faithfulness is important in service to our country. Several years ago there was a terrorist attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded as they slept. There were many terrible scenes as the dazed survivors worked to dig out their trapped brothers from beneath the rubble. A few days after the tragedy, Marine Corps Commander Paul Kelly, visited some of the wounded survivors in a Frankfurt, Germany, hospital. Among them was Corporal Jeffrey Lee Nashton, who was severely wounded in the incident. Nashton had so many tubes running in and out of his body that a witness said he looked like a machine rather than a man; yet he survived.
As Kelly neared him, Nashton, struggling to move and racked with pain, motioned for a piece of paper and a pen. He wrote a brief note and passed it to the commander. On the slip of paper were two words -- "Semper Fi", the Latin motto of the Marines meaning "forever faithful."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Roy Fowler. SOURCE: J. Dobson & Gary Bauer, Children at Risk, Word, 1990, pp. 187-188.)
Faithfulness is important in marriage. Several weeks ago, I went with a group of our senior adults to Pigeon Forge to a conference. Art Linkletter was one of our guest speakers. He is now 95 years of age. In his speech he indicated that he and his wife have been married 70 plus years. We need role models who set that kind of example of faithfulness in marriage.
Faithfulness is important in church. One of Southern Baptist’s most famous missionaries was a lady named Annie Armstrong. In fact, our home mission offering is named after her. Annie had a simple ambition for her life. She wanted to be faithful. Before her death she requested that the words, “she hath done what she could,” be printed on her tombstone.
There has been much said and written about Billy Graham over the years. The thing that endears Billy Graham to people has been his faithfulness. He has been a man of steady character, faithfulness and integrity. He has counseled Presidents and spoken to Kings. All of those individuals have respected his integrity and character. In an interview several years ago Billy Graham said "we are not called to be successful. We are called to be faithful."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Christian Cheong)
I share this message for several reasons.
First, I share it to commend and thank you for your faithfulness to this church.
Second, I share it because faithfulness is a much needed quality in our society. Faithfulness is a missing ingredient in our vocabulary. It seems as if we have taken this word and ripped it off of the pages of our dictionary.
• There needs to be commitment and faithfulness in marriage.
• There needs to be commitment and faithfulness in supporting our churches.
• There needs to be commitment and faithfulness in supporting our country.
• There needs to be commitment and faithfulness in following Jesus Christ.
I want to focus on faithfulness to church and faithfulness to Jesus Christ in my thoughts today.
1. Let’s be honest: we often face trials that will dampen our enthusiasm for our faith .
A. Sometimes the trials are people.
I read about a preacher who quit the ministry after more than 20 years of faithful, dedicated service and became a funeral director. When asked why he changed vocations, he said:
"I spent 10 years trying to straighten out John and he’s still an alcoholic. Then I spent three and one-half years trying to straighten out Harold and Susan’s marriage problems and they ended up getting a divorce. Later I tried for two years to help Bob kick his drug habit and he is still an addict. Now, at the funeral home, when I straighten them out, they stay straight!"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Evie Megginson)
Have we not all experienced the trials of dealing with other people? Let’s not look too closely because we might find there are times when we pose problems for others.
B. Sometimes those trials are personal. Some of you may have faced or may be facing trials that threaten the vitality of your service to Jesus Christ. Those trials are many: sickness, divorce, problems with children, unemployment, aging parents, time pressures and the like.
Joke: “Some of you can relate to a story, told by Chuck Swindoll. Chuck tells the story of Chippie the parakeet. He said the bird’s problems began when the woman who owned him decided to clean up the seeds and loose feathers from the bottom of his cage using a vacuum. When the phone rang, the owner turned to pick it up, and---you guessed it---with a thud and a whoosh, Chippie was gone. The owner quickly turned off the vacuum and unzipped the bag. There was Chippie. He was stunned but breathing. Seeing that he was covered with black dust, his owner rushed Chippie to the bathtub, where she turned on the faucet full blast and held the bird under the icy water. At that point she realized that she’d done even more damage, and she quickly cranked up her blow dryer and gave the wet, shivering little parakeet a blast. Chuck finished the story by saying, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore…”
(John Maxwell. Failing Forward. P. 77)
C. Sometimes trials occur in the church itself. Churches are not perfect places. I picked up a list of church bulletin bloopers this week. These bloopers perfectly illustrate the imperfections found in churches.
1. Don’t let worry kill you -- let the church help.
2. Thursday night - Potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow.
3. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
4. For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
5. The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
6. Thursday at 5:00 PM there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club. All ladies wishing to be "Little Mothers" will meet with the Pastor in his study.
7. This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.
8. The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They can be seen in the church basement Saturday.
9. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
(Contributed by Sermon Central. Funny Christian Stories. www.christianstories.com)
You and I can laugh at the trials and nod our heads in agreement with the call to faithfulness. Where do we turn for guidance? For Biblical guidance I want to use I Cor. 4:1-2. Paul was writing to the church at Corinth. Paul was facing an ugly situation in that church. There was immorality. One man was having sex with his step mother. There was a lawsuit among two church members. There was confusion over spiritual gifts. There was division. People were taking sides and rallying around their favorite spiritual leader. In the midst of that mess Paul wrote I Cor. 4:2 “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” Paul assured the believers in Corinth that he was not into the “favorite preacher game.” He was into Jesus Christ. The one thing that mattered most to Paul was faithfulness to Jesus Christ. He was not out to gain man’s approval. He was not out to gain man’s applause. He was concerned with being faithful to Jesus Christ.
2. What is the motivation to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and in our service to God.
A. The foundation for faithfulness is faith itself. Our faith becomes the foundation that holds us solid. Throughout the pages of the Bible you find people who withstood great trials because their faith gave them a solid foundation that held them secure. Hebrews 11 has been called the faith chapter of the Bible. It begins with the words “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” After that we find numerous accounts of great acts of faithfulness.
• “Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen…prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (vs. 7)
• “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out…not knowing where he was going.” (vs. 8)
• “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (vs. 24-25)
• “others were tortured” (vs. 35)
• “Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
• “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented” (vs. 36-37)
You and I should examine our faith. Is it secure? Is it solid? Is it healthy? In speaking of many un-believers John said “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.” (I John 2:19) Dear friends, examine yourself. Are you in the faith? Have you made a faith commitment to Jesus Christ?
B. A second motivation is the call to service. Service was a serious call in the life of Paul.
Paul uses two vocations from his era to illustrate his call to service. First, he uses the word “minister.” The Greek word is huperetes. In classical Greek, this word refers to an under-rower. Under-rowers were the people who rowed the oars that propel the ship forward. They work the oars in the belly of the ship. They simply obey the direction of the Captain.
The second word that Paul uses is “steward.” This is taken from the Greek word oikonomos. The oikonomos is in charge of the administration of the house or estate. He administers the affairs of his master. He has authority. He makes crucial decisions.
I cut a parable from a church newsletter years ago that illustrates the importance of faithfulness in our service to Christ.
Parable: The pencil maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. “There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil. “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget and you will become the best pencil you can be.”
1. You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.
2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you will need it to become a better pencil.
3. You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
4. The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.
5. Upon every surface you are used, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.
Dear Christian friends, God wants you to make a mark on other people’s lives. It will not always be easy. Sometimes it will be demanding. Sometimes it will be messy. In all situations it will require that you be faithful.
C. A third motivation is God’s praise. Notice verse 3. The last phrase in that verse says “then each one’s praise will come from God.” Paul was not concerned with men’s praise. He was only concerned with God’s praise.
When I was a young preacher boy I read a quote in a book that I have never forgotten. The quote was from Grantland Rice. It goes like this “When that great scorer comes to write against your name, he will not write whether you won or lost but how you played the game.” It will not matter whether we are famous, popular or wealthy. The important question is: have we pleased our creator?
