BETTER BODY BUILDING Part 6
all my illustrations come from Sermon Central and scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted.
LIFTING WEIGHTS
It is almost hard to believe that we are 5 weeks into this year already and at the end of this series of sermons on Building a Better Body. I think it is important to note that there are many other things that we have not discussed that would improve our church, the BODY of Christ and make it a Better Body. Yet we have seen the importance of listening, (an action word) to Jesus our Trainer, the author and perfecter of our faith, we have looked at dining on the solid food, that is the God’s Word instead of spiritual milk being fed to us, or trying to re-learn the elementary truths of God’s Word, We have got on some of the exercise machines, working the Prayer Master by showing God Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving before we go to Him in Supplication or Intercession. And last week we looked at Rowing the Growing Machine or the importance of evangelism, using Bill Hybels formula for “Becoming a Contagious Christian.” High Potency, Close Proximity, Clear Communication = Maximum Impact.
This morning is my favorite part of working out. Actually this is something I have done for most of my adult life and even as a teenager, and that is lifting weights. Now, in the physical sense, I truly enjoy lifting weights, it is a great workout and leaves you with a true sense of accomplishment, not to mention a burn that tells you muscle is growing. This morning, however, I am speaking of lifting weight off one another, carrying one another’s burdens. Gal 6:2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Now I think that ALL of us here know that we are to help each other out when possible, BUT Paul is making this something else, he is saying that we MUST carry each other’s burden’s to fulfill the law of Christ. We have spoken about the Law of Christ before, Jesus came to earth and made the Law, as it was, very simple. When asked about the greatest commandment He answered by saying that we should love God with all we are, but the second greatest command was :Matt 22:39 And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Once again, this kind of love we speak of here is one that requires ACTION, not just lip service and Jesus told us, Matt 25:40 "The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
These words were spoken by Jesus as He described the judgement, on His right were those that saw a need and fulfilled it, on His left were those that saw the need BUT chose to do nothing. This morning in order to Build up the Body and make it a Better Body we are going to look at some things that can make us be in the group on the right of our Holy judge. I think there are some things we can ALL do to be better at lifting the weight off of those that suffer from burden, Jesus Himself offers to do this for us Matt 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. And this morning I want to find ways to come to this Body for rest.
AWARENESS - I think the first thing we need to have is awareness. I am certain that there are hurting people right here in Fort Gibson, I am sure that each of us in this room can think of someone that could use the love of Jesus and the peace that only He can provide. I know that we can show the love of Jesus in practical ways that would draw people into a relationship with the true Son of God our Lord and Savior Jesus. I sincerely believe that God wants us to have vision, to see the big picture and not look only to our own interests, Phil 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Birds of all kinds can see where they are going. They pick and choose their direction and path. As birds fly by instinct they head where they are directed. But they can only see what is in front of them. As I have mentioned in sermon past, Eagles are known to have vision. An eagle can see up to five miles and often times is able to see well beyond normal sight. The eagle knows where it is going and determines how it is going to get there. While other birds migrate by instinct the eagle stays in its territory throughout the year, season after season. The eagle is dependable and will hold its place in its territory. When a storm approaches, other birds fly in fear while the eagle is energized by the challenge of the storm. The eagle catches the wind and rises above the storm. The eagle glides through its territory during the storm and will only leave its post if it is badly hurt and must leave to repair its injuries. I believe God is looking for men and women of vision “who can see” with their spiritual eyes and catch the wind of God’s Spirit. These men and women like the eagle are dependable, focused and fearless when it comes to their God given assignments.
The Bible tells us that without a VISION the people will perish. How is your awareness, do you see the needs of others or does it need to be pointed out to you. If we are to build each other up, and those around us as Paul says:
Eph 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. If we are going to BUILD others up we must first have awareness.
Do you remember the story about the woman that had been bleeding for 12 years, it is in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 8 and it says that as Jesus was on His way the crowds were almost crushing Him, BUT He was AWARE when this woman touched his cloak and He stopped. This is AWARENESS and we need to have it in order to Build a Better Body.
AVAILABLE - the second thing we must do in order to lift the burdens of others and Build a Better Body is to be available. — Martin Luther
What is it to serve God and to do His will? Nothing else than to show mercy to our neighbor. For it is our neighbor who needs our service; God in heaven needs it not.
How many times are we presented opportunity to serve the Lord in a manner that is not really appealing to us and so we back away and see if someone else will do it. BUT then someone else does volunteer to do it and we are still not happy with this.
Elmer Towns tells about a member of a motorcycle gang who was converted to Jesus Christ dramatically and the first Sunday he did the only thing he knew he should do and so he went to church. Nobody in the church knew him and he walked down to the second aisle and sat in the seat. And the people stared because he looked the part; big burly, bearded, long hair, black jacket, tattoos. It came announcement time and the minister got up and made an appeal for nursery workers. He said, “We need someone to work in the nursery.” But no one would volunteer. He asked a second time, “We really need someone to go be with our kids.” But no one would volunteer. And the cyclist prayed, “Lord, I want to do what you want me to do and if you want me to go work in nursery just have the preacher ask a third time.” And a third time the preacher said, “Please we need someone to work in the nursery.” And the cyclist raised his hand, nodded his head and started toward the nursery. And immediately 50 mothers followed volunteering to work in the nursery.
We are all called to serve in different areas, we must be encouraging to those called to serve in areas we are not called to serve in, or we must serve in those areas. We can not be critical of what others are doing or we destroy the body.
Eph 4:11-12 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
DO YOU SEE? God designed the body to be MANY parts, all doing different things, if we see an area where things are not going according to God’s will, it is our responsibility to make ourselves AVAILABLE to Him for service in that area.
One little complaint, one little grumbling, one little statement can set a huge fire.
What can little things do? In 1871 in Chicago a big city, there developed a big tragedy. But it all happened from a bunch of little things. One little lady was out milking one little cow early in the morning. There was one little lamp of oil burning. One little flickering flame in the little barn. The cow kicked the little lamp with the little flame burning in it. The lamp fell over into a little bit of hay in the little stable. The little fire spread to the next building then to the next building and we have what is called the 1871 Great Fire that burned an area 1 mile wide and 3 miles long.
Instead of complaining about what others are doing let us make sure we are doing what we can do, by being AWARE, and AVAILABLE and .......
ABIDING - To serve others best, we must “abide” with them. That is we need to walk in their shoes, we must strive to see things through their eyes, we must be close enough to them and spend enough time with them to truly be of lasting benefit to them. Real Christian service is not a “hit and run” activity. It is something that must be done everyday, for all time. It takes true endurance to become a weight lifter, to be an encourager, to be a real servant. It means we will not give up!
When I was a child I had one of those big vinyl clowns with the heavy round weight of sand in the bottom, so you could punch it but it stood right back up. It would go down, but it bounced right back up. We as Christians MUST be the same way. The early Christians kept bouncing back, they took care of each other and they set an example for us.
Acts 2:44-47 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
They were TOGETHER had EVERYTHING in common, they GAVE to those in need. THEY continued to MEET together, and they ENJOYED the favor of ALL.
This sounds like a group of people that were abiding in one another, they were a team working together for the benefit of the kingdom and they were lifting each other up. This BUILDS the body of Christ, this makes a Better body. They were not willing to give up, the writer of Hebrews tells us that even in the time the Bible was being written some were willing to give up, 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.
Some were in the habit of giving up BUT we must encourage each other.
Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl, One of them was an optimistic soul;
but the other took a gloomy view, “We shall drown,” he cried, with much ado
So with a last despairing cry, He flung up his legs and said “Good-Bye”
Then said the other frog with a merry grin, “I can’t get out, but I won’t give in
I’ll just swim around till my strength is spent then I’ll die the one more content
Bravely he swam till it would seem His struggles began to churn the cream
On the top of the butter at last he stopped, And out of the bowl he happily hopped
What of the moral, Tis easily found
If you can’t hop out, just keep swimming around.
If we are to Build a Better Body by lifting weights we must learn to be true servants. We do this by becoming AWARE of the needs of those around us, we do this by becoming AVAILABLE to serve wherever God needs us, and by ABIDING in our service, never giving up even when it looks as if we are not making headway and we do this by becoming ACCEPTING.
Sometimes I think we Christians find it easier to serve those that we know and love, yet this really does little for the kingdom of God. I think that Jesus would have us serve ALL people and not just those that might do something for us in return.
Matt 10:6-8 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ’The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Tony Compolla tells the true story of a Jewish boy who suffered under Nazi’s in World War II. He was living is a small Polish village when he and all the other Jews in the area were rounded up by Nazi SS troops and sentenced to death. This boy joined his neighbors in digging a shallow ditch for their graves, then faced the firing squad with his parents. Sprayed with machine gun fire, bodies fell into the ditch and the Nazi’s covered the crumpled bodies with dirt. But none of the bullets hit the little boy. He was splattered with the blood of his parents and when they fell into the ditch, he pretended to be dead and fell on top of them. The grave was so shallow that the thin covering of dirt did not prevent air from getting through to him so that he could breathe. Several hours later, when darkness fell, he clawed his way out of the grave. With blood caked to his body, he made his way to the nearest house and begged for help. Recognizing him as one of the Jewish boys marked for death, he was turned away at house after house as people feared getting into trouble with the SS troops. Then something inside of him seemed to guide him to say something that was very strange for a Jewish boy to say. When the next family responded to his timid knocking in the still of the night, they heard him cry out, “Don’t you recognize me? I am the Jesus you say you love” After a slight pause, the woman who stodd in the doorway swept him into her arms and kissed him. From that day on, the members of that family cared for that boy as if he was one of their own.
There is no person on the face of this earth that the Lord our God does NOT love. He may not love what they are doing, or how they are acting, BUT everyone is loved by God and is therefore worthy of our service. We must be accepting of ALL people regardless of what we think they should be, and when we build loving trusting relationships with these people, then we can guide them in what God’s Word says about how they should act.
We must lift the burdens of others by serving and we serve best when we are AWARE of the needs of others, when we make ourselves available to God and the service needs of others, when we are abiding in that service and don’t give up, when we are accepting of others no matter their condition or attitude, and finally we lift others up and Build a Better Body when we have the right ATTITUDE.
ATTITUDE - of all the things a true servant must have this is the one that I feel is the most important. I have met people that serve, that do things for others, however, they are truly motivated by the love for Jesus that they should have, but by other things such as recognition, glory, or a desire to gain something back. Jesus sets the example of how and more importantly what attitude to have:
Phil 2:5-8 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!
When our attitude is right, when we humble ourselves and serve, we build a better body. But let’s face it many of us are negative, myself included. This is not the right attitude, obedience motivated by love produces a different view point of life.
The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!" One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" To which the king replied, "No, this is not good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so, I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!" "What do you mean, ’This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?" "If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you."
How we look at situations will determine what we do in that situation, do we see it as a problem or an opportunity?
"Attitude is the minds paintbrush. It can color a situation gloomy or gray, or cheerful.In fact, attitudes are more important than facts."
We are to carry each other’s burden’s and in this we fulfill the Law of Christ. Are you willing to set aside your needs and desires for the good of the body? Are you willing to carry another’s burdens? Are you ready to Build a Better body by serving the Lord our God. This means that we will work to become AWARE of the needs of others, we will see things through the eyes of the lost and the hurting. It means we will make ourselves AVAILABLE to be used by God and serve others in the way that He would have us to serve Him and them. It means we will ABIDE in Him and with each other, there is no room for quitting in the family of God. We must make sacrifices BUT we will be rewarded on judgement day. It means we will have ACCEPTANCE, knowing that there is no person on this planet that God does not love. You will never look into the eyes of a person that God does not love or that Jesus did not die for. He may not approve of the way they are living, and He may turn them over in their selfish desires, BUT He still loves them and He wants us to love them as well. And it means that we will have the right attitude, one that is Humble and one that is of obedience to our Lord and master, one that sees the good in things.
This morning as the musicians come forward, I ask you this? Are you willing to set aside your own selfish desires and help BUILD a BETTER BODY?
INVITATION
