Intro: A 200 year old church was getting prepared for their anniversary celebration when calamity struck. The bell ringer was called out of town. The sexton at the church immediately advertised for a bell ringer to fill in. When the replacement arrived, the sexton took him to the steps leading to the tower.
-After climbing all the way to the top, the men were out of breath. Just as the reached the landing the bell ringer tripped and fell face 1st into the bell and the bell rung out. Stunned by the blow the bell ringer fell over the railing all the way to the ground.
-Amazingly he was unhurt but an ambulance was called in anyway. When the doctor arrived on the scene he asked the sexton if he knew the man’s name. He said, “No. But his face sure does ring a bell.”
-I know! Pretty corny. But you know what? Sometimes we have a little confusion as to what our identity in Christ is supposed to be. Sometimes we’re not too sure what exactly it means to have a relationship w/Christ and how that impacts us as individuals and as a church.
-Think @ that for a second. How does being a “born again” Xian impact the way you live your life? How should our faith impact how the church functions? Today we’re continuing our series “DNA: the genetic makeup of VillageChurch.” Last week we saw how our church leadership functions. This week we’re going to place our focus on the congregation and find out if they have anything they’re to do; to see if they have any responsibilities. I’m going to go out on a limb and say, “Yes.”
-Well, what’s the responsibility of the everyday believer? Jesus summed it up for us nicely in Matt. 22: 37-40 where it says, “Love the Lord your God w/all your heart, and w/all your soul and w/all your mind. This is the 1st and greatest commandment. And the 2nd is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these 2 commandments.”
Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to see the Apostle Paul, who wrote the text we’ll be examining, sharing w/believers what God has in mind for His followers to do. I really like this text b/c it demonstrates that God thinks big things for us! He has expectations for our lives other than just breathing!
-I’d so that’s contrary to what most of us think. Many of us get nervous wondering if there’s any way God could use us. How could a God so big, the creator of the universe, have any intentions for a single individual life?
-The text we’re going to look at answers 3 very important questions I believe most of us have concerning our relationship w/God.
TEXT: EPHESIANS 2: 10
Bckgrd: This section of Scripture shares w/us the great riches we have in Christ. That means no person has to be spiritually deprived. No Xian and no church has the excuse that God doesn’t have the ability and resources to do a great work w/us and thru us. Eph. 1: 18, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.”
-Do you have doubts as to what God can do through you? Do you have questions as to what God wants you and this church to do? Let’s examine 3 questions most of us have. The 1st question that our text will answer is:
DIV. 1: AM I WORTHY TO DO ANYTHING FOR GOD? (v. 10)
Exp: The Bible gives us a true report as to who we are as people. We’re told in Rom. 3: 23 that we’ve all sinned; that we’ve all failed God. Jer. 17: 9 tells us the true condition of our hearts. It says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
A. Rom. 3: 10-11 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” That is the resume of every person. And that’s not a very impressive portfolio. So w/that in mind, a lot of us feel very unworthy of receiving anything from God; or we feel like there’s no way God could use us in any way.
1. But the beginning of v. 10 dispels those worries. It says we are God’s “workmanship.” The Greek word that’s used here is the word “poema”. It’s where we get our word “poem.” And it carries w/it the connotation of a “work of art.” Now how does that strike you? Paul tells us that we are God’s “Work of Art.” That sounds pretty cool to me.
a. It doesn’t tell me that I’m a loser. It doesn’t tell me that I’m a person w/no hope or no future. It tells me that I’m a person that has been fashioned and made by God Himself. And I’m one of His top creations!
b. So what does that mean? It means that I’m worthy to do something for God. It doesn’t mean that I’m worthy b/c of my personal efforts or b/c I have the natural ability to do something for God. It’s b/c of God’s grace that I’m worthy. Our importance and ability is found by virtue of our Maker.
ILLUS: Knowing who made a certain product is tremendously important for the buyer. Why is that? B/c the quality of the product is determined by who made it. My mother has got to be the queen of all shoppers. She will shop until she finds the best deal even if it means searching for 4 or 5 hours. But every once in a while she’ll get a dud discount.
-A few years ago she went to NY and while she was there she saw some guys on the street selling knock off Rolex’s. And of course, the 1st person she thought of was me. I’m sort of like the fashion outcast in our family. Emily has to dress me b/c I have no sense or care of style.
-So my mom bought me this fake Rolex thinking it would make me look a little more sophisticated. And I have to admit I loved the watch. It had the bubble calendar on the face. And the second hand did a nice sweep just like the real Rolex. There was a problem w/the watch. It couldn’t keep time, which is a major problem for a watch! It’d lose 15 minutes every hour!
-Needless to say I had to quit wearing that watch b/c it wasn’t worthy enough to keep time. Why? B/c it’s maker was probably some guy holed up in a little building cranking these $25 watches out.
2. When God makes something, He makes it w/quality. You know what God said @ us after He made us? In Gen. 1: 31 it says, “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” It’s interesting to note that after all the other creations it says God saw them and they were “good.” But after man was created He said it was “very good.”
a. Why was it very good? Pretty simple when you think @ it. It’s b/c of everything that’s been created, there’s only one thing that’s been fashioned after God. It’s mankind. Gen. 1: 27, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them.”
b. So how are we like God? We’re like Him in that we have the capacity to tell the difference between right and wrong. An animal never asks the question, “Should I kill that squirrel b/c it might harm their family?” The animal never asks, “Should I stop chasing that cat b/c the cat’s getting irritated?”
B. Why doesn’t the animal think those things? It’s b/c the animal’s not human! He hasn’t been created in the image of God. Also, we’re like God in that we have dominion over the earth as God has dominion over all things.
1. Adam and Eve were commissioned to be the stewards, the caretakers of God’s place. Gen. 1: 27, “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’”
a. Next time you start to feel inadequate, the next time you begin to wonder if your life has any value or worth, remember this: You were made in the image of God.
Reit: The 1st question is “Am I worthy to do anything for God?” The answer to that question is we are WORTHY b/c of our creator. Another question is:
DIV. 2: DOES MY LIFE HAVE PURPOSE? (v. 10)
Exp: I don’t have a hard time understanding why there are so many of us who wonder @ the value of our lives; who wonder if our lives have any purpose whatsoever. Think @ what we were taught in school. We were taught that life was just one big accident! Something happened and out of the primordial ooze came you and me!
A. If that’s true then it means that life doesn’t have any rhyme or reason. It means that there really is no right and wrong. We’re just sort of here taking up time and space. Then on top of that, some of us look at our lives and see all the flaws we have. Some of us wish we were taller. Others wish we were lighter. Some wish they were more muscular. After we examine ourselves and see all the flaws we have, we think, “I don’t amount to much as it is. I can’t imagine there’s a God who actually made THIS on purpose!”
ILLUS: I don’t know how many of you play golf, but when you look at the golf ball you think, “Why in the world are there all these little dimples on it? It really seems like it’d be better if all those little imperfections were smoothed out so the ball would look better.”
-But there’s actually a purpose for it. An aeronautical engineer who designs golf balls says that a perfectly smooth ball would travel only 130 yards off the tee. But the same ball with the right kind of dimples will fly twice that far. These apparent "flaws" minimize the ball's air resistance and allow it to travel much further.
-Most of us can quickly name the physical characteristics we wish we had been born without. It's difficult to imagine that these "imperfections" are there for a purpose and are part of God's master design.
-Yet, when the psalmist wrote of God's creative marvel in the womb, he said to the Lord, "You formed my inward parts" (Psalm 139:13 [NKJV]) and "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed" (v. 16). Then he said, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (v. 14).
A. Who created you? God did. And when He made you He had a purpose in mind. What was that purpose? V. 10 tells us the purpose is “to do good works.”
So how do we achieve these “good works”?
1. I can tell you one thing. It’s not by living according to your own human wants and desires! We are by nature selfish and greedy! I say this all the time. How many of you had to teach your kids to say “Mine”? None of us did!
a. Good works come @ as we live according to the principles that God lays out for us in Scripture. How does that work? Well, as we live according to His Word then we will give a witness, a testimony to others of what a life lived for God looks like.
b. What does a life lived for God look like? I can name a few basic elements. First, it’s a life of peace. When I say “peace” I don’t mean that nothing ever goes wrong for you. I mean that regardless of what’s happening around you, you can know that God is w/you. That sounds so trite until you think @ what it means.
2. It means the God who created EVERYTHING, the God who has power over ALL THINGS, is on your side. He’ll see you thru. And knowing that can give you peace. I love Rom. 8: 31 where it says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
a. Another element of a life lived for God is hope. I know that’s one thing people desire. They want something to look forward to. But when you look at what’s going on around us, it’s difficult to find much to hope in. The job market is horrible right now. We’ve been involved in a war for almost a decade.
b. Marriages are falling apart, etc. and so on. But those who place their faith in Christ have hope. We have the hope of God’s forgiveness when we sin. We have the hope of knowing that this life isn’t the final say. We have the hope that God will take care of His people.
B. Phil. 4: 6-9, “Do not be anxious @ anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, w/thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
1. We do good by living for Jesus b/c it becomes a testimony to others of what God can do for them! That’s why it’s so important that we intertwine our faith into our lives so that the things of God become more and more a part of us.
a. How do we do that? By gathering together each Sunday for worship. It’s just another place for us to learn more @ what God’s Word says to us and how it applies to our lives. Our small group ministries are vital as they become a networking tool we can use to encourage each other in a godly manner in daily life.
b. We also do this by serving others. A few weeks ago we served our community w/a fall festival called Lake Scare-o-lina. We did this as a way to put into practice our faith and values to show people that we care for them. What good is our faith, our relationship w/Jesus if it doesn’t affect the way we live? It’s not worth anything!
Reit: The 1st question is “Am I worthy to do anything for God?” The 2nd question is “Does my life have purpose?” And the final question is:
DIV. 3: IS THERE AN ACTUAL PLAN FOR MY LIFE? (v. 10)
Exp: So far we’ve seen the questions “Am I worthy do anything for God?” and “Does my life have purpose?” answered. You’re worthy b/c God created you. Not only did He create you but He created you on purpose. And then finally we see that God has an actually plan for your life.
A. V. 10 tells us that God has prepared in advance the path He wants us to be on in life. Jer. 29: 11, “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” And the cool thing to know is that God will “prepare” us for the calling He has on our lives.
1. It’s not like God calls us to do things that we can never accomplish. Whatever He calls us to do He will enable us to be able to do it.
ILLUS: When I was in college I had no intention of becoming a pastor. But during my senior year I really sensed God prodding me to go into ministry. I was scared to death! The thought of standing before people and preaching absolutely terrified me. The thought that I’d be some sort of spiritual leader was overwhelming. But you know what?
-When I finally gave in to God’s plans over my own, He’s enabled me to do what He’s called me to do. I’ve been working in the church for 17 years now.
a. What’s God called you to do? For some of you, it may be God’s called you into ministry but you’re afraid to respond b/c that freaks you out! I can identify. For others of you it may be that God’s called you into the business world, but while you’re there He’s called you to start a Bible study at your work, or maybe He’s called you to reach out to your co-workers and pray for them and then invite them into the church.
b. That may cause you to get a little nervous. But one of the great encouragements we have in the Bible comes from Eph. 3: 20. It says, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work w/in us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations.”
2. Don’t ever doubt what God can do thru your life. He’s already worked thru so many of you as this church gives evidence to. What you see at VillageChurch today is the result of so many of you FAITHFULLY praying for this church, faithfully bringing your friends and neighbors to hear @ Jesus, and faithfully serving this community.
a. God has taken that and turned it into more than we could imagine. It’s very easy to have doubts as to what God could do w/people like us. So often we focus on our flaws and failures forgetting that we serve a God who says He can take our lives and transform them; who can take our sinned stained lives and make them as white as snow.
b. God has a plan for your life. You may say, “How do I discover it?” It’s not as hard as we think. We pay attention to what God says to us thru Scripture. We take time to worship Him. We talk to Him in prayer and share our heart w/Him. And as we do those things God will begin to lead us down the path He wants us on.
B. The key for us will be in being obedient to what He calls for us to do. Will you be obedient? Prov. 3: 5, 6-“Trust in the Lord w/all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
1. Some of you already know what God’s calling you to do. If He’s calling you into ministry, tell Him right now you’re willing to follow that path. For some of you God’s calling you to reach out to your neighbor and befriend him. Tell God you’re going to do that.
a. Others of you sense God working in your heart to give control of your life over to Him. Do that right now by praying this prayer after me: Dear Jesus, I’m going to follow you. I’ve sinned against you and I ask you to forgive me. And today I’m entrusting my life to you. I am committing myself to following you. Be my Lord and Savior.
b. If you prayed that prayer, let us know by opening your bulletin and filling out the section on the right side, then tear it out and place it in the offering basket.
