INTRODUCTION
I know that in the heart of every believer is the desire to mature … it is the desire to grow in their faith … and in our lives in this sanctuary I believe that our desire is to know CHRIST MORE!
I also feel that many believers, however, are lacking in the pre-requisite to maturity … RESPONSIBILITY!
You see, I have seen many things in Pentecostal/Charismatic believers … and one of the things that always agitated me growing up in Pentecost was how easily believers could let go of their responsibilities for the emotional buzz.
I do believe that everyone has been commissioned for responsibility!
God has given to every person a duty or a job to accomplish! But only those who are responsible will accomplish those duties!
The ancient Romans had a tradition: whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch … as the capstone, or the final center stone, was hosted into its place, the engineer assumed responsibility for his work in the most profound way possible … he stood on the top of the arch!
Now, friend, I want to say this delicately … how many of us can stand on the arch of our family knowing that it will be secure? How many of us could stand on the arch of our marriage knowing that it would not crumble, because we have held to our responsibilities?
Marriages fail because our responsibilities are no longer taken seriously!
Believers turn their backs on God because they lose sight of their responsibilities and commitment!
Parents abuse their children because they neglect their responsibilities of parenting!
Children disobey their parents because responsibility is unclear or they no longer like the responsibility!
It is my prayer that everyone in the sanctuary can stand on the ARCH of every area of their and know that it will not crumble! How? By realizing that carried out responsibilities always equal God’s intervention!
How real that is. When you are faithful in your job … in your work … in your duties … God will honor you!
Proverbs 12:11 reads, “Hard work means prosperity …”
And, friend, hard work is ONLY accomplished by those who take their work seriously!
God wants your family life to proper! God wants your employment life to prosper! God wants you children to prosper! God wants your spiritual health to grow!
But if you do not carry out your responsibilities in those areas it is almost as if you tie the hands of God in your life!
Proverbs 14:23 declares, “Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty.”
We brake the bank in our family, in our church, in our children, and so many other areas because we talk a lot, but do little with responsibility!
Abraham Lincoln once said, “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
RESPONSIBILITY IS GOD’S IDEA!
God did not create Adam and Eve to let them do anything that they pleased! They had responsibilities!
Adam and Eve had the first recorded job description …
1. Garden Responsibilities – tend and take care of all of the plants (Genesis 2:15)- not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17).
2. Animal Responsibilities – name and care for every animal (Genesis 2:19).
3. Marital Responsibilities – become one with one another without shame (Genesis 2:24).
What happened when they broke their responsibilities? They were ejected from the Garden of Eden and missed out on God’s best!
Elbert Hubbard has been quoted as saying, “Responsibility is the price of freedom.”
If Adam and Eve had maintained their responsibilities they would have continued to have that close union of walking with God, instead they lost out!
The priests of the Old Testament had a job description … (see Leviticus chapters 1-12)
1. Offering Responsibilities – to know what was needed to fulfill every offering … Grain Offering, Sin Offering, Peace Offering, Guilt Offering, Burnt Offering, and the Ordination Offering.
2. Conduct Responsibilities – never drink wine before going into the Temple … determine what is holy and what is evil … abstain from every form of sin.
3. Public Responsibilities – to be God’s spokesperson … to teach the people the Laws of God … to offer sacrifices for the people … to bless the people … and to confront the people.
What happened to the priest who failed in their responsibilities? DEAD, DISHONORED, OR DISCONNECTED.
The leaders of the New Testament Church had a job description … (see 1 Timothy 3:1-6)
1. Their lifestyle must not have any contradictions.
2. They must be faithful to their spouse.
3. They should exhibit self-control, live wisely and have a good reputation.
4. They should entertain guests in their home and be able to teach
5. They should not be a heavy drinker … should be peace loving and gentle.
6. They should not LOVE money and they must be able to manage their own family.
7. They should not be a new Christian.
What happened to someone who could not fulfill the responsibilities of church leadership? They would not even be considered for the position or they would instantly be removed!
Before we jump into the main crux of the message … let me share with you some definitions of responsibility …
1.In some places, the Hebrew Word for responsibility meant “burden.” In other words, you may not always enjoy it, but you are committed to it.
2.In the Greek, the word responsibility implies that you were “placed over something.”
3.In Webster, it means “you are totally dependable.”
4.Robert Duncan defined it like this … “Responsibility is to keep the ability to respond.”
Let me seemingly shift gears for one moment … I will try to tie this together … I promise … hang in there …
How many of you desire to be a success in every area of your life? Okay … listen to this quote …
“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility … in the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have … is the ability to take on responsibility.” (Michael Korda)
I want to share with you over the next few moments the major areas of our lives that need responsibility in order to be successful …
I. RESPONSIBILITY IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
So many people think that God is some cosmic guru, that grants every request that we have … even when we are not right with God …
FACT: GOD REWARDS THE RESPONSIBLE
Look into the life of Abraham … he knew what it meant to be responsible to God! Abraham continued to trust God in all things … how do we know?
1. The Pregnancy of Sarah – he continued to be responsible in his duties to God even when his wife was barren … he was REWARDED with a son.
2. The Near Sacrifice of Isaac – he felt the responsibility to obey God … He was REWARDED!
3. The Death of Sarah – he fulfilled his responsibility to God by his respect for his wife … and when she died … God REWARDED Abraham with another companion.
Hebrews 6:14 reads, “Then after Abraham patiently endured, he received what God had promised” or he was REWARDED for being responsible in his relationship with God!
What RESPONSIILITIES do we have in our relationship with God?
1. To have a Christo-centric mindset – a love for Christ that keeps Him in the center of life no matter what else surrounds us (I John 5:21).
2. To enjoy reading His love letters – a hunger for the Word that surpasses just mere duty, but leads to pure enjoyment (2 Timothy 2:15).
3. To spend time with God … just talking to Him – a desire to talk to God like He is your best friend. Not using the fancy words or the perfect posture … but to just enjoy being with Him (Matthew 11:19).
4. To always be real – a desire to SHOW God what is happening in your life. He knows anyone. Don’t be a phony!
5. To trust Him in ALL situations – a never doubting hope in God (Proverbs 3:5,6).
If our desire is to be successful in our relationship WITH God … we must carry out our responsibilities TO Him.
II. RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FAMILY
Oh friend, if there has ever been a society that has ever disintegrated the family structure it is the one we live in now … no one wants the responsibility of the family anymore …
We have more absentee fathers than ever before! Some studies have shown that a father only spends “32 seconds per day with their child.” No wonder we have got so many young ladies trying to find DAD in some other guy … did you hear me?
And as a result of dad not being around the moms have had to carry all the responsibility within the family … and in the 80’s the women got tired of it … and then you had the rise of the feminist movement!
Children and teenagers … many have no respect for their parents … they would rather bad mouth their parents to their friends, than to accept the responsibility of being a son or daughter!
Husbands and Wives … the marital relationship has become a mockery in our society with a 52% national average for our divorce rate. And then to add insult to injury because the last generation could not practice the responsibility of marriage … we have a generation that would rather live together with members of the opposite sex or even the same sex!
Mom … Dad … what is your #1 responsibility as a parent?
“Don’t make your children angry by the way your treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
Son … Daughter … Young Person … what is your #1 responsibility as a child?
“Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. Honor your father and your mother …” (Ephesians 6:1)
Husbands … what is your #1 responsibility to your wife?
“And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her.” (Ephesians 5:25)
Wives … what is your #1 responsibility to your husband?
“You wives must submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.” (Colossians 3:18)
Now, friends, don’t get mad at me … I’m just quoting Scripture!
We need to re-establish responsibility in the family!!!
III. RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CHURCH
Let me preface my comments on this with a statement: Your responsibility in your family should not be short changed because of your over commitment to the Church!
Listen to the words of 1 Timothy 5:8 … “But those who won’t care for their own relatives, especially those living in the same household, have denied what we believe. Such people are worse than unbelievers.”
BALANCE … we need to have balance!
With that being said … I do still believe that WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CHURCH!
And some of us neglect this responsibility all too often!
What are your responsibilities in the Church?
1.To protect the unity of the Church (Romans 5:15)
* by acting in love toward other members (I Peter 1:22)
* by refusing to gossip (Ephesians 4:29)
* by submitting to the leadership (Hebrews 13:17)
2.To support the health of the Church
* by praying for its growth (I Thessalonians 1:2)
* by inviting the unchurched to attend (Luke 14:23)
* by connecting with our guests (Romans 15:7)
3.To serve in the ministry of the Church
* by discovering my gifts and talents (I Peter 4:10)
* by serving the church leadership (Ephesians 4:11, 12)
* by developing a servants heart (Philippians 2:3-4)
4.To support the testimony and mission of the Church
* by attending faithfully (Hebrews 10:25)
* by living a godly life (Philippians 1:27)
* by giving financially regularly (Malachi 3:10)
We each have a responsibility within the Church … our Church!
IV. RESPONSIBILITY IN THE COMMUNITY
This is probably the hardest to accomplish, but the easiest to explain.
We truly have a two-fold purpose in the community …
1.To communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ in a way that unchurched would understand.
2.To demonstrate the change of life in the mundane things of our day.
Our responsibility is found in leading people to Jesus Christ!
Now, I know tat there are many introverts in this sanctuary … and then there are some who just have a hard time openly communicating to the unchurched about your decision to follow Christ!
I am not going to ask that everyone become an evangelist … but I do believe that this room is filled with honest, hardworking INVITERS!
What is an INVITER? It is someone that INVITES someone in their circle of influence to a church service … an event … a block party … etc …
ALL OF YOU CAN BE INVITERS!!!
We, Bethlehem Assembly of God, have a responsibility to this community … and that is to communicate JESUS to them in a way they can understand … I call it the “language of the unchurched.”
CONCLUSION
I hope that you have seen in the message today that woven into the fabric of Scripture is the REALITY OF RESPONSIBILITY … that God has given each of us a job to do and a work to accomplish in every area of our lives!
In a society that no longer places its strength in responsibility … I think that the Church … that you and I … should re-establish commitment based Christianity!
I also want you to know that as much as we are encouraging each of you to RE-ESTABLISH your responsibilities … Bethlehem Assembly of God has responsibilities to you …
We are responsible to …
… provide an atmosphere of worship!
… establish a caring environment for all attenders!
… assist every member in completing the Great Commission!
… educate every one in scriptural truth.
… help you in ministering to your family and seeing them grow in every way!
… encourage you to meet new friends!
… create opportunities for corporate prayer.
… allow you to use the gifts that God has given you.
… promote unity and direction in everything that we do.
W.H. Auden wrote in A Certain World … "Choice of attention - to pay attention to this and ignore that - is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be."
Maybe today, you have not fully kept your responsibilities to God … or to your family … or to your Church … or to your community, but today is new day!!!
