TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 30:11-20
TITLE: “MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE”
INTRODUCTION: A. Has there ever been a time in your life when you made the wrong choice?
--Maybe you’ve heard of the Darwin Awards. It’s a yearly feature sent around the
Internet hat highlights the worst of the wrong choices people have made in the past
Year. Here is the 2005 list of Darwin Awards:
1. In Detroit, a 41-year-old man got stuck and drowned in two feet of water after
squeezing head-first through an 18-inch-wide sewer grate to retrieve his car keys
2. A 49-year-old San Francisco stockbroker who “totally zoned when he ran,” and
accidentally jogged off a 100-foot-high cliff on his daily run
3. In Bixton, NC, a man died on a beach when an 8-foot-deep hole he had dug into the
sand caved in as he sat inside it. Beach goers said, that Daniel Jones, age 21, dug
the hold for fun, or protection from the wind, and had been sitting in a beach chair
at the bottom of the hole when it collapsed, burying him beneath five feet of sand.
People on the beach tried to dig Jones out but couldn’t reach him. It took rescued
workers using heavy equipment almost an hour to free him while about 200 people
watched. He was pronounced dead at a hospital
4. Santiago Alvarado, 24, was killed in Lompoc, CA, as he fell face0first through
the ceiling of a bicycle shop he was burglarizing. He was killed when the long
flashlight he had placed in his mouth (to keep his hands free) rammed into the base
of his skull as he hit the floor.
5. HONORABLE MENTION: Paul Stiller, 47, was hospitalized in Andover
township, NJ, and his wife Bonnie was also injured, when a quarter-stick of
dynamite blew up in their car. While driving around at 2:00 AM, the bored coupled
lit the dynamite and tried to toss it out the window to see what would happen, but
apparently failed to notice the window was closed.
6. RUNNER-UP: In Tacoma, WA, Kerry Bingham had been drinking with several
friends when one of them said they knew a person who had bungee-jumped from
the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the middle of traffic. The conversation grew more
heated and at least ten men trooped along the walkway of the bridge at 4:30 AM.
Upon arriving at the midpoint of the bride, they discovered that no on had brought
the appropriate bungee cord. Bingham volunteered to jump using a coil of
lineman’s cable that was nearby. One end of the cable was secured around
Bingham’s leg and the other end was tied to the bridge. He fell 40 feet and then the
cable tightened and tore his foot off at the ankle. He miraculously survived his fall
into the icy river water and was rescued by two nearby fisherman. According to
news reports, his foot was never located.
7. WINNER: There was an overzealous zookeeper in Germany who fed his
constipated elephant 22 doses of animal laxative and more than a bushel of berries,
figs, and prunes. Thinking the treatment had not worked, he was attempting
another procedure standing directly behind the elephant when he was buried in the
avalanche that was released. The force knocked him to the ground where he hit his
head on a rock and lay there unconscious during the whole process. He died by
suffocation because he was alone and wasn’t discovered until an hour later by a
watchman making his rounds.
B. Many of you are probably familiar with the country music icon George Jones.
George has been around quite a long time and a lot of his songs are what are called the
stereotypical “cheatin’ and drinkin’” songs. George, himself, had a drinking problem
and country music fans were horrified to hear that Jones was critically injured on
March 6, 1999 when he crashed his car into a bridge in the Nashville area. The
investigation showed that George had been drunk while at the wheel.
Thankfully, George recovered. His next album was called Cold Hard Truth and on
it was a hit song titled “Choices”. Ironically, the hook line of the song says, “I’m
living and dying with the choices I made.”
1. We all make choices every day
2. Some are mundane; others make the difference between life and death.
C. We, as a congregation, face some life and death decisions
1. We stand at a crossroads and have to choose which way we’re going to go
2. As we study the Scriptures this morning, I encourage every one of us to make the
right decision.
I. SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLE
A. Everything we do as Christians and as a Christian church should be ground in the Bible
1. This morning we’re going to look at a passage speaks to our situation today
2. Deut. 30:11-20 – “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your
reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and
proclaim it to s so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross
the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your
mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and
destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his
commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in
the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you
are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will
certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and
possess. This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and
death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may
love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will
give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
B. Some important points from this scripture passage:
1. What God asks is not too hard to do
--It’s not beyond our reach or grasp
2. God simply wants obedience to what He asks
--“I don’t have a problem with authority. I have a problem with somebody telling me what to do.”
3. Our obedience is dependent on what choice we make
a. We can choose life and blessings
b. We can choose death and curses
4. Our choice determines what happens
a. the Law of the Harvest applies in every situation
b. Gal. 6:7-8 – “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who
sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please
the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
II. SELF-EXAMINATION
A. I’ve known for quite some time that this sermon would be necessary but it really gives me no pleasure to
preach this part of the message
1. I don’t like being the bearer of bad news but sometimes it’s part of doing the job of the preacher
--It’s been said that the preacher’s job is to comfort the afflicted and disturb the comfortable
2. This portion will probably make a lot of you uncomfortable
--yet, I don’t apologize for proclaiming it
3. It’s time to come to grips with where we are as a congregation and then discover what we need to do
about it.
B. The simple fact of the matter is that we’re heading in the wrong direction
1. In the 12-21-05 newsletter, the 2006 budget was included in the insert
--I hope you took time to study it and see what it shows:
a. Out reach was cut from $300.00 a year to $0.00 a year
b. The bus budget was to almost half of 2005
c. Worship was cut more than half of 2005
d. Missions were cut almost in half
e. Advertising was cut in half
f. Helping Hand (benevolence ministry) was cut by 75%
g. The newsletter will only be sent out twice a month to conserve on the cost postage, paper, and other
miscellaneous supplies that go into making the newsletter
h. In 2005, the church operated $5,000.00 in the red
h. Those budget items don’t show the problem
--They simply show the results of the problem
2. Our average attendance has been slipping for quite some time
--We made a slight rally toward the end of 2005 but overall we’re down
3. The only area we’ve seen any sustained or consistent growth is in attendance in our youth program
--Even there, some of the zeal is beginning to wane
4. The item I’m most reluctant to mention is that the board only extended my contract until the end of
March
--They’ve told me that if things don’t turn around, they’re going to have to re-consider my position as
your Sr. Minister
a. When I interviewed here, I was told that this congregation wants to grow and is willing to do what
is necessary to grow
b. Without going into excessive detail, I haven’t been convinced of that for quite some time
c. My wife and I have been spending a lot of time examining ourselves and our ministry here as well
as looking at things we can do to help things along in the right direction
--Don’t look worried! I’m not resigning today. But I do believe that you need to know where
things are headed
d. It’s time this morning for everyone of us to examine our own contributions to where FCC is at this
point in time
--Church growth is a partnership: It’s a partnership between the minister, the elders and deacons,
the individual members, and most importantly God.
a. The Bible says that unless the LORD builds the house, the laborers build in vain
b. Paul told the church at Corinth: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”
5. In all honesty, if we let things go the way they’re going now and have been going for quite some time,
here’s what FCC has to look forward to if nothing changes:
a. In 3 ½ to 5 years, half the people here this morning will no longer be with us
b. Within 10 years, there’ll be so few people left that we may as well just turn of the lights and lock
the doors
--It would take a whole lot of convincing for me to believe that anyone here this morning would
want to see that happen
C. However, it’s not all doom and gloom this morning
--The great thing about God is that He’s always willing to offer new life
1. It will take some prayer and repentance on our part but God wants to see this church alive and active
for the kingdom right here in Washington, IN
2. Jesus said, “…I will build my church…”
--If we’ll trust in Christ and submit ourselves to His leadership and to His vision for this congregation,
He can renew us and shape us into what He wants us to be
3. We’re going to be spending our study time in Sunday morning worship looking at what I’m calling
“The Growth Factor” – Scriptural guidelines and practical procedures which will cause us to grow
both numerically and in spiritual maturity
4. There are some things we need to look at today that will show us the mindset and the heart-set that
we need to turn things around
III. SUCCESSFUL EXPEDITION
A. Going back to our scripture this morning, we need to understand its background before we can
understand it’s teaching
1. The words we heard are from Moses’ farewell speech to the Israelites
a. He has followed God and God allowed him to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, through
40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and they now stand at portal of entering the Promised
Land
b. Moses will not enter the Promised Land
--Because of something he did that focused the glory on him instead of God, Moses was not
allowed to enter the Promised
c. Only two people who were alive at the time of the Exodus from Egypt – Joshua and Caleb - will
be allowed in
--Only those born after that time are being allowed in because of the rebellion against God by
their parents
d. The message Moses gives is important because it will effect the Israelites for centuries to come
2. The children of Israel stand at an important juncture
a. What they choose will determine what will happen for a long time to come
b. The important thing is they not only hear the message but also be obedient to what God asks them
to do
--They will have to decide: do we want to stay in the desert or do we want to enter the
Promised Land? The difference will be in whether we make the journey from the desett to
the Promised Land
B. First Christian Church stands at the juncture: will we make the journey or stay in the desert?
--Here are some things have to do to get out of the desert and get to where God wants us to be:
1. We need to journey from having a membership mindset to having a ministry mindset
a. What I mean by that is we need to move from always being ministered to being ministers oursleve
b. 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, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up.”
2. We need to journey from saying “we can’t” when we mean “we won’t”
a. Saying, “We can’t” calls Jesus a liar
b. He said in Mt. 19:26 that “…with God all things are possible.”
3. We need to journey from being absent to being available
a. Heb. 10:23-25 – “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is
faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 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.”
b. If you’re not here for the meetings of the congregation (Sunday school, morning and evening
worship, and other events planned and promoted for your spiritual growth, you are missing
something vital to your spiritual growth and we’re missing something – we miss your participation
and fellowship
4. We need to journey from giving our personal opinion about how things should happen at church
to seeking God’s opinion about how things should happen at church
--Happens only one way – PRAYER
a. Mt. 7:7-8 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the
door will be opened.”
b. Acts 1:24-25 – “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
5. We need to journey from just giving lip service to serving from the heart
a. Mt. 15:7b-8 – “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”
b. Mt. 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
6. We need to journey from saying, “I don’t know how” to saying either, “How do I find out>” or
“Teach me how.”
--Lk. 11:1 – “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples
said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’
7. We need to journey from an attitude of “It’s not my job,” to an attitude of “How do we get the job
done?”
--James 4:17 – “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
8. We need to journey from saying, “It’s too much to understand” or “It’s too hard to understand” when
we mean “I don’t want to understand.”
--Mt. 13:13-15 – Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah: “Though seeing, they do not see; though
hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be
ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s
heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’”
CONCLUSION: A. A young man, who claimed to be desperately in love with a young lady, wrote her that
he would be willing to “endure the cold of the arctic, or cross the burning sands of the
desert, or climb the highest mountains, or swim the ocean, just to be in her charming
presence.” Then he closed his letter by saying, “And I will see you Wednesday night if it
does not rain!”
1. How many claim to love the Lord devotedly, and demonstrate just the opposite by the
choices they make?
2. Moses presents God’s message to His people: “I have set before you this day life and
blessings, death and cursing.”
--There is no middle ground!
B. We stand at the decision point
--What do you decide?
1. Do you choose life or do you choose death?
2. Do you choose to do it your way or God’s way?
C. We can’t wait for someone else to do it
--Quite a few years back, one church presented this “memorial” to the most acticve
member of their congregation:
The church was bowed in grief this week to learn that one of our most valuable
members, Someone Else, passed away. This death creates a vacancy that will be
difficult to fill. Someone Else has been with us for many years. During all these years,
he did far more than a normal person’ share of the work, Whenever leadership was
mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results.
Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend – one name
was on everyone’s list: “Let Someone Else do it.” Someone else was also among the
largest givers of the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just
assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference.
This beloved church member was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing so
superhuman; but a person can only do so much. Everyone expected too much of
Someone Else.
Now Someone Else is gone. Who will pitch in to do the things that Someone Else
has done? If you are asked to do something, we hope you won’t reply, “Let Someone
Else do it.” Now we need you to pick up where Someone Else left off.
C. Gal. 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up.”
--In all areas of life this morning, will you honestly evaluate your answers to these
questions:
1. Will I live a life of submission or self-determination?
2. Will I live a life of servanthood or selfish satisfaction?
3. Will I live a life that satisfies my desires or the Savior’s?
