The Christian's Bonus Program

Date: 04-8-01

Title: The Christian Bonus Program

Bible Text: Philip. 4:10-20

Subject:

Complement:

Main Idea:

Intro: Sometimes there is help we could do better without! A man called his neighbor to help him move a couch that had become stuck in the doorway. They pushed and pulled until they were exhausted, but the couch wouldn’t budge. "Forget it," the man finally said. "We’ll never get this in."

The neighbor looked at him quizzically and said, "In?"

Helping others is something that all of us have probably done at one time or another. Today as we look into God’s Word we find that when we help others in the name of Jesus Christ we see blessings for everyone involved! It is the ultimate win win scenario.

Like the situation that a nurse shared which happened at the hospital where she works. One night a young intern came into the hospital ward shaking his head. "There’s an old man out there by the vending machines," he said, "and he’s putting dollar bills into the money changer. Every time he gets his quarters, he yells, ’Jackpot!’ and dances around." She said the other nurses and her chuckled and soon forgot about it.

In a few hours, on their way for a coffee break, they saw a repairman in front of one of the vending machines. They asked him why he was working so late.

"I have to get this money changer fixed," he said. "It’s been giving $1.50 in quarters every time someone puts in a dollar bill."

The same is true about the blessings of God. The more that we do, the more that we help others, the more that we give of our time, our prayers, our finances, in Christ’s name the more blessings will come our way.

Let’s look deeply into God’s Word today and see this truth for ourselves!

PRAY

I. There Are Many Advantages To Assisting Others With Aid. (Vs. 10, 14-16)

A. The recipient is blessed and encouraged in their faith in God!

1. Paul rejoiced greatly to receive a gift from the church in Philippi.

a) But he didn’t just rejoice…he rejoiced in the Lord!

b) There is a difference and that difference is in comprehending God’s role in our rejoicing.

2. I can rejoice in seeing something funny or entertaining.

a) I can rejoice in the purchase of a new toy.

b) I can rejoice in a new promotion at work.

3. But it isn’t rejoicing in the Lord unless I invite Him into that time of rejoicing!

a) It isn’t rejoicing in the Lord until I acknowledge His work in that event that brought about rejoicing!

b) You see, we must acknowledge Him in order to rejoice in the Lord!

4. And that means acknowledging Him in all things!

a) From the littlest to the largest!

b) Everything is from Him!

c) We must acknowledge Him in order to really rejoice in the Lord!

5. The result is that when someone gives us a blessing it is all the more rich and precious because we know and acknowledge God’s hand in it!

a) Suddenly, because someone has prayed and decided to bless us we are doubly blessed!

b) One because we see that this person loves us and God and two, because we know God is ultimately behind it and He loves us too!

Trans: So we see that the recipient of aid is truly blessed. But there is more to this as we can see!

B. The giver of aid is blessed because they can tangibly participate in God’s work. (10 &14)

1. There is nothing more powerful than praying for someone!

a) To partner with them and truly support them in prayer.

b) The problem is that so many people say, “Well, I can’t support your ministry right now financially but I will pray for you!”

c) Which is the most wonderful blessing that anyone could give, but far too often they promise to pray and then don’t pray.

d) As a matter of fact, they have no real intention of praying!

e) They are using prayer as a way to escape having to commit.

ILL. It’s like looking for a new way to get telemarketers out of your hair! Someway to get off the line, to get them to leave you alone… The long distance and credit card ones are easy. The hardest ones are those from the leukemia association or cancer research, or the police and fire Departments. We will tell them just about anything to get them to leave us alone! I found the perfect way to handle telemarketers… I have my kids tell them I’m not available. Even when I answer and they ask for Mr. Olcott I tell them, sorry he’s not available and then I even add, can I take a message? It is honest, because I am not available for telemarketers and it allows me to be polite and avoid wasting their time or mine.