“What’s The Point?”
Introduction:
Do you ever get discouraged? Do you ever feel that you are the only faithful servant of God left? Do you ever feel that you are not being effective what you are doing for the Lord? Do ever feel like the church is in a stand still? I do sometimes. Sometimes I get tired and discouraged and sometimes I wonder what the purpose of it all is. I’ve learned that not only being a minister by trade, but also being a Christian by lifestyle can be very discouraging. The reason is probably because most people care about the future of the church. As I look around I know there are many that have been Christians for many years, and perhaps tonight you are weary. Perhaps tonight you are discouraged. If you are I want to bring a message to you that applies to us all. I think that so many times we as Christians go through spiritual highs and lows, and we are riding on a giant roller coaster of the faith. Sometimes we get really excited and we want to charge Hell and pull people out of the fires. Sometimes we get really excited and want to consume every ounce of information that we can about God. This is the way that Peter was when Jesus said that he was going to be handed over and killed. Peter spoke up, and said no way, I won’t let you go, I will even come and die wit you. Other times we get down and discouraged and we don’t feel like we can do anything. Sometimes we look around the church and it seems like little is being done. Sometimes we just get discouraged and flat out tired of caring. Sometimes we feel like we are in a small minority of people who even care, and that drive us to complacency. That drives us to do nothing, but sit and commentate on how bad things have become instead of being productive. That attitude cools our fire down. This is the attitude of Peter after Jesus was arrested as he denied him three times.
Sometimes I want to know what is the point of it all? Why are we here? Does the church really have a chance to actually reach people? I know that in the past the church has been effective and some churches today are booming, but are we beyond the point of no return? What is the point of serving God diligently? What’s the point in being a small voice amongst a screaming crowd? Can we really make a difference in the world?
I have heard often since I have been here of discouragement and weariness among the faithful here. I know that many are discouraged by others lack of commitment; I know some want to be doing more than they feel they are doing. I want to assure you tonight there is a point in all of this. There is a reason to keep on keepin’ on. I want to encourage you to listen to this message and hopefully those of you who want to be encouraged and revived will be renewed and ready to serve again. Remember this too, Satan wants more than anything to render you ineffective for God’s service. Discouragement will come. I know many things have come along that have discouraged believers here, but do not give up, do not bow down. I know many hard times have befallen people here, but do not let that be excuse for complacency. I know there are many that feel tired and discouraged, but do not let Satan get the best of you.
Text: I Corinthians 15:58
I. I’m All Alone
Sometimes I feel all-alone. Sometimes I feel that I am one of only a few people that really care. I know logically that there are many people in the world who are still faithful to God and to His Word, but sometimes its hard to see that. Do you ever feel that more people are unfaithful even within the church than are faithful? I do sometimes. I do not think I am the first or the last person to ever feel like that. In fact the greatest Old Testament prophet felt like that at times.
I Kings 19:14-18
Elijah felt all alone in the world. He felt that everyone else had bowed the knee to false idols, but he wasn’t all alone. God told him that there was still 7,000 who have not bowed the knee. God was teaching Elijah that though he may feel alone he wasn’t.
We are in a spiritual war. We are the army of God, but sometimes I feel like the only soldier left in the fight. Sometimes I feel greatly out numbered. Sometimes I worry about the future of the church as a whole because it seems that more people are dying off than are entering into the church. Let me assure you today you are not the only one. You are not all alone
a. We are not all alone
We have many people on our side. The church might not be at its strongest as we can see it here, but there church still has manpower. The church is growing in other areas of the world; the church is growing here in some places. I hear stories of great servants of God doing great things in the Kingdom. Sometimes we may feel alone, but we still have people even in this church with us with the same hopes for the church, with the same desires, with the same passions, and the same goals and that is to reach people for Jesus. We are not alone. Look around tonight, we may be few in number, but we are strong in Spirit. We are not alone; we are not going to be defeated. Jesus promised that the gates of Hell would not prevail over the Church. We are not alone. Not only do we have a great army in the church, we have God on our side. Just when you think you are the only one left, let me remind you there are many people here that want just what you want. Paul at times felt alone. As he sat in prison he reflected how many of his friends had deserted him and abandoned him yet eh still could find encouragement. In such a discouraging time Paul could still encourage Timothy to press on and keep working hard. You are not all alone; there are many that have not bowed the knee yet.
b. It wouldn’t matter if we were
With just this few in numbers we can change the world. Remember God does not look at things the way we do. We look and see a great disadvantage. We see that we are outnumbered and undermanned for the task we have been called to do. God ahs always used a few. With 300 men Gideon and his armies killed all the large Midianite armies. How could they defeat such a large army so outnumbered? God was on their side. Moses and Joshua countless times lead Israel into battle against all odds and greatly outnumbered. How could the Israelite armies be so successful against such large armies? God was on their side. Jesus spent three years mentoring and teaching twelve men, he shared his life with them. How could those twelve men make such a difference in the world? God was on their side. Paul went out into unknown lands with a companion many times, preaching to people who had never heard of Jesus, the Gospel spread rapidly. How could just a few men make such a large difference? God was on their side.
II. No one Knows all that I do
Sometimes we might get discouraged because we do not feel that anybody knows or sees how hard we are trying.
a. We don’t need recognition
First, we do not need public recognition for the things that we do for the Lord. We are not serving the Lord so that we might have the praise of men. No you might not have the fame and the glory serving the Lord that you would anywhere else, but the benefits are out of this world. We do not need recognition.
I Timothy 5:24-25
Some things we do might be obvious to all people, but some thing may never be seen by anybody. There are many people who will never know the things that are done by people. No body will ever know how much time Don Maney has spent handling the church finances. No body will ever know how many hours others have spent working on the building. No body will ever know the late hours people have spent on the phone trying to talk to people about the Lord. No one will ever know the generous giving of some people in the church. Today, if you are discouraged because people do not know what all you do you are in the wrong place. No, no one will ever know how much money you gave to the church, no one may ever know the hours you gave up to help out around the church, but we do not seek praise from men. Recognition from men means nothing in the long run. I think it is important to give honor where honor is due and to recognize the servants that we have among us at times, but a lifetime may go by and no one will ever know the things you did. That does not mean that you are not valued or important to the Lord.
b. God sees all we do
We must realize that God sees all that we do both good and bad. I want to encourage you that though nobody may ever give you recognition here God sees your faithfulness. God sees and knows how much money and times you sacrifice and that will not come back void. God sees all that you do and you can be encouraged to know that you will be repaid and rewarded for what you have done. We do not need to seek praise from men, but we store up treasures in Heaven.
Matthew 6:19-21
Be encouraged in this that you will be paid back for all that you have done in this life. You may be upset and feel that you deserve more, but a time will come when you will be able to say that it was well worth the time and effort of serving the Lord. Though man may not see all you do, God sees all and will reward you for all that you do.
III. I’m not being effective
Do you ever feel like you are not very effective? Do you ever feel that all your work for the Lord is in vain or that you not making any progress? I do sometimes. Its hard sometimes when you put a lot of effort into something and it seems to have no effect. Its hard when you try really hard to reach somebody, but you never seem to get your message across. Have you ever been there? I believe that there are a lot of people in the church feel that they are not effective. Let me first encourage you that effectiveness is not number based. Sure numbers are important and its important to reach as many people as possible, but we are called to be faithful not successful. We are called to try our best to reach people. Only so much of our success is up to us. There comes a time when other people have to choose for themselves. I know that its frustrating when you invest time in someone and you see no progress. I know it’s hard when you prepare diligently for a class and few show up or few seem to grasp the message.
I Corinthians 3:3-9
God is the one who causes things to grow, so basically we are nothing. We are his servants. We do not have the right to get upset when we do not feel we are being used or being effective. I do believe that we should always strive to better ourselves and find better ways to reach people, but we cannot exclude their part and God’s part in the process. We are called to work diligently, and countless times the call comes to us to work hard and to strive to serve God with the best of our ability.
Isaiah 55:11
God’s Word never comes back void. Sometimes we may not feel like we have accomplished anything, but if you are faithful in sharing your faith you’ve done your job. You have planted your seeds. I know its frustrating when you never see the fruits of your labor, but you must trust His Word convicts. God gives the increase.
We measure success on a different standard than God does though. Remember Noah preached for 120 years and all he could do was reach his family, yet Jonah could preach one sermon and 120,00 would repent. Was Jonah more faithful to God? Was Jonah a better preacher? Probably not, the difference was in the hearts of the hearers. Both preachers were successful, because people we spared from God’s judgment and they did their jobs. In our eyes Jesus wasn’t all that effective either. In 3 years of ministry he only had 12 converts and one betrayed him. I wonder if Paul ever felt ineffective. I know that may seem strange because numerically Paul was successful. Paul and Silas were traveling along and Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to come help them. They soon tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit would not let them enter. From there Paul went down to Philippi. We know there he converted a woman named Lydia and then ended up in jail. He must have been discouraged, but it was in prison he reached the jailer and his family too. Isaiah was called to preach to a people that would be never hearing or understanding. Many of the prophets were unsuccessful as far as numbers were concerned. We cannot forget that our job is to plant the seeds, and in the end individuals have to choose by their own free will to accept it or reject it. Effectiveness is not measured on number.
a. Don’t Dwell in the past
We cannot sit back and reflect on past successes and failures and expect to grow. I know there have been many good times for this church and many hard times. Those are in the past, and we cannot dwell on them. We cannot dwell on the what if’s because they are just hypothetical. The past will simply drag you down. Its great to remember the past and reflect on things and learn from mistakes, but the truth is you cannot have the past back. Its gone. We cannot dwell in the past and expect to move forward. Tonight I ask that you let go of past successes and press on. I ask that you let go of failures, and sins that have hurt you ad the church and press on towards the goal.
Philippians 3:13
b. Be optimistic about the future
Its easy to get discouraged and down because sometimes the future looks bleak. What’s going to happen in ten years from now when a new generation of leaders are in charge of the church. Have faith and trust that the future will be good if we have one. Worrying about the future is not going to solve the problems. I admit the outlook is scary, but God will not abandon the church. New leaders will rise up. Here is a though, maybe even you will raise up to be that leader.
c. Work your hardest in the present
We cannot change the past or live in the future, but we can work our hardest now to make things the best they can. We must work hard, labor hard, and we know our labor is not in vain.
I Timothy 4:5
Paul surley had to feel sometimes his work was in vain. He had to be frustrated at the immorality of the Corinthians, the ignorance of the Galatians, and the abuse of the grace of God of the Romans. He poured his life into those people only to have them not get the point. What is the point? The point is we are called to be faitful and that is all we can do, we must be faithful until the end. Let us do our part no matter what!
