Video Illustration to open series: Your Time Is Right Now
Our new theme for this next quarter centers on this question, “How are you
using your time?”
Theme: Time Management
Introduction to the new theme:
Benjamin Franklin said, “Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for
that’s the stuff that life is made of.”
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity out of ones life.
The major themes arising from the many writings on time management include the following:
• Creating an environment in life conducive to being impactful
• Setting of priorities
• Carrying out activity around those priorities
• The related process of reduction of time spent on non-priorities which waste time
The important point is that time management is not necessarily about getting lots of stuff done, because much more important than that is making sure that you are working on the right things, the things that truly need to be done, the things that truly matter in life.
The big question: “What is Time Management?”
Answer: Time Management refers to managing time effectively in your life so that the right time is allocated to the right activity. Effective time management allows individuals to assign specific time slots to activities as per their importance. Time Management refers to making the best use of time because time is limited. Time Management plays a very important role not only in organizations but also in our personal and spiritual lives. Time Management is about prioritizing tasks by their importance and their urgency. Time Management must know the difference between unimportant tasks, important tasks and urgent tasks. Time Management identifies which tasks should be done within a day, which should be done within a week and a month and so on. Tasks which are most important should be done first. Adapted from http://managementstudyguide.com/time-management.htm
The world we live in knows the importance of Time Management but where they miss the mark is on what they prioritize - which usually is some of following financial success, fame and power.
The Bible also speaks about Time Management but God through His Word prioritizes things differently than our world. His big three in regards to Time Management are faith in Him, fellowship with Him and others and sharing your story with others.
God want us to use our precious time wisely and not foolishly by investing it in eternal things rather than temporal things.
So to do this we must be able to tell time accurately. Timing is everything so we must understand that we cannot waste our time. We must decide to use our lifetime to make a difference for eternity. We must learn to tell time God’s way.
Scripture Text: Ecclesiastes 3:1-3:15; 17
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Timing is a major part of life. “What time it is becomes crucial to success and to failure in life spiritually as well as physically.” Learning to tell time now becomes crucial to success and failure in our eternal life. News Flash: “Everyone in this church will die! The timing of that is in God’s hands but it’s a fact – You will die and time will never come to an end – so how will you spend eternity?” No one here knows when you will die or when your time will stop ticking. So using your time today becomes critical to your eternal future and destiny tomorrow. So how are you investing your precious time?
Timing is also vital in life. For instance if I did not show up today on time then I could not be addressing you this morning. My timing would have been off. If I showed up tomorrow night instead of today then I would have missed this wonderful opportunity to speak to you about the importance of time. Learning to be on time is important today and doing the right thing with our life time today has eternal impact on us tomorrow.
Timing does make a difference in this life and in our eternal life as a matter of fact it’s critical! You may be thinking, “Why is learning to tell time so important?” It will determine your eternal destiny and life legacy!
Quote “Time is given to us to prepare for eternity.” Francois Fenelon - (Workbook Driven by Eternity, page 4). Do you believe this – do you believe your life time is given to you by God to prepare you for eternity?
An Indian Proverb states, “When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced, live your life in such a way that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.”
The Bible addresses the subject of time frequently so listen to this thought from the Word which supports the teaching we just read from Solomon.
Psalm 90:12 (NLT) “Teach us to make the most of our time…and make our efforts successful. Yes, our efforts successful!”
Psalm 37:18, “The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever” (NIV). The TLB version reads like this “Day by Day the Lord observes the good deeds done by godly men, and gives them eternal rewards.”
The Bible tells us not to grow weary in doing good because the Lord sees the good that you do and one day you will be rewarded for it. So we need to make sure that we use our time wisely and for eternal purposes. We do not want to waste away our time because when we use it up it’s gone never to return again.
A proper understanding of time is essential for each of us today because time does matter and it can never be replaced once it used. Solomon who we heard from earlier in our Scripture reading learned from living his life that his most valuable asset was his time.
The goal of time management according to Jesus and His parables is to use your time wisely and not waste it on the wrong thing. We need to be focused on the Kingdom of Heaven/The Kingdom of God. We need to build on its foundation the rock which is Jesus.
So what is effective time management according to Jesus and who should determine how we spend our time? Paul answers that question for us in Colossians: Colossians 3: 23-24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Who should determine our use of time? The Bible says it should be using our time for the Lord.
The verses above teach us 4 things about Time Management:
1. Do everything for the Lord.
2. Do it because God has provided for you and because it is His will.
3. Give 100 percent effort to the Lord always and accept the results; if you gave it your best shot, be satisfied - the Lord knows and He will reward you!
4. Let others around you know by your attitude, behavior, and disposition that you did your best for the Lord.
Series: “Short Stories - Giant Ideas” – The Parables of Jesus
Intro to series:
A Bible Parable is, "a short, simple story designed to communicate a spiritual truth, a religious principle, or moral lesson; it’s a figure of speech in which truth is illustrated by a comparison or example drawn from everyday
experiences." (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Nelson Pub., 1995, p.943).
Read more: http://www.graspinggod.com/bible-parables.html#ixzz3CHvDzUK
Bible Parables illustrate a spiritual truth and a life principle. Spiritual truths and life principles are invisible and abstract, so parables give them a graphic presence, followed by application to the hearer's life. Parables help our minds "picture" the spiritual lesson being taught, so we can apply the lesson to our physical or spiritual life. Familiar customs or incidents are used to illustrate some truths less familiar (Nelson's, p.943).
(Read more: http://www.graspinggod.com/bible-parables.html#ixzz3CHvS3ZWd).
Jesus' Parables also intentionally hide truth from the Hypocrites - the religious teachers of the day. He used parables to hide certain teachings from the hypocrites to keep them in check and from going completely off on Him before His time (Luke 8:9-10 NIV).
Jesus instructed his followers to refrain from throwing pearls to the swine (the truth of Scripture – God’s Word), because they would get trampled on and wasted, and in fact, they can actually come back and attack the messenger (Matthew 7:6 NIV). The caution here is be careful when teaching spiritual truths to the religious leaders.
The Hebrew and Aramaic word for parable also means "a riddle." I don’t know about you but when I decide to figure something’s meaning out I have a tendency to remember it more- how about you? Jesus spoke like this to see who really was hungry for the truth.
Apostle Paul tells us that Satan already has his claws set deeply in wicked people, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ESV).
Jesus taught Christian principles through Parables in order that some would understand, but, he also taught them so the truths remained hidden from those who wanted to argue with him while he was teaching, ministering and doing miracles. He didn't want them understanding His full message, because they would have tried to murder Him before His time had come.
Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy by confusing the hypocrites with Bible parables, i.e. riddles (see Isaiah 6:9-10).
Confusion for them came from Jesus teachings and the religious leaders, the enemies of Christ, had little evidence for their case(s) against Jesus. By the time Jesus reached the Passion Week in Jerusalem, however, he was ready to announce that he was the Messiah and his Kingdom was now and you see how the religious leaders acted. Read more: http://www.graspinggod.com/bible-parables.html#ixzz3CHwXVjGq
So parables were a favorite teaching method of Jesus and we have 45 Parables of Jesus found in the Gospels. See handout at info desk.
Sermon 1: Your Legacy
Scripture Text Matthew 7:24-29:
24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” 28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
So what is this short stories giant idea?
Answer: This parable is given by Jesus at the end of his Sermon on the Mount teachings to the crowd. He had just finished a lengthy teaching on how to live as a Christian within the Kingdom of God and He wanted to make it clear that what he just taught is how they are to build their lives. If they listen and do what he just said they will survive the coming storms of life but if they just listen and don’t do they will crash and fall and be destroyed.
He stresses in this parable that what you build on in this life determines the stability and destiny of your life especially when times get hard. Remember Jesus was a carpenter and he knew the importance of having a solid foundation for buildings and for life.
He speaks of two kinds of builders. Let’s look at each one closer!
1. The Wise builder:
a. This person who listens to the words/teachings of Jesus and applies them to his life is the wise one.
i. Jesus words of truth are a solid foundation to build your life on not manmade religion.
ii. It’s also about obeying His words and insights so you can finish your life with a Godly legacy.
b. Jesus is referencing the things he just taught about on the Sermon on the Mount.
i. Words and teachings like:
1. Matthew 5:1-12 – “Who does God Bless?” The humble, those who forgive, those who show mercy, grace givers, those who have compassion toward others, those who persevere.
2. Matthew 5:13-16 – “Salt and Light” – you are the preserving force in this world – you are the light in the midst of darkness!
3. Matthew 5:17-20 – “Old vs. New” – he came to fulfill the law not to do away with it.
4. Matthew 5:21-26 – “Really bad Sin” – don’t do this because if you do there are severe consequences.
5. Matthew 5:27- 30 – “Bulging Eyes” – lust will destroy you so don’t even look – change your thinking- guard your eyes from evil.
6. Matthew 5: 31-37 – “Who me divorced?” – Divorce rips people’s hearts out avoid it.
7. Matthew 5:31-42 – “Divorce, oaths, revenge” – avoid all three
8. Matthew 5:38-48 – “Break the hate!” – love those who persecute you.
9. Matthew 6:1-4 - Give to the needy in secret and God will bless you for it in Heaven.
10. Matthew 6:5-18 – This is how you should pray and fast before God not like the religious leaders looking for their own glory.
11. Matthew 6:19-24 – Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven not earthly things which will pass away.
12. Matthew 6:25-34 – Don’t fall into the trap of worry instead trust God because He will take care of you.
13. Matthew 7:1-6 – Don’t judge others – judge yourselves and leave the rest up to God.
14. Matthew 7:7-12 – Ask God and He will give you your heart’s desire.
15. Matthew 7:13-14 – There are two gates you can go through in life one is narrow and lead’s to God/to Heaven and the other is wide and leads to destruction.
16. Matthew 7:15-23 – There are imposters posing as prophets and disciples of God don’t be fooled by their show it’s all fake and God will not recognize them because their hearts don’t belong to God.
ii. These teachings of Jesus stress how the Christian is to live and act within the Kingdom of God. It's about Christian character and conduct within the Kingdom of God which is much different from this world.
c. Our short story giant idea tells us how we will stand when hardship floods into our life or when bad things happen to good people.
i. It's by having the right foundation, a strong foundation that you will be able to stand – to finish strong in your life. This foundation is critical to surviving the storms of life!
1. Yes, problems will come but how well you are rooted and grounded in Jesus Word determines if you will fall or thrive.
2. Illustration from my construction years of Hardware Hank headquarters’ in Mn.
a. The foundation was faulty, but the project manger ignored the Supt reports because of his time crunch.
d. A wise person builds wisely and uses wisdom which is God given not man-made!
i. We need to pursue wisdom and reject foolishness in our lives and make sure we teach our children to do the same. It’s a matter of life and death and happiness and heartache. Wisdom helps us to not make those bad choices that you see every day on people’s faces. What is the price you would pay to be able to make good sound choices? Wisdom is free for those who seek and receive it into their hearts and minds through Jesus.
ii. Hybels defines wisdom as, “Wisdom is what is true and right combined with good judgment” (Making Life Work, page 16, 17).
iii. A life which is lived with wisdom is a life that is worth more than rubies, diamonds or gold. It is a life that is filled with significance and the blessings of God. It’s a life that makes an eternal difference in the scope of time. It’s a life with joy and laughter and hope and peace. It’s all rooted in wisdom with it life is good - without it life is harsh and cruel and even meaningless.
iv. Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
v. Psalm 111:10: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
e. Proverbs 12: 1-28: What are the characteristics of wise man according to Proverbs 12? The following adapted from http://bibleseo.com/old-testament/proverbs-12-christian-wisdom/
i. Teachable
1. Ready to accept criticism
2. Ready to admit correction
3. Ready to listen to advice
4. Willing to learn new things
5. Willing to study their whole life
ii. God committed - God focused – God centered
1. Their plans are just and center on hearing from God
2. Built their house on the rock, it has a strong foundation
3. His ways lead to life and immortality
a. “Wisdom is the God-given ability to perceive the true nature of a matter and implement the will of God in that matter” (Larry Lea, Wisdom pg.14)
iii. Pleasant
1. Means I am humane/kind toward others --- even animals
2. I care for others
3. Joy in his heart
4. He can laugh at himself
5. They have an inner joy from the Lord
6. My words soothe and heal others
7. Encouraging to others
iv. Disciplined
1. He overlooks the insult
2. Self-disciplined
3. Diligent
4. Disciplined
5. No easily angered
6. Controls his temper
7. Maintains his health
8. Watches his tongue –guards it
9. With finances
v. Reliable
1. He is cautious in who he befriends
2. But is a great friend
3. He does not hang out with fools
4. Chooses the right person to marry
5. Stays committed to the marriage
6. Not given to lusting after others or being an adulterer
7. A person you can trust to be on time and to give their best.
vi. Honest
1. His testimonies are true – Trustworthy
2. His speech brings truth
3. His business deals are upright and honest
4. He does not lie
5. He has no dishonest scales
vii. Humble
1. Keeps his knowledge to himself, and uses it appropriately!
2. Continues to put down pride
3. Never usurps himself above another
f. The wise person Jesus is referring too in this parable builds their life on these values.
T.S. – A wise builder listens and does the word of God whereas a fool listens but rejects the truth and then disobeys the ways of God.
2. The foolish builder
a. Foolish builders may listen to the teachings of Jesus but that is as far as it goes.
i. They do not obey His instructions for right living – they listen but don’t do.
1. James 1:22-25: 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
2. The result is when things go bad in their life their lives crumble completely and their life is destroyed.
ii. Thought from Ken Anderson:
1. Remember, suffering, sacrifice and testing are part of the deal. God changes us and conforms us to the image of His Son (His plan and purpose) when we submit to these things. This is the process of allowing God to kill our flesh. This is true deliverance. This is spiritual reality. It’s not based on what your denomination teaches or what they do when they meet together on Sunday morning. It’s what takes place between you and God as you go to Him in repentance, submit to Him and determine to obey Him when He shows you what to do. This is real intimacy. It’s personal. It’s private. This is how you get to know Jesus and how He influences your life. And this is the only way you can really have a relationship with God. There are those in religion who want you to think that true spirituality is evidenced by a prosperous, trouble-free life. All God wants to do is give you what you want. All He wants is for you to decide how your life should be, so He can bless you and make sure you have it your way. Of course, the opposite is true. God requires that we submit to Him and allow Him to be in control. And when we do, He’ll make sure we experience the floods and winds necessary to kill our flesh and make us like Him. (This quote is from http://kenanderson.net/bible/html/builders.html)
iii. The foolish man is the one who listens but doesn’t do the Word.
1. This is a perfect description of a religious man who builds his life on the ever-shifting, insecurity of the world’s man-made religions. And the meaning of Jesus is clear when He describes the result: complete destruction (the word translated "great" in the KJV is the Gr. megas and means, great in intensity or degree).
2. Ken notes “This is a destruction that has no remedy. The house cannot be repaired. The life that it illustrates cannot be saved. It’s a life without hope, without God, lost forever.”
b. Chuck Swindoll defines fool this way from his book, Living on the Ragged Edge:
i. “Folly is a term we don’t use that often, but it is a term used rather frequently in Scripture. It suggests a lack of good sense, lack of foresight, failing to realize the consequences of a stupid act before it occurs. Scripture calls that ‘folly’ or ‘foolishness.’ And it can happen in our day just as it happened in Solomon’s day” (pg, 287).
1. “The fool is not only characterized by deception, mockery, and the ‘sport’ of wickedness (see Proverbs 14:8, 9; 10:23; 15:21), his entire inner person ‘rages against the Lord’ (Proverbs 19:3). I call that a serious thing to deal with!” (pg. 300, 301).
ii. Swindoll adds: Perhaps it will relieve you a great deal of anxiety to know that no amount of arguing, persuading, pleading, threatening, or even throwing profanity back at the fool will change him or her. Bargaining won’t work either. Logic will break down. Tears will not be effective. Strong discipline won’t even work once the fool gets old enough. Proverbs often says that the rod on the back of the fool seems to be more a waste than a help. The fool must learn in a very, very stern and severe manner-usually over a lengthy period of time-not to be foolish” (pg. 301)
1. The religious leaders are ones who fell into this category!
c. A fool looks like the following:
i. Video clip: Trains planes and automobiles
1. The clip shows how foolish we can be in life! Unwilling to listen to others, prideful, blinded and even foolish! We are heading in the wrong direction in life and people try to warn us but we mock them, tell them they must be drunk, rejecting their wise counsel all the while we are headed for a fatal accident which will take our life and our eternal life.
2. In Scripture the “fool” primarily is the person who casts off the fear of God and thinks and acts as if he could safely disregard the eternal principles of God and still be blessed.
3. The cause of folly/foolishness is the decision to distrust God, not to believe in God and instead trust in one’s own judgment of what is right and wrong!
Conclusion:
What do we need to learn from this message?
The wise builder and foolish builder illustrate the difference between doing the will of the Father and not doing God’s will. It’s the battle between true spirituality and false religion. It’s the battle between dying to self or living for self.
The wise builder builds his life on a firm foundation -Jesus – His Words - The Bible –The Word of God.
The wise person is secure in God because he has established a relationship of true intimacy with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The wise person is dedicated to God’s master plan and purpose. He follows His blueprint for life and blessings.
The foolish builder hears the Words of God but rejects it’s truth and refuses to do the Word in action.
They therefore will fall when the storms of life come and they in the end will be completely destroyed.
The fool follows the crowd which is heading for disaster rather than following the Lord which leads to blessings.
We need to know that to many people today are building on sandy soil and their lives will come crashing down when the storm of life blows in.
So where are you at in your life – would you consider yourself a wise builder or a foolish builder?
T.S. - In a moment we are going to participate in Communion.
This moment in time is really about remembering Jesus – His words – His teachings and obeying them – Communion is about evaluating ourselves and making sure that we are building our lives wisely and not foolishly on Jesus. Why is this so important because we cannot leave a Godly legacy without Jesus as our rock and foundation.
The wise person commits and surrenders their life to Jesus and to His ways – and this act of communion reiterates that. It’s all about to commitment and building on Jesus and His teachings – his definition of living within the Kingdom of Heaven.
Question: So let me ask you this morning to take a good hard look at your heart today before you partake of Communion. How are you building your life?
Read 1 Cor. 11:
23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
Partake of communion- worship
After time worship:
Today we all must decide to listen and do the word so that we are founded on the rock which will helps us stand against the floods of life.
When we follow Jesus and do what he teaches and put the Word into practice we in the end will have left a Godly legacy.
Altar Call: So the question now surfaces to the top – so what are you going to do with your time? How will you use it? Will you use it wisely? Will you throw it all away pursuing the wrong dreams or the wrong things in life? Will you only focus on the temporal things of this life? Or will you choose to live your life with an eternal view of success?
