Don't Waste Your Life
September 19, 2004
Habakkuk 3:2
16th Sunday after Pentecost
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
back to our church home page
“Lord, I have heard the news about you;
I am
amazed at what you have done.
Lord, do great things once again in our time;
make those things happen again in our own days.”
Habakkuk 3:2 (NCV)
I believe
the Lord is going to do
wonders and miracles
in the coming 40 days.
I believe that I am going to grow.
I believe that you are going to grow.
This church is about to experience
grace.
I don’t know how.
I don’t know what God will do.
But I am convinced
that God is going to move in the lives
of our men and women, boys and girls.
The prophet Habakkuk wrote
Lord, I have heard the news about you;
I am amazed at what you have done.
Lord, do great things once again in our time;
make those things happen again in our own days.
That was the prayer of prophet Habakkuk.
God answered that prayer.
That was the prayer of Pastor Rick Warren
at Saddleback Church
in Lakewood, California
in 2002.
God answered that prayer.
That is my prayer today.
Please close your eyes for a moment.
Lord, I have heard the news about you;
I am amazed at what you have done.
Lord, do great things once again in our time;
make those things happen again in our own days.
Amen.
OK, open your eyes.
We are getting ready.
The 40 Days of Purpose
Spiritual Growth Campaign
starts this Saturday.
You have the tri-fold brochure.
There is a simulcast worship and educational program
right here
at Warwick at 10:00 am
in Galena at 7:00 pm
and in over 5,000 other churches around the world that day.
What is it going to be like?
I have no idea.
But I want to be there.
We are going to start reading
a chapter every day
from Rick Warren’s book
the Purpose Driven Life.
What is that going to be like?
I have no idea.
I have not read the book.
But I feel led to read it!
And I feel led
to preach and teach
and pray for
a time of refreshing in this church.
Sometimes
you just have to break out of old habits
and try something new.
For the next 40 days
your pastor is encouraging you
to not do business as usual in this church.
If you have a choice
between going to a business meeting
or reading the Bible,
READ THE BIBLE.
If you have a choice
between mowing the lawn
or reading the Purpose Driven Life,
READ THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE.
If you have a choice
between being a Trustee, being a Choir member,
being an Acolyte, or doing some church related activity,
and praying for revival,
PRAY FOR REVIVAL.
We want to catch
a fresh breeze of the Spirit.
We want to see
what we have never seen.
We want to hear
what we have never heard.
We want to go
where we have never gone.
1) What does God want?
My whole life
According to the Scripture,
God wants my whole life.
Romans 6:13
Give yourselves completely to God
since you have been given new life.
And use your whole body as a tool
to do what is right for the glory of God.
Notice the third word in this verse:
“completely”.
That reminds me a song we used to sing
in my old youth group back in the 1970s.
Yeah. I’m old.
Totally committed, completely involved
that is the way Lord
that I want to be.
My all is on the altar, so hear me Lord, I pray.
Totally committed, completely involved.
I remember singing that song
with my friends.
We asked God
to do miracles and wonders
in our lives,
AND HE DID.
I got called into pastoral ministry
out of that youth group.
My life was changed,
and I know that the lives of all my friends
were changed
because we prayed with sincerity,
AND
because we prayed
according to the will of God.
C.S. Lewis once said,
“The only thing Christianity cannot be
is moderately important”.
Rick Warren
commented on that quote,
and he said:
“If it’s really true,
then it deserves everything you’ve got.
If it’s not true, you shouldn’t be here right now.
The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.
It’s either all, or nothing.
It’s either true,
and that should determine the rest of your life,
or you should just chuck it and go do whatever you want to do.”
Rick Warren and C. S. Lewis are right.
If Jesus Christ is Lord
there isn’t anything more important than that.
Here is a great Bible verse
to answer the question,
“What does God want?”
Deuteronomy 10:12
This is what the Lord your God wants you to do:
Respect the Lord and do what He has told you to do.
Love Him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being.
Notice the last two words of this verse:
“whole being”.
Jesus wants to be Lord
of every part of our lives.
There was a young man named Mike
who had to go to the hospital.
He was checked in to a room
and was told that a doctor
would visit him very soon.
A few minutes later
there was a knock at the door.
“Come in” Mike said.
A woman doctor came through the door.
She looked at Mike
and said,
“take off all of your clothes.”
Mike gulped,
and was a little reluctant.
He said, “every item?”
“That’s just what I said” said the doctor.
The doctor examined Mike
from top to bottom.
When she finished her examination
the doctor said,
“OK, you can put on some pajamas,
and get into bed.
Then she said, “Any questions?”
“Just one” Mike said.
“Why did you knock?”
Why did I tell you that story?
Well, let me explain.
One day,
before you became a Christian
Jesus Christ knocked on the door of your heart.
You heard the knock,
opened the door,
and he came in.
Some people think that is all there is
to being a Christian.
But there is more.
The secret of Christianity
is this:
Jesus never stops knocking.
He walks over to your bedroom door
and knocks.
He walks over to your office door
and knocks.
He knocks on the door to the garage.
He knocks on the door
of your marriage.
He knocks on the door
of your friendships.
You have a lot of doors
in your life.
Hear the good news: Jesus never stops knocking.
He doesn’t barge in.
He never forces his way.
He gently and respectfully
asks you to let him into your WHOLE BEING.
2) What does it take?
Discipline
Ok.
I made the point
that Jesus wants
your whole life,
and my whole life.
The next question is
“What does it take?”
What does it take to be a faithful 100% Christian disciple?
You are not going to like the answer.
Here it is in one word.
DISCIPLINE
It just makes sense.
You cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ
without discipline.
In Proverbs 10:17
the Bible says,
Whoever practices discipline, is on the way to life.
The funny thing is
that we already know this
in the other areas of our lives.
There isn’t anyone here
who isn’t truly disciplined.
Are you a mother or a father.
I bet you got books,
did research,
did everything you could
to learn how to be a good parent.
When you got your job
did you just know how to do it
without any study?
No.
You probably went to school,
maybe served as an apprentice
and learned one skill at a time
until you became good at what you do.
The same is true of being a Christian disciple.
There isn’t anyone in this church
who cannot become
a better Christian.
We can all do better!
That’s what Jesus wants from us.
That’s what the Lord
wants to do for this church.
God wants to teach us,
help us grow,
make us more effective,
show us how to become more like him.
God wants us to accept his discipline.
Mary and Martha
are excellent examples of this concept.
Mary and Martha loved the Lord Jesus.
One day, Jesus came to visit them in their house.
Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus
and listen closely to what he said.
In Luke 10:42
the Bible says,
Martha was distracted by her many tasks.
Wow!
Jesus Christ came to their house.
Mary sat at his feet.
Martha got distracted.
Who was the good disciple?
Come on. You know this.
Whose behavior was most appropriate? Mary or Martha?
Dear ones,
let me tell you something from my heart.
Over the next 40 days,
Jesus Christ is about to visit this house.
He is going to walk into this church,
sit with our children,
teach in our homes.
Are you going to miss that?
Are you going to be so busy
with the daily chores
of your everyday lives
that you miss out on Jesus?
There are times to do business as usual.
Now is not the time.
Rick Warren said,
“Do you find yourself like Martha?
Do tasks on your to-do list distract you from focusing on God?
Is your life so busy, you don’t have time to stop,
even for 40 Days and focus on God?
You will live an average of 25,550 days.
That’s what the average person lives.
Don’t you think it would be smart to take 40 of those days
to figure out what you should do with the rest of them?
I think so. I think that’s pretty wise.”
3) Why should I do it?
The cross
We heard that God wants
our whole life.
We heard that what it takes
is discipline.
Now is a good time to ask, “Why?”
Why should I do it?
The answer is, the cross.
In 2 Corinthians 5:15
the Bible says,
He died for all,
that those who live
should no longer live for themselves
but for him who died for them
and was raised again.
When it is all said and done,
there is no better reason on earth
than the cross.
What Jesus did
on the cross
is worth
far more
than everything we will ever accomplish.
The secret of a happy Christian life
can be summed up in one word:
GRATITUDE.
When we look at the cross,
we are empowered
we are blessed
we are encouraged
we are fed
we are loved
we are directed
we are satisfied.
I feel led.
I want to do something unusual.
Sue and I
have some crosses
that we purchased.
And we want you to take them
wherever it is that they need to be.
Today is a day of prayer
and we are going to leave the church unlocked
until midnight tonight.
When you come here to pray,
if God put’s someone on your heart,
take one cross
and give it to them.
It might be a shut in.
It might be someone who has a heavy burden.
It might be a Christian.
It might be someone who does not know the Lord.
Don’t take any crosses now.
Go home first.
If you feel led,
come back here
and pray.
“Lord, I have heard the news about you;
I am
amazed at what you have done.
Lord, do great things once again in our time;
make those things happen again in our own days.”
Habakkuk 3:2 (NCV)