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INTRODUCTION
Today is the first day of
December. How quickly has the year gone
by. It’s been such a great year. At the start of the year – Everyone
starts thinking about setting goals …starting fresh…a new beginning…Our goals range from goals about our
health, our school, our work, our family…our spiritual goals. We start our year off on a high…we’re
motivated…we’re pumped…we’re excited….and we start to work…but then days,
weeks and months go by. We’re working to achieve our goals, we’re working to do
what’s right for ourselves, for our families, then other things get in the way,
distractions come about…and it affects us in a way that we don’t follow through
with achieving our goals… We allow these things to get in our
way, and in the end not achieve/reach our goals at all. We begin to feel so bad about ourselves that
we begin to feel pulled into other distractions, we no longer are
aware….Because our hearts are filled with
disappointment, our bodies are tired….our emotions influence our decision
making.
The purpose of today’s encouragement
is to get you motivated again…get you thinking….get you moving…so that when the
year ends…you can feel…yes I’ve given 2011 the best…
BACKGROUND
So in saying that…..Today’s
encouragement comes from the book of Colossians 4: 2 - 6. "2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
At this time, the disciples were sent
to various parts of the world to minister to people about the good news. Paul in particular was sent by Jesus to
Rome. Before he reached Rome he had established
churches in different places. When Paul
arrived in Rome he was arrested but that didn’t stop him from continuing his
service to God. That is an encouragement in itself…At
times we allow our situations to get the better of us that we start to give
up….we start to blame others for putting us through these situations….Paul could’ve
easily done that…but He understood the purpose of his journey….So he began to
minister in writing to those churches…This is an example that when you
understand God’s purpose in your life…God will make a way for you….
THEME:
So my question for you is….with the four weeks we have left in 2011….WHAT
WILL YOU DO?... to fulfil God’s purpose in your life…
-
What will you do to build YOUR LIFE?
-
What will you do to build YOUR
FAMILY?
-
What will you do to IMPACT YOUR
COMMUNITY?
1st point:
What are you doing to BUILD YOUR LIFE?
Think about what you have done…or
haven’t done to build your own life this year? What have you done spiritually?
Mentally? Physically?
I took time off work in
August to take care of myself…because I was sick last year. I took on a lot with school, work, my
family…and I thought after talking it through with my family…I’ll take some
time off to have some rest and focus on one thing… As it turned out things got even busier
when I finished from work. It was like
…now that I don’t have to worry about one thing…work…I now have time to do other
things…it wasn’t until a month of staying at home that I really rested…But after a while…I did a lot of
thinking…and talking to God about my life…I was trying to figure out why I wanted to change my life and it wasn't working..... I realised that….I didn’t love
myself…I didn’t love myself enough to really have a rest and take care of
myself…and by taking care of myself…I was taking care of my family. I didn’t love myself enough to
change…..I worked so hard to serve God and others that I thought that is where
I needed my love to come from…. I couldn’t work it out on my own….so
what I did was…as Paul writes in his letter…verse 2 “Devote yourselves to
prayer…” I knelt down and prayed about it…and
what God revealed to me was that by not loving myself…I was not loving who was
dwelling within me…. When I declare that I’m a Christian
and my love for God and what He has done in my life.…what I am saying to
people is….that what is living in my heart
is God….is His GREATNESS…. Within each and every one of
us….there is God’s Greatness dwelling in your heart…. When the Lord told Ezekiel a priest to
tell his own people what God will do to them for not repenting their sins….it was the Spirit of the Lord going into
Ezekiel…that helped him rise to his feet…that gave him encouragement. Nobody likes to be the one to tell bad news…. I love what it says in Ezekiel
chapter 2 & 3…Ezekiel says ” As the Lord spoke…the Spirit came into me and
raised me to my feet and I heard him speaking to me.” How wonderful that is to feel the
presence of God…so much that it raises you to your feet…you stand tall…you
begin to accept and understand God’s purpose in your life…. Are you allowing His Spirit to raise
you to your feet…so that you can hear what he is trying to tell you? What are you doing to BUILD YOUR LIFE!!!
Paul
writes in his letters to the Colossians…verse 2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and
thankful” I prayed about my situation to
understand myself better. I was then watchful…I became aware of
the way I was feeling, treating myself, thinking, behaving…..and through that
journey…I gave thanks and I still gives thanks to God….Because I am now in a
place where I understand what is dwelling in my heart…..It is the way you
behave…what you say….that will attract people to you…and your love for God…. When you understand the GREATNESS of
GOD that lives within you…people will be drawn to you…they want to have what
you’re having… Do you understand the GREATNESS that lives within you?? Are you showing people the GREATNESS
that lives within you?? Or are you only showing certain
people that there’s GREATNESS within you…. Paul goes
on further to say in his letter….
In verse 5 “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of
every opportunity.” We do not have much time this
year…..I do not know what goals you set for yourself…for your family….for your
work…your school….to this church….but like Paul says….Be wise … choose rightly how you react in situations….don’t think
that because you behave a certain way in front of your family that’s okay to behave
differently elsewhere and that your family will protect you…because I tell
you….it will be your family who will have to convince the most of your love for
God …..your family is who you spend most of your time with you lose faith in
people when they are dishonest….when you behave one way in front of them….how
do you think…your children will grow seeing this…how do you think your parents
will learn to trust you….same with your group of friends…. Be wise.
The end of verse 5 says to “Make the
most of every opportunity”. I am forever thankful for the
opportunity God has given me. So what opportunities have you had
this year to BUILD YOUR LIFE? Did you see those opportunities?? When opportunities come along they give you a chance
to grow as a person, to learn new things, to be challenged….and it builds your
life….WHAT WILL
YOU DO TO BUILD YOUR LIFE??
2nd point: What are you doing to BUILD YOUR
FAMILY?
Fathers…how are you BUILDING YOUR
FAMILY??? Mothers …how are you BUILDING YOUR
FAMILY??? Children…how are you BUILDING YOUR
FAMILY???
Paul talks about in verse 3…to “Pray for us”….a simple way to build your family…is to pray for
everyone in your family. He goes on to ask that through our prayers….that God may open a door for our message… What message is
your family sharing with others…when you fellowship with others….what messages
do they get from you??? Is it a message
that you want to hear back from others about you?? Who are you really
opening your door to your heart to??? If the
message you and your family are sending out…is the same one that comes back to
you…and you don’t like it….is it really God opening that door?? Paul was in chains when he asked for this prayer….He was in
chains…he was bound…when we go through life….we feel like we’re in chains….emotional chains…physical
chains…spiritual chains….but Paul simply asked in his letter for others to pray
for him….so that God will make a way….
Paul says in verse 4…Pray that I may proclaim it clearly as I
should…. Are you Building your Family in a way that it is clear to
them….is it in a way that you should build your family??? When we make plans for our family for the day, for the month,
for the year…we sometimes don’t communicate in a way that allows the whole
family to think the same way….and when someone doesn’t follow through…we get
upset….”Paul asked that we pray the message is proclaimed clearly…the way he
should…. Is what you are doing to build your family a way that God
wants you to build your family??? With everything that I have said it is not only for your
immediate family…it applies to every relationship you have in your life….
3rd point: What are you doing to IMPACT YOUR
COMMUNITY?
Everything starts with yourself..when
you begin to realise, accept and understand the GREATNESS that lives within
you…everything else will flow…and will be wonderful…
Paul talks about a number of people
from verses 7 onwards. He describes a
number of people in his life that he is serving alongside. With most of them he describes them as being
“one of them”….one of the community… Because we are working to serve God
in our communities we need to fellowship more with those in our
communities….some of us sit back and let others do the fellowship…there will be
a time when those people will not be around and you will need to get out there
and build relationships…
Paul says in verse 6 I think is very
important to how you impact a community. It says 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with
salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Let your
conversations be always…always full of grace. Let your conversations be held in a way that invites
people…the community to k now more about you and your love for God….then they
will want to know more about God… Be wise…and gracious…in what you say…
When Paul says…seasoned with salt...the way it is meant here
is that salt…perseveres food from corruption…from getting spoilt….it’s the same
with your conversation..speak in a way that what you say does not put people
off from following God…that’s basically it… Be very wise in the way that you speak…and how you answer
people when they question….Most of the time…when someone questions you…it’s
because they don’t understand….but most times we take it in as they are trying
to catch us out….
It is said that Word of Mouth is the fastest marketing
strategy there is….the quickest way to let someone know what’s going on…is by
telling them about it….so when you think about impacting a community…it is your
conversations….
What are you doing to IMPACT YOUR COMMUNITY?
What have you not done to IMPACT YOUR COMMUNITY…
As Jesus sent out the disciples each of them being unique in
their personality, their upbringing so are you…you are uniquely made but made
for a purpose…. We all have different goals, different jobs, different
careers…but each of those areas can be used to serve God and build His kingdom
on earth.
Just as Paul describes from verse 7 to 18…he describes those
dear brothers, those faithful ministers, those fellow servants that are all
working towards achieving one thing….impacting the community by sharing the
good news about our Lord….
CONCLUSION
At
the end of Paul’s letter…he writes….”18I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my
chains. Grace be with you.”
·
He writes this letter with his own hand.
·
Even with his hands in chains…he writes…
·
It’s by his own effort that he writes and ministers to the
churches
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
With the remainder of this year, and even in
your walk with God…
1)
What will you do to
BUILD YOURSELF?
a.
What are you doing to build your spirit for God?
b.
What are you not doing?
c.
Are you loving yourself enough to make a change?
d.
Do you understand that there is a GREATNESS within you?
e.
Be wise in the way you act to others
f.
Be wise in the way you act to your family
g.
Be watchful….Watch the way you do things…
h.
Gives Thanks for everything that he has done
2)
What will you do
BUILD YOUR FAMILY?
a.
Pray for others
b.
Ask God to open your heart….not someone else…
c.
What message is your family sharing with others???
d.
Building your Family in a way that is clear to them….is it in
a way that you should build your family???
3)
What will you do to
IMPACT YOUR COMMUNITY?
a.
Will your conversation be always full of grace?
b.
Will it be seasoned with salt?
c.
You will build relationships with people…in your church, in
your family, in your workplace, in your school….or are you someone that breaks
relationships down??
What
will you do…with the rest of 2011? xxxx
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