Tag: Involvement

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Using Your God-Given Talents…Part 3

As we conclude this three part series let’s discuss the use of our talents.  Being involved is more than just doing a little here or there.  It’s a life style of giving God my ALL.  Jesus gave His life for me, should I give Him anything less than my life?

Christ tells the parable of the three men who were each given talents “according to his ability.”  As we read Matthew 25 we see that two of the men labored in such a way as to double their talents, and in the end they were praised for their work.  This serves as a clear example of what we should be doing with what God has entrusted to us.  The third man, however, buried his head in the sand and did nothing with the talent his lord had given him.  Consider the consequences for this action: “You wicked, lazy slave…Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness…”  (Matthew 25:26, 30)  Folks, we all have talents!  God has blessed you with talents that He might not have blessed me with.  Perhaps I have talents that you don’t have…how will we use what God has given us?

Recently, one of our senior members here at Waterview encouraged some of her friends to come together each week and take a hot meal to one of our elderly shut-ins.  An elderly, aging senior is blessed by the compassion of her friends, and these friends in their golden years are still serving.  It would be easy to sit back and say, “Somebody should do that,” but these senior sisters are serving the Lord’s church!  Another member here serves the younger people with letters of encouragement, hugs of sincerity and has an attendance record that models faithfulness.  Others within our Prime Timer’s Ministry meet monthly to encourage each other and reach out to those in declining health.  Perhaps Mr. Spencer was right when he wrote, “There is much to do, there’s work on every hand.  Hark!  The cry for help comes ringing through the land; Jesus calls for reapers, I must active be.  What wilt Thou (what do you want me to do), O Master?  Here am I, send me.”

So what does your schedule look like today?  What will you be doing when it comes to the kingdom?  Christians young and old will be faced with new opportunities today.  We must ask ourselves if we are willing to work and labor for our Lord only while it’s convenient, or if we’ll work till Jesus comes.  Many of our older brothers and sisters are weary and have spent their lives working in the service of the King.  THANK YOU for your example, but let me encourage you to keep on serving and remember your goal.

“O land of rest, for thee I sigh!  When will the moment come, when I shall lay my armor by and dwell in peace at home?  We’ll work till Jesus comes…and we’ll be gathered home.”

My life is much more than just getting up and going to work.  The student studies hard to ‘make the grade’, but how much time do we give in preparing ourselves for the FINAL?  Sitting back and expecting others to do the work God calls us to do is a dangerous option at best.
Would that each of us use our God-Given Talents…

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Using Your God-Given Talents…Part 2

As we remember Isaiah’s vision before the throne of God, let’s continue our direction of ‘working in the kingdom’ and being involved in the church.  Like Isaiah, we too can (should) answer, “Here am I, send me!”

There is an old hymn that was written and composed by M. W. Spencer.  The words sound remarkably familiar to the words from Isaiah.  The first verse makes a clear statement that, “There is much to do, there’s work on every hand…” As the song continues we see the call for each of us to be evangelistic, to reach out and carry the Bread of Life to “hungering souls.”  But the chorus rings out the words from Isaiah as we sing, “Here am I, Lord, send me…ready at Thy bidding, Lord send me.” Christians, you know that we are called to be servants (I Timothy 4:6, “…you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus…”).  We are called to work, to serve and give of our talents and time.  But is there a statute of limitations?  Can I call it quits after X number of years?  Many will say, “I’ve done my share of the lifting, it’s time for someone else to carry the load.”  And yes, we all need to be working, but nowhere in the scripture do we read of taking a sabbatical from our Christian walk.  One of our more contemporary songs, “In Christ Alone,” ends with the line, “…till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.”  We have an obligation; a job to do that never comes to an end.  Young people, parents, grandparents…children of God: let’s be ready to work and work with our whole heart.

A story is told about working and who was doing the work. I’m sure you’ve read it before, but reading it again might be appropriate here: “There is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized Everybody wouldn’t do it. So Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”
Anonymous (wouldn’t you know!)

It is a fact that in most organizations 20% of the members do most of the work and carry the load of the remaining 80%. Unfortunately our churches sometimes fall into this dilemma.  Imagine what would happen if these figures were reversed and the majority of members came to find the excitement of who we are and Whom we are called to serve.  From the young Christian to the senior saint, each of us has been called for “the work of service…”  (Ephesians 4:11-13).

So how do I get involved in the work of the Lord’s church?  I’m a babe in Christ; what is there for me to do?  Or…I’m an older Christian; can’t I step back and let someone else take up the slack?  It’s my belief that if you’ve stayed with me this far, you have the qualities it takes to be active in Lord’s church.  Most likely you are part of the 20%, so please…don’t quit!  My encouragement to you is simple: if you’ll answer these two questions you’ll know what and where to be involved.  First, what do you enjoy doing?  What do you find interesting and engaging?  Then secondly, what are your talents?  What are you (humbly) good at doing?  When you answer these two basic questions you’ll begin to know where you might be of service in the church.

Next time we’ll look at Christ’s thought’s when it comes working or putting things off.  There is work to be done and it will be done by someone…will it be you?

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Using Your God-Given Talents…Part 1

What does your schedule look like today?  Are you busy with your work or will you just be taking it easy?  Each day we have the responsibility and opportunity to face new challenges.  What work will you be doing?

In 1982 I worked in the local hardware store.  My tasks were pretty basic as they included restocking shelves, loading lumber for a ‘do it yourself’ customer, or ringing up the sale on 2 lbs of 16 penny nails.  Life was predictable in the hardware business, and this summer job was no exception.  One memory from this summer was when I was told my job for the day was to drive the old company truck to Amarillo to pick up a shipment for a costumer.  As a 17 year old driving from Dumas to Amarillo (100 miles round trip) in an old Ford pick-up, it not only rattled my nerves, but also add to the stress a load of glass windows.  The event in and of itself was a great learning opportunity and for the most part was (thankfully) uneventful.  But aside from this one unforgettable task, much of my work at the hardware store/lumber yard was basically day by day and task by task.

Throughout life we move from one job to another, fulfilling the responsibilities that we face within that task.  Some of us are energetic in our work, never content to wait for the next assignment, but constantly staying busy.  With earnest ambition we do our work swiftly and then move on to the next chore.  Workers like this never let the “grass grow under their feet.”  Any void in their day is quickly filled with some sort of labor.  We affectionately refer to this folks as “the movers and shakers” in our world, ever ready to keep on working.

 

On the other hand, there are some who, when faced with a task, do the work and get the job done in a satisfactory manner.  The work completed may even be above reproach and admirably done.  But the difference comes in the next step.  Rather than searching out new opportunities, they tend to sit back with folded hands and say, “I’m done!”  Or worse yet, they get the work done par-satisfactory and then slink away hoping not to be found when the next need arises.  (By the way, workers like that usually find a pink slip at the close of the week…or at least they should.)

Workers in the Lord’s church might very well be classified as one of the two workers listed above.  Some are go getters who see the job, roll up their sleeves and “Get ‘er done.”  Others, however, will do the work when asked, but ‘What…you want me to do something else?’  We know there is work to do, and many of us will be the first to step up to get that work done.  But the fact of the matter remains, with the work that needs to be done, who will do it?  Unfortunately it’s usually left up to the 20%.  Be careful that you don’t fall into the 80% who are work-less (no, I didn’t say worthless).  Notice this passage from the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah 6, we read the words of Isaiah as he recalls a vision from the throne room of God; “…I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”  The song Isaiah hears echoes in our hearts, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts…” But notice Isaiah’s response when he hears a call to action in verse 8; “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  The Lord is calling for a worker and some undoubted would look around and say, ‘Are you talking to me?’  But Isaiah, having just received forgiveness by a burning coal placed on his lips (vs. 6, 7), speaks up and utters the words of a faithful servant: “Here am I.  Send me!”

Come back and let’s continue this discussion again…

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Securing the Hearts of Our Youth…Part 2

As we consider the importance of ‘securing the hearts of our young people’ for a life of faithful service, let’s continue to investigate the components of this pressing topic.  Digging deeper into the question at hand, we turn again to examine the previously mentioned, three basic elements of securing their hearts.  Together, I believe that each of these will help us in mentoring our youth.

To review ‘Part 1’, let’s reiterate the importance of a faithful example in mentoring our youth.  Consistency and faithfulness on an individual basis is important.  But next let’s consider the wisdom in the old saying, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.’  So if the time of establishing expectations is passed and the individual choice is in place, we have to ask the burning question; “If I can’t make a horse drink the water, what will make a horse drink?”  Here in lies the second method of training up and teaching our young people faithfulness.  A horse lead to water will drink…when he’s thirsty.  An understandable conclusion, but what indeed makes a horse WANT to drink?  A thirsty horse is one that has been working.  We must provide opportunities and for our young people to get involved in the work of the church.  There are vast areas where we expect work to be done around the church building and within the church family.  So who will do the work?  Often it’s easier to hire out the work to be done (missionaries, janitors, etc.) rather than putting the onus of responsibility on the family.

We live in a modest home in north Dallas with a good size yard on a corner lot.  One look around the house and you’ll find we have lots of grass to mow in both the front and back yards.  But who will do it?  For several years I hired out the work to a local lawn service.  They made it look easy and quick (actually they were much quicker than me) and the cost was minimal.  But then my oldest boy turned 12.  My wife and I quickly realized that the monthly cost for mowing could be put toward a new lawn mower and some yard accessories and then he could work with me mowing the yard.  But it wasn’t easy at first.  My son had to be trained.  There were times I was frustrated and could have simply told him to step aside and let me do it.  (Actually, that was said on more than one occasion.)  However, if he was to learn to serve the family and ultimately be able to do work in the yard by himself, he had to be taught, trained and provided the opportunity to ‘get involved.’  Let the young, baptized men of your congregation go to work serving.  Train them to read scripture and serve on the Lord’s Table.  Teach them, as Christ did, how to pray.  Show them how they can lead (yes…even the song service).  Let the young ladies get involved too.  Teach them how to teach in the toddler’s classes.  Introduce them to building bulletin boards or even baking unleavened bread.  Give them opportunities to be involved and start getting thirty.  But you know…training will take time and energy.  So ask yourself the question; “Do I really want the help secure the heart of our youth?”  If we want our young people to grow into a life of faithful service, we must we willing to do what it takes to mentor them into serving.

How shall the young secure their hearts and guard their lives from sin?  Next time we’ll look at the third and most vital of all elements when it comes to preparing our youth.  You’ll remember…“Thy word the choicest rules in part…”  See you next time!