Offering Our Time to Fulfill God's Purposes

You can keep it, you can kill it, you can make it, you can take it, you can run ahead of it or you can run behind of it. Good luck trying to find it, especially when you're trying to wait on it. But it won't wait on you, especially when there's so much to do. There's quantity of it, there's quality of it. It can even be measured and tracked. The only thing it can't do is be turned back. We're talking about the commodity of time. Jim Croce, some of you that remember him, he tried to sing time in a bottle, right? He tried to put it all out. If you can do that, I'd like to see it. But aren't we living in a society and a culture today where I don't hear it just once a day. I hear it two or three times a day. I'm just so busy. I don't have time. I don't know how I'm going to get that in. The truth of it is all of us have 86,400 seconds every day. How are you spending your time? We all wish we had more time, but we all have 86,400 seconds every day. I've said this to a lot of people before, and now I kind of backtracked after listening to my sermon to myself this weekend. You're in control of your time. Is that a true statement or not? We're going to evaluate that this morning. We're going to talk about it. You know, legacy, sometimes we feel like that we're going to become a legacy in this world by all the good intentions we have. I am going to start a diet Monday. Next Sunday, I'm going to start a diet Monday. We are full of good intentions, are we not? Legacies are made not by our intentions, but how we pay attention with how we use our time. I hope you understand that. I've been reading, started reading Richard Foster's book, Celebration of the Disciplines. If you've not read that book, it's an amazing book. But he reminded me that Martin Luther would spend four hours a day praying, and he would say that, I am so busy, I must pray, and he would spend a quality of time praying. Remember the old days? Some of you won't because you've lived with McDonald's all your life. But I can remember when McDonald's came in, the big arches with the sign, million burgers sold every day. What made McDonald's so appealing is that we could go, and in a matter of seconds, we could have a hamburger right there in front of us. We could have not just one, but we could have five of them in a matter of minutes, right? It was the epitome of fast food. I still remember their commercials when the Big Mac came out, and that's not a computer. It's a hamburger, two all-beef patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, on a sesame seed bun. Right? You remember that? Yay. Tells you where my heart is, and I'm going to try to get you out here in a minute so you can go. If you ever went and said, I don't want that with cheese on it, or I don't want the onions on it, you would not get that in the old days, some of you remember, you would not get that hamburger in a matter of seconds. Because they had a process, and they had a time, and everything had to be done this way, and if you changed that process, you wouldn't get that hamburger quite as fast. Burger King saw that, and they came out with an ad saying, have it your way. You can have pickles, onions, tomatoes, ketchup, whatever you want, just tell us, and we'll have it out in the same amount of time that a Big Mac comes out. Now, computers have made all that fast and furious fast food that we love to eat, but the bottom line is this, that time becomes process for us, and how we process things, and how we get to where we want to be is important, and today, what I want to focus on, just for a few moments, if you will give me your time, is that we have a responsibility to give God our time, and we should offer our time to Him. In fact, if you can read up there with me, read it with me, offering my time right underneath that, I invest my time in fulfilling God's purposes. We're going to read from Acts chapter 1, but before we do, let's pray one more time. Father, bless our time this morning, in Jesus' name, amen. And Acts chapter 1, beginning with verse 1. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when He was taken up. After He had given commands to the Holy Spirit, to the apostles whom He had chosen, He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during the forty days, and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which He said, You heard from Me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked Him, Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud, a Shekinah cloud, took Him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven. We are celebrating the resurrection day. We should offer God our time, first of all, as we look at the very first point, Jesus's time was living proof of the resurrection. These 40 days that Jesus walked on this earth, the apostles talked to Him, the women, Mary, Mary Magdalene, they saw Him, they heard Him, they touched Him, they felt Him, they knew that He was real. He ate supper with them or breakfast on the shore there in John chapter 21, when Peter was reinstated to his mission and to his ministry. Jesus walked on this earth for 40 days after He had been buried in the grave. Three days later, He resurrected, and He was here for another 40 days, giving living proof that He was alive. I don't know about you, but I am so glad, and this will be an amen moment, I am so glad that I serve a living Savior, amen. He died on the cross, but He rose from the grave, and He is alive today, sitting on the right-hand side throne of God, and He is there, and I am not doubting that at one moment. Theologians will try to deny it, some will try to explain it away, some will just flat out say that the apostles made the story up. Folks, do not believe the lie of Satan. Jesus is alive. Today we've seen a proof as people were sharing their testimony, and as they were baptized, showing that they believe that Jesus Christ lives in them. We celebrate this day to remember Jesus, to remember that He died on the cross, to remember that He rose victoriously. We should offer Him our time as a result of that, because I serve a living Savior. Second point this morning, and I'm going to move through these quick, we should offer our time patiently. Look at verse 4, and while staying with them, He ordered them not to depart from Judaism, but to wait for the promise of the Father. Jesus has a time for us. Patience is required sometimes. Sometimes when we pray, God simply says no. Sometimes He says, go slow. And sometimes He says, go get them. But the point is this, is that we should be about listening, and hearing, and waiting on God's time. They didn't know exactly what to expect. They just knew that they'd been promised this Holy Spirit. But Jesus said, go and wait. It's okay to wait sometimes in our time, and to hear and discern the voice of God speaking clearly to us. In fact, I would tell you this morning, that if you're having trouble discerning God's will for your life, make sure that you're spending time in prayer. Make sure you're spending time in Bible study. Make sure that you're spending time in small group, worshiping God our Father, and He will make His ways known to you clearly. You know, years ago, our church in Liberal, where I was pastor, we had a decision to make. Our Hispanic church was growing, and they needed a facility. We had a large property in our church. Excuse me, this morning, my voice is, I'm getting a little too excited. And I just dropped my lid, so hope that I don't spill my water. We had a large property, and me and a few others thought it would be a good idea if we just let the Hispanics, they had a little bit of money, I said, why don't we just let them build a new building on the back of our property, it would make a nice space, it would make use of the space, be good stewards of the property that we have. And so when it came time for us to vote on that as a church, it was three votes different. I mean, there was 100 people there voted, it was like 51 to 47, 48, something like that. And I could have pushed it through because it was to the positive. I could have said, well, we all voted democratically, we're going to go right on through this, and we're going to build some new building. I didn't do that. I thought as a result of that experience that it was clear that we had not prayed enough. God is not a God of disunity, he is a God of unity. And when there's that kind of division in the vote, I realized, hey, we have just not simply prayed near enough. And so I just quickly disobeyed Robert's rules of orders, and I said, folks, I said, I know this is not proper, but I'm going to ask that we just simply table this, and let's get on our knees before God, let's pray up, and let the Lord bear down. Within two weeks, another church in that town was building a building. They called us and said, we would like to offer you our building for your Hispanic church. It was bigger, more usable, and in a great place, and the best part of it, it was for exactly the amount of money that we had saved up. Sometimes God says, wait, wait on him, wait on his time. Third point, we need to offer our time because future time is God's time. Look at verse six. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said, it's not for you to know times or season that the father has fixed by his own time. Our time belongs to him, folks. In fact, I have trouble even calling it my time. God of the universe created you on purpose. You're not here by mistake this morning, folks. God has created you on purpose for this time. This time is just temporary. Heaven is for eternal, and we go into a whole new kind of time, a whole nother level of time when we pass over into eternity. So how we spend this time here should always be in view of what is God. What does God call me to do? How am I doing on the purpose that He has called me? And I've just recently rewrote my purpose statement saying my purpose in life is to glorify God by making disciples that make disciples. I can always measure against that. How well am I doing in that area of making disciples? How am I spending my time? God is sovereign, folks. Don't forget that. He is sovereign. He is in control of all time. So we should offer Him the time we have and not spend that time frivolously away. How much of that 86,400 seconds of a day are you fulfilling God's purpose in your life? He's called you on purpose. Fourth point, we should offer our time as missionaries. This verse is one of the more familiar verses for us evangelicals. It's another great commission statement but in context of this, we need to understand that in the context of this passage of Scripture that Jesus was making them focus on time. He says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Let me tell you folks, if you don't know it, please hear this. God's purpose for you is to be a missionary. He wants you to be a witness. He wants you to glorify Him by sharing the gospel no matter where you are, no matter what you do for a profession, you need to understand that God has called you into that vocation so that you might be able to reach others for Christ. We are all to be missionary. We all are to be witnesses in this time. But let me share with you, but let me share with you, last week we talked about the wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some of you probably went this week and you discern what those gifts are for you. You may know what your gifts are. You may have talent out of the wazoo, but it does no good to know your gift if you don't use your gift. If you don't use your time with the gift that God has given you to do His purpose and His will. Last point, we should offer our time because we are living in end times. Jesus said, or the two men said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? And this was the Shekinah glory, the glory that the people of Israel saw when Moses and the tabernacle and that cloud would come over and it would be God. That's the Shekinah glory that we're seeing. And then they said, this Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, this is the ascension 40 days after Jesus had been here and walked here, ate here for 40 days. He now goes back up into glory to live that life. He's been taken up to heaven. He will come in the same way as you saw Him going to heaven. I don't know about you, but I would love to see the Shekinah glory of God with Jesus breaking through today. We live, that could have been an amen moment if you really wanted to, but I can hardly wait to experience that. I may not make it that long, but I don't think we're far along. But when Jesus came the first time and He went home, that ushered in the end times. We're living in the church age. And this church, God's people, those who believe in the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we have been commissioned with the opportunity to bring as many into glory as we can by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we need to understand that time is short. He is coming back. Is it really our time? We must understand that with the identity of Christ living in us, we are significant because of that. We are important to God. We belong to Him all 86,400 seconds every day. As a believers, we belong to Him. Our time should be His time. Young boy, or actually I just heard the story last night, a young lady, young girl went to her daddy and she said, dad, I don't know what I would do without you. I don't know what I'd do without my dad. And of course, that dad was just swelling up, said, oh man, I've taught my daughter so well. And then she said, but I don't know what you do without TV and football. If someone within this building were to look at you and say, how are you spending your time? What would you say? How could you answer? There's a book that I've been reading. I just finished it by Matthew Perman. What's Best Next, How the Gospel Transformed the Way You Get Things Done. He says, scriptures make a connection between making the most of our time, productivity, and the advance of the gospel. Hence, the true effect of being productive and making the most of time as Christians will be the transformation of our communities, our cities, societies, and nations for the sake of the gospel. Being productive in our lives is not separate from our task to transform the world through the light of the gospel. It is an integral part of it. Listen to me, folks. Giving God our time should make a difference in Great Bend, Kansas, or wherever you live. It should transform our communities. And I am telling you that within this very room, there is enough energy, enough time to radically see this city transformed if we would give the majority of our 86,400 seconds to Jesus Christ. Jesus said, as believers, you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. You are on a city, a light that cannot, on a hill, a light that cannot be hid. Let, in Matthew 5, 16, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. How do we make First Southern Baptist Church a more effective church with our use of our time? Let me tell you where it begins. It begins by you becoming more effective with your time. If you want to serve, there are things that need to be done in this church that will help kingdom growth occur. Individuals must be effective. Not only that, but we must buy into the vision of this church and make it a reality. Vision is the preferred future. It's a passion that God places on the heart of His people. You've not heard me say this today as being your interim pastor. What is my vision for First Southern Baptist Church? Let me tell you what I envision for my time here, no matter how long or how short it is, that this church would continue to flourish, that we would see this place grow with people, and that I would be able to help in transitioning and finding your next pastor. What if your next pastor comes in here and he says, my vision is to see this church filled not just once a Sunday, but twice on Sundays. I would love to reach 400 in this church. Can you buy into that vision if your next pastor has that vision? It can only be effective with you being effective in the use of your time. Vision is what gets us going, but again, vision will not become reality unless we are effective in using our time for God's purpose. This morning, oh, I've gone way too long. I am sorry. But we must spend time, I must spend time telling you this. If you don't know the joy of the resurrection and the victory of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it is time for you to give your life to Christ. Would you do that today? Bow your heads with me. If the Holy Spirit of God is moving in your life and convincing you and convicting you that you need Jesus, would you pray a prayer like this? Dear Father, I know that I'm lost. Forgive me of my sin. I receive the resurrected living Christ in my life today. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus' name, amen. Continue with your heads bowed. Father, many of us here today are believers. But Father, we are absolutely terrible, horrific in using our time. We would rather sit and watch something not godly on TV. We would rather spend time in front of our media, social media, our computers, and wasting time away when we could be focused on you. Oh God, I ask you to help me to be focused, that I can make a difference in kingdom work. And all of God's people said amen. If you need to make a decision, there'll be people here to receive you. An invitation time is just that, a time for you to respond. If God has spoken to you and you need someone to pray with, would you come during that time, this time? Would you stand with me as we have a time of invitation? ♪ I'm forgiven because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm forgiven because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm forgiven because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted, you were condemned ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well, your spirit is within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ ♪ Amazing love, how can it be ♪ ♪ That you, my king, would die for me ♪ ♪ Amazing love, I know it's true ♪ ♪ And it's my joy to honor you ♪ ♪ I'm forgiven because you were forsaken ♪ ♪ I'm accepted, you were condemned ♪ ♪ I'm alive and well, your spirit lives within me ♪ ♪ Because you died and rose again ♪ Thank you. The invitation's never over. If you need to visit with one of these folks or with me afterwards, I would love to spend time with you. People will understand if I don't get to shake their hand. If you need to spend some time praying, I would love to do that. At the end of this service, there'll be some ushers back there standing with the offering plates. We normally take, after the Lord's Supper, a benevolence offering. We didn't do that last Sunday. And so we're doing that this Sunday. If you'd like to help others who are in need, please feel free to give. for that offering as you walk out this morning. Has it been a good day to be in the house of the Lord? Yep. Thank you so much for being here. Let's close with our closing song. It's number 273, if you want. ♪ Low in the grave he lay, Jesus was born. ♪ ♪ Low in the grave he lay, Jesus was born. ♪ ♪ Jesus, my Savior, waiting the coming day. ♪ ♪ Jesus, my Lord. ♪ ♪ Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph for his foes. ♪ ♪ He arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with us. ♪ ♪ With his saints to reign, he arose, he arose. ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, Christ arose. ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪