06/25/2023 Church service

周日礼拜

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Good Things III
Eph 2:8-10

Ben Franklin (Poor Richards Almanac) “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander Time; for that’s the Stuff Life is made of.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Have you ever been frustrated by your own inactions?
Sometimes we delay taking actions because we’re tired.
Sometimes we’re just lazy.

It’s hard to break the inertia of doing nothing. (going home to the sofa)

But sometimes we delay and procrastinate because we still don’t feel ready.
We may feel less than qualified. Maybe we just feel unworthy.

We don’t Rise our potential – we FALL to our sense of worth

Martin Luther : “God doesn’t love us because of our worth, we are of worth because God loves us.”

We each have specific things we were put on this earth to accomplish.
I think deep down we always sense that.

Kim’s Convenience (Jung & Kimchee)
“Tell me about Phil.”
“Yeah – I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that guy.”
“He said that you tried to get him to chamois the cars?”
“Yeah – and he said ‘No.’ Can you believe it? We might have to fire him”
“He said “no” because it’s not his job – it’s yours.”

He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

The trainee does not get to make the rules.
No matter how confident you are that you are right – you need to be wise enough to submit to the higher authority.

My purpose for this message today is to remind us that we each have a mission to accomplish – both together as the Body of Christ, and also as the unique men and women God created us to become.


Today’s scripture says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, (good things) which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

“which God prepared beforehand”

How much of that sounds like something that we come up with on our own?

? Are we ready for Good Things to come To and Through us?

Prov 16:9 - The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

If the Lord is directing our steps, that means He is giving the directions.


Are we so presumptive as to think we have God’s plans figured out?

Isaiah 55:8 - “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

John 15:5 - “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

Saul had no clue what Paul was going to accomplish.

Gideon would have remained an unknown coward had God not called him out

Mark 1:19,20 - A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

When Jesus called James and John, do you think they had any aspiration beyond fishing?

WE may feel we have our lives all figured out – especially if we have gone beyond the halfway mark.

What about Abraham?

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

When we pray the Lord’s Prayer – we are praying in the manner Jesus taught us to pray.
“Thy Kingdom come – Thy will be done…”
If we are followers of Christ, we should actually follow Christ. ;)

Methodist Hymns: Where He Leads Me Jesus Calls Us I Surrender All

But what if God still has a plan we haven’t even heard about yet?

Jesus told Mary & Joseph: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

I am becoming increasingly aware of the brevity of life – and how we have our Father’s business – our mission in life – yet to accomplish.

The KEY to making the most of this time we have left is to stop waiting for perfection –
- and to recognize we have already been made righteous through the Blood of Jesus – and to get on with God’s Kingdom business.

Romans 5:1,2: Since then it is by faith that we are justified, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things he has for us in the future.
Time Management can be a good thing – but that is NOT what this message is about.
We have to stop listening to the inner and outer voices of condemnation, guilt, shame and inadequacy – put those people and voices behind you - get on with God’s Kingdom business.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, (good things) which God prepared beforehand
“born afresh in Christ”

We were created for Good Works (Good Things Through)

In cell phones, in firesticks, in computers…
we can add software and apps that may make things better – or may just slow the devises down and hinder their functionality

Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and hit “Reset to Factory Settings”

When you were re-created in Christ Jesus, God installed a purpose and an anointing to fulfill what He had planned for you to do

After that, you may have uploaded a lot of other information (through people, books, your old programming coming back to haunt you) and it may keep you from moving forward.
? Why would we still listen to those voices that speak of things contrary to God’s will and God’s plan for our lives?
We have to hit the Reset.

It is God working in and through us to accomplish His will.
Eph 3:7 - I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.
Eph 3:20 (GOD) is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us
It is HIS Power

Many, many years ago (I’m not worthy)

Worthy (where does our worthiness come from?)

Complete
Col 2:9,10: “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

? Where does your “worthiness” come from?
? When will you ever feel worthy?

If we feel worthy in ourselves and our own skills and value, we have missed out on grace and the Greater One within us

YOU are Enough
NOT because of your own sufficiency, but because your sufficiency is In Christ.

2 Cor 3:5: By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified.
2 Cor 3 - We dare to say such things because of the confidence we have in God through Christ, and not because we are confident of our own powers. It is God who makes us competent administrators of the new agreement, and we deal not in the letter but in the Spirit. The letter of the Law leads to the death of the soul; the spirit of God alone can give life to the soul.

What was is not what now is.

“Don’t hold together what must fall apart.
The familiar life crumbles so the new life can begin.”

Eph 3:19 - May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Hillside United Methodist Church
3739 US 80
Phenix City  AL  36870
United States
Pastor: Mike J Koger

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