Title
The Train is Leaving the Station 列车即将出发
Date
06/08/2025
Description
1 Cor 3:9: For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
歌 林 多 前 書 3:9: 我们是为上帝服务的同事，你们则是上帝的田地和建筑。 (pg 1850)
1 Cor 3:5-9: Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house.
歌 林 多 前 書 3:5-8: 亚波罗算什么？保罗算什么？我们不过是上帝的仆人，各人照着主所赐的才干引导你们信靠上帝。 我栽种，亚波罗灌溉，但使之生长的是上帝。 所以栽种的和灌溉的都算不得什么，一切都在于使之生长的上帝。 其实栽种的人和浇灌的人目标都一样，各人将按照自己的付出得报酬。(pg 1850)
Col 1:28: Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth.
歌罗西书 1:28: 我们传扬基督，用各样的智慧劝诫、教导众人，使他们在基督里长大成熟，好把他们带到上帝面前。(page 1909)
Ezra 10:4: Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. But we are standing with you. Be courageous and act!
以 斯 拉 記 10:4: 你 起 来 ， 这 是 你 当 办 的 事 ， 我 们 必 帮 助 你 ， 你 当 奋 勉 而 行 。(page 786)
歌 林 多 前 書 3:9: 我们是为上帝服务的同事，你们则是上帝的田地和建筑。 (pg 1850)
1 Cor 3:5-9: Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house.
歌 林 多 前 書 3:5-8: 亚波罗算什么？保罗算什么？我们不过是上帝的仆人，各人照着主所赐的才干引导你们信靠上帝。 我栽种，亚波罗灌溉，但使之生长的是上帝。 所以栽种的和灌溉的都算不得什么，一切都在于使之生长的上帝。 其实栽种的人和浇灌的人目标都一样，各人将按照自己的付出得报酬。(pg 1850)
Col 1:28: Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth.
歌罗西书 1:28: 我们传扬基督，用各样的智慧劝诫、教导众人，使他们在基督里长大成熟，好把他们带到上帝面前。(page 1909)
Ezra 10:4: Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. But we are standing with you. Be courageous and act!
以 斯 拉 記 10:4: 你 起 来 ， 这 是 你 当 办 的 事 ， 我 们 必 帮 助 你 ， 你 当 奋 勉 而 行 。(page 786)
Creator
Pastor: Mike J Koger
Contributor
Hillside United Methodist Church
3739 US 80
Phenix City AL 36870
United States
3739 US 80
Phenix City AL 36870
United States
Transcription
The Train is Leaving the Station
1 Cor 3:9
A young couple was getting married. They wanted everything to be extra special, so they commissioned a wedding cake with them often-quoted scripture from 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear…”
On the day of the wedding, the beautiful cake was wheeled out at the reception, only to discover that the cake decorator had left off the “1” from the inscription, leaving it actually display John 4:18, which says, “ …for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband.”
There is a saying: “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
A similar quote says, “The greatest regret in life is not the mistakes we make, but the opportunities we miss."
Although I will always be glad I chose to serve in the military, one of my biggest regrets was not accepting an invitation from the US Government to go to foreign language school. The program would have required me to add two years to my enlistment, and to a 19 year-old, two years sounded like an eternity. I’ll never know what could have been because I chose not to stretch to a new level at that time in my life.
Tom Peters: "If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade."
This quote suggests that when a chance presents itself, it should be embraced.
"Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them."
This highlights the fleeting nature of opportunities and the need to act promptly.
"Seize the moment, because one silly act can create a legacy, and also birth a legend."
My purpose, my mission, for this message today, is to encourage all of us to act on our Divine inspiration, and to have the God-given wisdom to recognize what ideas are from God, and which ideas are a distraction from the main purpose we should be pursuing.
God has called us all together “for such a time as this.”
The phrase "for such a time as this" (from Esther 4:14) has become a common expression used to suggest that God has placed individuals in particular situations for a specific purpose, and that there might be a time when they need to act to fulfill that purpose.
In Esther 4:14, Mordecai is questioning whether Esther's position as queen, and God's providence in putting her in that place, was for the purpose of this particular moment.
He is suggesting that she might have been placed in that position to help her people at this time of great need.
God has placed us together in this time and place “for such a time as this.”
But will we step up and do our part?
Time is not standing still. Today as the Earth continues to revolve around the sun, our time has come. The train is leaving the station.
1 Cor 3:9: For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
This verse uses the imagery of both a field (agriculture) and a building (construction) to describe the role of believers in the church as God's work in progress.
For we work together with God. You are God’s field. You are God’s building also.
The train is leaving the station. Time will not wait for us. Will we miss our moment?
“The greatest regret in life is not the mistakes we make, but the opportunities we miss."
This message today is in no way to be considered a reprimand – it is a message of liberation.
It is to free us to “Go with GOD” and become the men and women of God that He predestined us to become. …To once and for all time break free of our own limitations and see our unlimited potential in Christ.
Eveyone has gifts inside of them, no everyone releases them.
1 Cor 3 (MSG) : Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house.
We are both the field and the building
We talk often how the scriptures call us the temple… and the branches
We have this treasure in our earthern vessels… and we must have our roots dug in deep to flourish in God’s Kingdom
We are branches… and we are the temple.
Both rely on the inward presence of Christ to do anything of true value
Col 1:28: Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth.
Will we say “Yes” to our individual parts in this mission?
Matthew 21:28-32: Jesus said to his critics, “Tell me what you think of this parable:
“There once was a man with two sons. The father came to the first and said, ‘Son, I want you to go and work in the vineyard today.’ The son replied, ‘I’d rather not.’ But afterward, he deeply regretted what he said to his father, changed his mind, and decided to go to the vineyard. The father approached the second son and said the same thing to him. The son replied, ‘Father, I will go and do as you said.’ But he never did—he didn’t go to the vineyard. Tell me now, which of these two sons did the will of his father?”
They answered him, “The first one.” Jesus said, “You’re right. For many sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom realm ahead of you! John came to show you the path of righteousness, yet the despised and outcasts believed in him, but you did not. When you saw them turn, you neither repented of your ways nor believed his words.”
In this parable, a man asks his two sons to work in his vineyard. The first son initially says he won't, but later changes his mind and goes. The second son says he will, but doesn't go.
Jesus uses this parable to illustrate a point about hypocrisy and the true nature of obedience, contrasting the first son's eventual obedience with the second son's empty promise.
Jesus applies the parable to the religious leaders of the time, who he says are like the second son. They outwardly claim to be obedient to God but don't truly follow his will.
The parable highlights the importance of both outward obedience and inward sincerity. The first son, despite initially refusing, later changed his mind and acted according to his father's will. The second son, while outwardly agreeing, failed to act upon his promise.
Jesus' point is that true obedience involves both words and actions, and that even those who initially seem uncooperative can still fulfill God's will through repentance and action.
This should be both a warning and a reassurance to us today.
New Wine goes into New Wineskins.
What was is not what is, and what is is not necessarily what will be.
We only need to use our powers of observation to recognize that.
God’s Church and His People were never ever meant to be stagnant.
As we clear our minds of fixed ideas, we begin to see what this means - and we begin to live those virtues which formerly were only words.
The train is in the station. All Aboard.
Ezra 10:4: Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.
The mission is in our hands now.
As Eddie said, the first trip to China could have always been just a “nice idea” that we would think back on and wonder what might have been.
…but you and I (together) took action.
It may have been Bruddah Mike who got on the plane, but it was all of your prayers, encouragement and giving that made it really happen (with God’s help)
Chronologically, I can’t help but get older. I can’t stop the calendar.
…but as I dig in (by faith) and embrace my purpose, I discover my youth is being renewed.
Maine: “NOW I know why I am here!”
You and I can feel that way today if we embrace the purposes God has brought us together to fulfill for His Kingdom.
Not everyone is called for the same mission, but it takes faith and discernment to realize that, even though sometimes we get offended, we dig in our heels and continue to serve God (not man)
“Not everyone is going to like you.”
If God puts it into your heart, who is able to convince you not to do it?
Plato: “When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.”
Joel: “Don’t fight the critics – Outlast them.”
I remember visiting a church years ago and hearing a young couple who had been serving God in music ministry announce that they were leaving the church to go to a bigger, fancier church. I knew in my heart that they had been called to that church – but it was to challenging. Their hearts had not fully embraced their true purpose.
“Without a vision the people perish.”
Without a clear sense of purpose and direction, we tend to drift.
Leavers leave.
The train is leaving the station. We have to GET on board and STAY on board.
Will you surrender to His will and purposes so He can build you up and nurture and cultivate your life into a meaningful specific?
We know we are the branches.
Jesus described the destiny of branches in two ways:
• Those who bore fruit would be pruned to bear more fruit
• Those who did not would be cast aside and burned
Not my words… Jesus’ words.
1 Cor 3:14,15: If anyone’s work which he has built on the foundation endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, still going through the fire.
Who will work in the Lord’s field and build His house?
Take a deep breath. Get Present.
You will decide what you will do. God gave us free will.
You can use your special gifts for God’s Kingdom and His glorify.
This choice gives our lives meaning and purpose.
Never compare what you are called to do with what someone else is called to do…
…and don’t expect someone else to be you, either. J
A share vision brings power.
“I have decided…”
from Col 1: “Never be shaken from the hope of the gospel you have believed in.”
“ …Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth.”
1 Cor 3:9
A young couple was getting married. They wanted everything to be extra special, so they commissioned a wedding cake with them often-quoted scripture from 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear…”
On the day of the wedding, the beautiful cake was wheeled out at the reception, only to discover that the cake decorator had left off the “1” from the inscription, leaving it actually display John 4:18, which says, “ …for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband.”
There is a saying: “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.”
A similar quote says, “The greatest regret in life is not the mistakes we make, but the opportunities we miss."
Although I will always be glad I chose to serve in the military, one of my biggest regrets was not accepting an invitation from the US Government to go to foreign language school. The program would have required me to add two years to my enlistment, and to a 19 year-old, two years sounded like an eternity. I’ll never know what could have been because I chose not to stretch to a new level at that time in my life.
Tom Peters: "If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade."
This quote suggests that when a chance presents itself, it should be embraced.
"Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them."
This highlights the fleeting nature of opportunities and the need to act promptly.
"Seize the moment, because one silly act can create a legacy, and also birth a legend."
My purpose, my mission, for this message today, is to encourage all of us to act on our Divine inspiration, and to have the God-given wisdom to recognize what ideas are from God, and which ideas are a distraction from the main purpose we should be pursuing.
God has called us all together “for such a time as this.”
The phrase "for such a time as this" (from Esther 4:14) has become a common expression used to suggest that God has placed individuals in particular situations for a specific purpose, and that there might be a time when they need to act to fulfill that purpose.
In Esther 4:14, Mordecai is questioning whether Esther's position as queen, and God's providence in putting her in that place, was for the purpose of this particular moment.
He is suggesting that she might have been placed in that position to help her people at this time of great need.
God has placed us together in this time and place “for such a time as this.”
But will we step up and do our part?
Time is not standing still. Today as the Earth continues to revolve around the sun, our time has come. The train is leaving the station.
1 Cor 3:9: For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
This verse uses the imagery of both a field (agriculture) and a building (construction) to describe the role of believers in the church as God's work in progress.
For we work together with God. You are God’s field. You are God’s building also.
The train is leaving the station. Time will not wait for us. Will we miss our moment?
“The greatest regret in life is not the mistakes we make, but the opportunities we miss."
This message today is in no way to be considered a reprimand – it is a message of liberation.
It is to free us to “Go with GOD” and become the men and women of God that He predestined us to become. …To once and for all time break free of our own limitations and see our unlimited potential in Christ.
Eveyone has gifts inside of them, no everyone releases them.
1 Cor 3 (MSG) : Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house.
We are both the field and the building
We talk often how the scriptures call us the temple… and the branches
We have this treasure in our earthern vessels… and we must have our roots dug in deep to flourish in God’s Kingdom
We are branches… and we are the temple.
Both rely on the inward presence of Christ to do anything of true value
Col 1:28: Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth.
Will we say “Yes” to our individual parts in this mission?
Matthew 21:28-32: Jesus said to his critics, “Tell me what you think of this parable:
“There once was a man with two sons. The father came to the first and said, ‘Son, I want you to go and work in the vineyard today.’ The son replied, ‘I’d rather not.’ But afterward, he deeply regretted what he said to his father, changed his mind, and decided to go to the vineyard. The father approached the second son and said the same thing to him. The son replied, ‘Father, I will go and do as you said.’ But he never did—he didn’t go to the vineyard. Tell me now, which of these two sons did the will of his father?”
They answered him, “The first one.” Jesus said, “You’re right. For many sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes are going into God’s kingdom realm ahead of you! John came to show you the path of righteousness, yet the despised and outcasts believed in him, but you did not. When you saw them turn, you neither repented of your ways nor believed his words.”
In this parable, a man asks his two sons to work in his vineyard. The first son initially says he won't, but later changes his mind and goes. The second son says he will, but doesn't go.
Jesus uses this parable to illustrate a point about hypocrisy and the true nature of obedience, contrasting the first son's eventual obedience with the second son's empty promise.
Jesus applies the parable to the religious leaders of the time, who he says are like the second son. They outwardly claim to be obedient to God but don't truly follow his will.
The parable highlights the importance of both outward obedience and inward sincerity. The first son, despite initially refusing, later changed his mind and acted according to his father's will. The second son, while outwardly agreeing, failed to act upon his promise.
Jesus' point is that true obedience involves both words and actions, and that even those who initially seem uncooperative can still fulfill God's will through repentance and action.
This should be both a warning and a reassurance to us today.
New Wine goes into New Wineskins.
What was is not what is, and what is is not necessarily what will be.
We only need to use our powers of observation to recognize that.
God’s Church and His People were never ever meant to be stagnant.
As we clear our minds of fixed ideas, we begin to see what this means - and we begin to live those virtues which formerly were only words.
The train is in the station. All Aboard.
Ezra 10:4: Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.
The mission is in our hands now.
As Eddie said, the first trip to China could have always been just a “nice idea” that we would think back on and wonder what might have been.
…but you and I (together) took action.
It may have been Bruddah Mike who got on the plane, but it was all of your prayers, encouragement and giving that made it really happen (with God’s help)
Chronologically, I can’t help but get older. I can’t stop the calendar.
…but as I dig in (by faith) and embrace my purpose, I discover my youth is being renewed.
Maine: “NOW I know why I am here!”
You and I can feel that way today if we embrace the purposes God has brought us together to fulfill for His Kingdom.
Not everyone is called for the same mission, but it takes faith and discernment to realize that, even though sometimes we get offended, we dig in our heels and continue to serve God (not man)
“Not everyone is going to like you.”
If God puts it into your heart, who is able to convince you not to do it?
Plato: “When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them.”
Joel: “Don’t fight the critics – Outlast them.”
I remember visiting a church years ago and hearing a young couple who had been serving God in music ministry announce that they were leaving the church to go to a bigger, fancier church. I knew in my heart that they had been called to that church – but it was to challenging. Their hearts had not fully embraced their true purpose.
“Without a vision the people perish.”
Without a clear sense of purpose and direction, we tend to drift.
Leavers leave.
The train is leaving the station. We have to GET on board and STAY on board.
Will you surrender to His will and purposes so He can build you up and nurture and cultivate your life into a meaningful specific?
We know we are the branches.
Jesus described the destiny of branches in two ways:
• Those who bore fruit would be pruned to bear more fruit
• Those who did not would be cast aside and burned
Not my words… Jesus’ words.
1 Cor 3:14,15: If anyone’s work which he has built on the foundation endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, still going through the fire.
Who will work in the Lord’s field and build His house?
Take a deep breath. Get Present.
You will decide what you will do. God gave us free will.
You can use your special gifts for God’s Kingdom and His glorify.
This choice gives our lives meaning and purpose.
Never compare what you are called to do with what someone else is called to do…
…and don’t expect someone else to be you, either. J
A share vision brings power.
“I have decided…”
from Col 1: “Never be shaken from the hope of the gospel you have believed in.”
“ …Christ is our message! We preach to awaken hearts and bring every person into the full understanding of truth.”