Description
Fool
Week 2
“From the Workplace to a Worship Space”
April 15, 2018
Ed Young
Where do you to work? Better yet, how do you view your work? Whether it is in a boardroom, classroom, locker room, or family room, work is a crucial part of all of our lives. But work is about more than contributing to the bottom line; it can actually help us discover our God-given purpose. In this message, Pastor Ed Young dives in to some proverbial wisdom from God to help us reach our full potential and turn our workplace into a worship space!
Transcript
INTRO: You know, we spend half our waking hours involved in this. A lot of us go to school for it. We have discussions about it. I think it’d be safe to say that here, and in all of our different environments, some people love what I’m talking about. Others loathe it. What am I talking about? Well, work.
That’s a four-letter word. For some of us. Others it’s like, “Yeah, work!”
I’m talking about human labor. Now some of you are right now going, “Oh man. Why did I come to church today? Ed’s talking about work. You’ve got to be kidding me. Work is a curse. To the salt mines we go. I pretty much endure a five-day work week so I can enjoy the weekend.
Well, you know, we are in a series in the Book of Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs is an Old Testament book. And it was written by a guy named Solomon. Solomon was interesting because God asked him one question. “Solomon. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.”
Solomon said, “I’ll take wisdom.”
Now, that was a brilliant answer. Because he had wisdom, he was the wealthiest man to ever walk on planet Earth. Also, he had a lot of popularity. I mean you want to talk about followers, you want to talk about clicks and likes. He had it. Possessions like no one. Yet, he wrote this book inspired by the Holy Spirit of God called the Book of Proverbs.
Now, the word proverbs means to govern, to rule, to reign. Wisdom should be a rule, a reign. Because wisdom is from God. Wisdom is something we receive. It’s a gift. Knowledge is great. Knowledge, though, is just something we learn, something we accumulate, and I’m not anti-knowledge, nor should you be. But wisdom, man. That’s where it’s at. Wisdom is from God. Isn’t that cool?
Wisdom. We need wisdom. And wisdom, if you think about the word, is seeing life and doing life from God’s perspective. It’s having God’s thoughts, his hands, his feet. It’s doing life God’s way.
The Book of Proverbs talks about anger, sexual temptation, marriage, friendships, work, laziness. I mean, it’s not really that relevant!
We’re going to spend some time as we talk about the books of proverbs. So, today we’re talking about work.
Now, when I say work, what goes through your mind? I don’t care if you’re a homemaker, which is probably the most difficult job out there. I don’t care if you’re a homemaker, a pastor, a poet, a Rockstar. I don’t care if you work in the realm of technology, real estate. It doesn’t matter if you’re a surgeon, a nurse, a teacher. Whatever you do, you are involved, I am involved in human labor.
Here’s one thing I want you to understand about human labor. The first thing I want you to understand. Number one, work is a gift from God. I know that shocks you, like “Come on, now.”
Yep, it is, seriously. Work is a gift, a present from God. Think about back in the Garden of Eden. Before sin saturated the soils of the Garden of Eden. Before man screwed up. Before we dropped the ball. Before we committed cosmic treason, you have God giving Adam and Eve the gift of work. You know what God said? “Take care of my garden.” (And that should but put to rest the age old argument, regarding what is the oldest profession known to man. Landscaping! That’s it.)
They were to work. So work was given to man and woman before the fall of man. Fall, meaning falling into sin. A lot of us have a whack view of work because we’re fallen. We don’t understand how deep work is and how it is a gift from God. But it is. God worked. We’re made in God’s image. God worked.
You’re like, “Get out of town, Ed. Are you serious?”
Yeah, he did. Genesis 1:1, “God created.” That’s work.
Genesis 1:2, “…the spirit of God was hovering…”
Genesis chapter one verse three, “God separated…”
Genesis 1:8, “God called…”
Genesis 1:16, “God made…”
Genesis 1:31, “God saw all that he had made and it was very good.”
Say that with me again. Very good. Read here, accomplishment. Have you ever just wrapped your brain around that? Accomplishment. Why do you like to accomplish things? I do. I mean, it’s that moment when I speak.
People ask me this sometimes, “How much time do you spend in preparation for speaking?” Or, “Where do you get the ideas for these messages?”
People ask me that question squillions of squillions of times. Here it is. It’s basically work. Every minute on stage, I put about an hour of preparation in. And the most difficult thing I do as pastor/CEO of Fellowship Church is this. I mean public speaking, man. It’ll freak you out. It freaks me out. No wonder I had heart valve surgery. It blew a valve. Boom! You know people fear public speaking more than fear death? So people would rather be in the box as opposed to giving the eulogy. Think about that, I’m serious. I’m not kidding you.
So I’m not a guy who’s like, “Oh I want to speak, give me a microphone! Let me entertain you.”
No no no. I’m called to preach, to speak. It’s what I do. It’s the most difficult thing that I do. The most challenging thing that I do. And on Monday mornings, I try to initiate and put the first burst of offensive energy into that which is the most difficult thing for me to do here at fellowship. Hiring staff and dealing with budgets and building, I mean those are challenging, but nothing like this. Day in, day out. Now I’m not whining. I’m not playing the martyr card. I’ve got to come up with a term paper. It’s about, you know, the length of a term paper. It’s going to be research. It’s going to be biblical, number one.
Number two, it’s got to be relevant.
Number three, we have people here who have their seminary degrees, they’ve got to understand it. Also people here, you might be at the first part of your spiritual run, you’re brand new, you don’t know anything about the Bible. It’s got to be irrelevant to you.
Maybe you’re a single parent and you’re just, you know, freaking out because of stress. It’s got to speak to you. Maybe you just lost a loved one. Maybe the grave is still fresh, it’s got to speak to you. Maybe you just scored like, maybe you made a million dollars this week. “Wow, I closed the deal of my life.” It’s got to speak to you. It’s got to be humorous, it’s got to be relevant, it’s got to be funny, got to be biblical.
That will mess you up. No wonder I’m crazy. No, no no. It’s a God thing. But that’s something that I do. And I get to do this. I don’t have to do this. I get to do it.
You get to work. You don’t have to work. You get to work. “Oh, I’ve got to work.” Well that sense of accomplishment is something that money can’t buy, dignity. After I walk off the stage, like “Wow, thank you Jesus.”
And almost every time when I’m driving home in my car, I go “Thank you, Lord, for getting me through another week.” A sense of accomplishment. I mean I put at least 20 hour into today’s talk.
How do you feel when you put your toddler down for the night? A sense of accomplishment. How do you feel when you perform the last surgery? Accomplishment. How do you feel when you’ve taken care of that person at work who’s an absolute fool? A sense of accomplishment. And also relief. How do you feel after you finally finish the lesson plan? How do you feel after you’ve worked and worked and worked and for a whole month, you’ve had a date night every week? A sense of accomplishment. How do you feel when you walk off the field or the court when you’ve just given it your all? A sense of accomplishment. How do you feel when you’ve created something, or maybe you bought a business, and wow, this is my first check. A sense of accomplishment.
It’s God given. It’s God given. God’s a working God and we’re made in his image, and that sense of accomplishment is good. If we don’t work, we’re not going to have dignity. We’re not going to have the self-respect like God wants us to have. It’s a God thing.
Don’t you love the genius of God? He created human labor, a place for us, a venue for us to showcase our talents and abilities and aptitudes? Thank God for it.
Notice also that only is work a gift from God, we have to get to know our CEO. Who’s your CEO? You’re just thinking about some guy in Manhattan somewhere or some lady that you see now and then. No no. Who’s you’re CEO? You’re thinking about, “Well okay, are you talking about my boss? My manager? Are you talking about my teacher or my coach?”
No, no. Who’s your CEO? Well, Colossians 3:23 tells us, it says, “Whatever…” Now this word whatever is a very interesting word. It means whatever. “Whatever you do,” I don’t care if you’re building fences, it doesn’t matter if you’re sweeping floors. Doesn’t matter, students, if you’re taking out the trash. Doesn’t matter if you’re cleaning up your room. Whatever you do, it doesn’t matter if you’re doing squillion dollar real estate deals. It doesn’t matter if you’re making clothes. Whatever you do, do it. That’s right. Do work, man. Do work. “Whatever you do, do it for Jesus. Not for men.”
Here’s an exercise. Do a mental Photoshop right now. Take the person you report to. And husbands, that would be our wives. That was good. I’m joking. Women make the world go round. They’re amazing. But whoever you report to, just for a second, mentally Photoshop the face of Jesus. And let the face of Jesus replace their face. That is who you’re working for.
Your mom and dad tell you, “Hey, here are your chores.”
“Man, I can’t believe dad, mom, man, my friends don’t have to do.”
Put the face of Jesus, mentally, in place of their face. That manager. “Oh, she’s unfair.” Well, life is not fair. Where’s fairness in the Bible? It’s not going to be fair. Put the face of Jesus on that person’s shoulders. Ultimately, you’re not working for her, or him. It’s for Jesus.
And that helps me. Because I have a tendency, this is just me, to be lazy in certain areas. And left to our own devices as human beings, we’re going to always, move toward comfort. I mean, the way of man is not north. It’s south. I just want to relax.
“You know one day I’m going to make enough money to retire. Oh yeah. Aspen, maybe Telluride. Maybe somewhere in the Bahamas. And I’m just going to do absolutely nothing. That’s my goal. To make enough money to just put it on auto pilot. Cruise control.”
Retirement is not in the Bible, did you know that? It’s not there. I mean, I’ve tried to find it. I’m not saying that there aren’t seasons in life. I’m not saying that there are certain seasons where you really have to bust it, and you can, you know, disengage a little bit. I’m not saying that. I’m saying, though, we’re wired for work. We’re wired for it.
ILLUS: I was talking to my financial advisor recently. I could sell a couple of things and retire right now. I’m 57, I have enough money. So I enjoyed it. I’m tired of preaching. I’ll see y’all later. Are you kidding me?! I mean I could. But I’m not going to do that. God has given me an opportunity for human labor. He’s calling me to be pastor of Fellowship Church. So when you see Ed Young, pastor, don’t put a period, put a comma. I’ve invested in real estate, and other investments, and we’ve given generously to Fellowship Church. I’ve written fourteen books and speak all over the place. I mean, do the math. I’m not in this thing for money or like, “Whoa, one day I can retire.” No, sorry. You’ll be stuck with me for a long time.
So if that’s your vibe, okay, great. Okay, let’s say you retired from one job. That’s fine. But do something else. You’ve got to have dignity.
ILLUS: I was having a conversation this Tuesday with a friend of mine. And this guy’s made a ton of money. I know he has. He has a lot of money. And I asked him, I said, “Why do you still work?”
He said, “I’ve got to work.”
I said, “Well what’s a work day for someone like you?” This guy’s a multimillionaire. Multi multi.
He told me, “I get up, early, at the office.”
I’m like, “What do you do at the office?”
He started telling me. I’m like, “Dang. That’s impressive!”
He understands dignity. Then he started talking about younger people that he knows and some of his kids. And he’s like, “I want them to have dignity. I want them, I want young people to have a sense of accomplishment.”
And I said, “Do you mind if I talk about that in church?” Silence. I go, “I’m not going to use your name, but do you mind if I say that?” He goes “Yeah, yeah, say it.”
Isn’t that interesting? So work is a gift from God. It’s a gift from God. Number two, Jesus is our CEO. We’re working for him. Whatever you’re doing, you’re working for him. Work is a gift from God.
But as I told you earlier, and here’s where we’re going to camp out for just a second. I have a tendency toward laziness. And so do you.
Now in a church like this, we have a high octane church. I mean, we have type A personalities. We have very successful people and that great. I love that. And we all have kind of weird view of work because of our falleness. But I’m saying to you is in its purest form, work is a gift from God.
Are there boring times? Yes. Are there times that I want to go, “Man, I just don’t want to show up.” But I’ve got to show up. For what I do, I can’t table it. I can’t file a continuance. I can’t say, “You know what, I don’t feel like speaking before thousands and thousands.” I’ve got to do it.
And there are things in your life, as a homemaker, that you can’t put off. You have stresses I don’t have. I have stresses you don’t have. I don’t care who you are. We’ve got to grind it out.
Some of the time, in fact, I would say this. People ask me, okay, fellowship church. You’ve been at it for 28 years, it’s one of the biggest churches in America, blah blah blah blah. What are some of the secrets? Well, one of my main secrets is this. I just basically show up. If you show up, if you show up, that’s big. Just show up. And then God will take care of the rest.
Cause you’re going to go “Whoa, man, this is a gift. I’m working for Jesus.” But do you have an education? I got to ask you that. Do you really have an education? And I’m not talking about college or Ph.D or your doctorate or your GED. No, no, do you have, I mean do you have a diploma from the University of Ant.
No I didn’t misspeak. You should have a diploma, so should I, from the University of Ant. Because the Bible says, this is Solomon, and when Solomon’s speaking, God is speaking. King Solomon’s talking to his kids and the King of Kings is talking to his kids. Check out Proverbs 6:6-11. And I got to show you my Bible. I drew an ant. See that, right there? You like that? Can you see it? Get it closer. Closer, there. See, okay, focus. There we go! Right there. See? Ah! It bit me.
Okay. See, I’m ADD and if I get off track, I’ll go oh, I’m talking about the ant. See I’ve already started chasing stuff.
But you know, we have this mentality, don’t we? In our world today? Kind of this millennial thing, this vibe, we think, “Oh yeah. I’ll do just enough to get by. It’s kind of the millennial vibe, the socialistic thing.”
Let me tell you something. Socialism is not in scripture. Socialism is horrendous. I just got back from Cuba about a year and a half ago and people talk about how sexy Cuba is, how cool it is. It’s awful. The people are depressed, despondent, they have zero dignity. And I would love for a lot of the college professors to go down there and just see what I saw when I traveled throughout Cuba and spoke. We got to take responsibility.
And sadly, in our welfare system, most people who are on welfare should not be on welfare. The Bible says that if you can work, then work. But if you can work and you don’t work, the Bible says you shouldn’t even eat. I’m all for taking care of the poor. Our church does an amazing job taking care of the poor. And we should do that. If someone cannot help themselves, and someone cannot work, we need to take care of them. But too many women have married the government and it’s more beneficial for them to be on welfare and marry the government and crank out a couple of kids as opposed to being married to someone else. Because that someone else is lazy.
Are you taking responsibility for your life? Go to the ant. You taking responsibility for your stuff? Go to the ant. Proverbs 6:6-11, I love this. Notice first of all the observation. Observe the creation. Observe the ant. And we have so many fire ants around. Man, those things are ubiquitous. Are they not?
“Go to the ant, you sluggard.”
Oh, talk about up in my grill. Sluggard, what is that? Someone’s who’s lazy. Have you ever seen a slug before? Check one out. Look at this picture of a slug. They’re ugly, man. And they don’t even have a shell. And I research them, and they have this mucus trail behind them, as they slither along. Slimy, you know?
If I’m not careful, I can slide and even surf on the slime into the seductive pull of the sluggard. The sluggard and so can you. If I’m on my own, I’ll just kind of slide on the slime of the sluggard. Lazy, doing just enough to get by. “I’ll do that tomorrow. You know, it’s not big deal. Whatever, doesn’t matter how I look. Doesn’t matter how my car is. You know I’m just going to do what I’m going to do. And you know, the boss isn’t looking and.”
Well, Solomon says go to the ant. Ant University, observation. Go to the ant, you sluggard. “Consider its ways, and be wise.” That’s an education. It’s a good observation. An education.
And now the initiation. The ant takes initiative. Are you taking initiative in your marriage? Hey husbands, are you taking initiative with your kids? Moms, are you taking initiative? Hey, CEO, are you taking initiative? Hey manager, are you taking initiative? Teacher, doctor, lawyer, taking initiative? Or do you sit back and go, “I’m just going to slide on the slime of a sluggard.”
Observation, education, initiation. And this is so good, I got to put off a lot of this stuff until next week. Next week I really, there’s some really cool stuff about, oh yeah, I just want him to say it, but, I’m excited. I have to spend another 20 hours on it though. I just know generally what I’m going to talk about, but I got to spend 20 hours before I can really tell you about it, anyway.
“It has no commander, no overseer, or ruler.” Don’t you like that? Self starters. You know Fellowship Church, we hire self-starters. If you’re like, if you have to just sit around and we have to motivate you, have you ever seen…
How many coaches do we have here? If you’re a coach, lift your hand. I love coaches. Don’t be shy, all right, okay. Coaches can motivate. Here’s the coaches clap. Let’s go! Come on ladies! Come on guys! Coaches clap. I mean, I’m a hard clapper. I can clap, man. That’s how coaches work.
So these ants are like, “Hey, chill on the coaches clap. I’ll just take initiative myself.”
Do you take initiative in integrity? At the office? Are you the first to speak the truth? You the first with the innovative idea? I mean, if they could say, okay, who are the top five percent of producers? Would you be in that list? I mean would you be in that conversation? You should be. So should I. Work! Because when we realize we’re working for God, our work space can become a worship place.
I don’t care if you are, as we say in Texas, in the oil bidness. I like that, bidness. You ever seen that? I like a lot of oil guys, when they talk. They don’t open their mouths fully. “Yeah, I’m in the oil bidness, you know.” Guys don’t really open up their mouth a lot, “Yeah, I’m in the oil bidness out dere in west Texas.” I don’t know, I just have picked that up. “Yeah I’m worth about 13 billion, but it’s pretty good.” Anyway, yeah so. Why did I say that? I don’t know what I say some of the things I say. But, I think you feel me.
You have to take initiative. I want the new idea. I want to try it. I want to face the impossible odds. “Oh, we can’t hire that person. The people are not out there.” I’m going to make it happen. I’m going to make the call. As a believer, I need to be that way.
I’m going to change something in our church that’s never been done before. Like these stickers. You ever notice the stickers on the floor? It’s genius. We’re the first ones ever to do that. Stickers. Cheap, they’re just stickers. But they reinforce, phew, man what are we talking about, fool? We’re all foolish in some way, shape, or fashion. Do you think these colors came out of nowhere? With our design team? Do you think this just happened? Name another place that has branding like this. You can’t think of one. Initiative.
Are you initiating stuff in your life? Or just sitting back, waiting, “h I’m just going to wait for the coaches clap.” Let’s go! No. Initiate. Observation, education, invitation. Yeah, took his ant out, man, I’m telling you. Ant Academy, University of Ant.
“It stores its provisions (somebody help this ant) in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Oh that’s great. Be prepared. Ants are prepared.
While other people are going, “Well, I’m going to take a couple of months off. I’m going to take a sabbatical, man.” That’s what the sluggard’s saying. “I’m just going to slide over here and do what I do. I just going to, just take a little break.” The ant’s like, “What are you smoking, Jack? I’m working. Because when I work now, in about four or five months, I’m going to be blessed, and I’m going to receive all of this windfall.”
Are you grinding it out? I mean, are you working hard or hardly working? A lot of people work hard. They’re just majoring on the superfluous and missing the significant.
What does it mean for you to put the ball through the net in your job? As a mom, as a wife, as a husband, as a father. What does it mean for you to put the ball through the net in the oil bidness? What does it mean for you to put the ball through the net as you are cleaning teeth? Or performing surgeries? What does it mean for you to put the ball through the net as you’re working on, maybe a television, a cell phone. Whatever. I mean, what does it mean when you’re designing something? For you to put the ball through the net. What does it mean? If you’re a musician, what does it mean for you to put the ball through the net? Concentrate on that. Initiate there, that’s one.
ILLUS: As I said earlier on Monday, tomorrow morning, I’ll be up early. And I’ve got a holy hangover every single weekend. I’m emotionally fried. I’m not whining, it’s just part of what I do. I’ll put offensive energy into next weekend’s message. Now, I’ve got to travel to New York and speak three straight times on Thursday, but guess what? That’s not the most important thing I do, is it? I mean, that’s great. Most important thing I do is what? Fellowship church. Weekend, here.
Are you thinking about your job that way? You should be. It’s awesome. We get to work! And when we mean business with God, he does business in our business. Observation, education, invitation, preparation.
ILLUS: There’s a guy, I don’t want to embarrass anyone on our staff right now at Fellowship. This guy is a working machine. Now everybody in Fellowship has a great work ethic. We are for intensity, not intellect. We are the heart, not for head knowledge. However, this guy is a smart worker and I mean he is an initiative taker. If we just mention an idea in a staff meeting, he’s already on it, I mean, when we just mention it. Amazing!
And here’s what I’ve seen. His kids are unbelievable workers. He takes his kids with him when he can, and they’re working machines! Isn’t that great? I hope I hire all of them one day. And there’s one right here on the front row, I’m not going to point her out, but she knows who she is.
Work. Ant Academy! Work! The University of Ant. I don’t want to slide on the slime of a sluggard. But it’s sexy just to relax. Just to really work on not working. Just to chill, to do enough to get by. “My parents will take care of me. Oh, the government. They’re there to take care of me, right? Isn’t that right?”
Travel to Havana with me the next time I go. I’d like to take every professor fuzzy face at Harvard and Yale and all the other schools down there to Cuba, and they would go, “Oh my gosh! I’m changing everything I’m saying!” That’s just my personal opinion.
Observation, education, don’t you love this alliteration? Initiation, preparation, and procrastination. Last thing I’m going to talk about. Last thing. Procrastination. That’s what a sluggard does. He or she, they procrastinate.
And man, Solomon, and this is so brilliant. He goes, two questions. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? Isn’t that amazing? Doing the same things the same way, expecting unique results. Sorry, you’re going to fail.
Number two. When will you get up from your sleep? I love this. A little sleep, see just a little bit. A little slumber, just a little bit. A little folding of the hands to rest. And poverty, oh my gosh. Will come on you like a thief. Scarcity, like an armed man.
If you’ve ever been mugged or robbed, I mean you don’t plan it, do you? You don’t say, “Oh, watch this. I’m getting ready to be assaulted.” No. Happens out of nowhere. He’s like, all right. That was a good meal, like that, you’re walking. Boom! You know. Here’s my wallet, here you want it, you want it, you know. Out of nowhere.
Here’s the application. In poverty, I’m talking to the sluggard. That slow moving, snail like creature leaves a trail of mucus. And poverty, financial poverty. Relational poverty. Spiritual poverty. Emotional poverty will come on you like a thief.
T.S. I thought about, how can we close today’s session down? Because we’re done. I’m five minutes and 46 seconds over time, that’s okay. We’re going to do an exercise right now. And this is going to be an exercise in images on our screens. Now here’s all you have to do. I want you, right now, to yourself, just ask the Holy Spirit of God to prompt, to affirm, maybe to get up in your face a little bit. Because I don’t think we have generalized sluggardness here, generally speaking.
We don’t have a bunch of sluggards here, no. Heck no. I can tell by looking at you guys. I’m talking about some of us, I’m talking to myself. Because I’ve already done this exercise. We have selective sluggardness, are you feeling me? Kind of latent areas of laziness. So the Holy Spirit’s going to point those out and I just want to whet your appetite now, and we’ll continue with this next time.
Let’s look at the first image. Family. You know, half of our church at fellowship, half of our church will be single parent families. About half. Isn’t that amazing? And then so many many come from divorce situations. Okay? And many have the nuclear family set up. Here’s what I’m going to ask you. What’s the Holy Spirit of God saying to you? I’m talking to wives right now about the priority of your marriage. How are you doing? Husbands. What’s the holy spirit of God telling you about the priority of your marriage? It’s the only relationship, the only one, that’s analogous to God’s relationship with his people. Isn’t that interesting? It’s not parenting. It’s not your cousin or your uncle.
I’m reading a tragic book right now about Tiger Woods. He has one of the saddest families. His mom and dad, so sad. I’ve ever studied in my life. What a tragedy. Over and over and over, they said, as a kid, “It’s all about Tiger.” Over and over and over. “It’s all about Tiger.” Over and over and over, Tiger Tiger Tiger. Their lives are in shambles. Look at Tiger Woods. He needs our prayers.
This can happen whether you have hundreds of millions like Tiger, or whether you have nothing. What’s God saying to you? Marriage is the most important thing. So goes your marriage, so goes everything else. How about your kids? Some of you are like, “Well, man, I’m making a lot of money out there in the market place and I’m like a scratch golfer.” How about your kids? Are you impressing upon them the importance of work and dignity? Are you disciplining them with love? Yeah, with authority?
Next line. Work. I like that kind of, just kind of universal, you know? How’s your work? I’ll say it again. Honesty, integrity, innovation, creativity. Concentrating on the significant, focus, trying new things. Maybe stepping out and starting a new company. I don’t know. How are you in that? I’m talking to students and kids. How are you in that?
Next slide. How about health? Wow. Man, that’s good picting. You know the Bible talks about that? The Bible says that our bodies are a temple, a dwelling place of the holy spirit of God? It says don’t trash the temple. Are you eating a healthy amount of food? I mean I understand. At least they’re not trying to live by 90 10 principle. 90% of the time, you eat pretty healthy. The other 10%, yeah we’ll cheat on the diet. See, some people worship food. You have anorexia, bulimia, and even guys, man worship their hulking six pack. Maybe an eight pack, I’m ripped. And they’re as whacked about that as the super model is about her food. So guys, we’re in the same, do do do, big man. What do you think, man? Isn’t that funny? So I’m talking about a balance here. How about working out? Cardio, some strength training. This is the only body we have, don’t trash the temple.
Next slide. And this is convicting, isn’t it? Cash money. Money. Money matters to God. It does. Money matters to the poor. And I’m thankful. What we’re doing right now for the poor at Fellowship Church. We’re doing stuff for the poor that we couldn’t do if we had 100 people. Or 5,000 people. We have many more people, many more than that. We do huge things for the poor. Our money matters to continue to perpetuate and to push down field the church. And Lisa and I have been a part of that, many of you have been a part of that. Are you lazy with your stewardship? Maybe you’re over spending. “You see, man my credit cards, I’m drowning in debt.” Sloth wise.
Another one. Jesus. Think about the work. God the father is a worker. God the son did the work on the cross, for your sins and mine. The Holy Spirit of God is working in all of our lives. Jesus didn’t sit back on his celestial futon and say, “You know what, haha. Mankind’s in a mess. I’ll just leave you in that chaos.”
What if he had done that? He’s had every right to do it, because we sin. But he took the initiative, did he not? Died on the cross for our sins, rose again, diligence. Intentionality he offers up to you and me. A personal relationship with him. Have you made that? Have you taken that step?
You might be on the back row of the balcony, I can barely see you. You can be in one of our family rooms at our Miami campus. You could be on front row at our north point campus. You might be right there in the grammar school in Celina/Prosper. You could be in downtown Dallas. Maybe you’re in one of those cool theater seats in Keller. Or Southlake. Maybe you’re at our Fort Worth campus across from Montgomery plaza. Maybe you’re at Allaso Ranch overlooking the lake right now through the windows as you’re listening and watching. Maybe you’re online somewhere here, maybe you’re in Europe, I don’t know where you are. Where are you?
Have you made that decision to receive Christ? You can make it right now. And your work will never be the same. Listen to me. There’s a work that only he could do. And there’s a work that only you can do. Have you received the work of our wonderful savior? Let’s pray.
[Ed ends in closing prayer.]
