Love in Action at Work, School, and Play

How do we live out Christian love in our everyday environments? In this final message of the Love in Action series, Pastor Chris shares practical ways to reflect Christ’s love at work, school, and in our hobbies. The world values achievements, but Jesus calls us to a higher standard—to serve, love, and be a light in all that we do.

Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2285086/episodes/16678450

Key Points:

1. Work, School, and Play as Worship – Serve with Excellence
   • Colossians 3:23-24 – Work as for the Lord, not for men.
   • Worship isn’t just singing at church—it’s giving our best in everything we do.
2. Be a Light in Every Environment – Shine God’s Love
   • Matthew 5:14-16 – Let your light shine before others.
   • People notice how we treat others—be a positive example in all settings.
3. Practice Humility and Teamwork – Put Others First
   • Mark 10:45 – Jesus came to serve, not to be served.
   • True success is found in serving and supporting others.
4. Speak Life-Giving Words – Love Through Encouragement
   • Proverbs 15:4 – The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life.
   • Our words can uplift or tear down—choose to build others up.
5. Be Ready to Share Your Faith – Love Through Bold Witness
   • 1 Peter 3:15 – Always be ready to give an answer for your hope.
   • Live in a way that naturally points others to Jesus.

Notable Quotes:

• "Worship isn’t just about singing—it’s how we work, study, and play."
• "Success isn’t about achievements; it’s about glorifying God."
• "Being a light means living with integrity, kindness, and faith."

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Examine your environment – Are you showing Christ’s love at work, school, and in hobbies?
2. Encourage someone this week – Speak life-giving words.
3. Serve others – Look for ways to put others first.
4. Be bold in your faith – Pray for opportunities to share Jesus.

Personal Stories from Pastor Chris:

• Lessons from Playing Checkers: His step-grandmother never let him win, teaching him perseverance and wisdom.
• Boxing with Church Members: Declining an invitation to box with church members, recognizing the potential risks to relationships and testimony.
• Japanese Workplace Culture: Building friendships at work by engaging in conversations, even when cultural differences were strong.

Scripture References:

• Colossians 3:23-24 – Work as worship.
• Matthew 5:14-16 – Shine God’s light.
• Mark 10:45 – Serve as Jesus did.
• Proverbs 15:4 – Speak encouragement.
• 1 Peter 3:15 – Be ready to share your faith.

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Chris Teien, Pastor of Rockwell Church in Virginia, Minnesota, shares biblical preaching and practical encouragement through the WELL Faith Sermon Audio Podcast, along with occasional guest speakers.

New messages are shared every week to encourage you in your faith and help you apply God's Word to your life.

Learn more at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.church

Transcript

Chris T 0:00

Love in action, the last of our series, our four-week series on love, love in action. This one is work, school, and play. So I think there's something for everyone here. So after today, then I'm gonna go through the book of Jude for the next month and talk about being steadfast and living our Christian lives. And so that would be good. And then the Easter season comes along. Isn't that pretty crazy? So just time stops for new one, no one. But I don't know where you are in your life as far as when it comes to your hobbies. Uh some people work, some people are retired, some people are looking for work, some people work too many jobs. Um work. How do you show love for Christ at work? What about school? So maybe you're a student, maybe you're going to college or graduate school, or just a lifelong learner and you're learning from someone. How can you show Christ's love in action at school? What about play? What about sports or your hobby, or I don't know. Seems like there's more and more people playing pickleball nowadays. So are you all into pickleball? So the idea of showing love in sports, in hobbies, in competition, it can be a big thing because sometimes we're very competitive, and it's hard for us to actually show love when we're being super competitive. Sometimes we need to have wisdom when we want to show love, and um just choose to do the right thing. So I'm not sure if this would be the right thing or not. But when I was little and I would play checkers with my stepgrandma, she would never ever let me win. So it was like it was something you let the little kid win, but no, he wanted to make sure that I was knew how to play, and I don't think she ever let me win, which is maybe a wise thing. Maybe it made me work harder to try to win that game. So as I grew older, I got wise in the things I chose to do and not do. Uh in my last church, one of the leaders in my church had a little barn, and so guys from the church were going over there boxing each other. So it sounds like a good time, right? Let's go feed on each other with boxing gloves. And so they kept inviting me. So they'd come to the Bible study and say, You gotta come box with us, you gotta come box with us. And finally I told them, I'm like, hey, so there's three reasons why I won't box with you, besides the fact that your arms are like really long and there's no way I could even get in there. Um, one, I might be so good that every one of you want to box me, or I might be so bad that you don't respect me. You'd be like, I'm not going to his church, he can't box. He's surely not a leader I want to follow. And then the third reason I said, you know, as we've grown older, especially when somebody gets to be over 200 pounds and they hit somebody, people can really get hurt. But I said, I might get hit just right so that I get angry and I lose my sanctification. And so I just don't think that's a wise thing to do. But so when you think about work, school, and play, and your obligation as a Christ follower, as an ambassador of Christ, to show Christian love. Today I just really want to give you a bunch of ideas on how we can do that. So for the whole month we've been talking about love and talking about how to live the Christian life and how that works out, because Jesus says that by our love people will know we're disciples. So that should mark us. So that doesn't mean that we're weak and that we're over-emotional, um, but it shows that we care, we put our love into action, and that is a very important thing. So the world uh often defines success by what we achieve by titles or grades or wins, but Jesus calls us to a higher purpose to love one another, and we can show love and care for people and have a great opportunity to show the love of Christ for people at our workplace, at our school, and at our hobbies, at our play, in those activities that we do. So, number one, work, school, and play as worship, to serve with excellence. So many years ago, many, many years ago, like right before I met my wife, when I don't even remember if it was called Crown College or St. Paul Bible College, but I walked onto campus and they're like, You should play football for us. And I'm like, Yeah, I don't know if that would fit into my schedule. But that probably would have been fun. But when I was going to high school in that in the town, there were some crown St. Paul Bible College football players that worked at Hardy's with me. And it's like this one guy, Tim, he'd come in all beat up. He'd be like, Yeah, there's so few players on the team that I had to play both ways for the entire game. And so, and they would always lose the games. So back then they didn't they didn't play a lot of games. But he said, But the coaches, they have this booklet, I think it was called Praise Performance, and it talked about honoring and worshiping God by giving your best on the field, whether you lose or win. And I've always remembered that, I've always thought about that, that that is a thing that you know, at your work or your school or your play, you do your best to honor God by doing everything that you can to do what's right in God's eyes. So worship involves everything. It isn't worship isn't just coming to church and singing songs and praying in this worship center, but worship is your whole life, your whole life showing value to God as a Christ follower. Warren Wearsby said, worship is the believer's response of all that they are mind, emotions, will, body, to what God is and says and does. So we worship by all that we do, and we're told to do everything in love. So when we see our job as an opportunity to glorify God, to maintain integrity and diligence, even when no one is watching that glorifies God. So when I worked uh for the optical company, I saw that God had given me a job and I was learning skills, and my purpose was to um glorify God by working hard, learning all that I could, and to help people see better. So that was a that was a good thing. But God calls us to honor and worship Him, and through the quality of our work or the diligence of our studying or the way that we play the game, uh it can make a big difference. So remember back when we did the series on Joseph, when Joseph was in Egypt, that he worked diligently, whether in slavery or leadership, because he saw his work as serving God. And so he was he was even faithful in the prison. And eventually then God took him out of the prison and made him second in charge of all the land. And God can use us in that way too. Now he may not promote you to be in charge of everything, but sometimes he can. But you'll never go wrong by showing Christian love to others at work. Treat your job as an opportunity to glorify God, maintaining integrity and diligence, even when no one is watching. I already said that. At school, approach learning as an opportunity to grow and honor God with your mind, respecting teachers and classmates. And at play, engage in sports and hobbies with a spirit of joy and fairness, showing good sportsmanship. I always like it when people are like super competitive, but they're also super kind. It's like they will do everything to score that point and level you, but like in football, but then they're also quick to come along and you know help you get up and just say, hey, you know, it's it's the game. That's what we do. So do you see your work or studies as an act of worship to God? How can I honor Christ and the way I approach my daily tasks? And what is one practical way I can show love through my work or school performance? So here's some ideas to make it real practical. So make it real practical. Let me read uh Colossians 3 23 first. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the master you are serving is Christ. So, and to do everything again in love. So you can arrive on time and be reliable and be consistent and show respect for others and build trust. Be one of those people that you can be counted on. I was listening to a leadership book that said that even in some workplaces where the management, where the people in charge don't particularly honor Christ or think much of quote, religion, they do really appreciate the Christian employees that they can count on, the ones that they know are having honesty and integrity and getting the job that they were hired to do done. That makes a lasting impression. Expressing gratitude, thanking your boss, teacher, coach, or teammates for their efforts, keeping your workspace or your desktop or your your locker clean and safe, offering help without being asked. If you see a coworker struggling, a classmate overwhelmed, or a teammate needing support, step in and lend a hand proactively. So acknowledge and celebrate other people's milestones or victories, their birthdays, their anniversaries, their achievements. So give credit where credit is due. Recognize and appreciate the efforts of your peers instead of seeking personal recognition. So and smile and bring energy to the environment. So make it so people like to be around you. You may not do all of the things that they do, but you can still be a winsome person. So again, I was working at this optical company, and in the very beginning, it was a Japanese company. And so when it first started, there were Japanese people around. And so the physicists, guys, and stuff like that that were making up the stuff for the anti-reflective coating, they would have, if they liked you, if they liked you, they would invite you to have sake with them after work. And all this weird food, like I don't know, it was like chocolate with seaweed in it. I don't know what they saw in that. But so I never drank, and I didn't really care for the salty, seaweedy, chocolatey stuff. But I cared about them, so I would, you know, participate. And they liked to, I don't know half of what they were saying, but they sure laughed a lot, and I laughed a lot, and so I think we had a rapport. And I think that was a good thing to do in the workplace. And so I think that if we are seeking to make a difference in our workplace, if we're seeking to show love at work, at school, and at play, we'll want to do what we can not to always hide away. So it's easy for Christians to just hang out with their Christian friends, and it's easy for Christians to just, you know, stay in the church and never do anything on the outside. But we might want to look for ways to make relationships, to make friendships, to join things so that we can have more of an influence for Christ, so that we have unsaved people as friends. So it's hard to win lost people to Christ if we don't know any lost people. All right, number two, be a light in every environment and shine God's love. So to be a light, are you a light? Would people look to you as a light? So you are a light of the you are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden, it says in Matthew chapter five. Neither do people put a lamp, put neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stands, and it gives light to everyone in the house, in the same way. Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. By this everyone will know that you are my discipl my disciples if you love one another, it says in John 13, 35. So to be that light, to be that person that stands out to be a light in a dark place. I've heard that there are a lot of people that would stand up for Christ if somebody around them would. So at your workplace, you might feel like you're the only Christ follower. But my guess is you are probably not the only Christ follower, but you may be the only Christ follower that steps up and says anything about your faith in Christ, about living in Christ, about your about importance of Christ, about praying for things. So there was a time at that place that I worked where their biggest customer went bankrupt and went out of business and paid like a dime of dime on the dollar of their debts, and uh it was tough, and so we didn't want to lose our jobs, and so the few of us that were Christ followers got together and started praying for it, praying through it, praying for the company, and amazing things happened, and new customers came around and things rebounded, and people didn't lose their jobs, and second-class merchandise was sold to someone in another country, which made up for the loss of sales for a while. And God worked through that. And I think that the leadership of that company, while they thought that we were naive at first, saw that as a positive thing, as a good thing that we were praying and God was working. Think about that. Are you a light where you are? Are you a light in your neighborhood? Are you a light at your work? Are you a light on the team? Are you a light in whatever it is that you're involved in? Do people even know that you're a Christ follower? Our actions, our attitudes, and our words should reflect the love of Christ. People often notice how we respond to difficulties, treat others, and conduct ourselves. When we live with integrity and love, we shine brightly and point others to Jesus. So at work we can speak positively, we can be honest in our dealings and show kindness to difficult coworkers. So at school we can include others who feel left out, encourage friends and avoid gossiping. And at play, we can be fair, encourage teammates, and respond with grace, whether you win or lose. You know, there's people on sports teams and people in businesses and even people in schools that will try to withhold information from you, trying to keep you from being successful, trying to keep you from achieving what they want. So they're like so competitive that they will try to like sabotage what you might be able to accomplish and what you might be able to do. Some people in workplaces might not show the new person or their coworker how to get something done so that they can continue to be the one that does it. Um so you could actually get multiple people that all have the skill to make the company better, as opposed to one person that just holds out and says, you know, it's all about me. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna show you how to do that or give you the resources so that we can all be victorious together. So I always like this thought that you should try to work yourself out of a job and pass on things to other people so that they can do it so that you can continue to move on. But maybe that's because I'm wired differently than some other people. So some people can, and they they thrive on this, they'll go to a job, like a factory job, and they'll do the same thing over and over and over again. That's their deal, is that you know, I'm just so happy. I worked at the soft soap corporation or whatever it was called, the place where they make soft soap as a temporary for a little bit, a long time ago. And so there are these ladies, and their job was to screw caps on the soft soap machines. So I would load up the hopper, and you know, the stuff would come down the conveyor belt, and the machine would shoot the liquid in and they would twist the caps on. I'm sure there's robots that do that nowadays. And then I would load everything into the box, put it on a pallet, stack the pallet, run out to the dock, come back with more empty bottles, and come back and you know, fill this up. And so for me, I was trying to work for the glory. It was just a temporary job. I was working construction and it was a rainy week. But so I was doing all this and I was working as unto the Lord as hard as I could. And finally one of the managers came up and they said, You're really good at this. Would you like to work here permanently? In which I shook my head, I'm like, no, thank you. No, I don't want to do this over and over again. So, me, I love to like build something and get on to the next challenge. So, for church ministry, I like to stay in the same church, but I like to you know figure out you know what we can do to grow this or help this or fix this and you know, keep praying each week. You know, what is it that we can do? Uh Lord, what is it that we can do? How should I best use my time? What is this week about? And so to me, that's exciting. And so as we do that, the more things that I can you know develop and pass on to other people, the more other things I can do, or pray for, or think about, or there's just so many things the pastor's job is never done. Probably your work things are never done either. But to be a light, to show that you care, to pray for open doors and boldness, to ask God each day to give you opportunities to share your faith and courage, to speak when the moment arises, so that in a winsome way you can tell people about your faith and even pray with them, to live with integrity as your testimony, to let your actions reflect Christ, so that when you share your faith, people see the consistency between who you are and what you're saying. To ask thoughtful questions about faith instead of forcing a conversation. Ask co-workers, climate classmates, and teammates what they believe about God, purpose, or eternity, and to share your personal faith story. So being ready to briefly share what Christ has done in your life. So I knew this guy, and he was like a computer programmer, and he was going, he was doing everything he could to try to share Jesus with all of his work people. And he wasn't finding much success. People were pushing back, and so finally he just grew frustrated. He's like, Lord, I can't do this anymore. I would I want to be a light at my workplace, and I want these people to find Jesus, but I it just doesn't seem like it's working because he was using every opportunity he could to you know draw something into a spiritual conversation and just a big evangelistic push, and people didn't like it. So he's like, Lord, I want to serve you, I want to live for you, I want to be your ambassador, but I'm not gonna ask them like I was anymore. If they if you want them to come to Christ, they need to come to me and you know, enter, like the open the door for a spiritual conversation. So I I want to be all that you want me to be, but I'm just gonna wait a little longer for the people to act or to show their interest. He's like, everything turned around for me. He's like, people were coming and asking me questions all the time, you know, and I didn't even expect it. The door was open for me to share my faith as they were inquiring. So you could analyze that and say, well, it's because you were so vocal in the first place that they knew that you were somebody that could be talked to. Or, you know, maybe the spirit was just opening the door. But anyway, it was a good thing. So his heart was in the right place, his motive was in the right place, his deal was he wanted to be a light at his work, and he was. So look for moments to pray for people. Maybe you can keep a Bible or scripture-based item visible. Maybe if it's allowed something on your desk or something. Speak about Jesus naturally, like he's part of your life. That's the way it's supposed to be. So don't try to overimpress people. Invite people to church or Bible study. Be intentional about inviting co-workers, classmates, or teammates to church events, small groups or Christian activities. So offer a Christian book or podcast link or verse or something that inspired you in your faith. Now there's like so many videos and things, like yesterday, I think. Yesterday was I Am Second Day. So I am second.com. I mentioned that ministry before, but it's got a ton of different videos uh from people that are famous and not famous that talk about their life before Christ or this hard thing that they went through, or you know, anyway, how they sit in a white chair and they share their testimony. They're like seven minutes long, usually, or somewhere around there. And so they talk about uh you know how Christ changed their life, and they usually end by saying the phrase about something like um uh Jesus is first and I am second. So I used to have I am second on the back of my truck, and people would ask me questions about that, and that was good. So and now they're trying to offer evangelism training material. So it's been going on for like 16 years, but it is a good resource. It is a good resource. So another thing that's a good resource that I mentioned before is Sports Spectrum, sportspectrum.com, Sports Spectrum magazines, sports spectrum videos, and they have all these testimonies of these athletes that and other people that of their walk in Christ, you know what's significant. So one that just came out the other day was William Byron, secures back-to-back Daytona 500 as he leans on the grace of God. So on February 16th, he won the Daytona 500 for the second time in a row. So, one of the few people to ever do that, and also the youngest person to ever do that. But it talks about you know racing and how the cars were crashing and how he just had the opportunity to, you know, survive in the midst of all the wrecks to end up becoming the leader of the race and all this stuff. What I thought was interesting about the article that applies to The message is that while it talks about you know racing and all the different things that he's done in the gives the play by play of the race. He says, I'm just obvious obviously fortunate that it worked out in our favor, but just really proud of this team. I can't stress that enough. I'm super thankful for this group and everything that they do in the off-season to get prepared. We plan on trying to win a lot of races this year, so we're not going to stop here. He's developed into one of the top NASCAR drivers in the world, but he's also leaned on his faith in Jesus, which is important that he leans on his faith in Jesus, since his main spot one of his main sponsors is Liberty University. But I think he's got a degree recently from Liberty also. But he said that his family, when he was growing up, would take him to church, but his faith became his own as he got older, which is interesting because if you're in racing, usually your family doesn't take you to church because your family spends all the time taking you to races all the time. We used to have a kid in the church that was a national champion go-kart racer. And so Shane was always traveling somewhere to the next race. So yeah, I was his youth pastor. But anyway, so this in the article, then, this race car driver who you know gives credit to his team, who's being a light of Christ on the racetrack, he asks about who's at the Liberty Convocation speaking. He said, Why do you wake up in the morning? What motivates you to do what you do? How does your faith incorporate into that? And what do you use from your faith to motivate you? He said, I knew racing was my calling. I knew it was what I wanted to do, and then there were a lot of things that lined up for me to do it, but nothing else in my life has had that effect, and I owe a lot of that to God and his purpose for me. And he goes on, so I need to actually get my grandson a subscription to the magazine of Sports Spectrum as he gets older and he's into sports. But okay, so everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another, if we are a light for Christ, a light in the environment, to do everything that you can think of to try to draw people into a relationship with Christ. And as you're doing this in the workplace, especially, you want to make sure that you do it on your time. So you don't want to do it unless you have permission from your boss. Some places where you work, they'll give you the boss is a Christian, he'll say, I'll pay you. You know, if you want to share Christ on my dollar, I'm good with it. Other people are like, you're stealing company time. So maybe you talk to them during break, or maybe you invite them to your house for a barbecue, or maybe you take them out to eat, or maybe you say, Hey, we've been sitting here in these cubicles all day, you want to go for a walk with me, or something like that. But you look for opportunities to shine as a light of Christ without being convicted of you know stealing company time or doing um proselytizing or something like that. There is a way to make it work. All right, number three, practice humility and teamwork to put others first. So I just read in an article, an example of teamwork. But teamwork is something, you know, teamwork makes the dream work. Teamwork is something that's very important for us as Christ followers and the church. We're all supposed to use our spiritual gifts. We're all supposed to have some form of ministry, be involved somehow. The pastor's not supposed to do everything. Ephesians 4.11 says that God gave pastors to be equippers, not to do all the ministry themselves. And there's so many things that you guys do. So many things, and I mentioned this before, but you know, people that work behind the scenes to make this all happen. So, matter of fact, they could use a little more help at the Sound Tech booth over there to help get this stuff online, and so there's always opportunities on the worship team, and just look at the list. There's many different ways, but there's so many things that people do to make this work. The people that teach your kids downstairs in children's church, the Sunday school, all of those things, the care team, all of those things. But humility. So Mark 1045 says, even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So that type of servant leadership where you care for one another, when you put other people above yourself, when you go out of your way to serve that um colleague or your um student with you in your school or a teammate without expecting recognition, you know, supporting them, giving credit, helping others succeed instead of saying me, me, me, say we, we, we, being willing to help struggling classmates, be a team player, celebrate other successes, and put effort into teamwork over personal glory. So there's just so many ways that you can really think that through on your own and think about what you could do to be a better team player, what could you do to be better at serving together? Some examples are admitting when you're wrong, being quick to acknowledge mistakes and apologize sincerely. True humility means valuing truth over ego, uh, seeking input from others before making decisions, whether at work, in a group project, or on a team. Uh involve others in decision making instead of assuming you know best, celebrating others' successes without envy. Um, ask how you can help instead of waiting to be asked. Uh listen more than you speak and give others the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas, or concerns before giving your opinion. Uh take on unnoticed or less glamorous tasks, volunteer for jobs that others avoid, whether it's cleaning up. So and that's interesting too, that being a servant leadership or being a servant leader and in that type of leadership doesn't necessarily mean that you go do. You should always be willing to do and know how to do, even the most meaningless or the you know, the tasks that you know aren't important or the as high esteem or whatever. But I think as the leader, sometimes what you do is you get a group of people together and you say things like, Hey, so this is the problem that we have. You know, we've got we've got this this disorganized mess over here. What can we do to fix this? What can we do to make it better? What are some of your suggestions? And then they might say, We could try this or we could stop doing this or all of these different things. And then they can come to a consensus and then say, okay, so these are the things we need to do, who's gonna do that? And then they'll decide who's gonna do it. And so you didn't, as the leader, you pointed out the problem and got the team together. But since you're supposed to be leading all of these other things, you help them to find a solution, to make a commitment to get it done, and then see seeing it as their own idea, so it's gonna get done, and that can be a really great thing. And so you want to do everything that you can to be successful and also do what you can to encourage other people to do their best. So then you would thank them. And when they're getting it done, you know, maybe call the fact out that hey, they're doing a great job, and so they they figured this out, and this is this is really great. And in the Christian life, we can do the same thing. We can get together with our friends, we can have a small group, and we can say, hey, you know, what could we do as a group to be more effective? What could we do to get more people involved? Or, you know, and then come up as a group and then make a commitment to do it. So to show patience with others when they struggle, if a coworker, classmate, or teammate is having a hard time, don't get frustrated, be supportive and offer help. So sometimes you help them to find a different position or different place to play on the team, or more than one time. I've seen a coach say, Hey, you know, we really like you on this team, but you like to help manage it instead of actually playing on it. And sometimes you get a kid that is a better statistician than he is actually a player, and then the kid's happy in his new role. So sometimes it's the parents that force the kid into the role, and he didn't really want to be on the team in the same in the first place. But all right, number four, speak life-giving words. Love through encouragement to speak life-giving words. So the tongue that heals is a tree of life, but a devious tongue breaks the spirit, it says in Rome, in Proverbs 15, 4. And in Ephesians 4 29, it says, Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. So we have the power with our words to tear people down or to build them up. We can encourage, strengthen, and uplift others. In Acts 11, we see Barnabas. Barnabas is the encourager. If I say to you, you are such a Barnabas, that means I'm telling you that you are such an encourager. So he helped build up believers, strengthening them in their faith. So Paul invested into Timothy and mentored Timothy, encouraging him to grow in faith and leadership, and that was a good thing. So let's see here. It's amazing how fast time goes. So ask yourself, do my words build others up or tear them down? How can I encourage someone who is struggling? And am I intentional about speaking life-giving words? So publicly praise someone's efforts when uh recogn when appropriate, recognize a coworker, classmate, or teammate. Speak hope into someone's future, encourage others by reminding them of their potential skills or how God is working in their lives. Sometimes that's so huge when you come alongside somebody and say, you know, God has got a great plan for your life, and I I think that you're you know really good at teaching, or you're good at leading, or you're when when you speak, so many times you speak wisdom from the word of God, and it's it's so good. And I just want to encourage you to keep doing that. So those are good things, but so be an encouragement in tough times. When someone is struggling, remind them that they are not alone and that God is with them. And then number five, the last one. So be ready to share your faith with love through bold witness. So I've already mentioned this, but 1 Peter 3:15, and said you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. So that is a good thing to always be ready to share about your hope in Christ. Because you'll never know when someone comes up to you and asks you why you're different and you know what makes you the way you are, in which you can say, Christ Jesus in me, and then tell them about your faith in Christ. And 2 Corinthians 5 20, we're Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. So again, we should do everything that we can to be ready to share Christ with people. We should be sharing Christ through our actions, through the things that we say, the things that we listen to, sometimes even the things that we wear. So I used to rep a Christian t-shirt company. So on the weekends, sometimes I'd go to like uh concerts and stuff and sell Christian t-shirts. And there were some, I I got like Christian t-shirts for half price. So there were a bunch that I would wear, but there are a few that were like intensely evangelistic, you know, kind of like Turner Byrne shirts, and I always felt a little, I don't know, back then, a little nervous to wear them, you know, thinking I'd be like persecuted for wearing it. But yeah, I think that most people knew that I was a Christ follower. And hopefully they know that you're a Christ follower at work, at school, and on your team demonstrating Christ's love. So am I prepared to share my faith when the opportunity arises? Ask yourself. Do my actions match my faith, making my witness effective? And how can I be intentional in pointing others to Jesus? So I'm gonna show you a video in a second. I wanted to mention something from last or from a couple weeks ago, when I talked about seasons in a person's life, and we looked at Ecclesiastes and we looked at the spring, summer, fall, and winter of a life. I thought it was interesting that John Acuff in his book Start, and I think there's actually a video with that on RightNow Media, outlines five stages that individually typically navigate on the path to an awesome life. So instead of seasons, one, learning, acquiring new skills and knowledge, and then the season two, editing, refining, and focusing on what's essential. Three, mastering, achieving proficiency in chosen areas, four, harvesting, reaping the benefits of one's efforts, and then five, guiding, mentoring others, and sharing wisdom. And so I don't know which one of those phases that you're in, which one of those seasons that you're in, but you might be the kind of person that is ready and prepared to disciple someone and help them to grow up in their faith. So next month we're gonna be in what I call the lighthouse series, because every, as I was looking for sermon slides, everyone's a lighthouse, but steadfast, how to stand firm in the faith. And so the first one will be how to live with confidence in Christ. I'm gonna pray and then I'm gonna show a video clip and then the worship team is gonna come up. But Lord, I thank you that we have this opportunity to live for you and to be involved in all of the different things that you've blessed us with. We've got sports, we've got work, we've got hobbies, we've got all these different things that we can choose to do. And we pray that we can do so in a way that glorifies you. I pray that you give us opportunities to lead lost people to Christ. And if there's anybody here that's never received you as our Lord and Savior, those who are still stuck in sin, that they would pray, Lord Jesus, please forgive me, save me, come into my life and make me the person you created me to be. I want to follow after you. I acknowledge that you died on the cross and rose again, and I want to believe, place my faith in you. So we ask this in Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

There is a love that knows no end, a love that calls us home again. It lifts the fallen, it holds the weak, and in our silence it will speak. It holds the stars, it calms the seas. In the heart it whispers, Come to me. Not bound by time, not lost in space, it reaches wide, it fills this place. No height, no depth, no place too far, no sin too great, no heart too scarred. In every joy, in every tear. God's love is constant and always near. A gift of grace, forever true, a love that gave its life for you. It never fails, it shall not cease. The love of God, our perfect peace.