Instructions for Life

Have you ever wished that life came with a step by step manual? Well listen to this sermon and get some very relevant and practical instructions for living. 

No rights owned to “Trust in You” by Anthony Brown & group therAPy. 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:32

Good morning, good morning, everyone, and how are you? Welcome to our noonday service this morning. I'm gonna ask that you if you're able, please put yourselves on mute as I'm not able to mute you today. So I am very sorry about that, but I've been out of town and it always happens that things go awry. So um let's not let the devil win. If you're on the call, if you will please put yourself on mute, I would appreciate it. Thank you. And let us begin our noonday service in prayer. Father God, in the name of Jesus, we come before you right now just to say thank you, Lord. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for waking us up this morning, Lord, that we are in our right minds. We thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for us, for all the blessings of this day and in days to come. We just say thank you, Lord. Thank you. And we pray right now for those that are sick among us, Lord. We pray for um Sister Carolyn Williams, Lord. We pray for Brother Lawrence Williams, we pray for Reverend and Mrs. Charles Prennell, we pray, Lord, for Sister Jennifer Clayton that's undergoing surgery tomorrow. Lord, we pray for Prince Chapel, AME Church, and Fernandina Beach as they have had a problem with flooding in their church. And Lord, we just ask you to be with them. Be with all of our churches, Lord. Please help them as they try to upbuild your kingdom. Be with their pastors and their ministry leaders, Lord. Be with our children as they near the end of this school term, Lord. Be with them that they may remember all the lessons that they've been taught and their material. Help them to focus as they take their tests, Lord, and help them to be safe as they come to the end of this school year and start their summer. Lord, we pray for our young adults who are going through so many challenges and issues today as they navigate through their careers and their jobs, as they try to earn money to take care of their families and raise their children. Lord, be with them, teach them, guide them, be with our elderly, our seniors who are in a new season of their lives, Lord, as we navigate through these times. We just ask you to be with us, Lord. Be with those that were displaced by the fires and by storms and all the issues and challenges of life. And then, Lord, be with our government and our world leaders. Touch them, convict them, hold them accountable for those things that they should be doing. We thank you, Lord, that you're in charge of all of us. And now as we get ready to proclaim your word, I ask your Holy Spirit to come into this place and speak through me that your people might be hearers and not just doers of your word, that they might be inspired and that they might go a little further in their journey of life. We thank you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen, everybody. And I want to again welcome all of you to our noonday service. We're so glad you're here. Today, if you will, turn with us to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, verses 13 through 21. And today I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. And this is what it says. Then someone called from the crowd, Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father's estate with me. Jesus replied, Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things? As that, then he said, Beware, guard against every kind of greed. Life is not treasured by how much you owe. Life is not measured by how much you know. Then he told them a story. A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, What should I do? I don't have room for all my crops. Then he said I know I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I'll have room enough to store all my wheat and my goods, other goods. And I'll sit down and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You fool, you will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for? Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God. That is the word of God for the people of God. And our noonday subject today is instructions for life. Instructions for life. This passage of scripture is one of the most important and instructive in all of the Bible. And it almost seems that Jesus didn't even intend to teach on this subject, but he certainly took advantage of the teachable moment. Here we see that Jesus is pressed about by a large crowd of people, some who came out of curiosity, some who had decided that he was a prophet and a priest to be followed, and some who had not quite made up their mind just who this Jesus was and how they should treat him. So they all were listening intently when all of a sudden a man in the crowd yells out to Jesus Tell my brother to divide our father's inheritance with me. No doubt this was all that was on this man's heart. He was there hearing Jesus speak, but his mind was elsewhere, concerned about material possessions, money and things. But Jesus doesn't scold a man. He simply uses this opportunity to teach the man and everyone there some very important things about life. First he answers the man that I'm not here to judge such small matters as these, implying that he was there to deal with the root of the kinds of things that trip us up selfishness, greed, misplaced priorities, thinking only of ourselves, and instead he was there to concentrate and to teach them about the important things of life. And so to teach them, Jesus told this parable of the rich fool. In this parable the rich man had spent his whole life working hard, watching his crops grow, some years having a good crop, some hardly making ends meet. He had worried year in and year out, trying to save and make a profit, and finally he had a bumper crop, more produce than he had room to store. He thought about it, and he said to himself, This is what I've waited my whole life for. I'll tear down those old barns of mine and build new ones and store up these crops enough for me to retire and live off of comfortably for the rest of my life. No more toiling and laboring, just easy living. And here's the thing often when we see people like this, we get envious of them, and often we wish it was us. We see them as fortunate, smart, good investors. But God saw the man as a fool. Why? Because he had lived his whole life and never made the most important investment. He had never invested in a relationship with God, his Maker. And that very night God required his soul. Never once did this man acknowledge God, thank God for his goodness. Everything we are and ever hope to be is by the grace of God. And never once does this man say thank you, Lord, for waking me up, for giving me this farm, for letting me work hard all these years, for the fruit of my labor labor. He never thanks the others in his life either that helped him along the way, that toiled next to him, that labored beside him, went to market with him, helped him plant, harvest, and make progress. Look around. You are never alone. No man is an island entire of himself. We all stand on the shoulders of others, mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, friends, teachers, coaches, pastors. This man had a bad case of meitis, and he took it with him to his grave because that very night God required his soul. The man died, and someone else enjoyed the fruit of his labor that he had laid up for himself. What a sad state of affairs. Be careful who you envy, be careful how you live, be careful of your priorities. So God used this opportunity to teach three important lessons about life. Lessons that we all need to learn and internalize today. Three lessons that are just as relevant today as they were when Jesus walked this earth. The first lesson is don't worry about your life's provisions, things that sustain life, things like food, money, clothes, cars. And when we say we don't worry about those things, the biblical meaning of worry is to have a divided mind, to be so distracted by those things that you neglect to trust God. That's what we mean by worry. Often we have unnecessary anxiety about our future and what might happen to us. We have misguided focus. Rather than trusting God's provision and prioritizing his kingdom, we just worry about things. Right after telling the parable about the rich man, Jesus goes on to tell the crowd, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, nor the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Think about that. Think about what he said. Think about today the enormous amount of money some people spend on stocking up their pantries and their storehouses for a possible famine or some type of apocalypse. When Jesus told us to pray, Lord, give us this day our daily bread. And what about the emphasis we put on what we wear to special events, the time and attention we give to things like weddings and wedding attire, proms, red carpet events and the like. Yes, we want to look nice, but don't let it consume us. Jesus goes on to say how God Himself feeds the ravens and fabulously clothes the lilies. Two examples of God's provision for small, unimportant, and what we might consider as insignificant creatures in the total scheme of things. But if God shows them such care and detail, then of course He will do even more for each one of us. But rather after seeking after these things, rather than seeking after these things, either by worrying about them or working ourselves to death or warring with others over them like the man who yelled out to Jesus, what we should do is seek the kingdom of God first, and then these things will come. We see this very verse here in Luke 12 and 31, and the same verse is found again in Matthew 6 and 33. Why seek the kingdom of God first? Because life is more than what is necessary to sustain it, it's about where we put our trust and where we put our treasure, and it should be in God Almighty. So the thing, second thing that this lesson teaches us is do not be afraid. Trust God. Jesus told the crowd to sell what you have and give to the poor. Stop hoarding and accumulating stuff, things here on earth. And the truth is we engage in these behaviors because we are afraid. So we hold on to it instead of giving it away, using it, passing it on. It's a trust thing. The same type of mindset that made the Israelites hold on to manna in their pockets. They ate what they could and then they stuffed the rest in their pockets, and it spoiled, and it was good for nothing, because God provided for them each and every day. Don't try to hold on to stuff. Trust God that He will provide what you need when you need it. So instead provide for yourself treasure in heaven. But what this means is that whatever you have, know that God gives it, allows you to get it, and be aware that in the blink of an eye, you can lose it all. But whatever investment you make into the kingdom, that is saved for all times. We know that scammers are always trying to outsmart the public. And we hear every day of people losing their life savings. We have seen over the last few weeks our neighbors lose their homes and furniture and memorabilia in those homes to fires that raged and destroyed everything in only a matter of minutes. We've seen storms decimate entire neighborhoods. I don't wish this on anyone. But the question is, were they trusting in God? And now are they trusting in God with what comes next? That's where we should be. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to Him, and He will make your path straight. So that brings us to the third thing. Make sure that you're investing in a relationship with God. The rich man was foolishly planning on what to do with his earthly wealth, but that couldn't help him when he left this life. You can't take it with you. Death is the great equalizer. No matter whether you're the richest man on the planet or the poorest, we all go the same route. You can't take it with you. Death came to him without any warning, and all that he had stored away for himself would be dispersed among his heirs and other people to enjoy. That was such poor estate planning, especially for a man who had seen over the years the crops he planted, they either prospered or they declined, despite all that he did. So he knew that everything was in God's hands. Why didn't he cultivate a relationship with God? Why didn't he invest in God? You say, Reverend, how do I invest in God? Well, the first thing is you make sure you accepted Jesus into your life as the Lord of your life. Have you accepted him? Give your life to Jesus today. That means that everything you say or do is tied up in Jesus. Your speech is careful to reflect Jesus, your actions, so that you would not embarrass Jesus and bring shame on your witness as his child. We aren't expected to be perfect, but we try every day to be better people, using the life of Jesus as our example, recognizing that his spilled blood is what covers us and makes us right before the Father. And then we need to invest in the tools of worship and discipline. That means go to church, worship God, be in fellowship with other believers, study the word of God, pray and meditate on the word, and then give of ourselves. Give of yourself, your time and your money to others for the upbringing. Building of the kingdom of God. You help others by sharing what you have with them. You share your God-given talents. Maybe you sing in the choir, volunteer in the food pantry, help out in the parking ministry. Maybe you're a steward, a trustee, a deacon, or deaconess. Maybe you teach Sunday school or clean the sanctuary. Maybe you cut or an usher. Do whatever you can and then give a tithe, a portion of your income, yes, your money, to the church to keep it going. The Bible says that those who withhold the tithe are robbing God. Is that you? Are you so bold as to tell God this is a stick-up, God? Give me your money so I can spend it like I want. I don't think you want the consequences of that. Giving back to God what he gives to you, and he only asks for a portion of it. Start small. And as God blesses you, give more. But giving back to God a portion of what he gives to you shows that you trust him. And the funny thing is, the more you give to him and to others, the more he'll give to you. So the lessons we've learned today are don't worry about your life's provisions. Don't be afraid. Trust God. Make sure that you're investing in a relationship with God. And finally, as we end this sermon, remember that life is fleeting. So let's not waste time on the unimportant and the trivial. Don't major in the minors. Some things are not worth our time worrying over and hassling over. Let it go and let God forgive and forget. Move on. Trust God. God bless you. Let us pray. Lord. Psalm 39 is a prayer for wisdom and forgiveness that tells us that life is nothing more than a vapor. Psalm 90 tells us, Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 37 tells us not to fret over evildoers. So while we are living, help us to really live, enjoying the fullness of life as you intended, that you trust, that we trust in you, Lord, not in horses or chariots or things that we accumulate or hoard up. Let us not live fearfully. Help us to say, like the songwriter, fear is not welcome in my heart anymore. God sweep our hearts. Clean every kind of greed that's inside of us. Whether that greed be for more things, more prestige, more power, more money. Help us to concentrate on finding the special purpose that you have for us. We humbly rely on you, God. Even as you prosper us, realizing that it is you who give us the ability to create wealth. Keep us from treasuring things more than you, Lord. Teach us, Lord, what life is all about. How to invest in a lasting relationship with you. Help us, Lord, to know you. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Amen, everybody. I thank you so much for joining us today. And we hope to return every Friday at noon for as long as we can. Invite somebody. Now let us repeat our benediction. Now unto him who's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only one's God, our Savior. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and forevermore. Let us all say Amen. Now go and be great for God and go to church on Sunday.