Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Today we get to conclude
this series on servants devoted to God and I
pray has been a blessing, encouragement as you've
got to walk together through these past few months.
If you missed any of the studies, you can access
them through our app or the website with the
PowerPoints, videos, audio, set of notes, everything
available for you. And today we are going to
be exploring Some of the experiences that the
first Christians had as they started serving
the Lord. So before we start, let's pray together.
What a beautiful time, Lord, of worship. And
after everything we have proclaimed. I'm just
asking you, Lord, use me in your power and in
your grace as we study your word. Use it for
what you envision. In the name of our Lord Jesus,
we pray. Amen. In this study of servants devoted
to God, one of the things that we discovered
is that God saved us for much more than just
dying and going to heaven. He has things in mind
that he wants to accomplish through you and in
you. He wants us to live for kingdom impact.
And therefore, for those of us who follow Jesus,
we're not just children of God adopted into his
family, but we see ourselves as servants devoted
to God. People who love God and serving with
devotion. And that's the equation. What drives
me is my love for God and what I do out of that
love for God is that I serve God with devotion
and whatever He has for me to do. And that has
characterized the movement of Christianity from
the very beginning. The first Christians, as
we'll discover in the book of Acts, faced different
things, different challenges. And one of them
was the aspect of perspective. And that is what's
going to be the focus of the study today. The
perspective. Of the kingdom. And what do I mean
by perspective? Well perspective matters a lot.
If you are traveling with your kids. In a short
trip that you should arrive. You know within
an hour or two. And your kids keep asking. Are
we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there
yet? You know that perspective matters right?
Because if they just knew. Yeah it's just another
hour. It will be okay. They will stop asking.
But. If we have the wrong perspective, we may
do things that actually are not very nice, and
we can become deterred from really focusing on
what matters most. And ever since we were young,
one of the first questions we were asked growing
up was, what do you want to do when you grow
up? It's like, what do I want to do when I grow
up? You know, that first question was not, what
does God want you to do? when you grow up that
was another question was it very different so
from the very beginning it was framed to us that
life is about what i want to do with my life
my career my plans my future my money my time
my kingdom and Therefore, we have lived our lives
working very hard, studying very hard, and doing
lots of things very hard, so I can have the name
and the reputation and the money and the stability
and the future that I so much think I deserve
or desire. But then when we come to know Christ,
and we start following Jesus, He starts talking
about him being the king and about seeking his
kingdom first. And it's like, wait, wait a second.
How does that work? And now he challenges us
to have to change the perspective for which we
live life and embrace the perspective of the
kingdom. And the perspective of the kingdom is
not about me. The perspective of the kingdom
is about God. And therefore, we learn to live
with eternal perspective in the kingdom. Because
before, when I was building my kingdom, it was
all about having these plans, these ideas. And
God, you are sitting out there. You are the person
in charge. You have all the money and resources
and power. So, would you bless my plans? Because
that's your job, right? So, if I'm nice to you,
would you be nice to me? And just bless these
things I have because it will be very nice if
these things happen. And that's how I live life.
God is there to bless me. But once you start
changing perspective in the kingdom, you realize
that actually I am here to be a blessing to God's
kingdom. And it's like, what? Disorienting a
little bit at the beginning. And in fact, the
apostle John wrote to Christians about this because
it was very significant for their walk with Christ
that they will have the right perspective. And
what he tells the Christians at the beginning
is this. Do not love the world, guys. Not the
things it offers you. For when you love the world,
you do not have the love of the Father in you.
For the world offers only a craving for physical
pleasure. A craving for everything we see. A
pride in our achievements and possessions. And
these three things are not from the Father. They're
from the world. This is about your kingdom, not
God's kingdom. And this world is fading away
along with everything that people crave. But
anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
Yeah, he's telling them, look, you've been trained
to live like this. And now you have to start
thinking about God, what he cares about, what
he desires, what are his priorities. And now
you start shifting to make his priorities your
priorities. And instead of having God investing
in you, you start investing in God's kingdom.
That change of priorities, that change of perspective
is something that started happening, you say,
organically at the beginning of the church. The
perspective of the kingdom started being just
manifested from the moment the first Christians
started following Christ. You must remember that
as we studied earlier that as the apostles preached
the gospel in Jerusalem, the first time that
Peter preached the gospel, how many people got
to know Christ? 3 ,000, you must remember that
by now. And that started a huge movement from
the beginning right there in Jerusalem. But then
it spread from there to other parts of the empire.
And as we studied last time, we saw the church
of Antioch in the north and how that became a
multicultural church. And then from that place,
lots of churches were planted throughout the
empire. That's how the movement of Christianity
began in the first century. But what we see from
the very beginning is how these first Christians
were able to participate in this movement because
their perspective had changed. And you go to
the beginning right there in Acts chapter 4,
and it describes it this way. All the believers
were one in heart and mind. Wow, that's very
important. They were pursuing the same thing.
Their allegiance was about the same thing. And
even though they came from very different places,
they all were united by this. They have one heart
and one mind. No one claimed that any of their
possessions was their own, but they shared everything
they had. With great power, the apostles continued
to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and God's grace was so powerfully at work in
them all, that there were no needy persons among
them. For from time to time, those who owned
land or houses sold them, brought the money from
the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and
it was distributed to anyone who had need. Joseph,
a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called
Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, sold
a field he owned and brought the money and put
it at the apostles' feet. And that's the end
of that chapter. And he introduces Barnabas as
one of the guys that was part of this group of
Christians that were saying, you know, I have
all these houses, I have all this land, it's
just sitting there. You know, I might as well
invest it for the kingdom. And they sold it and
took the resources and made it available to the
apostles. And they were able to start funding
different things, which one of them was helping
those that were in need. And Barnabas is introduced
here as a person who was known as a son of encouragement.
These were the type of guy that you like to hang
out with because spending time with him, you're
always left encouraged. They spoke words of truth.
They were kind. They were generous. They were
thoughtful. This is the person that showed up
for a coffee with you and said, hey, I heard
it was your birthday yesterday, so I have a little
gift for you. And it's like, wow, how thoughtful.
This was a guy that got the nickname. Son of
encouragement. And they all began like all of
us did. With our worldly perspective, our kingdom,
and suddenly changed. And now these guys are
being generous, they are joyous, they are having
all of these different things. Where does that
come from? You know, for outsiders, when they
see that, they say they lost their mind. Why
are you going to sell that house? Keep it. It's
like a waste of money what you're doing. What?
Did they brainwash you or what? Are you in a
sect? All these different things. Because from
outside it may look that what they are doing
is completely out of their mind. But what they
don't understand. Is that these people have encountered
Christ. And they belong to a new kingdom. And
in this new kingdom. When the Lord moves, things
happen. And provision happens. And the desire
to give happens. And the desire to invest happens.
And paying attention to somebody else's need
that before I would overlook, now I notice it.
And the Holy Spirit says, I want you to do something
about it. And now you feel compelled to do it.
Not obligated, but you want to. And all of these
things started happening at the beginning. It's
beautiful because they were united with a vision.
And therefore they were also united in action.
And when we're united in vision, united in action,
we call that synergy in leadership studies. Synergy
is what we can accomplish together is greater
than what each one of us can accomplish alone.
At ECB, we say that the very reason, the very
core purpose for which we are here in Thailand
is to make disciples for global impact. Everything
we are is towards that goal. Do you believe in
that? Making disciples for global impact? Do
you believe that is worth it? I believe so. I
believe that it's worth being here. Rather than
being close to my family in Dallas or in Guatemala
or wherever they are now, whatever countries
they live in. Because when God calls you and
He places you, that's the best place to be, investing
in God's kingdom. And when we together as a community
are united behind this common purpose, And then
our action is aligned with all of that. Synergy
happens. And when synergy happens, there's power.
Because in that place, God provides his power,
his resources. He entrusts you with more responsibility.
Synergy is very amazing, but it's also very fragile.
Because you cannot accomplish this synergy that
they were experiencing at the beginning. If you
don't start. By changing your perspective. And
the perspective of the kingdom is eternal perspective.
Not earthly. We live for much more than just
the here and now. So as they start following
Jesus, and they start experiencing these things,
and they start living for impact, and more people
start coming to know Christ, and now there's
a church in Antioch that is established, and
then in Ephesus, and then in Corinth, and in
Greece, in all these areas, the impact started
growing beyond what they could imagine. And the
Apostle Paul writes in the letter to the Ephesians
about this synergy. He uses the imagery of the
human body. And this is how he puts it, as he's
experiencing this synergy that is happening in
the movement of the first Christians. He says,
look, when people are using their time, their
resources, their giftedness, and they're all
doing their part, it's like a human body. God
makes the whole body fit together perfectly,
and each part of its own special work, it helps
the other parts grow, so that the whole body
is healthy and growing and full of love. What
is motivating all of these people to do all of
these things? It says there they're motivated
by love. It is the love of God. That is the source
for love for anything else. Love for the needs
of others. Love for other people. Love for certain
causes. Everything emerges from that love for
God. And that is the foundation. And when every
part is doing their role. And everybody is united
by this common love for God. That's how things
begin. You may have noticed that. I'm limping
a little bit, and this knee here, I hurt it last
night. I have this laminate floor in our apartment
that is separating a little. Have you seen that
happen? So I learned to fix that by going, and
it comes together again. Except that I think
that yesterday I did it too hard, and now my
knee is hurting, you know? But this knee is very
nice. This knee looks at the other one and says,
don't worry, I'll compensate, so I can walk like
this now, you see? And my whole body adjusts
because every part of the body is doing their
part. Nobody says, well, it's not my fault that
you did it too hard, so now it's your problem.
No. Synergy. The whole body working together.
It builds itself up in love. That was the beginning
of the church. And that can be us. But for that,
Eternal perspective is at the core. If we lose
the perspective, everything falls apart. That's
why here, what you see the Christians experiencing
after it begins in Jerusalem and starts spreading
throughout the Roman Empire, and they start having
greater impact because God is working through
them. In the mid -40s, so calculate maybe...
Over 10 years, between 10 -15 years after Jesus
died and resurrected, there's a famine that takes
place in the area of Judea. And it affects the
area of Jerusalem. So not only they have been
suffering from persecution in Jerusalem, but
now the Christians are being affected by the
famine. So what the Apostle Paul does, is that
as he is visiting all of these different places,
and churches are being established, now he thought,
you know what? Let me visit the churches that
we established and tell them about what's happening
in Jerusalem so they can also help. And we are
going to manage the resources to provide for
the needs in Jerusalem. So they collected resources
and they were sending them to Jerusalem to help
the Christians there. But what we read in Acts
was descriptive. This is what happened. This
is what they did. And this is how they did it.
It's just telling you. A description of a picture
of what happened. But here, the Apostle Paul,
what he's going to do is he's going to write
to the Corinthians about collecting these resources.
And this is going to be prescriptive, not just
descriptive. It's prescriptive. This is why we
do this. This is how we're going to do it. This
is what we do. So now he's giving instructions.
And in this descriptive passage in Corinthians,
He starts really defining this perspective of
the kingdom of how is that we see our resources,
our time, our giftedness. How is it now that
we as servants devoted to God need to look at
all of these things? So we're going to read the
passage here in Corinthians as we understand
the famine that took place right there in Judea
and Jerusalem. And first I'm just going to read
it. But then after I read it, we will reflect
on three core convictions that define the eternal
perspective. What that looks like for us. So
let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Hey Corinthians,
so nice to see you again. Servants devoted to
God. There's something I want you to remember.
Remember this. A farmer who plants only a few
seeds will get a small crop. But the one who
plants generously will get a generous crop. You
must each decide in your heart how much to give.
And don't give reluctantly. Don't also give in
response to pressure. If you're going to give,
only give out of that love for God. Because you
know what? Something that God loves? Oh, God
loves a person who gives cheerfully. And God
will generously provide all you need. Then you
will always have everything you need and plenty
left over to share with others. For God is the
one who provides seed for the farmer and then
bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide.
And he will increase your resources. And then
produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Yes. You will be enriched in every way so that
you can always, always be generous. And when
we take your gifts to those who need them. Oh.
They will praise you. No, no, no. When I. Take
this to them, they will thank God. So two good
things will result from this ministry of giving.
On the one hand, the needs of the believers in
Jerusalem will be met. And on the other hand,
they will joyfully express their thanks to God.
And as a result of your ministry, they will give
glory to God for your generosity to them and
to all believers. They will realize this. And
it will prove to them that you are obedient to
the good news of Christ. Because the only reason
why you are doing this. Is because you share
the same love for Jesus. And they will pray for
you. With deep affection. Because of the overflowing
grace God has given to you. Thank God for this
gift. Too wonderful. For words. And this is how
he ends. The section. He's talking to Christians.
Who have been told to build your kingdom. And
ask God to bless you. And now he's telling them
remember. We are investing in God's kingdom.
And we are channels of God's blessings to others.
That's how it works. And in this whole beautiful
section, he could have said, hey guys, don't
be selfish. Come on, share what you have. And
maybe he would have come up with a strategy like
some of those prosperity theology radio programs
that will start saying, look, if you give me
$100, God is going to provide you $1 ,000. So
the more money you send me, the better. He could
have come up with an idea of manipulating people.
But that's not the kingdom. He says if you're
going to give. Make sure that you're giving out
of joy. Because it's not just a need that we're
meeting. It's a king that we are serving. And
when all of this happens. He says there's a spiritual
dimension that takes place. And people get pointed
to God. There's joy in them. There's joy in you.
This is an amazing story. Spiritual synergy that
happens when we do this right. And I remember
experiencing that. When I was serving in Dallas,
there was a friend that had some extra resources.
And she said, Pastor Pablo, I have these resources,
but I want to keep them there and only use them
when there's a special need. And I trust you,
so I want to ask you. If there's any moment that
you see a special need, can you let me know and
we'll channel the resources to address it. And
I remember that I had gone to a presentation
from one of the missionaries that we supported
as a ministry. And he was talking about the ministry
that we're doing to serve the refugee community
in Dallas. And it was a great presentation, but
I could not avoid looking at his laptop and thinking,
that's an old laptop. Very old and slow. Like,
this guy needs another laptop. So I thought,
the little light bulb of the Holy Spirit turning
on there. It's like, that's a need. So I talked
to my friend. I said, this guy needs a new laptop.
I see he, you know, I do presentations all the
time. you do not need to be dealing with all
these technological dinosaurs. You need the latest
thing, you plug it in, it works, all good, you
know. So she said, fine, let's get him a laptop.
So I invited him and we went to this place. I
told him, can you go with me? I want to go to
this electronic store called Micro Center, for
those of you that are from Texas. I think that
Micro Center closed down by now. But anyway,
we went there and we walked to the computer area.
It had all these computers, you know, PCs and
Macs, all of them, right? All the laptops. And
as we are there, now I'm so excited because I
want to tell him. I said, look, we're here to
buy a laptop for you. But this is the deal. Get
the laptop that you really want. Don't look at
prices. Just which one is the one you really,
really want? So he picked the laptop he wanted.
It was a Mac. And then, you know, I was so excited
that we could provide this for him. And I grabbed
it, paid for it, did everything, you know. And
when I shared it with my friend later, she was
so excited too. Because this is what she wanted
to see. Not just... Wasted money, but invested
in kingdom impact. But as we were leaving that
electronic store, the missionary looks at me
and says, Pastor Pablo, I was praying to God
for a new laptop last week. And here I am. I'm
so encouraged. That synergy. I didn't know he
was praying for that. My friend didn't know the
guy. She just had money. I didn't have the money.
I just knew the guy. But the Holy Spirit. Works
through all of these things. And there's joy.
When we serve God with eternal perspective. Instead
of thinking my kingdom, he says you need to now
start thinking about God's kingdom. And God's
kingdom works differently than yours. You have
to have eternal perspective. And it looks like
this. You can choose to be a pond that collects
all the water and all the rain. And yeah, you
will have some fish there and some birds that
will benefit from it. But that's the end of your
impact. Your kingdom. Or you can be. A river.
There's always water flowing. But wherever you
are. Everything you touch. Brings life. That's
God's kingdom. And when you live. Only focus
on your kingdom. The perspective is always earthly.
But when you are living for God's kingdom, the
perspective is always moving, always going to
different places, always having impact that goes
beyond what you can understand or imagine. Living
for God's kingdom with eternal perspective resembles
being that river with the living water, which
is the Holy Spirit. And when he prompts, and
when he directs, and when he provides, the Apostle
Paul says, He will always give you everything
you need to accomplish his purpose. And you will
always be able to be generous. Like a friend
of mine here in Thailand. He would say you can
never out give God. And for some people they
look at this and say you Christians are just
out of your mind. Don't you know that giving
money is wasting money? Accumulate it. How do
you know that you didn't need that house? Why
did you sell this Barnabas? What's going to happen
when you retire? Who's going to take it? Where
are you going to live now? And it's like completely,
it's just beyond. It makes no sense. So there
was a young man, Jim Elliot, that he graduated
from college. Very smart guy with lots of potential.
And he says, you know what? I want to pursue
this career. I want to go all the way to the
jungle in Ecuador to reach out to a group called
the Alcas that they do not know Christ. I know
it's risky. I know there's not a lot of money
in it. But that's what I want to do with my life.
And he eventually married a college classmate.
Her name was Elizabeth Elliot, who became a very
famous, prolific writer. Why? Because as they
went there to serve, the August that they wanted
to reach out to with the gospel killed Jim and
some of his friends. And Elizabeth became a widow
right there. But as people were questioning him,
saying, really, you want to do that? Isn't that
wasting your life like that? What about your
career? Why don't you just stay here in the U
.S.? Why don't you just find a church, you know,
pastor a church, do something different? So he
wrote this that became a very famous quote. He
is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain
what he cannot lose. That's eternal perspective.
Living to invest in God's kingdom for kingdom
impact is eternal. Everything else is passing
away. But this won't. This perspective as it
changes. There are three areas that are very
clear. And as we follow Jesus, and if we're going
to be servants devoted to God, that are experiencing
synergy as we serve together, we have to make
sure that these three perspectives have shifted
in our mind and in our heart. The first one of
those perspectives has to do with my role. Because
in my kingdom, my role is that I am the king
and I own everything I have. It's my money, my
time, my career, my plans, my future. It's mine.
I am the owner of all of these things. And therefore,
every time that I invest in something, I get
all the credit. And the praise because this is
all mine. And I'm not obligated to share with
anybody. And when I share, it means I'm a good
person. But not so in the kingdom of God. In
the kingdom of God, our role is not that of owners.
We are managers. We are administrators. We are
stewards. And that's why what the apostle Paul
tells the Corinthians, he says, guys, God is
the one who provides seed for the farmer and
then bread to eat. You know, and he's talking
to this Corinthian during breakfast, and the
guy is eating the bread, and he says, what do
you mean, Paul? Yeah, that bread that you're
eating, God provided it for you. No, that's not
true. My wife made it. I just saw her here in
the kitchen making this bread. And Paul says,
wait, so what did she use to make that bread?
Flour? Flower of what? Wheat. And what did she
use to make the flower from the wheat? The seed,
the wheat, the seed. What else would she use?
And where did that seed come from? From the field
over there? But where did that plant come from?
Who made that plant? Oh. God I guess. Yes. God.
Without the plant there is no seed. Without seed
there is no flower. Without flower there is no
bread. Without bread you have nothing on your
hand to eat. And who provided that bread then
for? God. Do you realize that everything that
you are. All the giftedness that you have. Any
area that you can say I'm an expert on this topic.
Or I'm smart. Anything like that. Do you know
where it comes from? From the one who made you.
So stop taking the credit. Do you know that all
the opportunities that came before you. Do you
know who is the person that guides you to be
at the right time at the right place? God. This
is the air I breathe. Your very presence. Do
you realize that the breath that we breathe comes
from God without the breath of life? You have
no life at all? I would fall dead here on this
stage if it wasn't because of God. I cannot control
my heartbeat. I do not even own my life. The
perspective on the kingdom says that I am the
one who is receiving all these things from God.
And I'm just managing them for God's purposes.
That's why the apostle Paul continues and he
says, but people. Who long to be rich fall into
temptation and are trapped by many foolish and
harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and
destruction. For the love of money is the root
of all kinds of evil. And some people craving
money have wandered from the true faith and pierced
themselves with many sorrows. Because everything
is about them, them, them, them, them. And now
you have to control everything. And when you
are the one that controls everything and owns
everything, you cannot sleep at night. All the
worries keep you up. And he says, I've seen that,
Timothy. I've seen these people that their goal
in life is not to live for kingdom impact. It's
just to make more and more and more and own more
and more and more and more. See, there's nothing
wrong in having more. The problem is when that
is the goal. Having more is simply a means to
serve God more. And that's the difference. That's
why the Apostle Paul says, Timothy, I noticed
that in the church you are serving, there's lots
of, several people that have lots of resources.
Write this to them. And this is what he writes.
Teach those who are rich in this world. Not to
be proud. Not to trust in their money, which
is so unreliable. The trust should be in God
who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
Tell them to use their money to do good. They
should be rich in good works and generous to
those in need. Always being ready to share with
others. Teach them. To change the way they are
looking at the money that they are holding. To
realize it's not God. It's not their source of
trust. This is something that God has simply
provided for them. So that they can be a river.
And bless others with it. I'm glad that he wrote
that. Because he is reminding us we are stewards.
No owners. And when we understand that. And that
perspective changes. Now, God can entrust us
with more power, more impact, more resources.
But when we keep saying, no, mine, no, mine.
How can God give us more? There's a name that
I admired. Her name is Hope Talen. Hope is with
the Lord today. She's not with us anymore. But
she has served the Lord with her husband. Faithfully.
Then her husband died. And she became a widow.
And as she was getting older. And living by herself.
All her kids were grown up. She was feeling.
God I want to serve you. Give me a ministry.
And she was hungry for relevance. She didn't
want to just. grow old and grow irrelevant at
the same time. So she was just praying, God,
give me a ministry. And she was visiting a friend.
I believe that it was in New York during that
time. And as she was staying with the friend
during those days in that trip, the friend said
to her, you know, I have a friend who is a missionary
working in Mexico City. And he's going to stay
with us for a couple of days here. Because he's
visiting some of the supporting churches in the
area. So that missionary friend. His name is
Nelson. He happened to be my father. And he was
visiting this area. The supporting churches.
And he meets this elderly lady. And they talk.
And they learn about all these different things
that were happening. At the end of that visit.
Hope said. You are my new ministry. You are the
answer to my prayer. And from that moment on,
this lady that we had no idea she existed before,
part of the kingdom, she became known as Abuelita
Hope, which means Grammy Hope. She gained the
love of all the people in our church in Mexico
because, you know, even though she was older,
You know, as people get older and say, hey, can
you fly four hours? And it's like, really? It's
like carrying luggage, just waiting in line and
sitting. Then my back will hurt. It's like, I
don't really want to travel, you know. Just leave
me in my home. I'm happy at home. You know, some
people get like that. Well, not hope. Hope was
ready to get in the airplane. She went to Mexico.
She visited the church. She went to see the ministry
with the homeless, the street children that the
church was helping with. And she went back to
the States and she was managing her resources.
And one day she said, you know what? I realized
that I don't need this big house anymore. It
fulfilled its purpose. I don't need it anymore.
So she decided that she was going to sell the
house, move to a one -bedroom apartment, and
she started using all those extra resources that
now she had to be able to invest in different
ministry initiatives that needed resources. So
the day she went to be with the Lord, all of
us that knew her knew that this world had lost
a very impactful servant devoted to God. And
there was both sadness because she was no longer
with us, but joy because she was with her Savior
that she loved. This is eternal perspective.
This is when I realize I'm not a pond and I'm
a river. I do not own the water. I'm just a place
of flow. I'm just a steward of God's resources.
Are you the owner? Or are you the steward? Are
you the pond? Or are you the river? The second
conviction is that we have a new purpose. Because
before when I was building my kingdom, the purpose
was to make sure that everybody knew me, my name,
my reputation, and everything that I could do.
So I registered my name in all possible networking.
Apps there. And I put all my credentials and
everything. So everybody will know how good I
was. And then if I ever gave anything to anybody.
I make sure that we took a selfie. You know.
Like I do here. You know. You know. And then
posting all of this in my social media so that
people will know that I gave so much for this
cause and how much of a good person I am. Because
all of that is PR, right? And the more people
realize that I'm a good guy and I care for people
and I'm smart and all of these things, then my
business, my kingdom will increase. And that's
good for business. So I would only invest in
things. That will benefit me. You say, so how,
what is in there for me? Oh, I guess, okay, here.
But let's do the selfie. And it was all about
accumulating more for me so that my fame will
grow. But not so in the kingdom. The Apostle
Paul tells the Christians in Corinth, yes, you
will be enriched in every way. So that you can
always be generous. You always have to give.
If you have, you can give. If you give, God gives
you. And then you are a channel like that. As
I said, my friend quoted for me, you can never
out give God. But then he says, and when we take
your gifts to those who need them, what will
happen? What will be the outcome? They will thank
God. Because we're always pointing people to
God. So that they know that God cares for them.
So that they know that God loves them. So that
they know that God heard their prayer. So that
they fall in love with God. Because it is God
whom they need, not me. They need to know how
great God is, not how great I am. In the kingdom
of God, we do not live for our glory. We live
for the glory of the one who died for us and
made us part of his kingdom. We point people
to him. Every opportunity, we do that. Because
when people come to know God and they realize
how much he loves them, their lives will be transformed.
So in the kingdom of God, we need to make God
known. It's about his fame, not our fame. And
the moment we make it about us, synergy is lost.
When we were in Dallas, we took a trip, a mission
trip from people in our church to the border
town in Mexico. The border area in Mexico right
there in the area of McAllen on the other side
is called Reynosa. And this is desert. This is
very dry but also very hot. Hotter than here.
And we wanted to do a project there so we contacted
some local people and they said, you know, there's
a school here, a public school. They need help.
It would be great if you could come and help
do a little upgrade for the place. So we did.
We went there, did the upgrade, painted the walls,
fixed the tables, the chairs. We did some repairs.
We fixed the bathrooms. It was like a whole big
project. And this was not a Christian place.
It was just a public school. And at the end of
the event, The principal of the school was so
appreciative, and he had done a meal for us,
and he wanted to encourage us. And he started
saying to us how impactful it was for him that
we are very good people, that he wishes there
were more very good people like us. So when he
stopped talking, since I was leading that trip,
I stood in front of the whole group and I said,
you know, we're not doing this because we're
good people. We're just like you. But we're doing
this because we love God and God loves you. And
we want you to know God. And that reframed the
whole thing. Because that was the reason of what
we were doing. You don't want to leave that place
thinking, oh, they think that we are such good
people. Because yeah, we are. Good job, guys.
We are good people. Give me five. That's not
the kingdom. It's about God and His fame. Which
fame are you pursuing? Your own? Or the Lord's?
Are you a pond or a river? The final thing has
to do with the milestone. Most of us were taught
that we need to work very hard so that we can
retire early. And then we can retire with lots
of resources so that we can die well. So you
don't want to be a burden to anybody. And also
keep... Enough resources in the bank. So you
work hard. You retire early. So that you can
die well. And that's the milestone that we are
preparing for. Great. I die well. Mission accomplished.
Check. But not with the kingdom. When God has
saved us. And he has called us to be part of
his kingdom. The Bible says that when we die,
we will go to be with Christ, which is better
by far. But as we are with Christ, there's going
to be a moment in which because we are saved
and because we are with him, there will be a
moment now in which we will have to give a personal
account to Christ for the way we serve him here
in the kingdom. Kind of like a performance review.
And at that moment, the truth will come all the
way to the surface. And when the Apostle Paul
writes about this, he tells the Corinthians,
so whether we are here in this body, alive, or
away from this body, meaning dead, our goal is
the same. Our goal is to please God. For we must
all stand before Christ to be judged. We will
each receive whatever we deserve for the good
or evil we have done in this earthly body. And
he tells the Romans, yes. Each of us will give
a personal account to God. We are accountable
to God. Did you realize that? So what you do
here and now matters because it has eternal consequences.
This is not about you being saved or not being
saved. You are saved. This is why this applies
to you. It's about giving an account to Christ.
So whether that day will show if you honor him
or not. Because we live to honor God. Not to
keep appearances so that people will think something
of us. This day is at the forefront of every
servant devoted to God. It determines how you
face the present. Because you know the consequence
of that day is coming. And this made the entire
difference for Kay. Kay was preparing to do her
Sunday school class that Sunday. And she read
this article in a magazine about the crisis of
AIDS in Africa. And she started looking at pictures
of all these women that were there suffering.
All the orphaned children that were suffering.
All of it because of AIDS. And she had no idea
about it before. But there was something that
happened on that moment. She felt compelled to
learn more about it. And as she started reading
it. She felt like, I need to go and visit that
place. So she flew to Mozambique later. And she
says that she was attending a church there to
understand the epidemic. And she says that there's
a woman dying of AIDS that has her child and
walks into the church and gives the baby to the
pastor and says, Pastor, Please take care of
my child because I have no one else to take care
of my child and I am dying of AIDS. And at that
moment, Kay says, that changed me forever. From
that point on, she felt compelled that God was
calling her to do something about it. And she
says, once you know, you cannot not know anymore.
Once you see, you cannot pretend that you didn't
see. Now your heart is hooked to that. And what
are you going to do? Say no because it's too
inconvenient. No because I have to fly too far.
No because that's not what I was planning. What
are you going to tell Jesus on the day of accountability
to him? It is that day that informs how we make
the decisions today. I cannot stand on that day
and say, well, Jesus, thank you for loving me
so much. You are awesome. But you know, that
day you asked me to do this and I had that desire.
I really couldn't do it because I'm not good
with flying, you know. So if you had asked me
to drive, that would have been fine. But hey,
it's your fault. Why don't you ask me to drive
instead? What am I going to tell God? Oh, it
was too expensive. I didn't have the money. And
therefore, you know, it was not possible to do
it. Oh, but wait. You could have provided, right?
But I didn't think about it until now. But yeah,
so that's why I didn't do it. What are we going
to tell the Lord who saved us on that day? We
servants devoted to God live with eternal perspective.
And when you live with eternal perspective and
you invest in the kingdom, Then what Jesus said
at the end of his ministry could be true of you
and me. Do you know what Jesus prayed towards
the end of his ministry on earth? It's right
there in John chapter 17. Would you read it aloud
with me? I brought glory to you here on earth
by completing the work you gave me to do. Very
powerful. When I am in my last breath. When I
can no longer speak. Can I tell God. Mission
accomplished. Everything you called me to do
I did. Because you did it through me. Because
you provided. Because you answered prayer. Because
you. You're the king of my kingdom. I've accomplished
everything you gave me to do. I do not know you,
but those words would be awesome if that could
be true of me. This is the perspective of the
kingdom. Living with eternal perspective is the
way of life in the kingdom. There's no other
way. Because any other way will get in the way
of synergy. And spiritual synergy matters too
much to sacrifice it for my own kingdom. So as
we serve the Lord together in this season, If
you realize that God is calling you to invest
more in the kingdom, to be more engaged in the
kingdom with your time, with your resources,
with your giftedness. One of the things that
I wanted to do is give you the opportunity of
letting us know because we don't get to talk
with everybody all the time. And we don't get
to read emails from everybody all the time. And
there are moments in which you think, oh, I wish
I could tell them this. And you haven't. So I
have this QR code that will lead you to a Google
form. It's a very simple form that has three
questions. One is, is there any area of expertise
that you have that you've been thinking, oh,
I could help with this? You know, I'm an architect.
I can help with anything that has to do with
architecture. I'm an HR person. Do you need HR
consulting? Any questions, let me know. I specialize
in this or that or I have this experience. Is
there any area of expertise that you think that
God will call you to invest in the kingdom here
at ECB? If so, let us know. No obligation. This
is just to let us know. The second question is,
do you have any resources that you have that
you say, hey, you know, I could make this available
for the ministry at ECB when needed. Just let
me know. Anything. Sometimes people say, hey,
I have an Airbnb. If you ever need a retreat
or something, let me know. I can host up to 10
people there. I will gladly make it available
for ECB. There are things like that that we have
no idea. You do not know that it will benefit
us. We do not know that you have the resources.
And there's no synergy, you see. And the last
question is simply, hey, do you have any suggestions
that you've been wanting to tell us? Again, this
is for you if you're being prompted by God to
say, oh yeah, yeah, let me do, let me scan that.
It will be also in the PowerPoint, in the notes,
in the app. But if you are struggling with the
right perspective, the three common symptoms
that you're going to experience that you have
the wrong perspective is that you are self -centered.
It's all about you and that's it. Your kingdom,
your time, your plans. You never have enough
time to engage in serving together because, you
know, it's not your cup of tea. You are too busy.
You are disengaged. You are not really serving
in any impactful way. Or when you do, you complain.
And you're a complainer. Oh, it's so difficult.
I don't like these people. Look, they don't have
it all together. Any of these things are a sign
that you just don't have the right perspective.
And if that's your heart, this is the time to
come to God and say, God, would you shift my
perspective so that we can be one in heart and
mind? Help us be the river that you meant us
to be. Lord, it is in your presence that we ask.
That you will help us see what we couldn't see
before. Lord help us have the right perspective.
We are servants devoted to God. We are not kings
of our kingdom. We are here Lord to be a blessing
in your kingdom. And to be channels of everything
that you have entrusted to us. We are here for
you. Guide us. empower us, ignite within us a
passion for your name. In Jesus' name. Thank
you for tuning in to the ECB Sermon Podcast.
Whether near or far, if you are looking for community
or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage
by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia.
If God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.