to commend the small church that has so willingly and enthusiastically volunteered to help with
our children's ministries for the summer. It's that kind of innovation and willingness
that's going to be very important to us over the next two or three years if we want to
continue to minister to a growing number of people.
But I want to thank also those who participated and helped in the banquet last Sunday night.
That was a humongous undertaking. There were scores of you who helped move chairs and put
up tables and decorate and then tear down and haul back tables, chairs, etc. So thank
you for all that you did. That was a remarkable evening, a wonderful evening that all of us
will long remember.
I'd like you now to open your Bible, please, first to Acts chapter 16 and then to 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. Acts chapter 16 records for us the second missionary journey of the Apostle
Paul, at least as it got started. Late in the year 50 A.D., the Apostle Paul was burdened
to visit again those churches that he had founded on the first missionary journey. He
and Barnabas were unable to agree on the makeup of the missionary party. Consequently, they
divided their efforts. Barnabas taking Mark and going to Cyprus, Paul choosing Silas and
heading north out of Antioch into Asia Minor. It was not long before they came to the city
of Lystra where he asked Timothy to join the party. And the three then traveled on visiting
the churches and entering into new areas preaching the gospel of Christ in Asia Minor. As they
neared the west coast of that region, the Spirit of the Lord began to forbid them to
go in certain directions and they came to the city of Troas on the coast, waiting there
for God to give them some specific indication as to what he wanted. It was there that what
happened in verse 9 took place. A vision appeared to Paul in the night. A certain man of Macedonia
was standing and appealing to him and saying, come over to Macedonia and help us. When he
had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia concluding that God had
called us to preach the gospel to them. It seems to me here we have something of a biblical
example of what sharing the vision is all about. God gave to the apostle Paul a vision,
a very specific one in this case, but his purpose was to give Paul and those traveling
with him an understanding of what he, the Lord, wanted them to do. And then the apostle
shared that with those traveling with him. In response, they together, sharing the same
vision, endeavored to accomplish that vision, that goal, that purpose, motivated to do so
by the Spirit of God. And you will notice that it says we in verse 10, which begins
an important section of Acts, when Luke, the author, the human author of the book, traveled
with Paul, was personally present. And so Paul and the other three men traveled on into
Europe being directed by God to do so in this vision.
On this Commitment Sunday, we as a congregation are taking a giant step in the direction of
the vision which God has given to us. That is, to minister effectively to as many people
as God will allow us to reach, whether it be here in the cities or abroad cross-culturally.
The responses that we bring today on this Commitment Sunday to the shared vision will
tell us whether we see this as a wish, a dream, or in fact a vision which is worthy of our
commitment. What we say this morning in our indication on the response cards will measure
the extent of our commitment to the vision that we believe God has given to us as a congregation.
I pray that like that early missionary party in Acts chapter 16, we will be motivated by
the Holy Spirit to move together in that direction that God has given us.
We sometimes look upon commitment as a negative thing, don't we? We hear it in the Bible,
as a negative thing, don't we? We hear the word commitment and we often see it as a joyless
duty, as an unpleasant sacrifice, as an obligatory chore. If we do in fact see commitment to
the work of Jesus Christ in that way, we have missed the blessing of it all.
The Apostle Paul went on into Europe and founded a church later in the city of Corinth. He
wrote two letters that we have recorded in the Word of God to those people. The first
one is where we will look for our text today, in chapter 3, and then moving also into chapter
4 somewhat. I'm going to read an extended portion of Scripture, so I invite you to turn
your Bible to follow along as I read, beginning in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh,
as to babes in Christ. Now why would Paul say such a thing? He said, I gave you milk
to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you
are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among
you, are you not fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men? For when one says,
I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere men? What then is Apollos?
And what is Paul? Servants, through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity
to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither
the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God, who causes the growth.
Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according
to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.
You are God's field, God's building. According to the grace of God, which was given to me
as a wise master builder, I laid a foundation. And another is building upon it, but let each
man be careful how he builds upon it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the
one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation
with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident.
For the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire. And the fire itself
will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built upon
it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer
loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet as so as through fire. Do you not know that you
are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the
temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy and that is what you
are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age,
let him become foolish that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness
before God. For it is written, he is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness.
And again, the Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless. So then let
no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things belong to you.
And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Let a man regard us in this manner
as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover,
it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me it is a very small
thing that I should be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even
examine myself. I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted
for the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time,
but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness
and disclose the motives of men's hearts. And then each man's praise will come to him
from God. Indeed, a significant portion of scripture regarding the local church.
As we look at this text this morning, I believe that we see here the blessing of serving Jesus
Christ. Blessings belong to those who in faith and with joy commit themselves to the work
of Jesus Christ. I repeat, blessings belong to those who in faith and with joy commit
their resources, that is their time, their energy, their money, their reputation, to
the service of Jesus Christ. What blessings are these that belong to such?
Blessing number one, the blessing of potential reward. I want you to consider that. It is
significant. As we talk about commitment today, let us remember that commitment is worth it
if it is commitment to the work of Jesus Christ because of the blessing of potential reward.
We lose nothing that we give to the Lord, do we? We lose nothing that we give to Him.
What we attempt to grasp for ourselves, we ultimately lose. What we give to Him, we forever
gain. The Apostle Paul points out here that the service that we render for Christ is given
to us by grace. He points to his own example and he says in verse 10, according to the
grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I lay the foundation. Whatever
ability that we have to give, to serve, to minister, it is from Him. The Apostle says
later in the fourth chapter and the seventh verse that we have nothing inherently of ourselves.
All that we have is given to us by God. Notice that he says in the last part of verse seven,
but if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? In other words,
everything that we have, including the very breath in our lungs at this moment, is a gift
of God's grace to us. So our service for Christ, our giving to Him, whatever that may
be, what we do for the Lord, the gifts that we can exercise, all of that is a gift of
God's grace to us. We are expected by God to exert our own effort and energy for it
is our labor, as he makes it clear in verse eight when he says, each will receive his
own reward according to his own labor. The Apostle Paul is pointing out there that while
it is a gift of grace to us to serve, our faithfulness in using those God-given resources
is in view. We will not be judged and rewarded based upon what we do as compared to what
someone else does, but each one according to his own labor, his own faithfulness, the
energy, the commitment that he makes will be rewarded. Our service for Jesus Christ
provides a record, he tells us, which will one day be examined. Here in this context,
our work for the Lord is compared to a building project and what we do, the materials that
go into that building. And he says there will be a day when the Lord comes when our work
will be examined, will be manifested, will be showed, will be revealed. The quality of
our service for Jesus Christ will be exposed. That day I will answer to myself and to my
Lord, did I do my best? Were my motives in what I did pure? Were my motives in what I
did pure and honest? Was my work one of integrity and sincerity? Our service for Jesus Christ
will, on that day, bring us what we deserve, whether it be reward or, as he says, loss.
Please don't understand the loss as though it were the loss of salvation, he says clearly
in verse 11. He says, in verse 11, we are not going to be able to do anything. We are
going to suffer loss as though it were the loss of salvation, he says clearly in verse
15 that the individual who suffers loss, who has foolishly used his life, who has not served
the Lord in a way that has pleased God, will be saved. Yet, as through the fire of judgment,
which has exposed his foolishness on that day. When we commit ourselves and our God-given
resources to the work of the Lord.
You and I have the prospect of earning eternal rewards.
Keep in mind that salvation is by grace.
It is a gift of God that we receive.
But, brother, the rewards that we receive on that day will be what we have earned and
nothing more.
Our commitment to Jesus Christ now is not some dull routine.
It should not be looked upon as some terrible obligation and duty, but rather as a wonderful
prospect, because our faithful service for Christ now, our commitment to Christ now,
means the prospect of eternal reward.
That is the first blessing, but it seems to me that he goes on to explain other blessings
to us.
The second one I see is the blessing of personal relationship.
Consider that with me.
The blessing of personal relationship, and he points out especially that relationship
that we have with our fellow workers.
Verse 9.
We are God's fellow workers, talking specifically here about himself and Apollos and Cephas,
or Peter, who is mentioned later.
We are God's fellow workers, he says.
Is it not a blessing to consider the fact that we are not alone in the commitment that
we make to Jesus Christ?
As today we indicate how we are going to respond in giving, in prayer, in serving the Lord
in this local church for the next three years.
We are not alone in making that commitment, because there are others, too, who are joining
with us as God's fellow workers.
Now of course the context of 1 Corinthians refers to leaders, but then I think there
is application to everyone who labors together for the Lord, as all of us do.
We are co-laborers.
That is a word that implies close relationship.
It is the picture of two beasts of burden, for example, in the same yoke who are pulling
together with the load.
You and I are in the yoke, as it were, with others who are committed to the work of Jesus
Christ.
What a joy and what a blessing it is to know we are not alone.
He says here we are God's fellow workers, that can be understood to mean that God is
laboring with us.
At least we can say that God is working through us.
Can you think of a greater blessing than knowing that?
That as you join hands with others in committing yourself to the service of Christ, God is
working through you to accomplish His purpose and His will and His vision.
Of course the kind of service that we perform will vary according to our own calling and
our own gifts.
Paul reminds all of us here that there are those who plant, there are those who water,
and the implication is that there are also those who have the joy of reaping.
It is God who gives the increase from beginning to end.
But we as co-workers have different gifts.
One of the things that we have to remember as we work with others is to allow others
to be free to serve Christ as they are gifted to do so.
We must not insist that they be pressed into our mold and that they do exactly what we
do the way that we do it, because each of us is a unique part of the body of Christ.
God has called us and gifted us to do different things.
There is individuality.
Of course there is the mutuality too.
We are doing it together, but the fact is that God has given us different tasks in the
body.
Let us respect that.
When we commit ourselves to the work of the Lord, is it not a blessing to know that we
are linking with others in God's forever family?
They are some of the finest people on earth.
We are in this thing together.
That is a blessing.
So as we commit ourselves today to the ministry of Grace Church Roseville in a way that we
have not done before, above and beyond what we are doing now, let us not see that as an
obligation that is heavy, but rather as a blessed privilege, because we are joining
hands with others and doing the same thing.
That is a blessing and a joy in our commitment.
It seems to me that the Apostle at least suggests a third blessing, one that we need to keep
in mind as we commit ourselves in our resources, our reputation, our energy, our time to the
service of Jesus Christ.
It is the blessing of permanent results.
I think verses 16 and 17 are some of the most sobering to be found in the New Testament,
certainly as it relates to the church.
What he tells us there is that we are involved in a building project of a temple.
Our labor, our commitment is toward a temple which will forever stand as the dwelling place
of God.
There are many committed people in the world.
Most are committed to goals and purposes and causes which are temporal and passing.
An athlete, for example, is committed.
One has to admire an athlete who is in preparation for the Olympics because of the hours every
day given in preparation for that event.
The Olympics come.
The athlete is involved in the trial of the moment.
Perhaps passes, perhaps does not make it, but once the Olympics are over, who remembers?
So there may be a medal that one hangs in his room, but a hundred years from now, what
difference does that make?
So there is the musician who practices, who spends hours alone and with others working
together to prepare a performance.
But once the concert is over, it's over.
Even if it is recorded, it will not be long before there are other recordings that take
its place.
Let's talk about students.
This is a weekend when some students are graduating and others are but a few days away from their
wonderful event that leads to another phase of life.
Students strive toward the diploma or the degree.
They can hardly wait until they get their hands on that piece of paper that will give
them permission to move on in life.
But it's not long before the thrill of that moment is over and suddenly the realities
of that new phase of life press heavy.
What about the business person?
Who becomes a workaholic if necessary in order to be promoted to that position that he has
always wanted.
So he or she gives himself to that goal.
And let's suppose for the moment that it's attained or even surpassed.
Once retirement is over, who cares?
That company or that corporation goes on.
And there are those who desire to build monuments that will last.
This last week I had the opportunity to take a tour through the Glenn Sheen Mansion in
Duluth.
It's a very interesting place.
Mr. Congdon was a very wealthy man and obviously spent years preparing to build that house
on Lake Superior.
Years of work went into the construction of the house.
Ten hours a day, six days a week, three years.
Craftsmen, skilled people gave themselves to the building of that house that still stands.
If you've not been through it, it's worth seeing, at least once.
But it's interesting that having planned and having put effort and a million dollars,
which was a million dollars back in 1906 and 7, put that kind of money into a house.
He lived there for about six years, in fact four years before he died.
So was temporal.
A monument that still stands, but what use is it to him?
He's been in eternity for over 70 years.
You see, my point is this.
As we commit ourselves and our resources, not to something temporal, but to the work
of Jesus Christ, we have the blessing of knowing that the results are permanent.
They mean something.
Now, certainly our world progresses because of sincerely committed individuals who are
willing to pay a price for temporal goals.
But I submit to you today that there is no commitment except that of serving Jesus Christ
that has permanent results.
Every investment in the work of the Lord is with eternity's values in view.
Whether it be my time, my money, my energy, when I am serving Jesus Christ, there are
heavenly dividends that are in view.
When I am serving Jesus Christ and ministering to people, I am touching the souls of those
who will last forever.
People are permanent.
People go on for endless ages.
So when I am ministering to people, seeking to win them to Jesus Christ, seeking to then
bring them into the body of Christ as a vital part of it, seeing them built up in the faith
and then reproduce themselves, when I am doing that and thus building the temple of God,
I am doing something that matters for more than 10 years, or 50 years, or 100 years,
that matters forever.
Commitment to the work of Christ is wise.
It brings blessing because it counts for eternity.
As we think about commitment on this Commitment Sunday, let us finally remember the blessing
of privileged responsibility, which Paul points out in the last part of the text we read.
There are few honors in life more fulfilling than being asked by a person of importance
to serve Him.
To be asked to serve, for example, the President of the United States, or to serve that office,
if not the person, is a high honor.
Sadly, there are some who have forgotten that and have prostituted that service, that privilege.
But let us never forget the honor that is involved in being asked to serve, somewhat
of importance.
The Apostle Paul saw himself here as one who was asked, indeed commanded, to be a servant,
a steward of Jesus Christ.
Please keep in mind that a steward was one who was well trusted.
A steward in that day was one who had proven himself, who had the highest security clearance,
if you please.
There was a matter of trust between the important person and that individual to whom was entrusted
and committed responsibilities of oversight.
While the Apostle uses this term of himself and other leaders in the work of God, again
there is an application to all of us.
First Peter 410 tells us that we are all stewards of the manifold grace of God.
God has entrusted spiritual gifts and responsibilities to us.
God is the only one who can investigate or examine us with equity and impartiality.
We must keep that in mind.
To those who applaud us, we must keep in mind that they may not be evaluating us properly.
They may not see the whole picture.
To those who are detractors, likewise, don't know the whole story.
So we are answerable to the one who has appointed us as steward.
God will find appropriate praise, says Paul, on that day for each one of his stewards.
He says in verse 5, then each man's praise will come to him from God, not from men.
All of us appreciate encouragement and words of thanks.
The thing that really counts for the one who has appointed the steward is that the one
who has appointed him be pleased.
And on that day, when the Lord comes, then each one of us will have praise, do praise,
coming from the Lord.
A significant commitment seems easier to me when I am reminded of the privileged responsibility
I have as a steward of Jesus Christ.
For what I have, all of it, is from Him.
There is nothing that I have originated in myself.
I did not put myself together the way I am, nor did you put yourself together the way
you are.
We are the work of grace.
What we possess is given to us by grace.
The energy level that God has given to us.
The health that we have.
The reputation that we have.
That is all a gift of God's grace.
And now as stewards of that manifold grace of God, we are to serve and commit ourselves
to Christ because of that privileged service.
Please don't make the mistake of reading the word commitment as though it were edged
in black, bold letters.
Commitment should not be a negative word to our ears, nor should it conjure threatening
images in our minds.
Commitment is a step.
It is a step of obedience.
Commitment is a mark.
A mark of ownership.
Commitment is a sign.
A sign of maturity.
Commitment is a test.
A test of lordship.
A God-given vision of touching the lives of people through our local church deserves and
calls for from each of us a sincere and heartfelt commitment.
A commitment that brings us blessings.
And as in a few moments we place our commitment cards in a plate, let us keep in mind the
blessing of it all.
Let's bow together please and pray.
Just a few moments, the ushers are going to return with plates.
I'm going to ask them to come on to the front and be prepared.
I wonder if you would take out that envelope that hopefully you have brought today.
If you would hold that in your hand.
If you are married, perhaps your wife would want to hold it together as we have a prayer
of dedication for these commitments before we return them.
Would you join me in prayer please?
Our Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given to us as a congregation a burden
for ministry.
We thank you that you have raised up this church to touch the lives of us who are gathered
here this morning.
Deliver us, I pray, from complacency or from such a spirit as would forbid us from seeing
that there are others who need that ministry that we have received.
May we pass it on.
And I pray that we will be able to see the vision as you see it.
That our hearts will be excited about ministering effectively to those people that you would
enable us to reach, whether it be here in the Twin Cities area or if it be in some inner
city, some remote part of Appalachia, or in another culture entirely in some part, some
remote part of the world.
These commitments that we hold in our hands today, we dedicate to you.
We ask for grace and faithfulness to be able to follow through.
We pray that you will enable us in giving, in praying, in serving, so that we might know
the blessing of commitment.
Knowing that what we do now makes a difference forever.
Help us to appreciate the temple that you have called upon us to help construct.
May we as living stones and as part of that temple treat the temple with reference and
respect, knowing that it is your dwelling place, your habitation for all of eternity.
We now give these cards, we return them to your honor and to your praise and your glory,
in Jesus' name, amen.
Would you take your hymnals please?
The ushers are going to pass the plates as we sing.
I'd like for us to turn to 449.
We will sing, take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
We'll sing it without accompaniment.
Please remain seated as the plates are passed and as we sing together.
Number 449.
Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
Swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice and let me sing, always only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.
Filled with messages from thee.
Let's stand together now, please, and sing the fourth verse.
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use every power as thou shalt choose.
Every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine, it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own, it shall be thy glorious throne.
It shall be thy glorious.
Now let's sing the last verse of this prayer hymn and make it our benediction.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour, at thy feet its precious store.
Take myself and I will be ever only all for thee.
Amen.