Good morning, church. How's everyone doing? Hi,
guys. Doing good. A little tired. Thank you for
the two that asked. But for those of you that
don't know, I am, wow, this is, I just gotta,
I gotta state it. This is really tall. I can,
like, this is a perfect leanings point. Thank
you. So, I am Pastor Rick Ice. I am one of the
assistant pastors here. I actually run the youth
ministry, so if you don't know who I am. That's
who I am. If you're wondering why you never see
me, it's because I'm down the street in the student
ministry building. But one thing I like to say
and want to say today is I have the pleasure
to teach you guys on Star Wars Day. If you guys
didn't know, it is May the 4th, so may the 4th
be with you all. But with that, today I have
a very... a close study to my heart because it's
something God has been working in my life that
I have to share with you guys. And the title
is a fun one. It's Being a Bond Servant, God's
Will vs. the American Dream. Today, I'm going
to be comparing God's will with that, the American
dream, or your American dream. Because not everyone
has the same American dream. There is the stereotypical
idea of the American dream, right? The great
job, the house, family, pets, dream car, retire
early, making, you know, all your dreams come
true. That idea of the American dream. This was
the land where people could come and make dreams
come true. In essence, the American dream is
just our desires. If we really boil it down,
it's what we desire. That's what they desired
back then. It's, oh, we can go and make a life
for ourselves. It's our desires. Which is not
a bad thing. Please don't think it is. But it
can be something that we idolize over God. It
can get in the way of our relationship with Him.
I'm not saying that if you have an American dream
and your desires, I'm not saying if you're following
those things, you're not in God's will. But I'm
asking, have you ever thought that your American
dream, your desires, might be getting in the
way or you might be putting them above God's
will? These are questions that I've gone through,
you might have already gone through, or maybe
you never have. And I feel like God has put this
on my heart so that we can all go through it
again. Because even if you've done this before,
it's good to go through it again. So Christians,
Remember some things before we get into this
study. We are not our own anymore. We are bought
with a price, and that price is Jesus' blood.
We're looking at what it means to be a bondservant
of Christ today. The attitude we should have
towards God and his will for our lives, the understanding
of who we are in God's kingdom, and pursuing
God's will. even if it means not having our American
dream. So with that, we'll pray, and will you
join us with worship? So dear Heavenly Father,
Lord, we pray that you just, you speak today,
Lord. You let your words be said, that you, Lord,
would just enter into our hearts to poke and
prod our hearts if we're callous to you, and
to reassure us that are living for your will,
Lord. Lord, let us just be focused on you and
your word today. We pray that we can bless you
and worship you. In Jesus' name, amen. Today,
we're looking at God's will versus the American
dream, right? That American dream being our desires,
our wants, and how unfortunately sometimes we
can let our desires become idols. We can put
it as more important or above God's will in our
own life. But to address this and to see how
to have the right heart when dealing with this,
with our desires and will versus God's will,
I like to actually look at the apostles and early
Christians as examples. Because they were the
closest ones to Jesus. They walked with him,
they talked with him, they knew him. Forewarning,
I'm going through a lot of scripture today. So
it's just all going to be up there. I'm not going
to tell you to turn to a specific book or verse
because we're just going to be running through
it all. Starting off, the early Christians, we
notice, call themselves something specific. Servants
and or bondservants of Jesus. Examples you find
in Romans 1 .1, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus,
called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel
of God. Philippians 1 .1. Paul and Timothy, servants
of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ
Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers
and deacons. 2 Peter 1 .1, Simon Peter, a servant
and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have
received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. James 1 .1,
James, a servant Notice they're all calling themselves
servants. That word servant can also be translated
bondservant, and it The original word is doulos.
This word doulos, this servant, bondservant,
it really does mean that. A slave, a servant,
or a bondservant. It can be translated one of
those three ways. Now doulos being used in all
of these sections is more of a positive sense.
It literally means one who is solely committed
to another, slavery as to salvation. Interesting
word. Either way, this is a very humbling word,
especially from these church fathers, these early
church fathers, fellow Christians, apostles.
They're proclaiming that God is their master
and that they're giving God possession of their
entire life. They are God's servant and or bondservant.
This is very interesting and I think a vital
attitude that we are to have towards God as Christians.
Now, to understand this attitude, we need to
answer some questions. First off, what is a slave
servant or bond servant? What's this idea of
this bond servant? Well, when we hear slavery,
we normally think of American slavery. We think
of what's called chattel slavery. It's interesting,
it's called chattel. I always remember it because
it sounds like cattle, and that's kind of how
we treated people. It was horrible, right? That's
what people think. People are treated horribly.
They're not seen as human. You guys know what
that looks like because you've studied it. You've
had school, everything. But not all slavery looked
like this, especially back then. Back then, they
had a different form of slavery called servitude
slavery. This could be including indentured or
penal servitude or even a debt bondage. This
idea is very different than chattel. For instance,
you've got penal servitude, which is kind of
like a punishment for a crime. So you did something
wrong, cool, now you have to go be a slave, whether
that's for the person you did the crime against
or for the country itself, like you will go work
in, well, I'll talk about that later. But you've
got penal servitude, and then you've got indentured
servitude or debt bondage, which is like paying
off a debt. You owe someone money, and so instead
of, like, I can't make the money, you work for
them to pay that debt off. The idea, and a good
way that people say modern nowadays, is it's
like a modern job. Your boss is your master.
You work for them and you get paid. Back then,
they were paying off a debt. We just get paid.
But that was more the idea. It's very similar
to how jobs work nowadays. And what's interesting
is slaves' jobs were varied back then. It's not
like how, again, we think when we think of slavery.
It's like they're either working in the fields
or they're working in the house. That's it, and
they're treated horribly. But that's not what
really happened. There was actually a lot of
slaves back then that were physicians, like doctors,
because that's what they were before they became
slaves. Rome, when they went through and conquered
different areas, they would just be like, all
right, you're slaves now, but you're going to
keep doing what you're doing. You're going to
keep doing your specialization. Slaves could
have jobs. They could even have their own businesses,
evidence shows. And again, this is interesting
because it all depended on the master's will.
The job that a slave could have really depended
on what the master wanted. And we need to remember,
around Roman time, roughly one out of every three
people were a slave. Again. Slavery wasn't this
chattel, no one's a human idea. No, it's more
like work. You're paying off debt. Your country
got taken over by another country, and now you're
their slaves. It's not, again, it's more like
a job. But it still is slavery. We can't forget
that. There still was similarities. For instance,
masters owned their slaves. They owned their
life. do the master's will and masters actually
had enough power to where they could execute
their slaves often with no repercussions because
they owned them they were theirs some slaves
obviously didn't have it as easy right you know
you owed money to someone you could be sent to
debtor's prison Like if I owed one of you money,
and you're like, I don't have a job for you.
Go to debtor's prison to pay it off. You're literally
going to jail and working, doing whatever the
state or that place has for you until you pay
off your debt. And that's not that easy. But
not all slaves were forced into slavery. Some
slaves actually choose slavery. Exodus chapter
21, verse five through six says this. But if
the slave declares, I love my master, my wife,
and my children, I do not want to leave as a
free man. His master is to bring him to the judges
and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His
master will pierce his ear with an awl and he
will serve his master for life. So, A willing
slave, someone who chooses slavery, is known
as a bond servant. And they serve them for life.
This slave, they love their family and they love
their master. They have a good master that cares
for them. Because the truth is, slavery back
then, when you were someone's slave, Often, the
master was called to take care of you, to have
a place for you to live. You're not just thrown
in a broom closet like Harry Potter, right? You
have a place to sleep. You work for them, and
hopefully, if they're good, and you're like,
hey, I don't want to go have my own business.
I want to work for you. I love my family, and
I love you. I want to work for you. Think of,
like, a good example, a butler. You know, Batman's
butler, always walking around, always doing everything
for him. He lived in the house. He took care
of the things, and then Batman would take care
of him. Pay for his food, give him a place to
live, a great place to live. Think of that. But
notice something that actually matters. They
get their ear pierced. It's pierced open. And
this is a mark to everyone that this person is
a bondservant or a slave to someone. It was an
identifier. Kind of like a branding of a horse
or a cow. It's like, hey. This one's mine. If
you see them around, they're mine. Don't take
them. So why do followers of Jesus then call
themselves bondservants of Jesus? Well, I personally
think they see the similarities of a bondservant
relationship to their master as their relationship
with Jesus. And I think we should too. For instance,
we had a debt that we... Hold on. I'm going to
try and fix this. There we go. No? Better? Yep.
All right. We had a debt that we couldn't pay,
right? You've got Romans 6 .23. For the wages
of sin is death. All humans are drowning in debt.
We couldn't pay for it, never can, never will.
But then Jesus did what? He bought us with a
price. He paid for our life. 1 Corinthians 6
.20. For you were bought at a price, so glorify
God with your body. God not only made us, but
then he buys us back. He bought us with his blood.
He owns us, honestly, twice over. We also are
marked as God's slave. Ephesians 1 .13 says,
in him you also were sealed with the promised
Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. and when you believed.
It's not an ear piercing, but it is a sealing.
It is something that marks us as his and marks
us as his forever. The Holy Spirit literally
lives within us, sealing us until the fulfillment
of our salvation. And God is a good and loving
master. 1 John 4, 16 says, and we have come to
know and to believe the love that God has for
us. God is love, and the one who remains in love
remains in God, and God remains in him. Mark
10, 18 also says, and this is Jesus speaking,
why do you call me good? Jesus asked them, or
him, no one is good except God alone. God is
the only truly good and loving being. He literally
is goodness and love itself. Did you guys know
that technically darkness isn't a thing? Darkness
is an absence of a thing. If light didn't exist,
technically darkness can't exist. Did you also
know that applies to evil? When people ask the
question, So God created everything, so he created
evil then. And I'd say, no. Technically, if you
take away goodness, evil doesn't exist. That's
why when you have someone who's an atheist and
they try to claim a moral high ground and say,
we have morality, I'd say, no. You're taking
away goodness itself by getting rid of God, the
moral, the standard that's above us. So what
you have left is just actions. Nothing's good
or bad. But God himself is goodness, is love,
and he's our master. All these similarities,
I believe, formed the early Christians' attitude
towards God, formed this idea of why they kept
saying, he's my master, I'm his slave, I'm his
bond servant, I'm his slave forever. They see
and recognize and are thankful for who God is.
What's crazy is James and Jude, right? Some of
you probably know this. Some of you don't. They
said they're bond servants. They are Jesus' half
-brother. They're his relative. How many of you
would be like, yeah, I am the servant and bond
servant of my siblings? Most of you are like,
I tolerate my siblings. but that's how they see
him. And what's crazy is they didn't even actually
believe that Jesus was the Messiah until his
death and resurrection. But afterwards, they
realized who he was, more than just their half
-brother, their master, their Lord, and they
are his servant. So why would they lower themselves
to this? Because they know who God is. They have
the right idea. And in this, I see a problem
that has crept into modern Christianity, and
yes, I will say this, especially to American
Christianity. Too many Christians and American
Christians see God as a get -out -of -jail -free
card for monopoly. Too many Christians see God
as a vending machine for the things that they
want. I'm not saying you are. And if you feel
convicted, that's the Holy Spirit talking to
you, whether you're online or here. Because guess
what? I'm not going to say that we're all perfect.
We've probably all done this. That's growth and
maturity. I pray that you leave that. God is
not just a get -out -of -jail -free card. But
Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 3, where
he talks about building a foundation in the Corinthians'
lives, and that foundation is Jesus. And some
of them never build upon it. And when their works
are judged by God later on, they... make it into
heaven just by salvation, just by the skin of
their teeth, meaning those Christians got saved
and then live selfishly for themselves, not doing
God's work for the rest of their life until they
die. That is a possibility, and I ask that you
don't do that. I ask that we as Christians focus
on living for God as his bondservant, doing his
will, doing the works he's called us to do. Now,
these early Christians, again, like I said, recognize
who Jesus is. God and Lord of all. And they realize
that God is creator of all. Colossians 1 .16
says, For everything was created by him in heaven
and on earth, the visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
All the things have been created through him
and for him. They recognize God is the master
of all creation. We owe everything to him. Think
about it, guys. God created the very air that
we breathe. God, when he created the world, when
Adam and Eve messed up and failed, he had every
right as creator to just go, done, start over.
But he loves us so much that he didn't. He actually
loves us so much that before he created anything,
he already planned for Jesus to die for us. That's
the God and creator of all things, and he loves
us that much? That's mind -blowing. He is a good
and loving master. So what does it mean for us
to be a bondservant of Christ then? What does
that mean? First, being a Christian. If you're
a Christian, congratulations. You are a bondservant.
You have seen your debt, seen that God paid for
you, saw that he was a good master, and said,
Lord, I want to serve you with my life for the
rest of my life. Now, some Christians understand
this. Some don't, unfortunately. Like I said
earlier, some Christians just see God as that
get -out -of -jail -free card. And that hurts.
That hurts my heart because there's been times
in my life I can even look back to my younger
Christian days and go, I acted that way, didn't
I? But I want to encourage you, if you're a Christian,
God is your Savior, Master, and Lord over your
life. Yes, He is also our Father. Yes, we have
a relationship with Him. But in that understanding
of I have a relationship with God, don't forget
that that relationship is master and servant,
not vending machine and your life. All these
things really are important to understand. Romans
6 .22. Oh, yep, Romans 6 .22. But now... Since
you have been set free from sin and have become
enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results
in sanctification, and the outcome is eternal
life. Christians, remember, we are bondservants.
So, what is God's will for our life, then? If
he is the master, and his will matters more than
mine, what is his will? We've all thought this.
And I'm going to give you a list of some things
I believe God's will is. It's not an exhaustive
list. There's more. But first thing, very first,
salvation. John 3 .16 -17 says, For God loved
the world in this way. He gave his one and only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him will
not perish but have eternal life. For God did
not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him. God
wants everyone to be saved. That's his will for
humanity. But he loves us so much, he gives us
free will and lets us choose not to love him.
He lets us choose to not choose him. But us Christians,
if you believe, you have. You've responded and
already done part of God's will for your life.
You've already listened. And those of you that
haven't, if you're in here or online and you
haven't, please respond. God's will for you,
his loving will, is that you get saved and have
a relationship with him. God also desires, his
will, fellowship with him and with other Christians.
Ephesians 2, 18 through 19. For through him,
we both have access in one spirit to the Father.
So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers,
but fellow citizens with the saints and members
of God's household. Guys, we are now part of
the family of God. We say that a lot, and that
might become numb over time, right? You're like,
familiarity breeds content. Yeah, brother, whatever.
No, we are. We are family members. We should
be spending time with each other. But most importantly,
we are family members with God. We still are
his servant, but we are brought into his family.
He loves us so much. We have direct access to
the Father now. He wants to have a relationship
where we talk with him in prayer, where he talks
with us through his word, through prayer, and
through his Holy Spirit, where we are guided
by him. He wants that fellowship with us, and
he wants us to fellowship with one another. Remember,
like I said, we're brothers and sisters. Let's
act like it. Hebrews 10, 24 through 25. And let
us consider one another in order to provoke love
and good works, not neglecting to gather together,
as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging
each other, and all the more as you see the day
approaching. God wants fellowship with us and
for us to fellowship with each other. It's part
of his will, I believe, for us. Also, God wants
obedience. He wants us to be obedient to him.
John 14, 15, Jesus speaking. If you love me,
you will keep my commands. We say we love him.
We Christians know that we love him. But then,
do we keep his commands? Am I being a servant
and lowering my will to do his and do his commands?
Or am I like, ah, I want to do what I want today.
God wants us to do what he says. To live according
to his word. Some of you guys are parents. And
don't you love it when your kids listen to you
and do what you say without having to fight them
over it and be like, hey, what did I say? Do
it. right? I don't have kids, but working in
youth ministry for 14 years, it's great when
they listen to me the first time. It's like,
thank you, you do care. But that's the thing.
That's what God wants. Hosea 6 .6 says, for I
desire faithful love and not sacrifice. The knowledge
of God rather than burnt offerings. What God
is saying there is he desires Faithful love and
obedience, not sorry. How many of you parents
can relate with that? You're like, don't tell
me sorry, kids. Just do what I say. Thank you
for saying sorry. Thank you for turning back.
But do what I say. Show me you love me that way.
And if we say we love him, but we're not sacrificing,
I feel like we're dropping the ball. God wants
obedience. God also wants, his will for us, is
to make and be disciples. Matthew 28, 19 through
20 says, Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe everything I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always to the end
of the age. Guys, sharing the gospel with people
is a command that God has given us. And if He
loves us, we should be doing that. Teaching others
what we know about Jesus. Helping others that
maybe are already saved but are baby Christians.
Teaching them what you know and helping them
grow in their faith. Because that is what God
calls us to. Not only to make converts. That's
not what it says. It says make disciples. Disciples
are students or followers. Don't just make someone
that goes, I believe in Jesus. Okay, bye. See
you later. It's like, nah. Spend time with them.
Help them grow. But to teach others, we first
must know God and know about him to be able to
teach him to others. We must be disciples, continually
growing in our knowledge of God. We must know
him so we can teach him to others. Another thing
that I believe is God's will for us is to do
good works. Ephesians 2 .10, for we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared ahead of time for us to do. I can't
tell you what those works are. God created us
all with our own special abilities and the giftings
he gives us. He has that planned, and that's
between you and him. He has things for you to
do. And it can range. Your good works can be
from one day being a pastor and preaching or
being an evangelist or being someone who goes
and sets up churches. I'm not going to get into
that debate if it's apostle or not. But it also
could be as simple as buying someone food when
they're hungry. I said this in first service,
and it's not in my notes, but it's still one
of my favorite examples of this is Rick Bromley.
And he is Elder Rick Bromley. Right? Elder now?
Yeah. Elder? Yep. Elder. Yes. But Elder Rick
Bromley. I have an issue, and this is a personal
issue in confession time, with the homelessness
in California because my uncles were that. I
saw my uncles take advantage of the system, beg
for money so that they could go buy drugs instead
of food, because then they'd come to my house
and just eat our food. Like, I saw this happen.
They chose to live this horrible life. And so
I have a callousness personally to homeless because
I remember buying a guy food at Taco Bell, and
it wasn't planned. I walked out of Taco Bell
and handed this guy food because he was asking
for it. I'm like, here you go. And then I get
in my car to get into the drive -thru to buy
myself more food, and I see him throw my food
in the trash. That can create a callousness,
but God doesn't say, hey, give it so that they
can respond. He just says, help them. Do the
good work. How they respond is on them. Now,
I'm not just going to give people money, like
homeless people money. I will do the thing of,
I'll buy you food. What you do with it, that's
on you. That's my personal conviction. I'll buy
you groceries. I'll do these things for you.
These are good works that you guys have probably
done and can think of. You've also got things
as, As simple as just helping one who's short
on money, like a brother or sister. I've been
there. I've needed help. You probably have too.
Helping people move. That tends to be my gifting
because I've moved 13 times before I turn 18.
I've got the skills and I know what to do. So
people always ask. As well as praying for others.
That's a good work that we can do. Remembering
our brothers and sisters or even those that don't
know Jesus and taking the time to pray for them
and ask God to bless them. Serving at church.
That's definitely a good work that God can use
you for. Counseling others. The list goes on.
You can think about all of these different things
that God has, but he has made us to do good works.
We're literally made by him for that. And God
is our master. Remember, his will matters above
ours. Now, you might be thinking, okay, well,
what is God's will for me specifically? What
does God want me to do? And in all honesty, I
don't think it's as complicated as we tend to
make it out. We tend to make it out to be this,
I'm not going to move or apply for any jobs.
I'm going to let God give me a job, and that's
how it's going to work. He'll just provide it.
I only want to be in God's will. And I'm like,
that's foolish. God could do that. I highly doubt
he will. God might not have a specific job for
you. Or he might. For instance, being an elder
and being a pastor, that's a calling. The Bible
talks about how that's a calling in your life.
Not everyone can just do it. And it doesn't mean
that we're special. It means that that's what
God called us to do. It's funny because there's
this interesting thing with seminaries nowadays
where everyone goes to seminary because they're
going to be a pastor. And I'm like, I'm glad
you have the knowledge, but did God call you
to do it? Because there's plenty of pastors that
have been called before seminary ever existed.
Apostles were fishermen, remember? It's a calling,
not just information. So it can be true. God
could have a specific job waiting for you or
a specific thing to do. But he also could be
like, hey, go apply to jobs, and then I'll guide
your path. Just go. Go do it. And while you do
it, love me. Be obedient to me. Do what I'm asking
you to do. Be in fellowship with me. For instance,
a great example of this. Paul, in Acts 16, you
can look this up. He's trying to go to Asia to
spread the gospel. And as he's getting close,
it literally says the Holy Spirit stops him and
his group. And then later on, Paul has this dream
or vision where he sees a Macedonian man asking
for help. So what does Paul do? He listens to
the will of God and goes to Macedonia. His desire,
his American dream, was to go and spread the
gospel in Asia. God said, hey, hold on, wait
up. thank you for following me and doing my will
up until this point, but my will is over here.
My calling to you is over here. Now, it doesn't
mean that God's going to always stop you. He
can, right? Here, he literally did stop Paul.
And it doesn't mean that Paul never went to Asia.
He does, in a later mission trip, go to Asia
and spread the gospel. We just have to be willing
to go, hey, God, what's your will? I've said
this plenty of times. Some of you might know
this. Some of you might not. But growing up,
I wanted to be in the military. I had a whole
plan. My parents raised me. They wanted me to
go military. They're like, yes, do it. It's either
college, military, or you're out, right? That's
the idea. But I had a plan. I wanted to go Marine,
Scout, Sniper, 20 years, Special Forces. And
then after, when I'm done serving, I would then
apply to be an instructor at the sniping school.
I wanted to be the guy that looked at the people
I take out. Yeah, right? God had a different
plan. Because all my friends were, well, not
all my friends, like Will was a little nervous.
I remember tricking him into thinking that I
was going. That was fun. Love you, Will. But
I listened to the Holy Spirit telling me no,
because I had my parents supporting me, so many
people supporting me. I had a close friend that
had like this vision of me that was like, I can
see you now as an adult later on. But I felt
God say, no, don't go. And so I didn't. And now,
instead of taking lives, God has me here sharing
his life with others, and those people get saved.
God has different plans for us. We have to be
willing to let his will trump ours. I really
think we are called to just live our lives in
fellowship and relationship with God, loving
him. Knowing him, growing in that knowledge of
him. That's his will for us. And then as we go,
as the Bible says, he'll direct our paths. He'll
push us in the way he wants. He'll take us to
where he wants. And he'll bring us to places
to do the good works that he has already prepared
us for. So whatever you do, do it for God. Whatever
you are doing, whatever your American dream is,
make those plans, have those desires. Have whatever
job you have, whatever life you choose to live,
but whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.
Do it in fellowship with God. Do it in knowing
and knowing God even more, in loving him, being
obedient. Share your faith at your job, at your
gym, at your place of your hobby, whatever you
do. Like one of the favorite things that I have
now is I... You'll find this out. I love what's
called bouldering. I rock climb with a bunch
of people. Hey, Paul. Bud and Will and Cedric
and Emmanuel. Like, a bunch of people. We all
go climbing, right? It's fun. But that world,
the rock climbing world, is kind of inundated,
I noticed, with a lot of, like, LGBTQ plus and
trans plus. And all that, like, for some reason,
that's... That's what they do. But Will had this
great idea of, hey, if they can organize, like,
these, like, you know, trans climb day and all
these different climb days that go up on their
calendar at the gym, Will's like, hey, let's
see if we can do a Christian one. And he got
it through. It's happening this month. Like,
on their board, there's a, hey, if you're a Christian,
come climb with us. Like, that's, be obedient
in what you do. We're just climbing fake rocks.
But we get to share the gospel with people. They
get to see us interact. And we get to have fellowship
with other Christians. We have all of these plans.
But the thing we need to do is be willing to
allow God to change them to his will. Don't be
stubborn. Let him guide you. James 4, 13 through
15 says this. Come now, you who say, today or
tomorrow we travel to such and such a city and
spend a year there to do business and to make
profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will
bring, what your life will be, for you are like
vapor that appears for a little while, then vanishes.
Instead, you should say, if the Lord wills, we
will live and do this or that. That is the attitude
we should have because God is our master and
we are his bondservants. Lord, if you will, I
will do this. This is my plan, Lord. Is that
okay? You cool? Yeah, I'm going to go do it.
And more often than not, it's like Paul. Most
of my opportunities where God has blessed me
and guided me was just me trying to walk through
a door and either it was open or it was shut
in my face. That's how, at least for me, it has
worked. But what I love is even Jesus demonstrates
this for us. When he was in the garden, he says
this in Matthew 26, 39. Going a little further,
he fell face down and prayed. My father, if it
is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not
as I will, but as you will. I've said this before.
Jesus is the example for us. as Christians. He
is the example of a human being living by the
filling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, doing
the will of the Father. And even here, sweating
blood from the stress of what he's about to go
to, asking God, Lord, this is not my will. I
don't really want to go through this. But he
finishes with, your will be done. And that should
be our heart and attitude towards our master.
Lord, your will be done. So my question is, do
you see yourself as a bondservant of Jesus? Like
I said before, if you don't, you are. Like, if
you chose Christianity and you're like, I'm not
a bondservant, that's weird. You are. You chose
him. You are his slave forever. But the best
thing is, is he is a good and loving God. 1 Corinthians
7 .22, for he who is called by the Lord as a
slave is the Lord's freed man. Likewise, he who
is called as a free man is Christ's slave. We
are his. We have chosen him as our eternal master,
and he is a good and loving God who has a goodwill
for us, for our works to be done. Guys, look
at the example of all the early Christians, all
the apostles. Almost all of them died horrific
deaths. Right? It's like, I wouldn't want to
be skinned alive. I wouldn't want to be crucified
upside down. I wouldn't want all these things
that happened stoned to death. But you know what?
They saw that God was their master. And he's
worthy to die for. Because he owns my life. We
need to see his will as more important than our
own. So, are you living like God is your master?
Or are you putting your will above God's? That's
a question we should ask ourselves daily. Even
momently, honestly. There's times where it's
like, oh, here's this other decision. Oh, well,
hold on. Am I just being selfish? But for those
of us, if we want to be good servants, bond servants
of God, My favorite two verses, Romans 12, 1
through 2. Therefore, brothers and sisters, in
view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing
to God. This is your true worship. Do not be
conformed to this age, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind so that you may discern
what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will
of God. Don't do what the world says. Get money,
accumulate money, fame, power. All those things
pass away when we're dead. But if we do God's
work and God's will, those things remain. The
early apostles and Christians did God's work.
They spread the gospel, and Christianity is still
around 2 ,000 years later worldwide. God's work
is eternal, and we're called to do that, to do
his will. to love him, to be a slave for him.
What I love about this is we're called to be
living sacrifices, meaning as we live, the thing
I want to do, I'm going to sacrifice that and
do what God wants me to do. But we do that in
view of God's mercy, not even talking about his
grace yet. Mercy is the simple act that he doesn't
destroy us because we're evil, horrible sinners.
He's not even talking about, Paul's not even
talking about the mercy. or the grace that God
gives us in giving us salvation and loving us
and doing so much for us. We should be living
sacrifices simply because he does not kill us.
And what's beautiful in doing that, that is true
and genuine worship. That's what it says. Worship
is great. I love singing in worship. But you
know what is worship? Faithful obedience. Not
conforming ourselves, but being transformed by
renewing our mind. Knowing God more. Living and
having a biblical mindset. Our entire life and
worldview through the lens of God's word. Those
things will help us to know his will for us.
So, with that, I'm going to give you guys an
opportunity to do God's will. I'm going to give
us... the baptism instructions.