It's so good to be with you tonight.
I'm very thankful to have an opportunity to study the Bible
with you and excited to see some familiar faces from last night
and some new faces tonight. If this is your first time with
this, during the meeting, or in general, I guess I'd like to
give you my personal, welcome. And I'd also like to let you
know what's about to happen in case you, you're not familiar
with it, I actually Should be up here about 30 minutes now.
That's laughable because I'm going to say 30 minutes and it
could be 40 or you know ish but I'll do my best because it's a
school night and it's a work night.
I understand that maybe you had a long day today and maybe you
got a long day tomorrow. So we'll be together for give or
take 30 minutes studying different scriptures on this
idea of being useful for life and so I hope that it's a
helpful Bible study for you and I'm going to ask you if you have
a Pew Bible. Go ahead and get it out and
we're going to read some scriptures together, and we'll
make some points about how we should be useful for life.
I want you to go over to Ephesians the book of Ephesians
chapter 4 and in the Pew Bible, that's going to be on page, 17,
94 1794 up at the top, you can see the page numbers there.
Now while you're turning over there to Ephesians chapter 4, I
guess I'd like to give you kind of an outline of where I'll be
going tonight. We're going to be talking about
being useful in part 1 being useful, but specifically being
useful for life. And so I'm going to spend about
half the sermon or so talking about the different ways that
that God's people want to be useful and sadly, sometimes we
missed the mark in our usefulness.
And so, we'll read the scripture a little bit to explain that.
But then after that, I want to talk about a specific group of
people who are useful, but oftentimes in our culture
Society in general, our seniors are often, whenever you get to
those golden years, it's time to relax time to retire and let
others kind of take on the load, and they'll be more useful and
you can kind of take it easy and I want to challenge that.
So, if you are a senior, if you are retired, then this section
is speaking. Likely to you.
But even if you're not retired and you're not at that age,
where you're close to retirement friends, we're going to Lord
willing, get there someday. And let's have a mindset going
through life that we're going to be useful for life.
Now, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 16.
In fact, I'm going to read verse 15 and 16 it says, but speaking
the truth in love may we grow up in all things and to him who is
the head? Just from whom the whole body
joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according
to the effective working by which every part does.
Its share causes growth of the Body for the edifying of itself
in love. What do we take away from that
scripture? Well, that through Jesus and
through teaching the truth in love, every single member of a
local church works together to make sure that all of us are I
taught and all of us grow. So, just as I'm up here, right
now speaking, you have a job and that is to listen and take the
message and follow on reading the scriptures.
And then together, we are teaching one another.
Now, that's just in this capacity but there's other
capacities as well. What stood out to me several
months ago as I was reading this was that we're knit together by
what every joint supplies. And as I'm getting a little
older, I do find that my joy. Don't work as well as they did
in the past. Some of you may have similar
experiences where it seems like whenever you bend over.
Well, 20 years ago, it was a lot easier to bend over and your
back didn't kind of scream at you.
The way that it does now or maybe you've got to do some
stretches in the morning before you start moving around.
Because when you get up you you shuffle a little bit before you
start moving. And as I thought about by what
every joint supplies, I thought about all the ways that I have
misused my joints and now, it seems to be coming back to
haunt. Wanting a little bit.
I've got to take a little bit of time to make sure that they're
used properly. And so I thought about how and
here on the board I have this I'm going to call it a triple
venn diagram and I don't know if that's a thing or not.
Maybe I just made it up. But anyway, we've got the middle
part. This target of, we want to be
useful right by what every joint supplies we're going to talk
about that last, but we're going to talk about three ways that we
misuse our joints, right? That is that we Use the members
of a local church and one way that we get misused is through
overuse, you know what I'm talking about.
If you've overused a specific joint, maybe you didn't lift
with your knees and all those years of just bending over and
lifting up with your back and you'll suddenly you couldn't do
it anymore because you overused a part of your body that you
weren't supposed to. But that's only one way that we
are not useful with our joints. Another way is when We're under
used, right and I've had several days where I know I'm supposed
to get up and move around a little bit, but I've got a lot
of clerical work to do and so in this office work I'm hunched
over. And I've got my mouth, my mouse
for my computer, and I'm just kind of working away and then I
get up at lunch and I try to move that wrist.
Oh man. What's going on?
I didn't use it at all and now it's stiff.
It's sore. But then finally, there's
another type of way. That we're not properly using
and that's through the misuse of our joints.
Several of you may have had surgery.
I've had surgery on my foot a couple of years ago because of
misuse and so I had to have surgery, I got a scar on my foot
about 2 inches long, wasn't able to walk on it for about three
months. And so, what did I do?
I leaned all of my weight onto the right side of my body, my
hip, my knee, my ankle took the whole weight and You know, after
three months, what happened to that side of my body?
It started to hurt even though that was the healthy side, it
was being misused. So consider some scriptures with
me because this is the should be more than a health lesson.
This has to be a Bible Lesson and consider what the scriptures
say about how sometimes spiritually, we overuse we
underuse, we misuse as we all I really do.
Think we are all trying to be useful and we want to be helpful
to one another The ward the sometimes we may get overzealous
and go too far or maybe not enough but let's just consider
some examples and then I'll try to encourage you about being
useful. And then briefly, we'll talk
about seniors serving in the kingdom and being useful for
life. Now the first set of scriptures,
if you're taking notes write down that we're going to talk
about being overused, we're going to be in the book of
Exodus and the book of Acts. So I invite you to flip over to
Exodus, chapter 18, It's towards the very beginning of the Bible
and an Exodus chapter 18 and we're going to be on, let's see
page 112 of the Bible. So while you're turning over to
page 112, let me briefly. Explain what happened in Exodus
chapter 17. I'll just summarize this real
quick. Moses, the leader of the
Israelites was leading his people.
The, the rear of the people were attacked by a treacherous
Nation. So Moses hikes up to a
Mountaintop and God says, lift up your staff and if you keep
your staff lifted up, then the Israelites will be victorious in
battle. But if you lower your staff,
then the Israelites will be defeated.
Now, this is a man who just hiked a mountain and I know you
all live in a region where that might seem like it's just every
other day, but for me, living in the flat Midwest, that's a day's
work in and of itself just getting the Mountaintop, I would
probably be dead. However, Moses climbs to the top
and he has to raise his. Arms, and, you know, from my
illustration sake, I'll only keep them up for like 10
seconds. It doesn't seem like it's that
hard but after a while things seem to get harder and Moses has
to lower, or he just lowering his arm.
And so what happens as the story continues to of his helpers
come, and they lift up his arms together, and he sits down and
keeps his arms above himself and he's able to keep them up in
Israel wins. Now, you would think that that
would teach this great man a lesson and that is You can't do
it yourself. You need help and yet the very
next chapter, this is where we're going to be reading in
Exodus chapter 18, verse 13 through 18, we find Moses doing
some clerical, work some administrative work, he's being
a judge and there's probably between 1 to 3 million
Israelites, with one judge. Does it seem very efficient does
it? Now verse 13 says.
So it was on the next day that Moses sat down to judge the
people. And the people stood before
Moses from morning until evening.
So in Moses, father-in-law saw all that he did for the people.
He said, what is this that you're doing for the people?
Why do you alone? Sit and all the people stand
before you from morning until evening.
Now, there's some context here. Moses, father-in-law Jethro has
brought Moses wife and children back from a foreign land, Moses
left his family. He went to Chipped and then led
the Israelites out of slavery and now they're in the
wilderness. Wandering and Jethro brings his
family back to him. That should be a sign right
there. That Moses is being overused,
because he forgot about his family, he left them behind, and
there's a lesson for all of us that if we feel like the job's
not going to get done, unless I do it.
And you know if I'm not there to do this, then you know, it's
just going to fall apart. If we put all that pressure on
ourselves and sometimes rightly, so I get it, I've been there as
I've commonly said to people, I'm an overuse a holic.
It's very easy for me to try to take it all myself.
Moses was doing that. And Jethro sees this and he
goes, why are why are you doing this so Moses explains?
I'm the only one. They've got to come to me and
then I've got to explain to them what's going on.
Look at verse 17, Moses father-in-law said to him.
The thing that you do is not good, both you and these people
who are with, you will surely wear yourselves out for this
thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it
by yourself. Friends the lesson, I want you
to take from this is that Moses was a great man.
A man of great faith who serve God Faithfully for years and
years and years. Didn't wonderful, things, but he
was overused, and because he stretched himself, so thin, he
wasn't as helpful as he could be.
So thankfully, he takes his father-in-law's advice, and he
gets helpers to help him in this.
Now, briefly in Acts chapter 6, verse 1 through 5, you can just
take these down as notes. I'll summarize it the Al's, this
is after Jesus died and buried and resurrected the churches
began and now the apostles are leading the church.
And in Acts chapter 6, it says that there were some people that
were missing out on their daily ration of bread.
So they come to the apostles, the leaders.
And they're asking for this daily ration of bread.
You know what the apostles say, it's not good.
Hear me again. It's not good for us to leave
our ministry and wait tables that they had a job to do.
And so instead of them lumping it all on themselves, they
delegated and they found people who were ready to help and they
had those helpers do the work instead of them doing
everything. So, if you're the type of person
that you have a hard time asking for help, you'd rather do it all
yourself and you look at others with suspicion.
Whenever they want to volunteer, or you look at them with in such
a way thinking, I know, I would do a better job than you.
So I would just rather have this all myself.
If you're that type of follower, you're being overused.
You're being overused. Now, another type of followers.
One, who is underused, there's two types.
We're going to read one scripture, so I'll reference one
and then we'll read one. So, turn over to Matthew chapter
20, that's the one that we're going to read.
And that's going to be on page number.
Let's see, 15:22. That's the page.
You can turn to. Now while you're turning there
in Matthew 25, there is a type of person who is underused
because they don't want to be used that type of person is lazy
and wicked. Jesus says in the parable of the
talents that that person in this Parable was given a talent of
money from his master was supposed to go out and use it.
But instead he he buried it in the ground and the master comes
back later and says you Wicked and lazy servant.
So if friend, you find that there are things you could be
doing to help the Lord's people helping his cause but you're
just not interested. Somebody else can do it.
I don't want to I would rather do all the things I have fun
doing. You need to repent that type of
under uses one, that is repent oriented.
But you know, with the first time I ever gave this sermon,
that was the only scripture I have their under users are lazy
and they need to repent. You know you know what?
That's Really saying me as an over user.
That's me. Holding all of these good works
and looking at under users and just scoffing.
How dare you not help me right and afterwards, thankfully, I
had some very dear friends come to me, who were being underused
and sometimes people are being underused, not by choice, but
because the over users have gobbled up all the good works,
right? And so, that's what we're going
to read about in Matthew chapter 20.
Where we find this This parable of people that wanted to work
but nobody had hired them. So Matthew chapter 20 verse 14,
the Kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner who went out early in
the morning to hire labourers for his Vineyard.
Now when he had agreed with the labourers for a Denarius a day,
he sent them into his Vineyard and he went out about the third
hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace and said
to them you also go to the vineyard and whatever is, right?
I will give you so they went, you know, I haven't Is next, he
goes back every few hours, he finds more people that are just
standing around looking for work and he hires them and takes them
into the vineyard verse 6 and about the eleventh hour of the
day. And I want you guys to think
about it this way, if we get off work, you know, you work, 8 to
5, let's say it's 4:59 The eleventh hour, right?
This is the last possible minute in the work day.
He finds some standing idle and said, to them, why have you been
standing here? Idle, All Day verse 7 and they
said to him because no one hired us.
And he said to them, you also go into the vineyard and whatever
is, right? You will receive.
Now in this Parable, there were those being underused, but
they're not rebuked for it. They just hadn't been found and
when the master found them, he put them to work.
Now, that's not the end of the parable.
The end of the parable is about the justice and the fairness of
each one of them getting a Denarius, the same reward for
their labor. But for our purposes and for
this congregation, you'll know each other better than I know
you I'm bringing this sermon in without maybe knowing the
context of this particular church.
But the idea is if there are people if they're our brothers
and sisters who are being underused, A lot of times it's
easy for people like me to look at them and say, wow, well,
they're just, they're just lazy. And a lot of times they just
haven't been asked. They haven't been tasked.
And I challenged the congregation to put her members
to work finally. Let's talk about the misused
before we go into that Target zone of what we all want to be
which is useful. And to be misused, we could
consider Romans chapter 12 Verses 4 through 8 or there's
lots of talents and people have lots of gifts and God has given
graciously to us. You are naturally good at
certain things and maybe there's other things that you're not as
naturally gifted at right. You know, I was so thankful that
Marissa agreed to marry me for a number of reasons, but one of
the reasons that I'm glad that she married me, was that I was
an extrovert Right. Who really?
It was my way or the highway and I Married an introvert.
I married. Somebody that wasn't like me.
And here I was trying to be everything, and that's one thing
I couldn't be was quiet. And over the years, I have
learned the power of those who are quiet, and how God has
graciously, given them that ability.
Because Marissa sees a whole lot, more than IC versus able to
read people whole lot better than I can read people.
I'm thankful in my marriage that I have that.
So these different talents in the Lord's church, we can be
thankful that we all have different gifts, different
abilities and what we shouldn't be like.
Like in Acts chapter 8, verse 18 and 19 is Simon the Sorcerer.
Simon. The Sorcerer as he's known was a
man, who was at one time, practicing this Pagan idolatry,
he's converted, he's baptized for the remission of sins.
He becomes a Christian, then he sees the apostles, and he sees
that they have something that he doesn't have.
They have the ability to give miraculous gifts Right?
So they're kind of like the king makers of who gets what so to
speak and Simon. The Sorcerer desperately wants
that and so he takes money to them and says please give me
that gift also Now, Peters response tells it all Simon
would have misused it and so he says your money perish with you.
He rebukes him. Why?
Because he knew that Simon would misuse this Talent.
So friends there may be times when you look at others and you
say man, I really wish I had what they have.
I wish I could do what they can do.
And who am I? The Lord can't use me because I
have nothing. I don't even have the 110.
Don't I have the zero Talent. What am I supposed to be?
What am I supposed to do? Whereas brother so-and-so or
sister? So, and so they're like the
gazillion Talent person. I want to challenge that first.
God made you special and God thinks you are enough because he
made you that way. But second think about how God
uses those who consider themselves as weak, right?
So flip over with me to Second Corinthians 12, verses 7 through
10. And second Corinthians, 12,
verse 7, through 10, which is Page 1782 and the Pew Bible.
If you want to flip over there with me and second Corinthians,
12 verse, 7, through 10, Paul is given an agent of Satan as it is
or a thorn in the flesh. And he pleads that, the Lord
would take this away. Verse 8 says, concerning this
thing. I pleaded with the Lord three
times. Times that it might depart from
me. And he said, to me, my grace is
sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in
weakness there. For most gladly, I would rather
boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ May rest
upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities in reproaches in needs and persecutions in
distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am
strong. Don't misuse.
The talents that God gave you don't look enviously on what
others have. But rather praise God, for what
he's given you and use them properly in order to be useful.
Okay, let's look at these two scriptures on what we all should
be trying to be, and that is useful.
So, look over with me in second, Timothy Chapter 2 and this is on
page 18, 22 of your Pew Bibles. Second Timothy 2:20, I've used
that word a lot useful. Useful useful.
And I have this scripture here just to emphasize that this
isn't a Jonathan word, like, I didn't make it up because it was
a nice sermon. But rather the scriptures,
Challenge us to be useful and here's the one for it.
First a rather second Timothy chapter 2 verse 20.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and
silver but also wooden clay, some for honor and some for
dishonor. Here's a question real quick,
what is Paul wanting us? To want to be, does he want us
to be the gold and silver or the wooden clay?
It's a rhetorical question, one has more value than the other.
We're supposed to want to be that, which is Honorable Right?
So if we're supposed to strive to be these honorable vessels,
How do we do it verse 21? Therefore, if anyone cleanses
himself from the ladder, he will be a vessel for Honor Sanctified
and useful for the master prepared.
For every good work. Useful is a Biblical concept and
you and I should desire to be useful to be helpful and there
is a wrong way to go about About it where we think we're the only
one who can do it or maybe we think that we can never do it or
we just wish we had what everybody else had no rather we
focus on what God has given us. What has blessed us with and we
desire to be useful Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10
briefly please and then we'll move into that second part of
the study and this is on page, 1792 in your queue Bible,
Ephesians 2:8. Eight, for by Grace, you have
been saved through faith and not of yourselves.
It is a gift of God and not of Works, lest anyone should boast.
So on the one hand salvation is not works oriented where I could
somehow Merit or earn my way into heaven, right?
We talked a little bit about this last night.
It's impossible, if you did 100 Deeds, if you just did 51, good
and 49 bad, you have just enough, you can't demand to be
let in all of us who are of that age have fallen short of the
glory of God. We cannot be saved by our works.
And yet look at verse 10, For we are his workmanship created in
Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them. So even though I'm not going to
try to save myself, I'm going to rely on God's grace through
faith. Once I've obeyed the gospel
once, I've been baptized, I'm going to prepare myself to be
his workmanship. Because there's a good works
that God has prepared for us to do.
So I challenge you all to consider how you can be useful
because you've been called to be useful.
Now, let's consider part 2, which is being useful for life.
And this is a special part of the study for me for a couple of
reasons. Number one, I will Tell you that
the the author of this original study is a very precious and
dear friend of mine. And I imagine many of you know
him as well brother LG Butler Brother LG Butler passed away a
couple of years ago and he was a preacher and an English
professor and lived a full life and he lived this content out.
We got to see it. Firsthand the congregation that
I work with is a young congressman.
Aggregation. We don't have very many retired,
aged people, and older, most of our families are in our 30s, 40s
50s because of that, I guess. Youthful skew, brother LG and a
few others that have joined the congregation since then, we
looked at them with awe and reverence because we didn't have
those who are older to kind of be that example for time.
So I was Asked to write an article for the Christian
Expositor about young people serving in the kingdom, and LG
wrote, the article seniors serving in the Kingdom.
So, we collaborated and put that article out several years ago.
I can also remember anything about what mine said, it's just
it was gone right? And we do focus a lot on our
youth. We want our young people to be
involved. We want to ground and root and
establish the faith of young people.
I don't want to Discount you at all you folks.
But our LG's article was eye-opening for me because it
was helpful to show that we should be useful for life.
I had the privilege as well to do an internship at an ALS
clinic in Dallas last year. So for part of my therapy
training was to do family therapy at an ALS Clinic.
Lou Gehrig's disease where people who are diagnosed with
this typically have two to five years, Ears of life, it's a
slow-moving paralysis across the body.
It happens differently to each person but it generally happens
to people who are older in years.
So the average patient that we have was in their late 60s, 70s
80s, and one of the things that I saw again and again and again
with these families that would come in a lot of times it was
bent, it was men, the struggled with this, but Women struggled
with it as will and that was as their hands started to not be
used anymore. Maybe they couldn't walk
anymore, maybe they couldn't speak anymore.
Their most desperate plea. Was just to be useful.
They hated that that was taken from them and that their
partner, they didn't want them to be there Nurse.
They didn't want this person to have to change them brush their
teeth. Help them get dressed, they
them. And these simple things that,
and what we would do in Family Therapy, a lot of times is give
both parties, the opportunity to speak from the heart.
And one was desperately trying to say, I want to help you.
It's a privilege to help you and the other is saying, I wish I
could just be useful. So some of these things impacted
me and I want to maybe share some of the information with
you. I believe I have five minutes
and according to the 30-minute you know time that I gave you at
the beginning, I'll be honest, it's going to take more than
five minutes to get through this.
So I don't make any apologies about it.
I'm just letting you know that. I'll take my own Our own
confession in the invitation when I said 30 minutes and then
I guess I deceived us all now. I'd like to begin with the story
in the 1992, Summer Olympic Games.
Maybe some of you watch this happen.
Derek Redmond was training to run the 400 meter dash, and in
front of 65,000, Spectators after the gun went off, and the
runners started sprinting, he immediately clutched.
T', his hamstring and started to hobble.
He tore this part of his body in the worst time possible and he
was determined to finish the race.
Now what's so precious and you can go on YouTube you can look
up, Derek Redmond 400 meter dash 92 Olympics and you'll see this
man courageously trying to get to the finish line and just
unable to do it and suddenly someone from the crowd jumps
over and down. Runs over and puts an arm around
him. And it's his father as father,
who helped him train for the event and the two of them
together. Slowly jogged, the Finish Line,
Derek Redmond may or may not have won a medal.
I don't know what he was as far as in the world standing, but
he'll never be forgotten because of that race.
In fact, it was that Amount of strength that went with him for
the rest of his life as he went from place to place, giving
speeches on finishing strong. So the early years of life are
typically characterized by growth, physical Vigor,
education, the middle years are devoted to family and work.
And the senior years, as I mentioned earlier, are typically
viewed as Retirement and time for leisure trending downwards
physically and health ultimate leading leading.
Death and this is intended intended to be something that is
darker gloomy, but is a natural part of life that life cycle
from birth to death. And yet, even though there are
three point six, five million persons, who can according to
this statistic are in the retirement years that is 65 and
older statistics. Also show that there are several
years after that age. In which these people will
continue to be useful in their life.
So, what I'd like to Simply do is help us rethink this part of
our age. For example, Bible seniors,
Abraham was 75 when he was called to leave his native land.
And travel, Sarah was 90 years old when she was called to give
birth to a child. Moses was 80 years old when he
was called to lead the Israelites out of the Promised
Land. The Bible just says, Eli was
very old. We don't know how old that is
but he was very old. When he helped young, Samuel
become the next Prophet, or the last prophet and the early days
of Israel. And then barzilai was 80 years
old when King David was on the run and barzillai whipped
together, food and different items of Aid to help David while
he was on the run. And you could even write down
zakhar, Zacharias and Elizabeth, who said they were both well,
advanced years when God called them to bear and rear John the
Baptist and so When the scriptures in 1st Corinthians
chapter 12 verse 21, say those members of the body, which seem
weaker are necessary. I think this is a good
application of that. Where instead of the cultures
view of when we reach retirement, then we get to kind
of take it easy and let the Next Generation take over in the
church, we should be calling all members to be useful.
So whether you're young or whether you're young at heart
and you're older, Two years then the scriptures in 1st
Corinthians 12 call you to be useful.
Ephesians 4 verse 16 says, every part must do its share and the
whole body is joined together by what every joint supplies.
Now the four phases of service that I'd like to talk about
briefly. So take that number that 37
million. I believe that what we talked
about earlier and that 37 million can be divided into four
basic groups, 50% of that. New 7 million population is in
basically good health. 40% of that 37 million is in moderately
ill health. And so that's the majority of
people in the retirement age, basically healthy to moderately
ill. There is the 10% who are
severely ill, which 50 and 40 and 10 make 100 right?
So what's left? Well I know that mathematically
maybe that doesn't make sense but we will also put that there
will be Be a fourth phase of service and yes I'm going to
call it service. And if you've never thought
about dying as service, then I want you to pay attention to
this part of the study because 100% of US unless Jesus comes
back, 100% of us are going to die at one point or another
generally speaking. This happens later in life later
in years. None of us know when that time
will come and so I will speak about it from that generation.
General point of view. According to the National
Institute of Health, fifty percent of seniors are basically
healthy in that 65 or older category.
Now, not only is this group in basically good health but here's
some really important things to remember about this age is
usefulness. Number one more time.
Can be devoted to the Lord's work.
If one doesn't have to work and I know it doesn't always work
out that way but if one doesn't have to work as much as they did
in their youth, that's more time.
Number two, more resources can be devoted to the Lord's work.
Once they start drawing, retirement benefits, and number
three. And I think most importantly a
wealth of accumulated wisdom can be given to the Lord's work.
And so this perspective that are older members provide Helps
minimize repeating mistakes in the Next Generation by helping
train us to do. What is right and what is good.
Titus Chapter 2 verses 3 through 5, the older women likewise are
to be reverent in Behavior, not Slanders, not given to much wine
teaching of good things that they may admonish the younger
women to love their husbands, to love their children to be
discreet. Chaste Homemakers good, obedient
to their own husband's. That the word of God may not be
blasphemed. So it is the older teaching the
younger in this category. First Timothy, 3:1 and Titus 2
verse 2. The older men have
responsibilities as well. LG and his article, I'm going to
try to ring a few of these and then I can share the article
with you later if you're interested in and just reading
it in its entirety. I think he does a great job of
expressing how seniors can help the church.
For example retired teachers can volunteer to assist
homeschooling parents and Killin development teaching their
children. The Bible, anybody with one good
eye and a heart of compassion could volunteer to help monitor.
The care of someone who is a set as shut in or at a nursing home.
Especially being alert to the evidence of elder abuse retired.
Accountants can provide free tax preparation or assistance in the
bookkeeping of others who may need help in that couples are
individuals with parenting skills can volunteer to babysit
for a Young couple at church who may be severely strapped for
cash and but may need a date night retired, professors with
any good language skill. Could share their expertise by
editing articles booklets for preachers.
Let's see. Again, I'm trying to maybe skip
some of these anyone with the ability to read scriptures can
read to people in nursing homes or elsewhere, or to people who
have lost their vision and this could be done over the phone,
just be alert to the opportunities.
He goes on the retired. Carpenters, retired mechanics
retired, all varieties of jobs. And so I give those for you to
be thinking about, though the skills that once developed
across a lifetime. Okay.
Briefly there is a 40% group of those who are moderately ill but
can still be serving in the Kingdom.
He gives the following examples preachers who are not are no
longer able to travel or Do the work they once did may need to
redefine their role and responsibility.
I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul.
When he was not able to travel, many came to his lodging and I
like that, the idea of adapting one's work where if you're not
able to get out as much that inviting people to come to you a
sister in the congregation and Lubbock Texas, dealing with
significant health challenges herself, regularly asks, brother
LG the time of writing for the names of persons to she can Pray
for via the Internet. So she prays and sends cards to
them regularly, what a Ministry for this woman.
One of the residents of the nursing home which LG
volunteered a retired music, teacher frequently played the
piano for the residents who were there as well.
So as one's Health starts to diminish maybe once the body is
not able to move as it was continuing to use abilities is
helpful. My brother LG talks about the
severely ill, category from personal experience.
Many of you may have known his wife Priscilla, she had
Parkinson's disease. So I'd like to Simply share
Share this single narrative here but it goes well with with those
who had ALS and other conditions where physically they feel as
though they have nothing to offer, but I want you to listen
to this story. I think it's powerful.
His wife by the incidentally, at this time, had been in a nursing
home for several years on one occasion.
When I went to visit my wife Priscilla, she was not where I
expected at that time, her Parkinson's disease had Advanced
to the point that she was confined to a wheelchair.
She was not able to talk clear enough to be understood.
Will her vision was so affected that she could no longer read.
I found her. On the other side of the
dividing room, she had somehow managed to get into her
wheelchair and worked the wheelchair around the room
divider and moved up beside the bed of a Dying roommate.
Priscilla, had her hand on the roommates arm comforting her
later. That night her roommate passed
away. Not only did my dear wife
comfort her friend but she taught me.
Volumes about unselfish love compassion, courage and how we
might Advance the kingdom for such a time as this as powerful
isn't it. that this woman who wasn't able to speak, barely
able to move and yet used What God had given her and that was a
keen awareness that somebody was about to go from this life to
the next. And instead of that roommate
dying alone, she got to die with somebody holding her hand during
the last few years of life at the same nursing home.
There was a man who was asked by heat rather, he asked his
children and grandchildren every time they came to visit him.
Why do you think I'm still here? To which his children responded.
You're still here because you're teaching us so much.
His daughter graciously shared with me that he helped her learn
how to face death at his own initiative, he'd given up his
driver's license when he was 92, he willingly went into assisted
living. When he was 96 following a
stroke later, he and his wife gave up their home and
distributed all of their personal effects, and moved
into, a nursing home with Grace and contentment.
Ain't he had taught his family, he Advance the kingdom through a
teaching example. Finally, let's consider very
briefly about how we glorify God in the service when we die and
again, in our culture we don't talk about this a lot.
When we were in Cambodia, they handle death of a bit
differently than we do and most cultures do handle it in their
own way because we have a culture that is very medically
driven that wants to save the ADI at all costs.
A lot of times we don't want to talk about dying.
Well there is a scripture however that I'd like for you to
consider with me and I like you to look at John chapter 21,
verse 18, so go ahead and get your Bibles.
This will be one of the last ones that we look at.
In John chapter 21 verse. 18 and 19.
I'll go ahead and flip my open to and read it out of the Bible
instead of the notes. In this passage, Jesus is
talking to the Apostle Peter And he says, three times.
Do you love me? Peter says, you know, I love
you. And he says, feed my sheep
Peters upset about this, and there's reasons that he is
upset. But look at Verse 18.
Most assuredly, Jesus says, I say to you, when you were
younger, you girded yourself and walk where you wished.
But when you are old, you will stretch out your hand, another
will gird you and carry you, where you do not wish.
This, he spoke signifying by what death.
He would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he
said to him, he said to him, follow me.
You know, that is very subtle and it happens very fast, but
Peter was going to glorify God and death.
Brothers and sisters. I want to say that to you as
well, that we will glorify God and death as well.
We have an opportunity if we're given time to make things well
with our family with friends. And if we're not given time, If
it's sudden and it's our life and our Legacy that will carry
on and will glorify God with that.
And the same way that Peter had that opportunity, I want to
challenge each of you to think about that.
And about the Legacy that you're leaving.
Will you be glorifying God? I certainly think we have the
opportunity to do so. Jacob in Genesis chapter 48 and
49 was aware of his death. And so he used that time to
speak individually to his sons before he died.
David in Second Kings one and two on his deathbed was aiming
Solomon, his son and lifting him up and encouraging him about
being a king for the Next Generation.
Finally, in Psalm chapter 71 verse 18, the Bible says now
also, when I am old and grey-headed, oh God, do not
forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation and
your power to everyone who is to come.
So, this psalmist. In his latter years, wanted to
use that opportunity to glorify God and I challenge you to do
the same. So whether you may be a senior
now or senior in the future, I hope that you're willing to look
past yourself and whatever ways that you're being misused and be
useful. And be useful for life.
That's our Bible study tonight. I hope it's helpful and
encouraging. I look forward to some good
conversations that we can have about it, but we don't want to
close without offering a gospel invitation.
So if someone's here who's not a Christian, we want you to know
that. As the scripture said in
Ephesians 2 verses 8 through 10. The you can be saved by grace
through faith and that faith means to hear the word and
believe in the message of Jesus Christ to repent of your sins
confess that he's a son of God and be baptized for the
remission of sins. Brothers sisters, if anybody
needs prayers of the church, this is a time for you as well.
Please come as we stand and sing a song.
We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the
Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you
would like any additional information or you would like to
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