The Church of Eleven22 - God at Work - 1 Timothy - Wk 10

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

Work Hard. Reflect Christ. - The Church of Eleven22® is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Eleven22 is led by Pastor Joby Martin and based in Jacksonville, Florida, with multiple campuses throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. To find out more about how God is moving at Eleven22, go to CoE22.com

Amen and amen and amen. Hey, don't start my preaching clock yet. We're gonna serious curveball real quick, okay? We're gonna talk about God and work in just a second, all right, and I know your job's so hard, all right? And I know you feel like an overcomer because you made it through the rain and through the one less hour of sleep.

So you're way to go. There's a group of pastor friends and ministry leaders that we're friends with, and I'm friends with, we all encourage each other in between services and all this. And in between services today, it has come to my attention that there has been an incredible rise

and uptick in this world. primarily in the Congo and Syria of some serious Christian persecution. 278 believers were killed in the Congo this weekend, and 70 believers in Syria have been beheaded. And hundreds and maybe thousands of Christians in Syria are being rounded up and persecuted by jihadist Muslims. And so we need to pray. These are our brothers and sisters. There's only one church that a whole bunch of different names. And we need to pray, pray, pray for these brothers and sisters right now because prayer matters a bunch.

And so if you would just posture yourself and whatever, however that makes sense for you, whether just lift your hands or hold up your hands or whatever. And let's pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters right now in Congo and Syria. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, God, you are in charge. And your word says in Revelation 12, hey, the church will overcome by the blood of the land, the word of their testimony, and they love not their lives, even unto death. And so God, as we got it so easy, relatively speaking here as American believers. God, we pray for our brothers and sisters right now.

that are so afraid, God, I pray that you would just fill them with your courage. God, I thank you that the moment these evil people do evil things, they are in your presence, and God, I think you that the blood or the martyrs are the seeds in this world of the advancing church. And, God, I pray that you would either save these evil people doing these evil things or you would enact your justice right now, and it would stop in Jesus' name. And, God, we agree as a church in all God's people said, amen, amen, amen. Continue to pray for these people all week long, okay? I know it's a hard shift, but there we go.

So we're going to talk about God and work. Anybody got a job? Good. If you didn't raise your hand, you need to, all right? You need to. And we're going to talk about how to honor God at work. And I know, you know, I know you think like I'm just a work, a pastor, and I only work half a day a week.

I get it. That's adorable. But before I'm a pastor, I'm also an employer. I have about 367 employees. and so we do all the things. Like, you know, we've got HR and finance and all operations and we do annual evaluate. You know, we do all this thing, okay? And so it matters.

The way we work matters. In fact, in the Westminster Catechism, this is the way that the Church in England used to catacize people. And the first question and the whole thing is this, what is the chief purpose of man or the chief end or aim of man? And the answer is man's chief aim or end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Not just enjoy him once you get to heaven and then it's enjoyable,

but we are supposed to glorify God forever. That means yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and in all that we do. The average man, like adult male, spends 145,860 hours at work. That's the average. That's almost 17 years. Like if you never took a minute off and you just work straight,

it'd be like 17 years of your life. the average adult female works a little bit less unless you're a mom then you work 24 hours a day 365 days a year and you don't get one second off i don't know what to tell you okay we love you and so how are we supposed to glorify god at work now i'm going to walk through first simpathy six just two verses one and two but we're not getting out any earlier in fact a little bit longer because i prayed for a minute so and i'm going to read it then i got to explain some of the words because contextually it'll throw you off a little bit. Let me read it and then let me explain.

Chapter 6 verse 1 says this. Let all who are under a yoke as a bond servant regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Okay, so to the apostle Paul and to me, the cause of the gospel is supreme above all things, even if you're in a terrible work situation because the gospel matters eternally.

All right. Now, the ESV translates this word, bond servant, some of the older translations would say slave and it uses the word master, but what you can't do is you can't think about what we think about when we think about the words like slave and master, okay? This word bond servant is doulas, is dulos. And the kind, even though slavery has happened in pretty much every part of the world for all of human history, and in actuality there are more people enslaved today and be in traffic today than ever and every time you bring your first impasse or you bring a dollar to the church of 1122 a part of

that goes to fight against human trafficking and to free people today in this world that is just true this thing that paul is talking about is not the thing we think about when we think about race-based transatlantic slavery okay this thing that was happening in the first century that is that is translated bond servant it wasn't not race-based, so all kind of different colors and races and ethnicities of people could be a due loss. It was actually in every socioeconomic class that you could decide to become a bond servant of somebody because it was safe and you could live indoors and eat good food, and it could be actually a way for you to step up in society and you could buy your way out of it,

or if you owe a debt, it could be a way that you pay back your debt. This is different than race-based chattel slavery, transatlantic kind of thing that we think of in America, which was such an atrocity. And anybody that's ever said, well, I can't believe the Bible supports slavery, they should stick to coloring books because they're not ready for adult books. You've got to read what the text says. If you'll remember back in 1 Timothy chapter 1 versus 9 and 10, Paul tells Timothy that enslavers, these are people that steal other people and sell them to other people, that they're Those people are lawless, disobedient, ungodly, sinners, unholy and profane. Okay? So this kind of thing, when the Bible uses this terminology, you have to read it in its context.

And this phrase, yoke, it says, let all who are under a yoke as a bond servant regard their own masters of worthy of all honor. This word yoke, it literally is the big wooden thing that you put on an ox that you hook up to it and you like plow all the field or whatever. In our understanding, this would be like your burden, your, job description, what is required of you, the burden that you carry. And so if you have a job, you have a yoke, you have an expectation. And if you're really young, if your employer requires things of you, that's not abusive, that's called a job. That's what you're supposed to do.

They're not making you do it. They're paying you to do it. Okay, you're saved by grace. You're not employed by grace. Now often in the Bible, the phrase yoke of slavery or yoke of sin will be used. And then, for some of you like varsity Christians, you'll remember in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus says, come to me, all you who are a weary and heavy burden, and I will give you rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is like. Because what do you have to do to be a follower of Jesus? Well, you don't do anything. You actually receive the free gift of grace.

And the reason that he used yoke there is because the Pharisees would say that their yoke is their interpretation of the scripture were all the list of rules that you had to do to be in right relationship with God. And then they thought the bigger or longer your yoke was than the more serious about God you are. And then Jesus is like, no, no, no, no, no. My yoke is grace. So in our context, the read God's timeless word in this time, the best way to understand 1 Timothy chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 in several other patches in the scripture is to think about this like employer-employee. Some of you in the room are bosses.

A lot of you are bosses. It could be the boss of a team or boss of a family or boss at work. And almost all of us have a boss. And so what he's talking about here is the employer-employee relationship and how we are to honor God in that relationship. And the yoke that we have is your job description, your expectation, the responsibilities that you carry. And what Paul is telling Timothy to teach the church at Ephesus is, listen,

employees, honor your boss. Some of you just need to spend the next 43 minutes, just praying about that. To just honor your boss. You see, because here's what's crazy if you think about it. All right, you go to work. Like most of us have to get them to go to work tomorrow, right? And what's crazy is what at one point was a prayer request has now become a primary point of complaint for us. Like we prayed for something.

God said yes, and now we're complaining about it. Can you believe that? How about anybody ever raised some kids? Remember that? Dear God, please let us have a baby. About a year later, you're like, whatever you've done to me, right? It's like that, man.

And so if you have a job, it is a gift from God. It is a gift from God. And so please don't let this gift of God has given you be a primary source of complaint, but instead you should honor the person that you work for in order to honor God. Now here's the thing. There's a difference between honor and respect, because some of you're like, you don't know my boss. You're right. I don't know your boss. I don't. And maybe they're not respectable. I get it. But honor is given and respect is earned. And so no matter

what, we are called to honor the people and authority over us. In fact, the apostle Peter is going to write a letter to the church and he's going to say, honor the emperor. You know what the emperor was doing? Peter wrote that letter. He was killing Christians. And then he says, because God is sovereign over all things that we show honor. And maybe jot this down. If you don't honor your boss because you don't think they're honorable, write down this Greek word, quit, quit. And somebody if you're like, well, I can't quit. You probably can. You're just full of fear, and that's a different sermon. Okay. And now some of you are like, well, I can't quit. I'm in the army. They'll put me in prison. Okay, that's cool. I get it. I get it. So if you can't quit, then you know

you do, you suck it up and you shut up. That's what you do. You suck it up and you shut up. And we're like, I don't remember that Bible verse. Well, let me point you to Philippians chapter 2, verse 14. Paul says, do everything without complaining your arguing. And I check the Greek and going to work falls in the everything category. That's it, man. And ultimately, if you don't trust the person you're working for, the real question then you've got to ask is, do you trust God? Do you know, the Bible? We're going to be. We're going to be. We're going to be the Bible. We're We're going to talk about it in a second. The Bible is full of people who had terrible bosses, and God was actually in charge of the whole situation because Romans 828 is true all day,

every day that God is at work in all things, even your crappy job, for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. So here's what your boss needs from you. Your boss needs to know two things. One, do you believe that he or she is the right person for the job and God has placed them there? That's one. Two, do you believe that they have what it takes? If you don't, quit. Because who's the dummy? The dumb boss that doesn't know any better? Are you for following somebody that you think is a dummy?

So trust God. Trust God. So how do you honor? Okay, if you work here at 1122, write these things down, please. Honor is not a feeling. Honor's not a feeling. Honor's in action. Honors like gratitude.

Unexpressed gratitude is worthless. You hear that, husbands? unexpressed, gratitude is worthless. This is why you're getting trouble. Because your wife's like, I don't feel like you value anything. And you're like, I feel, I have all kind of gratitude feelings for you. Neat. You got to say words.

You got to do things. You got to write cards. You got to buy, you got to do something about it. This is the same way honor is. Honor means you need to do something. So, how about this? words of encouragement and gratitude go a long way. When's the last time you tell you to your boss, thank you, you're a great boss.

Thank you. Thank you for the job. Thank you. Thanks for the benefits. A lot of people don't do that. Thank you. And gratitude matters. Every single one of us live on a continuum between entitlement and gratitude.

Gratitude changes everything. Do you know it's almost impossible to simultaneously be grateful and anxious? This is why Paul says, be anxious for nothing by prayer and supplication. With Thanksgiving, make your responsibility. request on to God? Do you know it's almost impossible to simultaneously be grateful and complain? Because when you complain, you're focused on what you don't have, and when you're grateful, you're thankful for what you do have. And I'm telling you, I'm allergic to entitlement. Oh, it just makes my skin crawl, man. I get so, oh. I mean, it'll drive me like a crazy person,

man. Like, remember that old AT&T commercial? Made me lose my mind. It was on the Super Bowl about four years ago, and this family comes into the AT&T store. And the, you know, the 18 and and T ladies like, do you want a sucker this little girl? And she gives this little girl this free gift of a circle. That girl had done nothing to deserve this sucker. That girl didn't even have an AT&T contract. Her mom and dad do. She's got nothing to offer AT&T.

And they give her that sucker. And then to the older brother, they're like, can I give you a bigger sucker? And they hand him this big old sucker. And she goes, that's not fair. It's not fair that you get your sucker, girl. Shut at your face. You deserve to go to hell.

That's what you deserve. And you get a sucker at AT&T. You should shut up, okay? that's entitlement. That's what's wrong with the whole country. And then they give her a big sucker. So she's probably going to be homeless. All right.

That's what's going on there. So words of encouragement and gratitude will help you shift over here out of entitlement to gratitude. Another way you can honor the people that you work for is fill the gap with trust, especially in their absence. I didn't make this up. This famous pastor in Atlanta has this talk from 25 years ago that I've listened to 100 times. Every time there's a gap between what you expect and what you experience,

you get to determine what goes in the gap. It's also working your marriage. and you can either believe the best or assume the worst. You can either put trust in there or suspicion. And so when your boss, you know, when it comes down from all high at work, and it's something that you don't like, either you can be like, I knew it because he's the devil possessed by, okay, that's one way to live. Or you could probably go, you know what, I bet if I knew what he knew,

then this would make more sense to me. I'm going to choose to trust. It's one of the best ways you can honor the people that you work for. Another great way that you can honor the people that you work for is to do your job. is to do a really good job to be the kind of employee that they don't have to check on you three and four times, that you are trustworthy. And the moment that you know, you can't accomplish what you said you were going to accomplish, the moment you know you don't make excuses, you just let them know, hey, I'm not going to be

able to fulfill this. Another great way to honor the people that you work for is find ways to help your boss win. You see, we are believers, we are Christians, we are supposed to be the people that are not looking for credit at all because Jesus gets all the credit. We are the kind of people that are not supposed to be elevating ourselves. We're actually supposed to be lowering ourselves so that we can help lift other people up. Philippians chapter 2 says we should consider others as better than ourselves. They're not actually better. We should just treat them that way. And if you are constantly the kind of employee that is looking to your boss to help make them win. And you're the kind of person

that trust and you're the kind of person that works hard and you're the kind of person that oozes gratitude and encouragement and honor. Guess what? Especially if you're young, you're a decade of head of all the little whiny people that you share a generation with. I'm telling you, you'll be a unicorn in this world. Why? Not because of some hack on how to get a promotion, but because you're just doing life the way God says to do life. Another way to be very, very honorable is you work hard, but you are not a slave.

And your job is not the most important thing about you. Jesus is the most important thing about you. And if you ever get asked to do something that does not line up with the person in the work of Jesus, you very honorably and respectfully go, for the sake of me, for the sake of my Lord, for the sake of my family, no, I will not do those things.

And it is honoring to do so. Jesus preaches about this in the sermon on the mouth. This is what a big deal this is. In Matthew chapter 5, I'm going to pick up in verse 14. It says, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it in under a basket. Is there a basket covering your light at work? Like, people watch how you work.

They watch if you're a person of integrity, if you tell the truth, if you show up late, if you always give excuses. If you use company time to do your Bible study, do your quiet time on your time. They're not paying you to read your Bible unless you pay me to read my Bible. Thank you very much. but your company is not paying you to do that. It says, does anybody light a lamp and put it under a basket? Put it on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house in the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works

and give glory to your father who is in heaven. You see, good works are a method of evangelism, that people are going to see people like you who believe in Jesus and work differently than everybody else, and they're going to say, there is something to this. You see, not only is work worship, but, man, work is witness. And you may look at this and be like, well, this is, I mean, why is Paul only talking to the employee

and not the employee were? Well, you remember that Paul has also written a letter to the church at Ephesus. Timothy is the pastor at the Church of Ephesus. And chronologically, the letter to the Ephesians comes before 1st Timothy. And in Ephesians 6, he addresses not only the employee. but the employer. Ephesians 6.5 says this, bond servants or due loss, employee, obey your earthly bosses or masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ. I'll probably say this 10 times. Ultimately, you're not working for your boss. You're working

for Jesus. So we should act like it. Not by the way of eye service. You ever work with that guy? You only works when the boss is around? Don't do that. Or as a people pleaser, have you ever heard the phrase people pleaser this is a bible term i mean paul's going to say in glaces one 10 am i now trying to win the approval of god or man so don't do that but as a bond servant of christ doing the will of god from the heart rendering service with a goodwill as to the lord and not man knowing that whatever good anyone does this he will receive back from the lord whether he is a bond servant or is free God's watching you work and he's got you. Then it says bosses, masters, do the same to them.

That you should treat folks the way Jesus has treated you. If you're a boss, there's a bunch of bosses in here. That we are supposed to be the best bosses on the planet. You know why? Because we serve the best boss on the planet. His name is Jesus. And he did not lord it over us, but he says he came to serve. Masters, do the same and stop your threatening,

knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him. So in our context, Paul says, let all those who are under a yoke as a bond servant regard their own masters as worthy of all honors so that the name of God and the teaching may not be revile. Verse two, those who have been, have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers. Rather, they must serve all the better since.

Those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. In other words, don't use your connection with the boss as an excuse to get away without a working hard. You should work twice as hard because this brother of yours is also a believer in you're trying to help him win. So how do you glorify God at work? I mean, so many of you are going to get up at us, me too, going to get up in the morning and go to work.

It's kind of easy for me to glorify God at work. I'm going to talk about him all week. But how do you do it wherever you work? How do you glorify God at work? There's a pastor I was listening to recently, and he read this survey, and he said, according to one survey, 70% of American workers do not like their jobs. Well, that's a bummer. If you're supposed to love God with awe and you spend all this time at work and 70% of people hate their job,

and of those 70%, 90% said they did not feel like getting up in the morning to go to work. And that the average worker, the reason they go to work is because they're consumed with creature comforts, leisure and materialism, and they view their jobs as a necessary evil to finance their indulgences. Like if the biggest prayer of your week is, thank God, it's Friday, you ain't doing it right. And he says that mentality is summed up with the popular dumb bumper stickers that reads, I owe, I owe, so off the work I go. I hope that's not you. If so, I want you to reorient yourself, your mind, renew your mind to think about,

how do I honor God at work? Well, here's some ways from the Bible to honor God at work. The banner over all the things I'm going to give you is this. First and foremost, you have to understand that you are working for the Lord and not man. If you get that right, it changes everything about everything. That you are working for the Lord and not man. Even if your job is tough, that you trust that God is sovereign and God is in control and God's got a purpose and a plan for you. and the best thing you can do is do whatever Jesus tells you to do

and to be the best worker you can be for the glory of God and then you trust him with the results. And if you're like, well, I don't think you understand my terrible job because you're awesome and you get to just, you know, work with Christians all the time and pray. I'm glad that's what you think I do. But there's this account in the Old Testament guy named Joseph. Now, if you're new to Bible study, this isn't New Testament Joseph.

This isn't like Jesus's stepdad Joseph. This is Old Testament Joseph, okay? This is, from you old heads, this is the Technicolor Dreamcoat guy. that guy? Okay, so, this that guy. And he knew at a very young age that God had a purpose and a plan and a destiny for his life, which is great, and it was all true, but the problem is he was real mouthy about it. So if God's got a big plan for your life, sometimes you want to keep that to yourself, but he couldn't. He would brag about it. And so he had this dream that the stars and

the sun were going to bow down to him. So the next morning at breakfast, he's got these older brothers and he's like, hey, guess what, big brothers? One day, you're going to bow down to me. Well, brothers don't like it when you talk to each other like that and they're like okay we're about to show you who's going to bow down and so they go on this trip together and the brothers beat up joseph they throw him down in a cistern they take his fancy coat that his dad bought him that he like flaunted in front of everybody they covered in blood they send it back to dad and they're like hey your favorite kid's dead hate it for you and then they were going to kill him he wasn't dead yet they were going to kill him and so then one of the brothers he's sitting around eating a sourcrow and uh and roast beef sandwich

his name was Rubin and he that's not true some of you that's all you're going to remember i don't know where that's where Rubin came from all right it but his name's Ruben and Ruben's like let's don't kill him what are we going to get out of it let's sell him into slavery so they sell him into slavery like the like not due loss bond servant but slavery slavery slavery and so this guy named Potipar who was a big deal in Egypt he buys Joseph and puts him to work for him and you know what Joseph does Joseph does the best job he can do in the worst situation he can find himself in because he knows he's ultimately working with God. And the Bible says, and the Lord was with Joseph.

And then he does such a good job that he's elevated in Potipers' house to the point where he's in charge of everything. Then one day he's checking in on the house, so he swings about a house, and Potipher's wife puts moves on young Joseph. And Joseph's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you're trying to get me killed? I ain't doing this. And she makes a play at him, and so he's like, peace out, player. And he runs.

She grabs his coat, keeps him. it there. And then when the husband shows up, she's like, what's you doing with Joseph's code? And she accuses him of rape, which he didn't do. So he goes to trial. They put him in jail. Now he's in jail. You think you got a bad job? This brother's in jail. He hadn't done anything wrong. He's been a victim of domestic violence, human trafficking, and now he's in jail for something that he didn't do. And you know what he does? He becomes the best inmate in the whole jail. And the Bible says, and the Lord was with Joseph. Now, if I'm Joseph, I'd be like, Lord, you want to go be with somebody else for a little while?

Because every time you're with me, it don't go good. But he just trusts that God is in charge. He's got a purpose and a plan for his life. And so he bumps into these two guys, these two guys that used to work for the Pharaoh. Now, Pharaoh was the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh believed that he was a God. He was the God. He thought he was in charge of everything.

And these two guys, one guy was in charge of wine, one guy was in charge of bread, so we would like these guys. And they're in jail with Joseph. I don't know why. And they had these dreams. And they come to him one day at the mess hall. And they're like, man, we've got these crazy dreams. And Joseph says, well, the God of Israel has given me the ability to interpret dreams. Let's hear it.

And they share the dreams. And he looks at one guy, is like, good news. You're going to be back in front of the Pharaoh with your old job in three days. And the other guy's like, sweet, listen to my dream. He goes, well, I've got bad news. You're going to die. And he's going to cut your head off. And the birds are going to eat out your eyeballs.

Okay. So, hey, living guy. Let me ask you a question real quick. in three days when you go before the pharaoh again please don't forget me because i'm not supposed to be here and so that guy sure enough the one guy gets his head chopped off and the other guy goes to work for the pharaoh again and guess what the guy doesn't want to bring up to the pharaoh hey remember that time he locked me up i mean who wants to talk about that so he forgets about joseph for a long time then one day the pharaoh the king of egypt he has a dream he's crazy dream about cows and grain it's about the future of

Egypt. And then finally the one dude's like, you know what? I've been meaning to bring this up. My boy back in cell block D that I used to room with, he can interpret dreams. Let's go get him. And so the Pharaoh sends for Joseph. So they give him a shower, wash the jail stank off of him, giving a new haircut, put him in a nice robe, bring him before the Pharaoh. And the Pharaoh says to him, I hear that you can interpret a dream for me. What say you? Now, if you think you work for you, or if you think you work to the Pharaoh, you think now's my chance. I'm going to make much of me. I need to please the Pharaoh and say whatever he needs to hear so that I can get what I want for me, right?

This is called the American Way, by the way. And he says, I hear you can interpret dreams for me. And Joseph goes, nope. And all the people in this board are like, ooh, ooh, man, you don't tell the Pharaoh no. You know, there's a lot of things you don't do. You don't pull on Superman's cape. You know the list. and you don't tell the Pharaoh no.

And then he makes it worse. He goes, I can't interpret your dreams, but the one true God, the God of Israel, he and he alone is the one that can interpret your dream. Bro, do you realize what this is? What he's saying is, my God's bigger and your God, and you think you're God. And, dude, I'm telling you, Pharaoh's cabinet over there,

they're all humming, nah, nah, nah, nah, no, no, no. I mean, bro, you're dead, man. And here's what Joseph knew. I don't work for you. I work for him. and if he wants to promote me, you can't stop it. And if I try to do this on my own, it ain't going to go anywhere.

And so sure enough, he interprets the dream, and Pharaoh puts him in charge of Egypt, and then God ends up using the life of Joseph to save the nation of Israel out of Egypt, into the promised land, and eventually that is where the Messiah comes from. You are working for the Lord, and when you believe that, it'll change everything about everything, about everything. So that's got to be your fundamental understanding. And so here's how you glorify God at work. First of all, what you do matters.

What you do matters. That work was given us in the Garden of Eden. Work is not a result of the fall. Work was God's idea before sin ever entered into the world. And there is no sacred, secular divide. Please hear me. It's not like what I do is holy because you let me teach the Bible for a living and what you do isn't because you build houses. Are you kidding me?

That's not just sticks and stones. God is using you to move around the raw materials of this earth for human flourishing. Like you are creating the environment whereby God is going to grow a family. It's a really, really big deal. Bro, you're not just selling hearing aids. My Bible says that people can't get saved if they don't hear. You're a part of the gospel. Dr. Osher, you're not just working at Mayo.

God is using you to try to cure cancer. It's a really, really big deal. You guys aren't just selling house. families are moving into this community and God has a purpose and a plan for them and you are a part of the gospel in their life because you don't know who their neighbors are going to be but he does and he uses you to sell them their house so they'll live next to an 1122 so they'll show up in here and they'll meet Jesus there is no sacred secular divide what you do matters this is God's idea if you go back to Genesis chapter 2 we're going to read a bunch of Bible verses it says this is pre-fall okay it says we know bush of the field was yet in the land and no small planet of the field had yet sprung up for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land and there was no man to work the ground and there was no man to work the ground and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground then the Lord God formed the man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the man of the dust of the ground and the man became a living creature I love this This is so we know it's a close face-to-face relationship. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the East, and there he put the man whom he had formed. We're going to talk about a lot in the fall, but the man was created out in the wilderness and placed it in the garden, and the woman was created in the garden.

This explains why your house smells the way it does and why she's into that and you're into this, okay, right there, but I don't have time. And out of the ground, the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant in the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And then the next four verses explain all the rivers so you can figure out where it is, but you can't get there anymore. Verse 15.

And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. The King James says to subdue and cultivate that one of the things that God gave, the very first man, was work to enjoy. That we were created as image bearers of a God who does work, who creates, and we are supposed to work and create. And not only that,

God calls us into the cultural mandate to join along with him to work. Why? Because he's a good daddy and he loves his kids. You think he needs our help? Have you ever asked your kids to help you with a project? How much help are they? Not years ago, long time ago. My in-laws gave us a trampoline for Christmas because they hate us and they want us to die. I think that's why. And so we were like, all right, well, I got to put it together. And so JP was however old you are when you about this big. I was like, hey, buddy, you want to come help me put together the trampoline. How much help do you think he was? It was like he was working against me. I'm like, are you hiding the pieces? Stop, man. Please pay attention. All right? Any hold the light guys

when you were growing up? You had the hold the light for your dad? Remember how you could never do it right? Right. Right. Okay. And so when we finally get done, put it in the thing together, we walk back in the house and Gretcha goes, how'd it goes? How'd it going? And J.P.'s like, we built the trampoline. What do you mean we? Anyway, but God, like a good dad, calls us into the cultural mandate with him to work it and keep it, to rearrange the raw materials created by God for the glory of God and human flourishing. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

God gives this man work to enjoy and a will to be. to obey. Then the third thing he gives the man, verse 18, then the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. He gives him a woman to love. And if you keep reading, he puts him to sleep and makes the woman from the rib. Why? Because we're supposed to be side by side partners in this thing. He didn't take it from the ear so you're out front or the toe, so she's behind. That's not how it works. It's from the side because we're partners in this thing. And together, we're supposed to serve by cultivating and subduing. And God, if you read the scriptures, and you think God is a God of a bunch of rules

before sin ever entered the world and when sin entered the world it held the door open for all the pain, all the strife, all the curse, all the everything painful you've ever dealt with. And in God's initial plan it was not about a bunch of rules it was about a relationship with him. In fact, there was only one don't. So if you don't eat that tree, it'll kill you.

But there's a lot of dues. He was like, look at all this food, man. Be free to eat from all of this. Go to work. work every day. You're going to make a garden and it's going to bloom every single time. In fact, one of his commands was this, one of my favorite ones, is be fruitful and multiply. For those of you knew to Bible study, that's a Hebrew word for bowel, chicken wow, wow. That's what that means, man. In the context of marriage, think about it. We could have had children,

however, you know, you could have clipped your toenails, planted them in the ground, and then your kids grow up. All right, we got some. It's not how we did it. Okay. He's a good God. And this is what he gives us and work was one of these gifts and then when sin entered the world all of it got cursed our relationships our will and our work and this is why your work wars against you but you've got to know this that what you do matters that you are a part of the cultural mandate of god creating space for human flourishing unto his glory so the question is are you in alignment with the kingdom of God and how God has wired you to be a part of his kingdom. You should pay attention to that.

Like what you do for a living matters, and the way he wired you matters. And the Bible says, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. But when you delight yourself in him, what you desire is be a part of what he wants you to be. And so some of you go to work because you love it. It's the way you were wired, and there's all kind of different people. There's painters and poets. God bless you people. We love you people.

because you create art and beauty. And some of you are football players and soldiers. And you punish people to the glory of God, and we love it. Some for entertainment and some for our freedom. Thank you. And so some of us get to do the thing God has created us to do, and it makes a whole lot of sense, man. And so for those of you, praise God.

Some of you go to work and you're in the right place, not because of the thing that you're doing, but because of the people you get to invest in. Like one of my favorite examples of this is one of our elders, Lars Peterson. He worked for Macy's and then Belk department stores. He was like a big boss, like chairman. And I mean, so he's like a professional underwear salesman. That's what he did for a living.

Socks and drawers and T-shirts and stuff. Now, do you think he woke up every day and he was just like, oh, I love a double knit, whatever? No, that wasn't the point, all right? But Belk was a means to an end of investing in all of these people and families and growing up young leaders. He loved them and they loved him and he got to grow these folks for some of you get to do that. Some of you make a direct kingdom influence. Doctors and teachers and first responders. I mean you realize this doctors, nurses, all the people, all the medical folks, people pray

for healing and God says, I hear your prayer and you walk in the door. That's a direct kingdom impact. You first responders, people are in need in the crowd. God help me! He goes, all right, I'll help you. And then you walk in with a uniform while everybody else is going the other way. And it's not just those.

Somebody of it, plumber? You get you a plumbing problem in the middle of the night. You're a praying person, are you not? Somebody comes in there to help you. Teachers, some of you actually love those little things, and you believe that God has put you on this planet to help grow up. Coaches?

Honestly, coaches, you have way more influence than I do. I was led to Christ, not by an evangelist or a preacher. They were too boring. A football coach led me to Christ. So pay very close attention to the kind of kingdom impact you can have. And then some of you don't like your job. But your job is a means to a gospel end. Some of you have to endure the work to fund your actual ministry.

This happens all the time, man. No problem. Some of you're making bank, but you do it just so you can invest in your actual ministry. You're like, where do you get that? The Apostle Paul. You know what the Apostle Paul's W-2 said? It didn't say greatest missionary in the world. He was a tent maker.

So he could travel remote. He could work wherever. He could make tents so that he could take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And nowhere in my Bible can I find a chapter about, man, I love tents. Oh, man. I'm passionate about tents. I love the flow. I love it.

No. He mentions that he's a tent maker a couple of times, not because he loves tents, because he loves God and he loves people and he loves sharing the gospel. and the tent making is what allowed him to do it. And some of you, listen, the younger you are, the more this applies. And sometimes you're in a place. I just look at you because you all sit together right there, and I love it so much, okay? And some of you, whether it's school or some kind of crudy early job,

some of you feel like you're being punished, but what you don't realize is you're in a place of preparation for some future thing that the Lord has you. Like think of King David. You know what he did before he was King David? He was out there in the pasture with a bunch of sheep while all of his big cool brothers were doing cool stuff with King Saw.

And he could have seen it as a punishment, so you know what he did? He learned to play the harp. I wonder what I'm going to do with this. I wouldn't make fun of him, though, because he could kill lions and bears with his bare hands, so I wouldn't bring it up. And he got really good with the sling. And he had a journal in time,

so he started writing songs. We know him as the Psalms. And when God was going to make David King, he didn't bring him a crown, He brought him a giant. And what he could have seen as punishment out in the pasture was actually preparation for the thing that he wanted him to do. So don't think God is ever wasting any time

because what he's probably doing is preparing you for a thing that he has in store for you. Figure out what your part in the kingdom is, man. And Jesus is greater than your job. So if your job asks you to do something that doesn't glorify Jesus, you say no. and if you have to quit, you quit, and you trust Jesus with the consequences. So what you do matters.

Secondly, what you do with what you make matters. Some of you make bank, praise God. You should never apologize for being rich, but there are no excuses for not being rich towards God. I mean, as long as you make it in a godly way, there's a bunch of rich people in the Bible, man, Phoebe, Lydia, Joseph of Arimathea. Lydia's so rich, her house is so big, she can host church in it. That's a big house. Joseph of Arimathea was so rich he had his own private tomb, and Jesus borrowed it.

He borrowed it because they only need it for the weekend. Amen? He used it by Sunday and said, you can have that thing back. So you never apologize, but you never, but there is no excuse for not being rich towards the God. You ever heard of William Tyndale? He's the guy that translated the first Bible into English. Well, there was a rich guy, this English businessman named Humphrey Munmuth.

That sounds like an English rich man to me. and old Humphrey funded the whole thing. Or maybe you've heard of George Whitfield. He started the great awakening in England. His whole ministry was funded by this lady in the 1700s named Lady Huntington. Or maybe you've heard the name Dwight L. Moody, D.L. Moody. D.L. Moody was a traveling evangelist and he would go back and forward from England and America. And there was a super rich real estate tycoon from Chicago named Horatio Spafford.

And he funded the whole thing. and in fact maybe you've heard the name because horatio sends his wife and kids over to england to follow d l moody and there was a boat accident a shipwreck in the middle of the atlantic ocean and only his wife and one of his daughters survived and so he gets on a boat and he starts heading that way and the captain wakes him up in the middle of the night and said this is where i think it happened and he sits down and he writes the song it is well with my soul this is this guy horatio spaffir well he funded d l moody's ministry and d o moody would do you do crusades where he'd travel around and preach. And at one of D.L. Moody's crusades that was in the United States,

there was a professional baseball player named Billy Sunday that got saved. And then Billy Sunday quits baseball, and he goes into the ministry, and Billy Sunday starts traveling around and doing crusades. And he goes to Charlotte, North Carolina, and Billy Sunday's on the stage preaching one day, and there's a little boy out in the crowd in Charlotte named Billy Graham. And Billy Graham got saved from Billy Sunday's preaching, who got saved from D.O. Moody's preaching,

who was funded by this rich cat in Chicago. You have no idea how God might use what you make. And so be rich towards God. So what you do matters and what you do with what you make matters and when you work matters, the Bible says we work really hard for six days. And then we rest. This thing is called a Sabbath.

It's one of the commandments, okay? That we are supposed to work in rhythm with God. One time a friend of mine, this pastor was preaching at a pastor's conference. There was this old pastor in the back and the pastor was talking about taking a Sabbath, taking a day off to rest and refuel and reconnect with the Lord. And the guy in the back goes, I don't take a day off because the devil doesn't take a day off. And everybody's like, ooh. And my friend, who's real witty, just piped back. Well, the devil's not my role model. Amen? God is our role model. God took a day off. And if you think about this, when did Adam and Eve Sabbath? Their very first Sabbath was the first full day

of their life. So they didn't rest because they were tired. Because, I mean, they just got created. Does that make you tired? I don't think so. I don't think Adam was like 30 minutes ago. It was dirt. Look at me now. I got a lot to do. I need a break. That's not what happened. But Sabbath, what you're doing right now, praise God, you rest, you reconnect, and you refocus on God because if he is not first in your life and preeminent in your life, I don't care how you reorder your life. your whole life is gonna be out of order. That's what the Sabbath is about. So you could trust God with six days of work

and one day with him, then you can do on your own in seven days. So when you work matters, and how you work matters. You gotta work as unto the Lord. You're not working for the approval of man. You're not working for the accumulation or some more stuff. You're working as unto the Lord. Colossus 317.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything, especially your job, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Listen, Christians should be the hardest working people on the planet. Why? Because we're working for our king, not just our earthly boss. We should be the most honest workers on the planet. Why? Because we stand accountable before a holy God. And we don't cheat. We don't lie. And we don't jack around with our time sheets and we don't take a two-hour lunch when we're supposed to have an hour. We don't do those things. Why? Because everything we do, we do it in the name of the Lord. And we should be the people that serve the most and we are the most selfless. And we should be

the people that require the least amount of credit and give the most amount of praise. I mean, if we did this thing right, dude, if we did this thing right, every time some company in Jacksonville or Jessup or Orlando and everywhere in between. If we did this thing right, every time there was an opening, they should call us, go, hey, we need to hire some Christians.

Like, why, are y'all a Christian company? No, but they're unicorns. We want them. Because they work hard, and they show up on time, and they're honest, and they don't cheat. And when we screw up, they forgive. And when they screw up, they repent.

Can we hire a few more? This is what it means to let your light shine. We should be different. I'm going to read some verses. I hope this offense. If you're lazy, boy, get ready. I'm talking to you. If you seek comfort all the time,

like my daddy, you say, boy, you don't get up and go to fun. You get them and go to work. Proverbs 6, 6 and 11, if this doesn't personally offend you, see me in the lobby. I'll just personally offend you. Okay, ready? Solomon says, go to the ant, oh, sluggard. Some of you are sluggards.

You're like, well, it's a sluggard. You ever seen a slug? It's just slimy and worthless. Don't do nothing. That's what you are. Because you think you exist for this. world to serve you. That ain't, that's not what you were created for, man. He says, oh, slugger, consider her ways. Talking about the aunt. And be wise without having any chief officer or ruler,

she prepares her bread in the summer and gathers her food and harvest. How long will you lie there, oh, sluggard, when will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. That's called the snooze button. And poverty will come upon you like a robber and won't like an arm in hand. You know what's interesting, sociology has finally called it with the Bible. There's this thing called the success cycle. Have you heard of this? That if you will just get at least a high school diploma, move out of your house, get married, get a job, and then have babies in that order.

You have a 99% chance of never being in poverty. And sociologists are like, we've discovered it. I go, that's adorable. That's called Genesis 2. All right, you lefties are going to have. hate this. Okay, ready? Second Thessalonians chapter three, for even when we were with you, we would give you this command. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. Now listen, for sure, there are special conditions and health needs and all that kind of stuff. And for sure,

we take care of people that need to be taken care of. But people that have the ability to take care of themselves and are not willing to work, you know what the best thing for them to do sometimes is, is to sit in the house with no lights on? Is to get a little hungry. And be like, hmm, I'm motivated and I'll go do a little work. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. Now, such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and earn their own living as for you brothers do not grow weary and doing good.

You see, how we work matters. We should work hard and honestly unto the Lord. And how you treat others matters. It's not enough that you work and you get it all done and you're the most successful person and then there's a line of body bags behind you because you've mistreated people. Bosses and I'm a boss. I have a lot of people that work with me. You've got to value your employees. Why? Because how did Christ treat you? In John chapter 13, the Bible says Jesus the night he was betrayed knowing that all authority

in heaven and earth had been given unto him to show the disciples the full extent of his love, He did not stand up, be like, you know who you're talking to. I'm the Lord of Lord and the King of Kings. That's not what he did. He gets up from the table. He dresses himself as a servant. He gets on his knees, and he washes his disciples' feet. He takes the lowest job in the company.

And then he says, I have set for you an example. You will be blessed if you do likewise. You call me master and Lord, and rightly so for that I am, but I want you to call me friends. This is how Jesus treats us. In Matthew chapter 20, there's these two boys, the sons of Zebedee. And you know their winners because they send their mom to go talk to Jesus to get a promotion. They're like, hey, see if we can be senior VP of Jesus Incorporated.

And Jesus is like, what do you talk? This isn't how it works, man. In my kingdom, if you want to be first, you go last. If you want to be great, you become a servant. And he says, for even I, the son of man, did not come to be served, but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many. In Philippius chapter two, the Bible says that you and I are supposed to have. bosses, you and I are supposed to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God, so he was high and lifted up, did not consider equality with God something

to be grasped, but he lowered himself, he humbled himself, he became obedient to the will of his father, he put on flesh even to the point of death. You see, we should be the best bosses because we have the best boss. His name is Jesus. In your job, we'll be your primary mission field. It just will. And God doesn't have you there by accident. You know, Tammy in the cubicle next to you that you can't stand? The reason she's so terrible is because some terrible things have happened to her. The reason she's so grumpy and angry is she doesn't know the love of Christ and God has put you next to her to be a light in that place. And maybe this is just a little word of heck for you, okay? What if in your job you became known as the prayer person? Like, I know

some of you don't feel, you know, maybe you're like, you don't feel great about preaching a sermon or sharing your faith or whatever. Okay, let me tell you a great way to start shining light in your job. You know how it work? You've got the fun guy. He's always fun. And it's fun until you've got to do work. And you're like, if you would put that energy into what we were doing, we could get home on time. You know that guy? Okay. He's fine. Not really. But you know until now. But what if you were the person and everybody knew you're the prayer person. Like, you're the person that talks to God. You're the believer.

You're the Christian. You don't have to be weird about it, but when the things happen at work and you know what happens and you just go, hey, listen, I want to be praying for you. How can I specifically be praying for you? Now, when everything is going fine, they think they're like, I don't know, pray for world peace. Okay, but let me tell you what happens.

When the wheels start coming off and they will, guess who they're going to run to? Not fun guy. Yeah, yeah. Because they don't need happy hour. point. You know who they're going to come running to? The person that talks to God because there are no atheists when they're a pain, right? Because just in case you've actually got a connection where the one can change everything, they will come to you. And that's an incredible way to let your light shine. And so listen, the reason that we work is because it matters and work as witness

and work as worship. But the biggest reason we work, listen, is because Jesus worked. Jesus had a job to do. Aren't you glad that he did not look down on earth and just feel things? No, no, no, but for God so love the world. He sent or gave his only begotten son. And Jesus shows up on this planet and he works. And he

knows that you and I are bond servants or slaves to sin and that we have a yoke of sin upon us weighing us down. And so Jesus lives the perfect life. He obeys the will of the Father every single time. He fulfills every promise and prophecy of the Old Testament. And then he

goes to the cross to get some work done, to pay the debt that you and I owe, and he pushes up on his nail pierced, and he gets it done. He says, it is finished. And for anybody that believes that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me, then we get credit for all of his good work. And it's not our works that save us as his finished work, but he does save us two good works. So he came as a slave so that we would be set free. Let me tell you, one of, see, everything God creates, the enemy corrupts. You realize that? And he can corrupt it any way. So, gift, I mean, work is a good gift from God. And some people, you fall into the ditch of laziness. Listen, get off your blessed assurance, get up and go to work. Don't be a sluggard.

Figure out what God put you on the planet for and get to it. And while you're figuring it out, get you a job and go to work. And then some of us, this is the one I fall into, is we fall into idolatry. that work is a good gift. And then sometimes we get our identity too wrapped around what we do for a living. Anybody with me here? And here's the temptation I fall into. I begin to think my value is based on how good I do right now. Like if you like my sermons, then I think I'm somehow more valuable to God in His kingdom.

So be careful of that. the reason that I'm valuable is because Christ purchased me, period, end dot. And so here's an event in the scriptures that I personally, especially on the weekends, have to come back to over and over and over, so that my identity does not get all wrapped up in what I do. Because one day I won't be the lead teaching pastor of our church anymore. But I'll still be the son of God, you know? I'll still be a child of him.

And so Jesus, you ever think about, this? From eternity past to 2,000 years ago, God the Son is living in this perfect eternal relationship with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. And they're just loving each other in this perfectly submissive way. And then 2,000 years ago, God the Son steps off the throne. And Jesus is born as a baby in a manger. And he lives in obscurity for like 30 years. 30 years. Can you imagine this? He's like 10 years old in Hebrew school. Can you imagine? He's like, that's not what that means. I wrote that.

Like, he knows everything. And then about 30 years old, he steps onto the scene to begin to accomplish the works that God had given him. And John the baptizer says, behold, the Lamb of God, who comes to take away the sin of the world. That's his job. And he walks into the waters, and he gets baptized. And the heavens open up. And God the Father speaks out loud and says, these words, behold my son in whom I am well pleased. Okay, pop quiz.

How much work had Jesus done it? this point. I mean, he showed up, that's a big deal, but he hadn't done anything. He hasn't accomplished any of the task. He hadn't preached a sermon. He hadn't done a miracle. He hadn't died on the cross for our sins. He hasn't been resurrected from the grave. He has yet to redeem people for the glory of God. He hasn't done his work yet. And before he does anything, God says, Behold my son in whom I will please. God places his approval on his son before he ever does anything. And if you are in Christ Jesus, before you go to work tomorrow, before you finish the deal, before you share your faith, before you get out of bed and even pray, before you do anything, if you are in Christ, then God the Father looks at you because Christ is in you and says, behold. He looks at you, my son, my daughter, and he says, I'm really proud of you. And it's a very, very different thing to work from approval than to work for approval. You try to work for approval? boy, it'll wear you out. You'll never know where you are. But when you work from the approval of God,

then guess what? Whether your job is awesome and you have the dream job or your job is on, you're on the struggle bus at your job, then whatever you do in Word and deed, you can work as unto the Lord. We just stand. Let me pray for you. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father God, I pray for every man. I pray for every woman, Lord, I pray that they would know you. God, people that are in some serious time. of trouble in their job. Lord, I pray you would give them absolute clarity. Lord, I pray that you would stir in us honor for the people that we work for God, would you remind us to pray for

them and not about them? God, may we be reminded we work for you, not for man. And Lord, I pray that you would give us the strength and the courage to do whatever it is that you have called us to do at work this week for your glory. I pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hey, we're going to respond. We're going to pray. We're going to sing. we're going to bring. And when we pray, probably every single one of us, including me, need a reset. Because either we've been lazy or we've kind of idolized our job, and we need to come down here. And maybe you are here with people you work with. And you're like, come on, dude, let's go pray together. If your boss is here, bring them on down, pray for them. If the people you work for, you'd be just giving them like, hey, staff meeting down front.

Just to reorient our minds so that we can glorify God, not just. on the weekends when we gather here, but everything we do in worship, in word and in work, be glorifying to him. Let's sing, let's bring, let's pray. Let's respond.