Make Us Doers
James 1:19-27
-This weekend, we continue the One Prayer series, One Prayer is based around the question, if you had one prayer for the church at large what would that prayer be?
-Don’t you appreciate this series so far and the prayers that have gone out for the Church…Make Us Prayerful, Make Us One, Make Us Generous, and Make Us Dangerous…all these things are about action and doing.
-As we enter this hybrid weekend at each one of our locations. The one prayer that is on each campus pastor’s heart is that God would Make Us Doers. God has called us to be doers of His Word.
-Let us take a look at our passage for this weekend James 1:19-27. You can also follow along on the screen…
****19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
-In our world and especially in this city and the culture we live in today we are great talkers, poor listeners, and not very good at being doers…how about a little less conversation and a little more action.
-Before we dive into this message, one of the many things that I love about God’s Word is that it is full of doers, men and women of action…individuals who have done great things…as I meditate on Scripture, my prayer is let me be like those people. Let me be a person of action.
-A cliché that rings true…Our actions do need to speak louder than our words. We need to turn down the volume on what we say and amplify our actions.
-Pastor Mark often says,” we are far more educated than our level of obedience. We know what to do, but are we doing it?”
-Watchman Nee, an amazing author, once made a powerful statement. He said, "all knowledge is the outgrowth of obedience; everything else is just information." that is, you can believe the truths taught in the Bible, but they will remain just information until you obey it. Once you obey it, then it becomes knowledge. When it becomes knowledge then it becomes a blessing
-My greatest heroes are those that are doers. Those that I honor and respect the most are people that are proactive with their faith.
-Each weekend here at NCC we have so many people who are doers, I have the honor of serving along side these individuals. Our volunteers who faithfully serve each week, most behind the scenes are my heroes.
-I want to mention one group people in particular that I consider heroes. They are doing In Service ministry each weekend…people like Michael Florence, Kellen Dicken, Tyler and Lydia Lund, Sarah Shapack, Elizabeth Schloesser…lives who are making a difference making an impact by not just hearing God’s Word but they are on the frontlines each week doing it. They are sharing the Good News in a practical way. They inspire me to live out my faith in broader way. In my opinion, they are living out Matthew 6.
-Doers are people who make a difference, they are people who inspire, and they are people who influence…Lord, MAKE ALL US DOERS!
-Here is an observation - I have never heard anyone saying my favorite athlete is the one at home watching the game on TV, or the one playing Madden on Playstation 3. We have the tendency to say the one who is actually out there on the ball field or on the golf course or on the basketball court or on the ice rink are our heroes, the one that are actually in the game, involved and doing it.
-This weekend, I want to challenge and help you to get out of your seat and into God’s story and become doers. I want to encourage you to push back on your excuses.
-I believe each of us are a part of God’s production, we each have a part to play. We hold our own copy of the script and our ears practice the art of listening, we listen to our cues for our turn to speak, our turn to act, and our turn to obey.
-When we step into God’s story and begin to be doers; God’s story becomes more than static history; becomes more than white noise; it becomes living history. God’s story becomes our story, not through unengaged recollecting, but by diving in, by getting plugged in, by getting involved, simply by becoming doers and experiencing God’s Word in action in and through our lives.
-The biggest catalyst of me becoming a “doer” and getting involved in ministry is
****Jeremiah 1:4-9- The Lord gave me this message:
5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart
and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
6 “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”
7 The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 9 Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,
“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
****SMy Personal History and Story****
…before we can truly become doers we need get rid of all excuses and doubt and learn to rely on God’s strength, provision, and anointing for us accomplish those this that he has called us to do for His Kingdom
-I do not want one of my regrets to be at the end of my life, that I did not do enough for the Kingdom of God. That I did not do enough…
THIS WEEKEND, LET US LOOK AT SOME ACTION STEPS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE US DOERS…
Doers Pays Attention Through Listening…The Hear God's Word
-We so often when listening we let things go in one ear and out the other
-As we lead by lstening, we must be receptive to and accept God’s Word
- In my opinions some of the best leaders, doers and people of change are great listeners…they might not be the best communicators…but when the rubber meets the road these people are great listeners and people of action.
-I feel that this passage of Scripture was written for husbands, when I say husbands I am really saying me. How often in the middle of a fight, if I just stop and read this passage, the whole trajectory of the argument would change.
-Verse 21 …”to humbly accept the word” means to welcome the word in our lives, to be receptive of His Holy and Powerful word.
-I believe as doers, when we listen we learn, learners are leaders.
-The word "listen" in Greek is the word for "auditor". If you audited a class in college you didn't take it for credit, no tests, no responsibility, no research. You were totally relaxed. You just listened, you didn't have any intention of applying it. We have a lot of auditors in the church. They come to church, walk in, hear the word of God, walk out with no intention of ever being changed.
-We need to practice the art of listening. There might be a reason why God gave us two ears and one mouth. Perhaps, we need to double our listening capacity versus our talking capacity.
*****Another Action Step For Doers…
Doers Puts Action behind What They Hear…by Accepting God's Word
-I believe we need to take responsibility with what we hear and what we know.
-I feel that sometimes we have to be good news before we earn the right to preach the good news.
-United States Air Force did a study and found that we forget 95% of what we hear within 72 hours. This statistic could cause a pastor to go insane if we let it. We spend all week preparing a message to give on the weekend. By Wednesday you've forgotten 95% of what is said unless you've written it down. James says, “Receive God's word with the right attitude, reflect on God's word by reading it, reviewing it, remembering it.” But even that's not enough.
-Too often we hear what needs to be done or what we should do even in the context of our own prayer time that we get calloused to it and we don’t do anything about it.
-We need listen to the call, answer it and take action.
-Doers are a people of action…doers get things done
-Doers, when they hear God’s Word say, I must do something about it, I must act on it.
-As Christ followers we are called to act on what we hear.
-I love this quote by the Hall of Fame NFL coach - Vince Lombardi
-Two types of sin:
-Sins of Commission
-Sins of Omission – This what happens when don’t do the things we are called to do
-As we live out our faith the perfect law of the grace and love of God it guides what we do and what we say.
-Our faith and actions must work together, we cannot have one without the other
-In verse 23 - James uses an illustration here. God's word is like a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is to evaluate us. We use mirrors to evaluate ourselves. We look in a mirror to assess the damage from the night before. Then we do something about it. What good is a mirror if we don't do anything about what we see? God says a mirror reflects what we're like on the outside. God's word reflects what we're like on the inside.
-I feel like often we get like that with the basic disciplines of our faith, we forget the things like meditating on God’s Word and prayer…
-Here is a question we need to ask ourselves…As Christ followers are we reflecting the same attitude that Christ Himself lived out?
-What are you going to do about what you already know?
- James says it's self-deception when we don't let what we know change us. We think that just gaining content is making us spiritually mature. The test of maturity is not knowledge. The test of maturity is character. A lot of people have great Bible knowledge. I need to practice it, apply it, put it in my life.
-And knowledge increases responsibility. The more we know the more we're accountable for. What am I doing about what I know? Jesus said, "To whom much is given, much is required."
- I don’t believe we can walk away from mirror of God’s Word without be changed and transformed by it.
-I also don’t believe as we can walk away from the mirror of God’s Word without it affecting how we live our life through our actions.
The Final, Action Step For Doers…
Doers Practice the Word…Simply Just DO It
-It is the perfect law of God’s word put into practice that transforms and sets people free.
-It was not until I started living out, practicing God’s Word in my journey that I began to see my life set free and transformed.
-We have a core value here at NCC, “Don’t let what is wrong with you. Keep you from worshipping what is right with God.” I think the same can be said when we practice the Word of God in our life, don’t allow what is wrong with you keep from practicing and doing God’s Word in Your life.
-Until I started to practice and doing God’s Word, I really didn’t have a love people and care for the spiritual needs of others. To be honest, I couldn’t people. Even though I had major issues in my life, I started to understand God’s Word and started to put those things I was meditating on and reading about into practice.
-This is when my attitude and motivation began to change...and I started having a heart for people and to serve them.
-Doers are motivated by love for God and love for others
-The motivating factor for us to be a doer of God’s Word is because we love Him and as Christ follower we have this desire to practice and to live out His Word in our life.
Matthew 22:37-39 – Is a great motivational passage…
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
-If we are motivated by our love for God, we are going to live in such a way that displays that love and pleases Him.
-We will not allow ourselves to be corrupted by world, but instead we will live our lives with Character and integrity.
-Romans 12:1-2 gets at the heart of it by saying… 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[ I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.] 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
-Doers live life with intentionality. We are intentionally living out the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 –
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
-James brings into focus one the fruits mentioned…self control.
We need to have control or a tight rein on our tongue. I think so often this is the hardest thing to have control over.
-The other motivating factor is a love for others and caring for their needs the way we love others is by acting on those needs.
-Matthew 25:34-40 sums what it means to love others and care for their needs…
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,you were doing it to me!’
- So what are few of the ways you can know that you are Practicing the Word of God you have…
- A controlled mouth.” "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless."
-A clean mind. "refusing to let the world corrupt you." Spiritual integrity.
-A caring heart. "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress. Social concern, a caring heart.
-James 2:14-18 (THE MESSAGE) - Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
-The practice of our faith is done through our works. We cannot have one without the other. Our Faith is synonymous with practicing and doing God’s Word.
-Personal Story - Growth in my faith and start of my ministry journey began when I didn’t just listen to what God was speaking to me, I stopped making excuses for myself, started doing and practicing God’s Word in my life.
Conclusion -
Make US DOERS!
That is genuine Christianity.
What is James asking of us? He's asking… "What are you going to do about what you already know?"
What are you going to do about it today?
*****Let me ask you, what conversation have you had and done nothing about? What things have you verbalized and haven’t followed through with? What God ideas do you have that you are not doing? Where is God calling you to go and you are not going?****
Practically, what can you do? What is the next step? You can start by serving. Getting involved. You can get plugged into one of our ministries. You can go on a missions trip – Thailand in October.
****What are ways you can become a doer? In your bulletin there is a NEXT STEP card, where you can make some easy practical steps that to become a doer.***
We have several weekend ministry opportunities you can get involved in here at NCC.
Ways you can get involved in Convoy of Hope
· Budget of 150k dollars
· Leadership team needs for Medical, Connections & Food Prep
· Support and Donations from local businesses
· Volunteers for Day of outreach.
****Baptism by the Bay announcement – Following God’s Word and getting Bapitized a next step in being a doer in your faith.****
Don’t pray about it…just do it!
THIS WEEKEND LET THIS BE OUR PRAYER…
Make a difference, make an impact – MAKE US DOERS!
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