Go-Getters
Notes
Transcript
A mother called her son on Sunday morning to make sure he got out of bed and was ready for church.
“I’m not going,” he replied.
“Yes, you are going, so get out of that bed!” his mother demanded.
“Give me one good reason why I should go,” said her son.
“I’ll give you three good reasons. One, I’m your mother, and I say you’re going.
Two, you’re forty years old, so you’re old enough to know better. And three, you’re the pastor, so you need to be there.”
We’ve been talking about hitting the fast forward button on our faith. In other words, we’ve been talking about maturing in our walk with the Lord. The truth is that if we are going to do great things for God then we need to grow up and put away childish things.
To me that means we have to implement some core values in our spiritual journey. I’ve already spoken about the first four of six that I feel can help us fast forward in our faith - I encourage you to go online and catch up if you’ve missed some of these messages.
We’ve talked about being:
God Seekers
Big Believers
Truth Tellers
Love Givers
and today we are talking about being Go-Getters!
In order to illustrate the idea of being a Go Getter, I want to tell you a personal story from my younger days.
When I was a teenager my first job was mowing lawns.
Mowing Picture
I didn’t charge very much, but I had a dream of buying a car, so I worked really hard and mowed a lot of yards. There was one yard in particular that I remember because it was especially hard to mow. It was very large and it had a massive hill. I didn’t have a self-propelled mower. The lady who owned the house was elderly and very sweet, but she only had $20 for me to mow her yard every two weeks.
I earned that $20 each and every time. Like I said, my customer was a very sweet elderly woman who noticed how hard I was working to get her lawn mowed. And every time I finished she would have a soda ready for me on her front porch. The only problem was that it was a diet mountain dew.
I didn’t like Diet Mountain Dew, but I drank it each time because I figured that was all she had and I was very thirsty. Now, I need to tell you, I wasn’t a skinny kid. In fact, I was pretty chubby, to put it nicely. I tell you that because I’m pretty sure my customer noticed that I needed to lose some weight. One day I finished the lawn and she had forgotten to have my Diet Mountain Dew ready on the front porch.
As she handed me my hard earned $20 she realized her mistake and told me that I could go into the garage and grab one out of the fridge. Now, let me just say, I have forgiven this sweet lady for what I am about to tell you. I opened the fridge and to my amazement she had every different kind of soda you could imagine and ALL OF THEM were full sugar ACCEPT for one…the Diet Mountain Dew.
She had been choosing to give me the WORST soda, and the only reason I could think of is because she thought she new what was best for me.
I grabbed a full sugar Coca-Cola and made sure she saw me drink it!
I worked hard and recieved little pay, and a bad soda!
A Go-Getter is a person who has clear goals in life and they have a plan on how to accomplish those goals. Some people focus on earthly goals. Good things, like building a house, working toward a degree, earning a good living, raising good kids, having enough money to retire. All sorts of things that are very important, but I wonder what God has in mind for those who seek His Kingdom first.
If we are going to be Go-Getters for the Lord then we need to be willing to work hard, even if the reward in this life isn’t so great. Go Getter’s understand that they are working for something great that will last for eternity.
Last week I quoted Missionary William Carey, and I want to remind you of that quote because his motivation was to show the love of Christ to people everyone else had forgotten to reach, but I also like this quote because William Carey gave us a wonderful example of what it means to be a “Go-Getter” in God’s kingdom.
Remember what He said:
“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God” - William Carey
So, that’s a great quote, but what does it mean for us? I believe our main text will help us answer this question, and challenge us to be Go-Getters in the kingdom of God.
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
This chapter is the final message written by the Apostle Paul. Shortly after dictating this inspired words, Paul was martyred for proclaiming the Gospel. He was writing to Timothy, his son in faith. It’s a precious letter that was personal and important.
There are two challenges given to Timothy that I want to point out today that will help us understand how to be a Go-Getter. They were written to Timothy, but Paul knew this letter would have been read to the Church Timothy was leading.
And God inspired these words for us to read today. If we hear them and apply them then we can start to understand what it means to expect great things from God and why we should attempt great things for God.
Timothy was a Go-Getter. He was a Pastor on a mission from God, but he needed to have help. Paul was giving him the help he needed. He was given challenges to help him succeed in the goals of his life.
Do you need to know your purpose in life? Are you searching for meaning?
Here’s the first challenge:
Go-Getters Have a Higher Purpose
Go-Getters Have a Higher Purpose
What goals do you have in life? What drives you from day to day? Paul wanted Timothy to have some goals in his life.
In chapter 3 Paul told Timothy to continue studying God’s Word in his personal life; now he tells him that he should share what he’s learned with others.
14 Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things.
15 Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved.
This goes right along with what we’ve been studying about hitting the fast forward button in our faith. In order to move farther in our relationship with the Lord we must know the truth in His word. We should never go too long without spending time in the Bible.
We should continually immerse ourselves in God’s Word. It’s how we seek Him and know Him. It’s how we become God Seekers, Big Believers, Truth Tellers, Love Givers, and Go-Getters.
The Apostle Paul is telling Timothy, at some point we’ve got to put what we know into action. To know the get things done but to never do anything is a waste.
People need to hear the truth. They might not want to hear it, but sometimes people need to hear the truth!
2 to preach God’s message. Do it willingly, even if it isn’t the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient.
It reminds me of the man who was on an airplane whose engines stopped working and the plane was headed to the ground.
Here’s a quick bonus joke: how far can an airplane make it with one engine? To the scene of the accident.
So, this guy is on the plane knowing it’s about to crash, but the problem was that no one else knew it was going down. The man begged and pleaded for people to put on the parachutes, but they wouldn’t do it! He told them how much he loved them, and that he wanted the best for them, but they didn’t care. They actually thought he was nuts.
It was only when he told them that the plane was going down that they decided to listen! They needed to hear the hard truth before they were motivated to throw on a parachute.
This is what Paul is telling Timothy. That he should tell the truth even though people might not want to hear the truth.
No one will ever repent and turn to God unless they are confronted with the truth that they are sinners in need of forgiveness. The problem with the modern church is that we try to tell them all about God’s endless love, which is true, but love isn’t enough to motivate people to turn to God. It’s only when people understand that they are hopelessly lost and can’t EARN salvation. They must receive it through Faith in Jesus.
3 The time is coming when people won’t listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear.
Why do we need to “preach” the Word? Because we are go-getters. We are fishers of people. Many church attenders do not want “healthy” (sound) doctrine; instead, they want religious entertainment from Christian performers who will tickle their ears. We have a love for novelty in the churches today. Too often the person who simply opens the Bible and teaches it is ignored, while the shallow religious entertainer becomes a celebrity.
Go-Getters don’t shy away from speaking the truth found in God’s Word. In fact, they MUST preach the truth because God demands them too!
Janet’s Story
What’s our main Goal in life? Paul tells us that if we are followers of Jesus then we can have no greater goal than to share the Word of God.
What else can we learn from this scripture today?
Go-Getters Work as a Team
Go-Getters Work as a Team
Too often we think we are all alone in life. Personally, I feel this is a strategy from the enemy. If he can get a person to feel as though they are on their own, then he knows they won’t last.
8 Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack.
What does a lion do when they are hunting prey? They try to get an animal away from the herd. Once they are isolated, they are easy to take down.
We need to stay part of a herd. The Bible says that followers of Christ are like a body with all it’s parts working together. We aren’t alone.
Listen to the words of Paul again:
6 Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar.
7 I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful.
8 So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.
Paul was about to finish his course, but Timothy’s life and ministry still lay before him. To me, this is a solemn reminder that life is more than just about one persons goals or ambitions no matter how noble. Living for Christ is about serving others to the point of being willing to give our lives.
You see, we all have a specific mission to fulfill.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Our task is to find His will and do it as long as we live. This involves watching, enduring, and working.
Paul’s message is clear: he is now about to leave the scene, and somebody must take his place. Timothy was the guy. But Timothy is now gone too. And someone else had to step up. For more than 2,000 years the torch has been passed from one believer to the next.
We should be reminded that WE are the current church! What we do now affects the future. Go-Getters are people who realize there is no plan B. We are it! It’s our time to serve the Lord with our whole lives.
We need each other to accomplish God’s will for the church. He’s called us to help each other in doing His work. There is no room for a self centered follower of Jesus. That’s just immature.
To hit the fast forward button on our faith we must be Go-Getters who have their eyes on the goal of proclaiming the Gospel, and working in unity with other believers to accomplish that goal.
One last thing to point out from the Scripture.
Go-Getters Win the Prize
Go-Getters Win the Prize
Paul has no regrets as he faces eternity: he had been a good soldier, a faithful runner, a faithful steward of the treasure of the Gospel. He looked forward to receiving his reward from the Lord.
What was it that kept Paul going during more than thirty years of toil and suffering? He wanted to see Jesus again! That was his reward. He was looking forward to being in the presence of the Lord.
That day he met Jesus on the road to Damascus changed his life. He was faithful to Jesus for the rest of his life.
Listen, folks, it’s ALL about Jesus! He is the beginning and the end of life.
Next to losing one’s soul and going to hell, the greatest tragedy of life would be to come to the brink of eternity and discover we had missed God’s will and wasted our lives on fruitless, earthly things.
I think back to mowing that sweet ladies lawn. It was hard work for low pay, and a pretty terrible diet mountain dew, but it taught me something about life.
Life is more than the hard work towards earthly goals. The reward we can receive in this life can, more often than not, disappoint us. But there’s a day coming where the fridge is full of the REAL thing. No more Diet Sodas in heaven.
I want to ask you about your life? Are you working for the RIGHT things? Things that count for eternity? OR are you working for things that will eventually turn to dust?
Jesus told us the key to joy. Paul understood this, and he was teaching Timothy.
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.
20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Where is your heart today?
Maybe you need to realign with your TRUE purpose. Maybe you need to find it for the first time.
Surrender your life to Jesus and find true Joy.
