Making the Most of our Time
Notes
Transcript
Time is a resource that can never be acquired. We can acquire more money, better status, more friends, even children (birth or adoption)
But, once time is gone, it’s gone forever and we can never get it back.
Knowing that should give us a greater appreciation for our time however, it’s interesting how much time we waste all the time.
We tend to be frivolous with our time.
If we knew when our time on earth would end, I believe we would be much less wasteful with our time.
This morning, let’s learn from Paul because Paul was very intentional about using his time well.
In Chapter 20 of the Book of Acts Paul knew that this missionary journey is coming to a close and he didn’t want to waste any time.
-Turn to your Bibles-
PRAY
In vs. 1-6, Paul left Ephesus and went back to Macedonia to encourage the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he went to Greece and stayed there for 3 months. He was getting ready to head back to Syria when he discovered that the Jews were plotting to kill him so he decided to return to Macedonia.
While Paul was going to these churches, he had some traveling companions with him.
Theses were people from all the places that Paul ministered at.
4 Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
Paul planted churches in these cities and these churches sent these leaders / disciples to help out Paul in his ministry.
Making the most of our time requires us to invest in people
Making the most of our time requires us to invest in people
That’s why Paul had such an incredible, loyal, committed group of people who worked hard for the Kingdom of God. Paul spent his time investing in people.
People are our greatest resource. People can be challenging, people can be difficult but investing in people will always be worth the struggle, the pain and the frustration.
As disciples of Jesus we are called to disciple other believers as they follow Jesus.
Discipleship cannot happen apart from relationship. Discipleship is simply spending time with people as we follow Jesus together. Doing life together, doing ministry together, and serving in God’s kingdom together. People will always be our greatest resource.
Making the most of our time requires us to invest in people.
Investing in people requires us being present in the moment.
Investing in people requires us being present in the moment.
Paul ended up in Troas and stayed there for a week and he made the most of this short stay by spending as much time as he could with the believers in Troas.
Acts 20:7–12 (NLT)
7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. 8 The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. 9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below.
10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. 12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home alive and well, and everyone was greatly relieved.
It’s interesting that this happened and it was mentioned so I can’t skip over it.
The gathering of this group was on the first day of the week. This is one of the clearest New Testament references to the church meeting on Sunday rather than on Saturday, the Sabbath. The breaking of bread most likely refers to the Lord’s Supper.
Evidently, the meeting began in the evening, presumably because the church members were not available to come during the day due to work. Because Paul and his companions intended to leave the next day, Paul had an extended teaching time. He kept on talking until midnight! Paul did not want to leave Troas until he had made the most of every minute he had with the believers.
So we can learn that… Preachers shouldn’t preach long…
Paul was the only preacher who killed someone because he was long winded.
You would think that this tragic death would have shut the preacher up but that wasn’t the case…
This young man was resurrected from the dead and then Paul kept preaching.
Another powerful lesson… Don’t sit on windowsills in the third story of a building.
How about… Don’t fall asleep in church it may cost you your life.
Here is a better take away… God can take a tragic and deadly interruption and show HIS resurrection power.
This could have killed what God was doing in that holy moment but God was not done yet.
This became an opportunity for Jesus to show off HIS resurrection power and because of this the church was encouraged and comforted.
Paul kept preaching what the Lord had laid on his heart because Paul was present in the moment.
Paul wanted to make the most of his time with these people knowing that this would be his last chance.
His final opportunity to teach God’s Word to a tired audience who was willing to listen. This was the last opportunity to have a meal together, and to have a holy moment where God demonstrated HIS resurrection power.
Then in vs 13—16, Paul left Troas and went to other places in the region but he wanted to head back to Jerusalem before Pentecost. So when he was near Ephesus at Miletus he called the elders of the Ephesian church to meet up there.
Paul was pressed for time but he spent over 3 years in Ephesus so he wanted to visit with these church leaders one last time in person.
What Paul said to theses church leaders was historic and impactful.
He looked back, reflecting on God’s faithfulness.
He looked to the present, staying focused on living and declaring the Gospel.
He looked to the future, recognizing the challenges that were coming ahead.
18 When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now 19 I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. 21 I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
Make the most of our time by living with character.
Make the most of our time by living with character.
Character is so much deeper then our reputation. Character is who we are when nobody sees us but the Lord.
Paul described his ministry among the Ephesians, reminding the elders that they had observed his character.
Character means serving the Lord with humility.
Character means serving the Lord with humility.
Paul did God’s work humbly.
As wildly successful as Paul’s ministry was—the miracles, decisions, baptisms, and successfully discipled believers and planted churches—he did not boast. The word of the Lord had spread widely under his ministry but he recognized that it was God’s work, not Paul’s.
Serve the Lord with humility.
Character means enduring through hardships.
Character means enduring through hardships.
Being a Christian does not solve or remove all of life’s problems Being a Christ follower is not easy.
Paul served humbly and “with tears,” but he never quit. He never gave up.
The message of salvation was so important that Paul never missed an opportunity to share it. Preaching repentance, turning away from sin and turning to Christ by faith.
A good spiritual leader has the courage to tell the truth no matter what the consequences.
As believers we will have rough times, tears, and sorrows, as well as joys, but always be ready to tell others the good things that God has done for us.
Character means faithfully enduring through hardships.
22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
Making the most of our time means trusting God with our future.
Making the most of our time means trusting God with our future.
Paul considered his life worth “nothing” unless he used it for God’s work.
We often feel that life is a failure unless we’re getting a lot out of it: recognition, fun, money, success.
24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
Life or death was irrelevant to Paul. His sold-out, single-minded desire was to finish the race well.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.
The Holy Spirit told Paul that he would be imprisoned and experience suffering. Even knowing this, Paul did not shrink from fulfilling his mission.
Consider your service to others as a gift back to Christ. Don’t always look for what you can get out of it as we make the most of our time and trust the Lord with our future no matter what happens.
25 “And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. 26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault, 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.
Paul had no regrets.
Making the most of our time means that we choose to say things that we don’t regret.
Making the most of our time means that we choose to say things that we don’t regret.
Paul may have been convinced that he would never see any of these men again. We don’t know if he did or didn’t, but at this somber moment, Paul was saying his good-bye.
Paul led most of these men to Christ and probably all of them had been taught by him. But these men had to make there own choices that will impact eternity.
Paul released them to the Lord. They had to make their own choice to follow Jesus. He had boldly and thoroughly proclaimed what they needed to know to be saved and to grow in Christ. All of God’s purpose that had been revealed to Paul, he had taught to them boldly.
Be careful what we say. Making the most of our time means that we choose to say things that we don’t regret.
28 “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.
Here in this final section, the verbs changed from the declarative (I did, we did) to the imperative (Go do!).
The first charge was to “keep watch”
Those who lead God’s people must keep a careful watch over themselves and the flock. This was important.
As we take on more leadership we become a greater target for the enemy. Before the flock could be protected, the shepherds must protect themselves!
29 I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. 30 Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. 31 Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.
Keep watch for false teachers.
False teachers are not limited to the cults, or bad doctrine throughout church history.
Some of the characteristics of false teachers show up in churches and ministries professing to be faithful to the true gospel. Many leaders and authorities today demand allegiance because they appear to know the Bible.
In order to protect yourself from the deception of false teachers; learn what the Bible teaches and remain steadfast in your faith in Christ alone. Doctrine is right and true only to the extent that it lines up with God’s Word.
32 “And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.
Paul committed them to God and to the message of his grace.
The “message” Paul was commending them to had two essential characteristics: (1) it was able to build them up (“edify”); and (2) it was able to give them the inheritance among all who are set apart or sanctified.
This message is the Word of God, by which the believers would be built up in the faith.
As Paul said his goodbyes he had no regrets. He presented them the entire gospel, the whole truth, encouraged them in the faith, and now the church leaders were empowered by the Holy Spirit to live out that inheritance that God has given them so they could build HIS church.
Paul had no regrets letting them go!
Paul summarizes his message as he closes.
33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
3 characteristics of Paul’s ministry: Contentment and Self-restraint, Diligence, and Selflessness.
3 characteristics of Paul’s ministry: Contentment and Self-restraint, Diligence, and Selflessness.
(1) contentment and self-restraint—he had not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing;
(2) diligence—he had worked hard with his own hands to support himself and his companions.
Paul was a tentmaker; he supported himself with this trade. Paul worked not in order to become rich but to be free from being dependent on anyone. He supported himself and those who he traveled with.
(3) selflessness (20:35)—he had sought to “help the weak,” following Jesus’ words concerning the advantage of giving over receiving.
Paul’s genuine humility is evident in his encounter with the Ephesians. He was not impressed with himself, nor did he call attention to his credentials. Rather, he kept pointing to Christ.
John the Baptist expressed this well…
30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
Jesus said, it is better to give then to receive. If giving is important to Jesus, if generosity is important to Jesus then we must be generous.
When we think of generosity we tend to think about giving money but also our time, our relationships, and our resources.
TAKE AWAY:
We might not have much but we all have the same amount of time. We are all in different social contexts, work situations, living situations, and economic levels but we all have the same amount of time.
Are we using our time wisely?
Are we living with character and integrity?
Are we investing in relationships and showing the love of Jesus to others?
Are we sharing the Gospel?