Vision – Hope – Work ethics
If God created each one of us, then he created us with a purpose too.
Gen 1:27-28
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…..(NIV)
in his own image.
I think this means more than how he looked.
Like the things he likes
Acts the way he acts. Lover, giver, creator, conqueror, grower, worker….
Be fruitful = be a seed planter, live with the goal of producing something.
increase in number = don't set your own limits. Continue to increase.
fill the earth = Don't quit till we have done it all. He was saying this to two people! 1 Tim 2:3-4 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (NIV)
subdue it = defeat what must be defeated, overcome what must be overcome, endure what you must endure, use your authority, do it no matter what comes against you…
What is stopping us?
Do we have Hope?
To have hope is to expect with all your heart that the good thing that God has promised will happen. Are we happy? Are we stretching our necks to see what we know is coming?
God has put a dream in all of us! He will fulfill it if we will work with him.
Acts 2:26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope,
Rom 4:18-21
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-- since he was about a hundred years old-- and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (NIV)
Hope is not based on the evident facts, but the promises of God! He believed and continued to take action!
Do we continue to work?
Rom 12:11-12
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (NIV)
1 Cor 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (NIV)
Forming a partnership with the Grace of God!
There is a work ethic problem in this country! Actually all over the world!
Work Hard! (Korean greeting)
1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (KJV)