What Really Matters

We have gone through some of the basics this Summer between Sundays and Wednesdays… kind of answering what you need to do next for your spiritual growth.

We want you to live fulfilled lives. Jesus came to give you an abundant life.

What is God’s Plan for my life?

Psalm 90:12 NIV

12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm written by Moses.

We have a limited number of days in our lives. God wants us to use them wisely.

We all know that no one on their death bed wishes they had spent more time at the office. yet we will pour our life into work.

We all know the value of our family but our schedule doesn’t show it.

We all know that there are things that are important but we don’t do them because we don’t have the value of this verse. You can’t apply wisdom if you don’t know the value of today… if you don’t know that life is brief.

People who know thy are about to die, spend their time differently. So when you realize your days are numbered, you live differently.

Eph

Ephesians 5:15–17 NLT

15 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

We have a short window of opportunity so make the most of it.

17 - Don’t act like it’s not true, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

to understand what the Lord wants you to do, we have to have the right values.

Joke -

On the very first day, God created the cow. He said to the cow, "Today I have created you! As a cow, you must go to the field with the farmer all day long. You will work all day under the sun! I will give you a life span of 50 years." The cow objected, "What? This kind of tough life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I'll give back to you." So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the dog. God said to the dog, "What you are supposed to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, you will have to bark at them! I'll give a life span of 20 years." The dog objected, "What? All day long to sit by the door? No way! I give you back my other 10 years of life!" So God agreed.

On the third day, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, "Monkeys have to entertain people. You've got to make them laugh and do monkey tricks. I'll give you 20 years life span." The monkey objected. "What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will do, and the other 10 years I'll give you back." So God agreed.

On the fourth day, God created man and said to him, "Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. This kind of life, I'll give you a 20 year life span." The man objected. "What? Such a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best and you expect me to live only for 20 years? No way, man... why don't we make a deal? Since the cow gave you back 30 years, the dog gave you back 10 years, the monkey gave you back 10 years, I will take them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?" So God agreed.

AND THAT'S WHY.... In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we work all day long, suffer and get to support the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!

In order to know whats next, you have to know…

What Matters?

You can’t make the right next steps if you don’t know what matters.

God Matters.

Most of you would agree, but if someone followed you around, would they see that God mattered?

One day we all stand in front of God and he will ask, what dod you do with my son?

Put your energy, your love and your passion into your relationship with God.

Matthew 7:21–23 NLT

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

It’s not about just coming to church, it’s about a relationship with God through Jesus.

Doing the will of the Father - implies a relationship with God. The will of the Father is for you to know the Son.

It also means that there will be fruit in our lives. Do our lives show that Jesus is Lord of our lives? Or are our words and actions the same as everyone else’s.

Philippians 3:7–8 NLT

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

He doesn’t want to be your Sunday God. Paul said everything else was garbage compared to his relationship with Jesus.

Story of the man who built extra barns to hold his extra…

Luke 12:20–21 NLT

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Luke

He did not know he was going to meet God that day. He did not know that he reached the last number of his days…

You cannot make a good decision if God doesn’t matter.

People Matter

Many of you are upset with someone else… today. It’s easy to get upset.

Joke about the 92 year old who outlived her enemies.

Some of you are carrying around offense and the wound is killing you. It’s time to let it go. Unforgivenness is like setting yourself on fire and hoping the other person dies of smoke inhalation.

Let it go. People matter.

Galatians 5:13–15 NLT

13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Gal

911 - people on the planes called… honey, I know we fought, but I want you to know I love you… I am going to die… I love you.

We need to live like this all the time. We need to live like we are in the floors above the impact level of the trade center.

We spend too much time fighting with people when we are supposed to be impacting people.

When you answer the first question correctly, you will hear this one. What did you do with your life to impact others?

Matthew 25:35 NLT

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.

Matthew 25:40 NLT

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!’

matt 25:

When we do it for them, we do it for him… God matters… people matter…

Eternity Matters

The huge majority of your life is on the other side of this world. When I think of family or friends who are gone, I thank God for heaven… it’s going to be awesome.

So Jesus comes and says…

Luke 12:15 NLT

15 Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Delayed gratification.

Matthew 6:19–21 NLT

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.

We need to put our effort and investments into something that lasts forever… Heaven.

Once you know what matters, you can live that out.

Leave a Legacy Living it Out

Here are your next steps.

1. Know your purpose.

You have to know why you are here. 87% have no idea why they are here. RW sold over 100 million copies of the PDL book. You have a purpose… you are not here by mistake.

Elvis - 250 m albums, 33 movies, billion fans when we died… 300 impersonators… 300000 impersonators.

Priscilla - Elvis never came to terms with who he was supposed to be. He thought he was here for a reason… may be to preach, maybe to serve , maybe to save, maybe to care for people. That agonizing desire was always with him and he knew he was not fulfilling it so he would go on stage so he would not have to think about it.

How many of you will go on stage tomorrow and put on for something your heart is not into because you don’t know your purpose. You will never find your purpose until you find the one who put the purpose in you… until you connect with Jesus.

Psalm 139:13–16 NLT

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Psalm 139:

God had a plan for your life before you were conceived. The more we connect to the Lord, the more we know why we are here.

If you don’t have anything bigger than you to live for, your problems are the issue. If you have something bigger than you to live for, your issues just become distractions. The happiest people around are the people who have something to live for bigger than their problems.

Colossians 1:16 The Message

16 For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.

You will not know your purpose until you find the one who gives you purpose… Jesus Christ.

2. Grow to your potential.

You find your purpose and now it’s time to grow.

Information does not change your life.

All change happens in the context of relationships. That’s why the devil attacks our relationships… trying to seperate us and cause us to not trust each other.

Pro 27:17

Proverbs 27:17 NLT

17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

Most of us don’t like to get this close. Most bail out on relationships because they are work. People leave saying they want to be happy. God didn’t come to make you happy… he came to make you Holy.

We have to have relationships where we get honest with people who can help you with your blind spots.

We all have issues. If you don’t think you have issues… that’s your issues.

When you learn 1 & 2, now you get to …

3. Sow the seeds that benefit others.

Now you can live life knowing that you can make a difference. If God matters, and eternity and people matter, we will spend out lives sowing seeds to benefit others.

Sow your life… waitress… work…

Let’s figure out how we can grow ministry and make a difference in the lives of others…

Fuel the Future - more kids… salvation.

Back Pack School Supplies

Wed Feeding -

River Church Kids -

River Church Youth -

Rivarde Ministry Team -

Jail

Fall Festival Out Reach - 400 to 500 people will come through… let’s step up our game and see more of them come back…

Single Moms Ministry -

2 CO

2 Corinthians 9:6–7 NLT

6 Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

You must decide how much to give…

donuts at work… tip in the restaurant…

2 Corinthians 6:11 NIV

11 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.

2 Corinthians 9:11 NIV

11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This is what we want to do. We want to help you and others develop your relationship with Jesus. We want to help you and them grow so that we can all sow seeds that benefit others.

Altar

You need to live your life like God matters.

Some of you need to be saved...

Others you need to re-order your list and out God first.

Communion