MY TIME IS VALUABLE

Greetings

Pastor and FL in there absence

Pulpit

Children

Body of Christ

New Living Translation Chapter 4

The Hope of the Resurrection

13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

Chapter 5

Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.

New Living Translation Chapter 4

The Hope of the Resurrection

13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

Chapter 5

Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 5

I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.

PRAY

If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day...Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage! Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balances, it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.

This year’s journey has us going “Deeper in Christ”, we have taken a stop on this journey in November to take a look at “Deeper Stewardship”.

As we have been taken this year’s journey of going “Deeper in Christ”, we have taken a stop in November to take a look at “Deeper Stewardship”.

This requires us to take a closer look into how we are spending our lives as Christians and how we are utilizing this blessing called “Salvation”.

As I was reflecting on this journey I’m reminded what Pastor Wilson preached on

1st Sunday “Inside Miracle on and outside Manifestation” if we are good stewards with our life Jesus will respond to our faith by restoring our inside before the outside

2nd Sunday he messed me up with “I’ll Do It” he helped us take a look into Isaiah’s life and how God moved obstacles like Uzziah just so he could refocus and confess his faults which led to his cleansing and his commitment to God

and last Sunday Rev. Andrews helped us with our “Blurred Lines” which helped us to understand that our disobedience gave a set back but, the struggle of our character is what makes us who we are today and it helped us move in the right direction even if it only took 40yrs.

Imagine what we could have done with that 40yrs?

However the Lord has led me to take a closer look today of how we steward our time.

Today’s Sermon is Titled

My Time is Valuable

If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,000 that carried over no balance from day to day...Allowed you to keep no cash in your account, and every evening cancelled whatever part of the amount you failed to use during the day, what would you do? Draw out every cent every day, of course, and use it to your advantage! Well, you have such a bank, and its name is TIME! Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it rules off as lost whatever of this you failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balances, it allows no overdrafts. Each day it opens a new account with you. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. Theres”s no going back. There is no drawing against tomorrow.

Some of us, like how we value money, value our times differently

some are on time and calculate every time spent or you are attentive to how to use your time wisely and if anyone causes you to vere off from that time there will be a problem if this is you say...“MY TIME IS VALUABLE”

And there are those who over spend their time and always looking for the next re-up. they say things like “it’s such and such time already” where did the time go… or for some of students, ” I just need a lil bit more time” or some of us who have to pay bills we want to know how the 1st comes so fast. or like me who daily can’t figure out how i get up at 5:30am but still have to rush into my office doors for work at 10am

if this is you say “My Time is Valuable”

then there are those that spend their time before they even get by wishing a certain event was already here

the end of the work day

birthday

vacation

if this is you...

Come on and say with me “My Time is Valuable”

The Value of time also means something to us in stages

The younger people want you to hurry up I need it now and I want to do it now

The young adults or millenials think ahhh I got time

and those of us who are approaching the half century mark or who have crossed over on the other side of the half century mark wants time to slow down.

but whatever stage you’re in “My Time is Valuable”

How come when we’re at work or at a meeting time seems to drag on to eternity and when we’re on vacation it seems to only last but a minute.

How come it seems when we were young it seems like we will NEVER get there

seems like we will never get out of school

we will never get old enough to drive

we will never be old enough to buy our own drink

or to move out of our parents house

and those of us who are older seems like life has gone by too quick and we wish time would go back

so we can be in school

or in our parents house with no responsibilities

and now we value those times that are behind us

Some of us look back with regret and wonder why did i waste my time with that jerk or waste my time doing those things.

But nevertheless “My Time is Valuable”

Today’s Scripture comes from the book of Thessalonians which is written by our Bro. Paul who I believe was and is one of the greatest evangelist that ever walked this earth. Paul to me was the MVP of evangelism.

Paul knew the value of time and the value of spreading the gospel.

Paul visited Thessalonica on his 2nd missionary trip after he was driven out from Phillipi

Thessalonica was called the “free city” under Roman rule which gave them the privalege to govern themselves

they were also known for worshiping idols therefore many of the converts there were gentiles. that means they un- churched

Paul knew something about Valuable time because he only spent 3 weeks there and in those few weeks he started the church and gave sound instruction on Christianity before he was driven out yet again.

But while he was away some questions arose in the church. The Thessalonians had some concerns and some of the members began to fall away and turn back to their old lives

Timothy, Paul’s protege in the ministry brought these concerns to Paul and here we see his response in the letters to the Thessalonians

Paul expressed gratitude and joy at the perseverance of the Thessalonians and their Christian conduct. Their works was echoing God’s Word and everyone was talking about it.

Paul reassured them that everything he shared with them had been tested and qualified by God and was free of error and hidden agendas

Paul told them that the persecution they were experiencing is expected because the truth of Christ is being shared and that they are going through the same persecution that others have gone through even himself. He reminded them that this type of trouble came with the calling on their lives

Since Paul couldn’t be there he sent Timothy to check on them and cheer them on in these hard times. Timothy came back to Paul with a good report and some questions

side bar I know that Timothy reiterated what Paul already taught in this letter but some people need to hear it from their pastor.

But Paul also instructed them :

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 4

Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity.

4–5  Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.

6–7  Don’t run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God’s concerns, and he will take care of them. We’ve warned you about this before. God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.

8  If you disregard this advice, you’re not offending your neighbors; you’re rejecting God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit.

9–10  Regarding life together and getting along with each other, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. You’re God-taught in these matters. Just love one another! You’re already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and better at it.

11–12  Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

He then got to the matter at had by answering two questions they had

Is a Christian deprived of the kingdom if he dies before Christ’s second advent?

and the second question is about Parousia which is the Second Coming of Christ they wanted to know when will He come?

Although Paul gave sound instruction all of these things when he visited Thessalonica, he wrote the letters to reinforce his initial instructions

I don’t know about yall but sometimes when you learn something new you need to reinforcing and application before we actually get it.

Paul gave reassurance to those that were concerned about there loved ones who had died that the answer was in our faith

in verse 14 he says “For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.”

the same power that rose Christ is the same that will raise your family

Paul being the good pastor he is, did not leave them with just that he went further to explain

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 4

We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.

New Living Translation Chapter 4

Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.

New Living Translation Chapter 4

We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.

Paul reassured that God is not just coming back for us but our loves ones who have died before us will be the first , and the ones are are still here, we too will be with the Lord forever

He admonished them to hold to these words and encourage each other with these words.

Then Paul addressed the question when is all this going to happen?

Paul told the Thessalonians there is no need to go over this again because he already went over this

And the answer is....We don’t know.... but know that your time here is valuable

the New Living word says The Lord’s return will be unexpedectedly

if i may stay here for a minute and give you my first thought to this text

Time is running out

Last week I watched a football game the 49’s playing the Seahawks and the game went into OT. Once the OT clock started there was a race to see who could score first before the clock ran out. These players on both teams played with diligence, precision and calculation they didn’t waste not one second because they knew time was running out.

1 Cor 9:24-25

New Living Translation Chapter 9

24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize

What we do for God is valuable and there’s a reward for it

but, we don’t have time to waste

In this Christian walk we should be evangelizing as if time is running out.

we should be teaching the love of God by loving the unloveable

caring for the sick and lost

we should be showing and teaching Jesus to those who don’t know or those who forgot about Him

We need to encourage those who are struggling with life

There is no time for foolishness in that every opportunity you have should involve advancing the Kingdom of God in some way

they is no time for hatred

no time for gossip and backbiting

there no time for reckless living

there is no time for complacency

there is no time mediocrity

The only time we have is to Spread the Good News that Jesus is our savior and He died for you and me that we may receive the prize of eternal life.

We should program this in our minds daily ...... My time is Valuable

We should program our minds daily that My time is Valuable

my second thought for today is

“Guard Your Heart”

Paul uses the analogy of the thief because a thief does not tell you he’s coming he does make an appointment to come steal from you

a thief comes to take what you have that’s valuable

and i don’t know about y’all but “My Time is Valuable

my salvation

my testimony is Valuable

my character is Valuable

my faith is Valuable

if we don’t value who we are and our time, it gives the thief easy access

I tell my daughters all the time “Guard Your Heart”

and i’m not talking about dating i’m talking about from people and situations in general

people will steal your time

your mental capacity

your peace

they will say things to you thinking they know what’s best for you and have they no clue and now you carrying around what they said to you when you’re supposed to be focusing your time on something else

so I tell you all today… Guard Your Heart because your time is valuable

Guard your heart from the world

have you ever went to look at something on your phone and end up on social media and 2 hours later you’re still scrolling when you should’ve been praying, studying , working ....

the word says the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy

Get you a Spiritual ADP system , get the Word, an accountability partner, a devotional what it takes So you can Guard Your Heart

My 3rd thought for today is

Don’t be fooled by false peace and security

The Message Bible says:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 5

About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”

Some of us think we’ve arrived in our spiritual walk or we’ve put in enough time into a certain ministry or church period that we feel we can just take it easy

we also live in a world where everyone needs to be included and everything is supposed to be inclusive

we can’t tell the truth because i might hurt someone’s feelings

we have to accept everyone ,who they are and how they want to live their lives, even if it is against the Righteousness of God

Saints Be Careful....

Yes we should love everyone but we do not have accept everyone actions especially if it’s sinful.

Yes we should be patient and empathetic with each other but not sinful behavior

Paul points out when we the church allow these things .... disaster will be our destiny

just as sure that we know when it’s a pregnant woman’s time to give birth she will have labor pains so will be our fall if we do not treat our time with Value and live a life that pleases God

But I also want to leave you with this last thought....

God is a God of redeeming time . psalm 34:22

New Living Translation Psalm 34

But the LORD will redeem those who serve him.

No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned

30 yrs ago around this time in my season of 19yrs old I thought my life was over. I had failed out of college and the future was planning had crumbled in front of me.

I’m here to tell you my past mistakes tried to destroy me but God had his hand on me

he NEVER let go of me

the college drop out of years ago will be a receiving her bachelors in May

the broken person of 30yrs ago is a made over woman today

he never let me go

when i was wasting time God already had plans to redeem me

he waited for me and nurtured me and fed me and loved me

SO HOW DARE I WASTE MY TIME GREATER CORNERSTONE!!

MY TIME IS VALUABLE

If today’s talk has you reflecting on the times that you didn’t value no worries

There is time left in today and tomorrow you will re-up with 86,400 more seconds to Value

this is all because of Jesus who took the time to teach us where our Value is and then He took the time to die so that the rest of our Valued days would be with Him in eternity

We may not know when He will return but we know for sure that He will; so, until then Value your time

THE SONG WRITER SAYS...

Time is filled with swift transition,

Naught of earth unmoved can stand,

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

Hold to God’s unchanging hand,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand;

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

2.

Trust in Him who will not leave you,

Whatsoever years may bring,

If by earthly friends forsaken

Still more closely to Him cling.

3.

Covet not this world’s vain riches

That so rapidly decay,

Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures,

They will never pass away.

4.

When your journey is completed,

If to God you have been true,

Fair and bright the home in glory

Your enraptured soul will view.

Hold to his Hand, God’s unchanging hand,

Hold to His Hand God’s unchanging hand;

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

time before they even get by wish a certain event was already here