MAKE IT COUNT!

1MAKE IT COUNT!

GOOD morning Northside! We are so blessed to be here with you all this morning…

Today we are starting a brand new sermon series… called “Making it Count”.

Through the years of ministry, I have talked to a lot of people who are passionate about their lives counting for something…

And not only have I never come across anyone who flat out says… I hope my life counts for nothing… I would say… one of the more universal fears I have across is right there… that at the end of it all… our life won’t count for much.

What do you think it means to “Make it Count”? How do we do that? That’s really what this sermon series is about…

I remember probably 25 years ago a lead pastor I worked with sent me to this training on organizing your life… and how to use a day planner well… and as silly as that might sound, it was incredibly helpful.

The very first thing they had you do was write your own epitaph… after I got out my thesaurus… I came to realize its basically how you hope people will remember you once your gone.

And I remember it pretty clearly because it was the first time I was able to sort of understand the importance of this truth…

My life, from the birth until the day that I die, is made up of days just like Today. Each day sort of adds to the picture that will one day become the story of my life.

And that once each and every day is lived… it’s done… and there is no going back.

And I think the goal is knowing every day counts…

Life is made up of days just like today!

And so if I want to be remembered as a good father… as a good pastor… as a good person… i need to make sure those those kinds of things are lived out in the days that make up my life… days just like today… otherwise, it will never be true of me.

It reminds me of what it says in (Elias)

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (ESV)

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

This passage reminds me important truths when it comes to “Making it Count”.

It takes vision.

The ability to see and discern what really matters.

It takes focus.

Not getting caught up on things that don’t matter… it reminds me of believing everything you read on social media or these days the media in general.

It takes intentionality.

You’ll never slip and fall into a pile of making it count… but we take intentional steps… moving more and more in that direction.

It takes discipline.

Consistency… the clearer these things become in our day to day life… the more these things become true of us.

Whether you are considering Jesus for the first time or you have been a Christian for a long time… Here is something important for us to consider…

Following Jesus changes our perspective on what it means to “Make it Count”.

One of the reasons I know the Bible is for today… is that it speaks truth into things just like this that sort of helps bring clarity into the chaos….

And sometimes the wisdom the Bible gives… is… different than we’d expect…

Sometimes we find ourselves in this place of deciding whether or not we’re willing to follow God into these places we are not 100% sure of… or comfortable with.

And luckily, the Bible is full of examples of men and women just like you and I that wrestled with this too… we see times when they decided to follow even if they weren’t 100% sure… and even times when they didn’t.

It reminds me a little of this passage in Romans… Check this out (Kessi fam)

Romans 11:33–36 NLT

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

If God is God… it goes without saying that He knows things we don’t know and sees things we don’t see. And in all seriousness, How unsettling would it be if that weren’t the case.

If God is God… who does He owe that God would need to pay it back somehow?

I feel like Romans is telling us that no one has ever given so much that God would need to pay them back… because all that is and ever was is HIS. it comes from Him, belongs to Him…

It’s a popular them in the Bible…

another example is right here…

Psalm 24:1 NLT

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him.

I feel like Romans is saying…

Everything comes from God, exists by Him, and is intended for Him.

and that really is a game changer when it comes to what it means to “Make it count”.

Understanding everything comes from Him and is for him… changes our perspective, or at least it should.

It reminds me of the Movie Castaway… which… I am still a little upset that Wilson didn’t win the best supporting actor… and I am totally serious… (SHOW WILSON PIC)… Every time I see that little dude floating out to sea I lose it just a little more.

After a plane crash, Tom Hanks ends up on some uninhabited island… completely alone… sort of like social distancing with a tropical view… and after facing so many hardships and trying so many times he finally is able to make fire… and he literally steps back, beats his chest, and says… I… have created fire.

But did you man? Nah… you used the resources you were given to make something that was there long before you knew Wilson even existed.

and it reminds me of that truth…

Literally ALL we are and ALL we have is at this moment sustained by God and intended FOR God.

Who I am, my personality, my strengths, my weaknesses, my gifts, my family, my resources… and even my achievements… It’s really asking where those things truly originated…

And even though it might not be the “wisdom” we expect when it comes to “Making it Count”… this truth about understanding it all comes from God is a gift in so many ways.

1. It helps us to stop beating our own chest and helps us become thankful and grateful people before God…

a. Which I promise is a far better and more productive way to live when it comes to making it count.

2. It frees me up from being stuck in this monotonous and vicious cycle trying to find my value in achievement and acquiring.

a. Over and over again… we have come across stories of men and women that thought they had it all… that they had earned and achieved it all… and what they found was… it was never enough… that what they gave up in the process was of far greater value than what they achieved.

My daughter and I like the show undercover boss and recently there was a guy that had been incredibly successful… but at every point he talked openly about what it cost him… his marriage and his relationship with his kids… and you could physically see his regret.

3. It refines the way I see myself, others, and those things that God has given me.

a. I am not the sum of what I have… or what I have done… I am cared for, taken care of, and blessed.

And there are so many examples I could pick on here… that remind me of Tom Hanks and Wilson making fire…

But I’ll pick on Michael Jordan. Probably the goat when it comes to basketball… and I 100% believe this; if every thing we are and have is from God and exist in this moment by God… how much credit should God get for the gifts MJ was given?

In my honest opinion… All of it. God gave the ability… the motivation… the oxygen… and even the drive to refine it…

and flat out the life of a person who beats their chest and says look at what I have made… what I have done… or what I have acquired… looks so much different and lives so much different than a person at the end of the day that simply says… thank you Lord…

Here is a hard question…

When was the last time you looked at all you are and have and spent a good chunk of time simply saying “thank you God”?

Your family, your home, your achievements, your gifts, your strengths and weaknesses… everything… Thank you God.

Not a passing thought… but a deep gratitude…

The more we do that… the more that honest gratitude and thankfulness becomes a part of our daily lives… the more it changes the quality of our lives.

Not only are we happier people, but it fixes our minds on the goodness and greatness of God and what God has done in us and for us. How He has provided… and it leads to greater trust in Him… leads to less anxiousness and worry… which leads to clarity… that leads to a better understanding of what life is really all about and what it really means to “Make it Count”.

In all seriousness… What example would you rather leave? Beating your own chest… or one of gratitude.

There is fullness… meaning… and freedom in coming to this place of acknowledging that all we are and have is from God… is sustained by Him… and do you remember what’s next?

That it is for Him… for His glory… to honor Him… to make Him known.

knowing that all we are… and all we have… everything… those things are entrusted to us… and intended to be used and invested in honoring God… pointing out His kindness, greatness, love and mercy. Making His name great.

And it makes me wonder if that's what this verse really means… (Jamey)

Matthew 16:25–26 (ESV)

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

I wonder if that is what it really means to lose your life… and in the process save it or find the full and free life God has for you?

Sort of prying our hands off… and learning to give credit where it is actually due…

If Romans and Psalms and so many other passages are right… and God really does own it all…

If all we are and have are from Him, exists by Him, and it to be used for Him… to honor Him… what does that make us?

Managers to some degree.

It makes us people that have been entrusted by God with the things of God for the purposes of God.

Managers… man that brings some memories…

I worked for Shirley at Little Caesars in Edmonds WA… and on giving her my two weeks notice on my 2nd day… she responded by telling me that I was possibly the ugliest human being she has ever seen. Like any mature grown man… It old her I’d give her $20 to say that to my mom.

There is an obvious difference between a good manager and a bad one… right? There’s a difference in how they see and handle what’s entrusted to them. There is a difference in the trust that is given to them. There is often a difference in what is produced by them…

If who we are and what we have is from God, entrusted to us to be used for Him, what kind of manager are you?

It reminds me a little of what we read in Matthew 25…

A man was leaving for business and entrusted three of his servants with different amounts of money… it says that He was gone a long time and when he finally got back he called his servants in to see how things went.

The first servant was given 5 bags of silver and doubled it.

The second was given 2 and he doubled it.

And the third returned only one freshly dug up and dirty bag of silver… which is what he had been given. explaining that he knew his master was harsh… and harvested where he didn’t plant…

And immediately the master of the house cut through the excuses and said even if you knew me and thought I was harsh… why didn’t at least invest it in the bank where it would draw interest…

The bottom line is… the servant didn't use what he was entrusted with well… and he knew it.

All of us want to "Make it Count”, but unless we define what that means, we are like runners who run without purpose or boxes who fight the air… while funny to watch… it doesn’t amount to much.

This is a process… learning to see all we are and have as from Him… and learning to see these things as entrusted to us for His glory… for making Him known.

How are you doing with that?

Are there things you hold back from God?

Are there things you are taking credit for (pride) that you need to deal with?

Do you believe that God can and will take care of you?

Are you thankful?

Maybe.... There is a story about someone who came to John Wesley… an English theologian from the 1700’s and said… sir I bring bad news, your house has burn’t down… Wesley’s response was… No, God’s house has burnt down… and now… I have one less thing to manage… worry about.

Today… I’d challenge you to spend some time… go on a walk, go into your room and shut the door, journal… find a way to spend at least 5 minutes being thankful before God for all that you are… your strengths and weakness, all you have achieved, and for all that you have… and ask God for the courage and wisdom to use those things… invest those things in ways that makes His love and grace known.

Life is made up of days… just like today…

How are you doing with what God has entrusted to you?

For me… my thoughts go right to my kids, my wife, my home, my cars, my accounts, and my strengths… Am I managing what I have been given well.

What is it for you? Whats one way you feel like God would have you use what’s been entrusted to you to serve or encourage others… that would project the His love and His grace to a world that needs it.

What if the full and free life that God desires for you is in part… found right there?

We are managers… entrusted with the things of God for the purposes of God…

How’s that going?