Life Archives | Page 11 of 17 • Spirit & Truth | Life Church St Louis

Keeping Your Life In Balance

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / November 13, 2006

Today, my topic is “Keeping Your Life In Balance,” or maybe I should have called it “How To Keep All Your Plates Spinning.” Life is complex these days and each of us has many hats to wear. We have our role in our families, our roles at our jobs or in our schools, we have our role in our church and a myriad of other responsibilities to keep us busy. And somewhere in the mix, we try to keep God in it all. Unfortunately, sometimes we only have time for God on Sunday. That’s not so good, that’s not a life in balance.

The way to keep your life in balance is to balance God’s five purposes for your life. Those five purposes are summarized in two important Scriptures that Jesus spoke, The Great Commandment and the Great Commission, which we’re going to look at in more detail today. These passages do not just give us guidance for Sunday mornings, but for every day of our lives. First, let’s look at the Great Commandment, NIV Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Someone had asked Jesus what the greatest commandment in the Bible was and this was Jesus’ reply. Love God, the purpose of worship and love your neighbor, the purpose of ministry to others.

The second statement of Jesus that we’re going to look at today was spoken by Him just before He was taken back to heaven, it is some of Jesus’ last words on the earth. NIV Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Here Jesus gives His disciples of all ages instructions on how to live and keep their lives in balance. The third purpose of your life is to “go and make disciples”, the purpose of outreach, telling those who don’t know God about Jesus and the truth.

The next purpose is related to Jesus’ instruction to baptize new believers. Baptism is a sign that the new believer has become part of God’s family in the church and is the purpose of fellowship. The last purpose referred to in the Great Commission is to learn and practice God’s Word, the purpose of discipleship. In the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, we have God’s five purpose for your life summarized. As you and I learn to live lives balanced with those five purpose, we will have effective, fulfilled lives as we serve God. So, let’s look in some more detail, how these five purposes apply to our daily lives.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my November 12, 2006 message entitled Keeping Your Life In Balance

How Can I Talk About Jesus?

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / October 23, 2006

Becoming a believer in Jesus Christ is the most wonderful thing that could happen to anyone. The Bible says that when someone becomes a believer, they are “born again.” It’s as if you are born into a new world. It’s a world where God is so close to you that He actually lives inside of you. You are born into a new world where your sins are forgiven and your guilt is gone. You are born again into a world where your life now has purpose and meaning. When you become a believer, you are born into an eternal life that will never end. And I could go on and on about the wonderful new life of everyone who has become a believer.

When you find something great in life, what do you want to do with it? You want to share it with those you love, those you care about. The same is true for the believer. You have found a relationship with a person named Jesus that is so wonderful that words can hardly describe it. Every believer wants to share what they have found with other people. If someone doesn’t want to share what they’ve found in God with others, it makes you wonder if they’ve really found God at all. Why? Because every believer is meant to be God’s messenger to tell others about Jesus.

NIV 1 Thessalonians 1:8 The Lord’s message rang out from you your faith in God has become known everywhere. The people in the church at Thessalonica spread God’s message and shared their faith all over the place. The result was that more and more people came to experience the most wonderful experience in life of becoming a believer. Today, my message is entitled “How Can I Talk About Jesus?” You may be sitting here today and thinking that you’d really like to tell others about Jesus, but you’re afraid or you don’t know how.

Let’s see how the Bible says you should talk to others about Jesus. NIV 1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. The Bible says that you should always be ready to give an answer to those who are searching to find God. To do that, you need to build a friendship with people you want to share with. So today, let’s prepare by answering the question, How can I talk about Jesus?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 22, 2006 message entitled How Can I Talk About Jesus?

Mission Possible

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / October 16, 2006

Today, I’m going to talk about what is the most exciting part of life. It’s actually not very well known. A recent poll showed that less than 1 in 4 church goers practiced it in the last year in the US. I’m talking about one of the 5 purposes that God has for your life, the purpose of outreach. the purpose of telling someone else about your faith in Jesus Christ.

Today, we’re beginning a new message series called “Reaching Out To Make A Difference.” God wants to use you to be a bridge to Himself for people who don’t know Him. In our last message series, I talked about the purpose of Ministry – serving believers in the church. Now, I’m going to talk about the purpose of outreach or mission – serving unbelievers by telling them about Jesus.

A lot of believers apparently think that telling people about Jesus is mission impossible. Yet, it’s not impossible to reach out to others, so I’ve entitled today’s message “Mission Possible.” God has given every believer a mission. As a believer you don’t have a choice whether to accept your mission or not. If Jesus is your Lord, you accept every mission He gives you. Your mission is to tell the people in your circle of influence about your faith in God. Your and my mission is mission possible.

Is everybody going to like you sharing your faith with them? Absolutely not. NIV Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. When you take a little heat for sharing your faith, you should rejoice because you’re on the right track. In fact, if you’re not taking any flack for being a Christian, there is something wrong with your life. If you’re not having any opposition, then people don’t know what you stand for. Jesus put it this way NIV Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you.

Even though most people claim to be Christians, most people are not Christians. They need to hear how they can have a relationship with God. Even when people seem to reject the message of God at first, don’t give up. Lives changed for Jesus Christ are what makes life exciting. Outreach is your purpose in life, it’s not just the purpose of pastors or evangelists. You can reach people that no one else can reach. So today, let’s look at the question “Why should you reach out to those around you with the good news about Jesus?”

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 15, 2006 message entitled Mission Possible

Investing In Growth For Life

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / August 22, 2006

Americans don’t like to wait, we want what we want now, instantly. We don’t like to wait in lines, we don’t like to wait in traffic. We buy our foods frozen and pop it into the microwave, instant dinner. We used to have to wait for a certain TV show to be on the air, but now you can download it instantly on the internet. Email too slow for you, use instant messaging. Instant coffee, instant oatmeal, instant credit and the list goes on. Young couples want the affluence of their parents instantly and so they buy it on credit and eventually the bill comes due. Some things are better prepared from scratch, some things take time. When you insist on having everything instant, what happens when something just doesn’t come instantly?

Life is not a ten second 100 yard dash, life is an eighty year marathon. The elements that make for a good marathon runner also make for a winner in the race of life. God wants you to be a winner in the race of life, but not everyone will win. In fact, the Bible tells us that there are more losers than winners in the race of life. NIV Hebrews 12:1-2 Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. You have a race marked out for your life by God. God wants you to finish that race to be a winner, just as Jesus was. However, just as a winning marathon runner is not produced instantly, so a winner in the race of life is not produced instantly. A winner in God’s race of life must grow to maturity.

Today I’m going to talk about “Investing In Growth For Life.” To be a winner, you must invest yourself in spiritual growth for life. You can invest yourself in a lot of different ways, but only by investing God’s way will you end up a winner. A lot of people invest themselves in the wrong things and end up being losers in the race of life. But when you invest in growth God’s way, you become more and more like the all-time champion, Jesus Christ. You learn from Him about the race of life, you practice His training habits, you have the same attitudes that He had. Make Jesus your hero, your model, your example and finish life a winner. Invest your life to become like Jesus and you’ll be a winner. So what should you invest your life in?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my August 20, 2006 message entitled Investing In Growth For Life

Overcoming Your Temptations

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / August 15, 2006

Today my message is entitled “Overcoming Your Temptations.” Jesus had temptations, I have temptations, you have temptations. Temptations are part of life, you can’t get away from them. Temptations come in all sorts of sizes and flavors. The traditional seven deadly sins are: pride, envy; anger, laziness, greed, gluttony and lust. Those cover a lot of our temptations.

Temptations come at us in an instant. We often don’t take time to think things through, we just react and give into temptation. Someone says something sharp to us and we speak back in anger. We compare our house to the neighbors and envy theirs. We come home from a hard day at work and turn into a couch potato, giving in to laziness. There’s a Veggie Tales movie in which temptation is represented by chocolate bunnies. In this case, the temptation was gluttony. One chocolate bunny was not wrong but eating chocolate bunnies for 30 minutes was.

What is the chocolate bunny in your life? Something that appears good, something that is pleasurable to give into, yet in the end it will make you sick. People get addicted to the chocolate bunnies they are offered in their lives. I’m convinced that most of the sins in our lives are things that we are addicted to. They’re not one offs, they are habits that we have developed habits of going after our own chocolate bunnies. Some chocolate bunnies are OK in moderation, others are wrong no matter the dose.

What are the chocolate bunnies the temptations in your life that you can’t seem to overcome? This morning I want to talk about overcoming your temptations, learning how to say “No” to your chocolate bunnies and walk free. NIV 2 Timothy 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. The evil desires of youth don’t just remain in youth but they are there with us all our lives. You will never outgrow temptation. In order for God to use you, you have to have a pure heart, a heart that overcomes temptation. In order to see God, you have to be an overcomer of temptation. In order to overcome temptation, you need to work with God to change your life. Whatever temptation you’re battling in your life, here are the keys to overcoming.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my August 13, 2006 message entitled Overcoming Your Temptations

The Purpose Of Temptation

Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / August 7, 2006

Currently we’re in a message series called “Growing In Life’s Journey.” God uses a number of tools to help each person grow during their lives. God has a plan and purpose for your life and the only way that you’re going to accomplish that purpose is for you to continue to grow. Growth is a lifelong process, it takes work, you’ve got to stick with it, but the results will last forever. People who are growing are people who are learning to love and serve God and others. People who don’t want to change are stuck in the rut of life, not a great place to be.

Last week I talked about how God uses trouble to bring about positive change in our lives. Today my message is entitled “The Purpose of Temptation.” God uses temptation as a tool to help you grow. God doesn’t tempt anyone, but He able to use temptation as a means to bring about growth in our lives. Most people think of temptation as some sort of opportunity to do something wrong. That’s true, but it is more helpful to think of temptation as a choice. When you are tempted you have a choice to either give in to the temptation or to reject the temptation.

A temptation is like coming to a fork in the road. You can go down the right fork or the left fork. One path will lead you further away from God, the path where you give into temptation. But the other path will lead you closer to God, the path where you refuse temptation. Even the most heinous of crimes began way back when someone made a wrong choice and gave into temptation. One wrong choice follows another and the final destination will be tragic. Let’s watch a clip of an interview with David Berkowitz otherwise known of Son of Sam who was a serial killer in New York. See how his wrong choices to get involved in the occult had disastrous consequences. David Berkowitz went down the wrong path when faced with temptation. God wants you to make the right choice.

NCV James 1:12 When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever. God wants you to pass the test of temptation. He has a purpose in allowing temptation to come into your life. Don’t be misled into thinking that your temptations aren’t dangerous, that your little sins aren’t giving anyone any problems. This morning think about your biggest area of weakness, your biggest area of temptation and let God show you his purpose in it.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my August 6, 2006 message entitled The Purpose Of Temptation