SEIZE EVERY OPPORTUNITY (CC)
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Sermon Text: Ephesians 5:15-20
Let us rise for the reading of this morning's Sermon Text
recorded for us by the Apostle Paul in his
Letter to the Ephesians where we read from Chapter 5,
beginning with Verse 15:
BE VERY CAREFUL, THEN, HOW YOU LIVE -
NOT AS UNWISE BUT AS WISE,
MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY, BECAUSE THE DAYS
ARE EVIL. THEREFORE DO NOT BE FOOLISH,
BUT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LORD'S WILL IS.
DO NOT GET DRUNK ON WINE, WHICH LEADS TO DEBAUCHERY.
INSTEAD, BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.
SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER WITH PSALMS, HYMNS AND
SPIRITUAL SONGS. SING AND MAKE MUSIC
IN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD, ALWAYS
GIVING THANKS TO GOD THE FATHER FOR EVERYTHING,
IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
This is the Word of our Lord. Let us pray:
Glorious and gracious God, may the words of my mouth and the
meditation of each of our hearts be acceptable in Your
sight, our only source of hope and comfort.
Amen.
[Text taken from the HOLY BIBLE:
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, 1973, 1978, 1984,
used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers]
Dear Followers of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:
Since it's turned to Fall,
all of a sudden,
the mailbox has been filled with catalogs
for the school. Things that the school may need; things
that we have ordered from these companies in the past.
So in order to help them, I decided maybe
call them and ask them to remove us from their
mailing list if we don't need their services any longer.
So one day I had about 10 of those calls to make.
And they're rather benign calls.
Very formal. Oh: What's your customer number?
What's your zip code? Thank you very much.
You're removed from our mailing list.
So I got this See's Candies
who sends us a flyer if we want to do
some fund raising. And I called them up
and I said: No, our school has closed and
I'd like to be removed from your list? And the lady said:
That just saddens my heart to hear that.
Because I know how important Christian education is
and how difficult it is
to keep a Christian
school in operation.
I hope you still are going to reach out to
your community and it is
my prayer that you will do that.
And I just
sat silent
on the phone.
Because there was someone
who made the most of an opportunity
to share her thoughts
on the importance of Christian education.
To care enough about us
and the ministry of the Lord
to take a request
to her heavenly Father on our behalf.
And I truly was impressed.
And maybe it's because for eight people before that,
I got nothing even remotely conversational.
But I think we realize
that as Christians, when we
let our light shine in the world,
that other Christians recognize it
and appreciate it.
And the Apostle Paul came to the church at Ephesus
and he said: I want you people to be wise.
To live in the wisdom of your faith.
To make the most of every opportunity ...
every single opportunity that
God presents to you and puts into your life.
Grab it; take hold of it and
make the most of that opportunity.
Because you understand what God's will is.
And to speak to each other
with spiritual words.
Words of encouragement;
words of Scripture, the Psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs to lighten
people's burdens. To share with them your faith.
To give them the understanding
that God has given to you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The understanding that has opened
the pages of Scripture to you
so that you know and understand all of the love
that the Father has lavished on us in His Son.
That we are no longer stupid,
ignorant, dumb people
outside of God's family.
But we have been given wisdom and understanding
that comes from God Himself.
To look on Jesus Christ and to know and believe
He IS the Son of God.
He is the
ONLY Savior who came here
with one goal and one purpose in mind
to reach out to the lost and to save the souls
of those condemned to die.
And He made the most of every opportunity:
Speaking to people, healing their diseases,
performing miracle after miracle
to show that He had divine power
and then
to hang on the cross of Calvary.
as the required sacrifice
of God.
The sacrifice for sin once and for all
to remove its guilt; to remove its stain,
and to give life.
That Jesus repeatedly
proclaimed that life to His hearers.
This is the fifth - sixth week
that we have had a lesson from the Gospel of John
Chapter 6, where Jesus
stood before those people repeatedly
and pointed to them eternal life.
Saying that it was in Him, to trust in Him,
to believe in Him.
So that they would know
and have faith
that realizes and is aware that
Jesus is the Savior and that we
are saved through His blood.
That is the knowledge; that is the understanding
that we have. And we live in
that same kind of world that doesn't
understand that. That is not always
going to get it. The Jews were arguing with Jesus Himself
all the way about what He said and
claims He made but it didn't
stop Him from making the most of
every opportunity. By the power of the Holy Spirit
He proclaimed God's truth.
And Paul encourages us by
that same Spirit to be filled with that Spirit.
To make the most of every opportunity.
To live our lives as they
reflect the will of God. To live our lives
with the knowledge that there's a lot of
foolishness in this world.
But we have wisdom and
let's use it. Let's put it into practice
in just the simplest forms of our lives
in our everyday living.
Let us look for those things that God
puts in our way for us to show Him
our love. In our faith. To be
able to live for Him. And not just live for Him,
but to open our mouths and
to encourage each other and speak to each other
with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
To bring that encouragement
that is in our hearts, that is
filled with thanksgiving. That makes our hearts
sing each and every day the
love and the praise of God.
That I can thank God today that when I got up my Lord
and Savior kept me through the night.
That He is going to keep me today in His grace.
And in His love and what a wonderful
thought that is.
What a glorious news that is for all of us to be able to
radiate when we get up in the morning.
But how often don't we get out of bed with
a bad attitude before we even get our clothes on
and walk out of the house. We're not happy.
We're not pleased. Things go wrong
each and every day in every person's house.
What's your choice? To live
and wallow in the foolishness of this world.
Or to speak
the truths of God. And make the most
of those opportunities.
To share with each other our life
and our faith that is consumed
and filled with Jesus Christ.
To let them know why we're so happy.
To share with each other
the encouragement that we need.
To look into Scripture and find some of those passages
from our daily study to share with someone else.
Send a quick email.
Today I was reading in the Psalms
and this verse came to mind and I thought of you.
And I wanted you to know that and to know that
today I'm praying for you.
What a wonderful thing to receive.
Text it to somebody.
Call somebody up on the phone.
Share that knowledge of Scripture.
Share that joy that is there.
Take those opportunities that come along ...
Birthdays! To say something more than "Happy Birthday".
Or anniversaries.
To say something more than "Have a good day".
If somebody's sick, to say something more than
just "Get Well".
But how about your Lord is with you?
He sends His angels to comfort you and to protect you
and to keep you safe.
There's a difference ...
and we know the difference.
I think sometimes we just don't take those opportunities
because it takes time. And we have
so many important things to get done
each and every day in our life that we don't have time
to care and share ourselves with those people who matter
to us. And I think if
we're honest with ourselves,
that is a reflection of our lives sometimes
each and every day.
My life, my time matters more
than my care and my concern
for the rest of you.
That's how selfish it is to become
like the world.
Simply easily.
But we repent of that and we go back to God to say:
Open our eyes to those who are around us.
To comfort them.
To share with them Your Word; to encourage them.
To those who are outside of the faith, to bring to them
the truth of Your Word.
To look for opportunities. And when those opportunities
are placed in our path, not to ignore them,
not to choose to do something else,
but to do what God has asked of us.
To make the most
of every opportunity.
Amen.
Let us rise. Now may the peace of God
which goes beyond all of our understanding keep your hearts
and your minds and especially your lives
in the one true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.