Working With All Our Hearts - Loyal Evangelical Church, Loyal OK

"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." ~Jesus Christ, in Matthew 28:18-20

Loyal, OK

Pastor Leon Seaton

Working With All Our Hearts

Many years ago humorist Erma Bombeck wrote an article about how mean her parents were. It went something like this:

“I had the meanest parents in the entire world. When I was seven years old they dared to spank me just because I told them I would not do what they asked me to do to help around the house. My friend next door never got spanked. He didn't have to help at home. He had nice parents.

“I had the meanest parents. I had to eat all my broccoli and carrots before they would ever let me have dessert. My friend next door never had to eat vegetables. He had fast food brought in with burgers and shakes and brownies with all kinds of ice cream.

“I had the meanest parents. They made me go to church every Sunday as long as I lived under their roof, sit there in that boring worship service. My friend next door could do as he pleased. He never went to church. Sunday was a fun day for him.

“I had the meanest parents. They made me work for my allowance. I had to get a job helping an elderly old man with chores around his house. My friend next door never had to do anything and he was given four times as much allowance as I could ever earn. He had nice parents.

“I had the meanest parents. When I turned sixteen, they made me earn points before I could drive the family car. My friend next door was given a brand new luxury automobile. My folks had bought an old jalopy for me to get back and forth to school, but you think I'd drive that hunk of junk and park it beside those Jeep Wagoneers, BMWs, Buicks and Mercedes? My friend had it made.

“Or so I once thought, but, when we turned thirty; I had a change in perspective. I had learned that my parents were not so mean after all. I was experiencing: the pleasure of work, the reward of recreation, the strength of a healthy body, the bonds of a strong marriage, the inward confidence that comes from faith and the wonderful supportive fellowship that comes from the Church as a community of believers.

“As for my friend, things were not going so well: he was not finding his niche in the workplace, nothing seemed to satisfy him, he was having difficulty getting along with people who were not willing to do everything just as he thought he knew it ought to be done, his marriage had not lasted even two years, his body was getting out of shape, and he evidenced a cynical outlook without any under-girding that comes from the assurance of faith.”

Erma finally realized that obedience to her parents' ways instilled in her lasting, life giving values. As Jesus said, "If you love Me, obey..."

Adapted from a sermon by Dr. Julian M. Aldridge, Jr. "Love's Consequence"

Discipline is very valuable; especially self-discipline!

God loves you so much that in all probability He will never answer every prayer you pray nor will He hand you life on an easy platter just because He has a soft heart. However, He will train and discipline you as a loving father will train and discipline his child.

Nehemiah’s story is a very powerful story. If you have been around church very long – you should be familiar with Nehemiah’s story.

Although he was a Jew, he was the cup bearer for the king of Babylon. This was a very important position. He drank from the cup and tasted the food before the king ate so the king would be protected from possible assassination.

Therefore, this was a highly trusted position, and he and the king had developed a dynamic friendship.

But Nehemiah was still a Jew at heart, and he was grieved that the Jews had not returned to Jerusalem after the Babylon captivity. When he heard that the Jerusalem was still in ruins and that the rebuilding program had been thwarted, he was deeply grieved.

That kind of grief cannot be hidden; the king picked up on Nehemiah’s pain. Eventually he gave Nehemiah the permission and money that was needed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.

However, Satan is not impressed by our calling, our decision, or even the king’s permission. Satan did not want the city rebuilt, so he rallied his people to fight Nehemiah. It was fierce opposition.

Nehemiah and his followers were successful for three reasons:

They had the heart/courage to pray
They had the heart/courage to work
They had an eye to watch for the enemy.

Failure in any three of those areas would have led to defeat.

There is a spirit of revival in our church. The Lord has certainly set a new fire in my heart, and He has many of you to get more involved.

Whenever God starts to move we need to look at the opportunities and the obstacles.

Opportunities abound because God is moving across our nation in a new way. There is more openness among many people to talking about spiritual issues. Oh, I know that Christianity is under fire in many areas. It needs to be, because some of the ideas that we label “Christianity” are pretty wimpy. Many people are teaching a polluted gospel.

We are not here to fight other organizations, but to lead the way. People are hungry for life-changing spiritual encounters. We need to be very efficient at teaching what is right.

Last week Roberta and I were teaching classes on Puberty in some of the schools in Kingfisher County. One family called to find out what we were teaching. In particular they wanted to be sure that we are not teaching “safe sex” and that we believe in and teach abstinence until marriage.

I told them that the only safe sex I know anything about is sex after marriage and within that marriage.

But Christianity is under siege. As you know, there are many groups in the USA opposed to Christianity – and they are very verbal in that opposition. That’s fine. Just as Nehemiah had to fight his battle – sometimes having armed guards present while they worked on the wall – so too, we need to be on guard against the tricks of the devil.

The first “guard” is prayer. It takes courage to pray, “Not my will, but Yours be done” as Jesus did just before His arrest and murder on Calvary. We must remember that around this world more people are being martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ than ever before.

Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us that we are in a battle with evil forces!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Let me help you out here… Christians are not to stand around looking pretty like a window model at Macy’s or JC Penney’s! No… we are to stand our ground in battle.

Our next “guard” is plain old hard work! In Nehemiah 4:6, the people were “Working with all their hearts.” (KJV: “For the people had a mind to work.”)

What hard work do you and I have to do?

Prayer is hard work.

Preparing food is hard work.

Preparing lessons and teaching them is hard work.

Showing up for church is hard work when you have too much to do is hard work.

Talking to people about the Lord is hard work.

Preaching is hard work.

Writing and sending newsletters is hard work.

Playing pianos and organs is hard work.

Painting scenes on the wall is hard work.

Teaching a class of noisy kids is hard work.

But…so was dying on a cross!

Sharon Daugherty of Tulsa was teaching on the radio recently; she said something that really caught my attention. Several years ago she and her husband were going through a difficult time in their ministry. As she was praying the Holy Spirit told her that Walking in the Fruit of the Spirit is a powerful weapon against the enemy.

Let’s take a look at the Fruit of the Spirit: (Galatians 5:22-23)

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

God is love. Therefore we can conclude that walking in love is walking in God’s way. God will bless that. It will upset the devil, but will bless those around us! Therefore we will have fewer battles to fight!
“The joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Thus we can logically understand that if we walk in the joy of God, we will be strengthened on our journey – and we will be strengthening others. That means that we will be doing the work of the Lord without expending extra effort.
Peace. In John 14 Jesus said, “My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you. DO NOT LET your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” If you do not have peace with God you will not have peace with yourself or with your neighbor!
Patience. www.Dictionary.com defines patience as follows:

a.	The quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

b.	An ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay: to have patience with a slow learner.

c.	Quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence: to work with patience.

In Luke 21:10-19 Jesus is describing what will take place at the end of time. It is not a pretty picture!

Then He said to them:

"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

"But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of My name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

“You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of Me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.” Verse 19 in the KJV states, “In your patience possess ye your souls.”

Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, like the other Fruits of the Spirit, will keep us close to God and out of trouble. In order for us to walk in the Fruit of the Spirit we must die to our own selfish desires and become totally committed to God and His work. This is not easy!

Some of you are old enough to remember Richard J. Daley who was mayor of Chicago for 21 years (1955-1976). Mayor Daley was known as a rather forbidding guy to work for. One story goes like this. One of Mayor Daley’s speech writers came in and demanded a raise. Mayor Daley responded as could be expected. He said “I’m not going to give you a raise. You are getting paid more than enough already. It should be enough for you that you are working for a great American hero like myself.” And that was the end of it...or so the mayor thought.

Two weeks later Mayor Daley was on his way to give a speech to a convention of veterans. The speech was going to receive nationwide attention.

Now one other thing Mayor Daley was famous for was not reading his speeches until he got up to deliver them. So there he stood before a vast throng of veterans and nationwide press coverage. He began to describe the plight of the veterans. “I’m concerned for you. I have a heart for you. I am deeply convinced that this country needs to take care of its veterans. So, today I am proposing a seventeen-point plan that includes the city, state and federal government, to care for the veterans of this country.”

By this time everyone, including Mayor Daley, was on the edge of their seat to hear what the proposal was. He turned the page and saw only these words: “You’re on your own now, you great American hero.”

Brett Blair tells this story. He concludes, “I don't know if Daley learned anything at that moment. With his great ego perhaps he did not. But he should have learned that all of us, no matter how great we think we are, need help. We need advocates who work behind the scenes to make us who we are.”

God has an advocate for you. He is the Holy Spirit. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com Story of Daley taken from: Journey Toward God, New Community Small Group study on Exodus (Zondervan), p.33.

Sincerely, Pastor Leon

April 27, 2008