Acts 20:18-32 - Resolutions That Matter

Se seems like every year they add new national day of whatever to the calendar. Do you notice that? Not not only holidays, but every everybody get on Facebook, it's like national Daughter Day or not national Sunday or National Redhead Day or or all these different holidays that we've created. There was one I just learned this year for the very first time, and it happened on Friday, January 10th. I mean you know what Friday, January 10th was? Someone knew it in the eight o'clock. No one knows. It's National Quitters Day. National Quit. National Quitters Day, you look this up. It's the second Friday, every year, the second Friday after the beginning of a new year is national Quitters Day. Why is that national Quitters Day? Because they've determined through research that by the second Friday of the new year, the vast majority of people have quit their New Year's resolution. They failed their news resolution, so most people don't make it to the second Friday, so we actually just let's just celebrate national quitters today. Did y'all May make it? Anybody make it past national quitters day? How are your resolutions going this year? I'm gonna guess most of you guys say you don't make them. I actually like them. I know a lot of people said I fail out of them every year so I quit making them. I fail at them every year, but I keep making them. I think the beginning of a new year and my birthday are really good times to just take stock of where I am under their new goals. and I I rarely if I ever keep them, I usually quit by national quitters day, but I just keep doing it, because I think gets healthy to say, are there some things that I want to improve about my life? If you this is really interesting if you've made a resolution this year, you're part of a 3,000 year tradition. New Year's resolutions date back 3,000 years to the Babylonian Empire. That's we first started making New Year's resolutions. I looked up this week, uh what are the most common ones? USA Today, did a survey and found that these are the top six news resolutions. see if any of these fit you. Number one, save more money.enty of the people want to save more money.umber two, eat healthier, number three, exercise more, number four lose weight, number five more time with family and number six quit smoking. Maybe you found yourself in one of those top six resolutions. I want to present to you today to consider what spiritual resolutions you'll make this year. What are the goals this year that you feel like God is leading to make? What are some uh habits that you want to instill this year, some new commitments you want to make this year? Let's just turn a fresh page. National Quit Day was two days ago. We'll just start over on January the 12th and make this a new day. What are your commitments? I want to ask that question because I wanna see our passage in the Book of Acts through that lens. We've been journeying through acts for several months now. We've made it to acts chapter 20, and in our passage today, the Apostle Paul is going to share some of the commitments that have characterized or identified his life and ministry. And I want you to see these commitments of Paul's life through the lens of this new year that we're about to embark on. Could these four commitments of Paul's life and ministry serve as good goals for our lives? good resolutions for our lives today. chapter 20, he's going to spend some time with a group of elders from the city of Ephesus. What is an elder? An elder is a leader of a local church. In fact, in our passage today, he's going to refer to these people as elders, shepherds, and overseers. The word shepherd is our English word pastor comes from the Latin word that means to take care of sheep. So any time in the Bible, you see the word shepherd think pastor, okay? And so you'll see the Bible many times we're gonna see it here. Elders, elders, pastors, overseers, just three different words to refer to the same person. So, for example, here at Northon, myself, Rustin, Tyler, Andy, Blake, and Willie, are our pastors, our elders, our shepherds, our overseers of our local church. Paul is gonna gather together with those elders or shepherds or pastors from the church in the city of Ephesus. And on this occasion, he believes this to be the very last time he'll ever see them again. You know, last words are powerful. If you think of people you've lost loved ones who have died, and you can remember very vividly the last time you spoke to that person. Can you remember those moments? The last words that a person share with you share has shared with you are usually very meaningful and memorable. And you know what makes them more powerful when they know they're the last words they're gonna share with you. Sometimes you have someone who dies, you didn't know they're gonna die and you go, wow, I'm sure that we had that time together. I didn't know they were gonna pass away. Sometimes, though, you have people in your life, you know the inder and you get time with them, and that time you have with them is very powerful because you know this is the last chance I'm gonna get to talk to this person. That's what Paul believed on this occasion. Now, there is some evidence that he may have got back around to them a few years later. We'll talk more about where his life goes when we get to the end of the book of acts later in in a few weeks. But on this occasion, he believes this to be the very last time he's going to see them. He says the verse 222. I'm going to go to Jerusalem and I don't know what's going to happen to me when I get there. In verse 25, he says, I know that none of you, none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will ever see my face again. and then at the end of this chapter, in verse 36, it says when he said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all, and there was much weeping on the part of all. They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful, most of all because of the word he had spoken that they would not see his face again. So it says to them as guys, this is my last time with you, I'm gonna go to Jerusalem. I don't know what's gonna happen to be there, but I'm pretty sure you're never gonna see my face again. And when he left there was this tearful goodbye because they think this is the last time they're ever going to see him again. This is a powerful moment. He knew that hard times were ahead for him and he wanted to hand the baton off well. He's going in this time look back on the past three years of ministry he had with him. He's going to look forward to this uncertain future and he's going to challenge them on how they should lead the church in his absence. And in these final words, he talks about four commitments of his life. And I want these to serve today for us as an example of what we ought to strive toward in our own lives in our walk with Jesus. Four commitments of Paul's life that serve as four resolutions for us as we face this new Year. Let's jump in to verse 13. Going on ahead to the ship, we set sail to Asos intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land, and when he met us at Asos, we took him on board and went to Mene and sailing from there, we came the following day opposite chos. The next day we touched at Samos and the day after that we went to Miladus. Okay, just some quick traveling there. What is cool. I want you to that's one thing about this kind of cool is the pronounwe going on ahead, we set sail. What's happening in thesewe sections and acts? It's really kind of cool. There a guy named Luke, who is writing this book of acts, he's kind of like an investigative journalist who's done all this research to give us this history of what's going on in the church during that time, led by the Holy Spirit as he's writing, most of the book is based on his research he did, interviews with other people. There are moments in time, though, where the language changes from they towe, what's happening there. Luke's with them. This is really cool. Luke, the journalist, has now caught up to the group and he's hanging out with him. So Luke says, we got on a ship. and we say, hello, now Paul didn't get on the ship. He went by land. We don't know why, but he decided to cut across the land. When he got to the other side, he got on the ship with us, we went to a few other cities and then finally we land here at Melanus. Now, what's going to happen there ver six? Paul decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible on the day of Pentecost. Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. Here's what's happening. Have you ever taken a trip somewhere and you've had a layover in an airport and there's gonna be a long layover and you had some family that lived in that city and you said, hey, you should come over to the airport and hang out with us. We have some family and Atlanta, not far from the airport. and a couple of occasions, when we've been flying somewhere and our layover in Atlanta was long enough, we say, hey, come over the airport, we'll come out of security, we'll have some lunch with you, and you go your way, we'll go back down the airplane and fly home. That's what's happening here. Paul has a layover and he's invited some people to come and meet him and hang out with him during his layout. They gotta unload the ship and they got put some new cargo on the ship. Maybe there's a day or two that they've gotta re unload, reload the ship. That's enough time. If we send a messenger, we can get someone here from Ephesus and I can hang out because I don't have time to come to you. I got to get to Jerusalem by by Pentecost. I feel like the Lord has really led me to be there There as a short time frame. I've already spent enough days traveling around. I got to get to Jerusalem as quick as I can, but if you'll come here, we'll spend some time together. And they're at the port in Miletus, Paul spends some time with these elders and gives him this powerful and final challenge. Four resolutions we find in it. Number one, resolve to share the gospel faithfully resolve to share the gospel faithfully, look at verse 18. When they came to him, he said to them, you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the lord with all humility with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not shrink from declaring you any thing that was profitable in teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He takes this occasion to address these believers, and he begins by reminding them of his life and ministry and the message that they heard him share over and over again the entire time he was with them for nearly three years. He says, I did not shrink from declaring to you the gospel. notice he says in verse 19 through trials and tears, despite the plots of the Jews verse 20, in public and from house to house withenty with the Jews and with the Greeks. What's he saying? Everywhere with everyone, no matter what obstacles stood in my way, no matter what plots and trials and tears, I did not hesitate, I did not waver from sharing with you the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. and here was his message. notice it at the end of verse 21. His message was repentance toward God in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's a wonderful short summary of what the good news of the gospel is. what it takes to be right with God is repentance and faith. Let me talk about both of these. They are both important. If you read through the Bible, I had a bunch of verses. I don't have time to go into all of these in our time together today at this point, but but you'll see over and over again in the Bible calling us to repentance and calling us to faith. Acts 39 repent and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, Ephes by grace you've been saved through faith, repentance and faith. which one is more important repentance or faith? Well, that's like asking the question, what side of a coin has more valuable more value? Is it the side that has George Washington on it that has more value or the side that has the eagle? Is that the side that has more value? That's a silly question, right? It's just two sides of the same coin. Think of faith in repentance like that. You can't elevate faith or repentance one above the other. Both are necessary. It'd be like saying which wing of the airplane is the most important wing of the airplane. Is it the left wing or the right wing? Is it faith or is it repentance? It's a question you don't get off the ground without both wings. If we've seen scripture is a picture that both faith and repentance are necessary in order to be right with God. Here's why I share that. I think there's a lot of people that think all I have to do is add faith to my life. Nothing has to change. I don't need to turn away from anything. There's no difference that needs to happen in my life. I'm gonna keep living the way I'm living, doing the things I'm doing, and I'll just add religion to it. I'll add going to church to it. I'll add praying to God to it. You can't just add faith to your life without repentance in order to be right God. On the other hand, there are a lot of people this time of year, especially, that want to just quit bad habits in their life. They want to repent from something. They want to turn away from something, but they're not turning to anything. And you can't just say, well, there's some things in my life that aren't right, that I know God wouldn't want me to do. So I'm going to quit doing this thing. That's not enough. Just repentance is not enough. It's a single moment in time that involves faith and repentance. It's repenting. I know I'm on the path I know I'm not on the path I ought to beyond. I'm going to turn away from the way I'm living and I'm gonna turn to Jesus repentance and faith. That's what he says on my message to you. I'd preach repentance I don't know if you hear today. Some have just tried to add faith without turning from your life to walk with Jesus. Repentance is the message God has for you today. Maybe you've tried to break some bad habits to stop doing some things that you feel are not right, but you've never put your faith in Jesus to be your salvation from the sins you've committed today. God is calling you to repentance and faith. That was the message Paul preached. verse 26. He says, I testified to you this day that I'm innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole council of God. He was confident that he said everything God wanted him to say to the point that he could say, if any one suffers eternal death, that's not on me because I was faithful to share the good news of Jesus with everyone. I held nothing back what I came to you declaring the gospel. I told you everything that God wanted you to know. I did not shrink. He says it again at the end of the verse 27. So like Paul, he's our example, we must not shrink. We must not hesitate from sharing our faith. We should share every opportunity we're given. We should share despite what opposition comes our way. Will we be faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus? Can we say, I'm innocent of the blood of all God's place of my path. Now that's an overwhelming intimidating statement. I just admit that, confess that, that to say, by this time next year, we all need to be able to say, I share Jesus with absolutely every neighbor, every friend, every coworker, every family member. I'm innocent of blood of everybody. That would be an amazing goal, but let's not get overwhelmed by that. Let me challenge you, where will you start today? Where will you start today? Who are the people in your life who are close to you and far from God? names are hit in your mind right now, aren't they? People who are close to you and far from God. That's the place you start today, and you say, God, how can I begin sharing my faith in the opportunities you are giving me? I'm going give you a little commercial, just a real practical next step you can take. Wednesday night, we're starting back up our Wednesday night programs, our our our kidest children's program and our youth transform stuff and Northland equip. Russell is gonna share more later about Northland equipment. I think there's actually something you're both in about that this morning. These are the classes we offer throughout different semesters. We're offering a class Wednesday night called from friendship to faith. I've worked with Matt Halsell and Timothy Redicopp and Shannon Bradley developed this from friendship to faith, sharing Jesus naturally in your everyday relationships. We're going to talk about how can we identify the people around us who are close to us and far from God, and how do we turn our everyday conversation in spiritual directions, and how can we be better equipped to share with them the good news of Jesus in those moments? That's going to take place in the classroom right over here off of the lob bby room 20 on Wednesdays at seven come up, you could be a part of that. You be the other classroom in there and bring your kids, the nursery and and kids' quest and transform all that going on. This a great next step. You said, I want to begin to share the gospel faithfully. I'm not sure how to do that. We're gonna help you over the next eight weeks, how to overcome some of those fears and hesitations and look for ways we can turn those friendships into opportunities to share Jesus. Okay, commercial's over, back to point two. resolve to live on mission, regardless of the opposition, resolve to live on mission, regardless of the opposition, not. verse 22 and now, behold, I amm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. I'm headed to Jerusalem. The reason he says I'm head of Jerusalem is because the spirit of God has constrained me or bound me or compelled me. I'm headed Jerusalem, because the spirit of God somehow God, the Spirit has made it very clear to Paul, you need to get to Jerusalem. And he says, I'm going to go there. I don't know what's going to happen when I get there. The one thing I do know is that difficulty likely awaits me. He says, because what I do know is everywhere I go, I met with imprisonment or affliction in some way. And it's probably going to happen in Jerusalem, but I am not going to be deterred. I'm going to be faithful to the duty. The masters called me to I'm in head to Jerusalem. I was able to say that verse 2 I do not account my life of any value, nor is precious to myself if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I receive to the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. I'm running a race here and I'm going to finish strong, he says. I'm not going to stop until I'm over the finish line. God has set a ministry before me and nothing is going to stop me. What he says here it's because my life has no value apart from this. My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus, finishing this course that God has put in front of me is more important than my own safety, my own comfort, my own life. He had an eternal perspective to say the most important thing in my life is being faithful to what God has called me to, and I'm not going to let any affliction, imprisonment, uncertainty stand in my way. adamentor when I was a kid, one of my pastors would later become a mentor of mine in the early years of my ministry, actually performed the ceremony when Car and I were married, he died of cancer a few years ago was with the Lord today. But one day I was talking to him, he had been in Vietnam. I didn't talk a lot about it, but one day he began to share some of his experiences in combat in Vietnam, and it sound terrifying to me what he went through. And I said, that had to be terrifying. He said, yeah, in some ways it was. He said, but he said, you know what I did? He said I was I was a fower of Jesus then. I knew that if I died I'd go to heaven. I knew that a lot of people around me were dying and I just assumed that I would die in Vietnam. And so I just decided that when I landed in that country, probably going to die here and when I die here, I'm going to be with Jesus. And they said then nothing else really mattered. He said the mission that we had there kind of melted a little bit and the danger and the risk and the fear because I knew that the worst thing that could happen to me is I would die and when I died, the best thing would happen to me is I'd be with Jesus and so really what could really anybody do to me And he said that's how he dealt with that time of his life. what if we could take that attitude toward the challenges and the hurdles and the difficulties and the trials we might face in 2025 and say, I'm going to live my life for the glory of God. I'm going to live on mission for Jesus. I'm going to fulfill whatever he sets before me and I don't know what that's going to mean. I don't know what that's going to cost me. I don't know what difficulty might come my way, but but the nothing matters more than knowing at the end of my life, I was faithful to the course that Jesus set before me. That was the attitude of Paul. Could that be our attitude this year? Committed to the mission, even though the future is uncertain, even though opposition is likely, can we say the greatest accomplishment in my life will be to fulfill the mission God has set before me. Don't you want to live for something more? Don't you want to have a greater purpose? You ever feel like you're just stuck? I get up in the tomorrow morning and I go to work and I come home and I and I shovel the driveway again. or I mow the grass again and I go to the grocery store and I watch that show on Netflix and I go to bed and I get up and I do it all over again on Tuesday and day after day, week after week, month after month, surely God has put us on this planet for something more than that. What is that in your life? Did you ask the Lord, set a course before me, constrain me to something, compel me to something greater than my own comfort in my own life. What is he calling you to do? I'm going to guess some of this room you kind of know what that is. God's put a burden on your heart, a ministry, opportunity that you feel like you God wants you to be a part of, and for some reason you just haven't stepped into that. This could be the moment. I'm going to do that thing that God's put on my heart. Some of God's put a burden on your heart for some need in our church or in our community or somewhere in the world. and he's called you to something. The spirit of God has compelled you to something. It could this be the year that you I'm going to step into that thing. Let me tell you the really easy way to do that. You take the connect card and you you check the little box that says talk to a pastor and you're going to get a text or an email from me this week and you say, yeah, here's the thing. How do I do it? How do I do this thing? God's put a burden on my heart. God's put a call on my my life in some way. God's compelling me to do something. would you say I'm going to do it no matter of the cost, no matter the difficulty, no matter of the opposition. I'm I'm going to say like Paul, the most important thing in my life is finishing the course that God has set before me the ministry that the Lord has set before me. third resolve to stay grounded in God's word, resolve to stay grounded in God's word look at verse 28 pay careful attention. pay careful attention to yourselves and all the flock in which the holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. says God has made you an overseer over a flock. It's made you an elder, a shepherd over a flock, and you need to pay very careful attention because there are some he's going to say in a minute, some wolves are going to tack that flock. But he begins by saying, you have a really important responsibility God's given you. It's kind of cool. This is kind of a side point, by the way, not not necessarily where we're going with this, but I want you to know something really cool in verse 28. You see the language of the Trinity there. Many times the Bible, we see God presented as God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. And this is one of those that we might not always think of, but it's kind of cool, notice ver 28, the in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Isn't that cool? And also you see the reference to the deity of Jesus there. God shed his blood when Jesus died on the cross and blood was shed, God was shedding blood God the sun was shedding blood, and he shed it for these people. He's now placed you over. how will you protect them and care for them and feed them? verse 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them, therefore be alert remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears, and now I commend you to God into the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among those who are sanctified. He's warning them there's a danger out there, fierce wolves, and in fact, they're not out there, there're in there. They're in your body, he's saying right now. There's attacks from outside, persecution from outside. He said there's a new danger coming. It's false teaching inside, which in many ways, the false teaching inside can be a whole lot more dangerous than the attacks from the outside. So you said, get ready. These fierce wolves are going to twist things. They're not going to they're not going to they're not going to just present something radically new. They're going to take the truth that you've been taught and they're going to twist it. They're going to distort it. I am in the minority, probably. I do not like coffee at all. Does anybody here liked me? There was a few in the eight o'clock. It, okay, cool, there's more of us. All right. I don't like coffee at all. And so when I go meet someone for coffee, if I ever say, let's meet for coffee, I'm not going to order a coffee. And I felt like a little kid ordering hot chocolate all the time. feel like a 10 year old ordering hot cocoa every time I meet someone at a coffee shop. Then I discovered Chai and Chai sounds very sophisticated, especially when I say I have a chai with oat. That's I sound really cool when I say that. And so my wife said the other day, she goes, you know, I can make these at home. I can make a chai at home. I said, that would be cool. So she made, I said, this is really good. And the next night I said, could you make me know those chai? And she goes, yeah, I'll do that. And so for like, I don't know, three or four nights in a row, she made a chi and then the other night she tried to poison me. I I drank the chi and I said something is not right about this chi. It tastes a little off. What she did is she used the curig to to make the chi and she didn't take the cake cup out. So she made her coffee and then ran hot water through the poisonous coffee into my drink and nearly killed me. And with this what did she she didn't try to bring me an espresso. She brought me something that was just off a little bit. She brought me something twisted. She brought me something tainted. And that's what the false teachers do. That's what they do today. We We're not at risk by radically different ideas that the world throws at us. We're at risk when the world takes something that sounds right and distorts it. There's a little bit of sound of truth to it, but as a whole lot of error mixed in it. He said that's what's going to happen. They're going to come at you and they're gonna take what you've heard and they're they're gonna just twist it. They're gonna just distort it. They're just gonna dilute it. and that's what we have to be careful of. Those who will twist the truth. and he said they'll even drag away your own leaders. In fact, later, Paul would write letters to Timothy, the book in the Bible, the books of first Timothy and second Timothy are letters to Timothy, one of the leaders of Ephesus, and in both of those letters, he talks about elders who have abandoned the truth and tried to lead the truth the church astray. Even some of them that right there and on that beach might have been the ones that later began to distort the truce. The fierce wolves that are all around us be alert watch out. What is the defense? The defense, he said is the word is he says, I commend you to God and the word of his grace. And the word of God, he says, we'll be able to build you up. What do you need to know in the face of this dangerous risk? You need to be grounded in the word of God. This is our defense. The more we know his word, the better prepared we are to spot the wolves. The more we know his word, the better we're able to to spot the falsehood, the twisted teachings, the distortions of the truth. I know there are some here in this room and speak to a very small group of people who are seminary students aspiring to be pastors one day, what ultimately your churches you lead will need will need is not eloquent preaching or dynamic leadership or confent administration. They're going to need someone who will teach them the word of God and center that church on the word of God and build the minister that church on the word of God. That's the highest priority he says to these elders on that beach. We face an enemy, and we must be alert to an enemy that wants to twist the truth. We must build our lives on the truth of God's word, as Paul would write all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness build your life on the word of God. What will you do this year to become more grounded in the word of God? Will you be in the word each day? Just get in the word every day. Now, you want to join us for our Bible reading challenge? You actually not too many days behind. I don't know, it's in the bulletin. I think we're like Matthew and Genesis 28 or somewhere in that neighborhood. probably in the you don't even watch the NFC games today. only thing you care about is Denver versus the bills. You got two other games, read the Bible, you'll catch you up. I think that game is at seven o'clock tonight. You could be on pace by kickoff tonight if you go home and focus on this. Jump in the word with us this year.ump into a life group. start today. There are groups that will meet even right after you could go straight from this room to a life group right after this. They're in your bulletin. You can go to one tonight, you go to one this week, get into a small group and get into the word of God join one of our Northland equipped classes show up at tomorrow night come to aide, get in a discipleship group and parents God has made you overseers of your children. God has made you the shepherds of your family. What will you do this year to to the earlier services I said to ground your kids in the word of God and one of the moms came up and said, my daughter looked at me and said, we're gonna get grounded? No, they're not gonna ground you. What can you get them rooted in the word of God? Is that a better word for kids in the room? How can they be rooted in the word of God? in the midst of everything you're doing and I'm I'm not bashing any of it. We did it all sports and dance recitals and gymnastics and clubs and day camps. You do all that, but do not do all of that to the neglect of getting your kids grounded, rooted in the word of God. For all the hours they're going to spend with practices and rehearsals, your kid is not going to be on American idol. They're not going to play professional sports probably. They're not going to be on dancing with the stars. What they are gonna do is face fierce wolves the rest of their lives. and we have an opportunity to prepare them for that while they're in our homes. What are we doing to root them in the word of God? Finally, resolve to live a life of generosity, resolve to live a life of generosity. He said I coveted no one first 33. I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministerered to my necessities and those who are with me in all things I've shown you that by working hard in this way, you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he himself said it is more blessed to give than to receive. We't much time left to dive into this. Paul a lot of times would say an elder should receive support from the church. and meantime, Paul received support. We talked about that a few weeks ago. received financial support. Other times Paul said,No, I'm I'm not gonna get any support. I'm gonna work with my hands. He kind of did this both ways throughout his course of his ministry, talked about both options. On this occasion, what he's saying this, I didn't covet this, I didn't covet your money. I wasn't in this for the money. I think he's preparing them because a hallmark of false teachers is they're in it for their personal gain. And he said going to be like I wasn't one of those false teachers that that did this for the cash. I did this because I cared about you and the mission that God had set before me. And he says, you guys need to see that in me and you need to live lives of generosity. How can you take your hard work? he says in and during verse 34 and use it to be a blessing to other people. And he concludes Jesus himself said, so we're blessed to give them receipt. That's an interesting phrase because this is side note that's not recorded anywhere attributed to Jesus in the gospels. If you look at Matthew Markl Luke John the four kind of biography of Jesus, then nowhere in those books does Jesus say it's more blessed to give themive. And then Paul here says Jesus said Barb, what's going on there? Well, it also says in the Bible in the end of John, John said, there's a whole bunch of stuff Jesus said that I couldn't put in this book. s a bunch of stuff Jesus said that we that we don't even have recorded. He went around preaching all the time. And so probably what happened is Jesus would often say it's more blessed to give than to receive. This Matthew Mark, Luke, and John, the spirit didn't lead them to write it. And Paul said it that day and Luke said, ooh, we should write that down. theirit of God said to Luke, get that in the book. And so we have this saying of Jesus that's not we can't find anyone else but here, but it's certainly in line with what Jesus taught. Jesus Jesus often called us to live lives of generosity. It's certainly consistent with all the things recorded attributed to Jesus and Matthew Mark, Luke and John. So he's calling us to a life of generosity. What would it look like this year to live a life of generosity when God puts opportunities in front of you? So let me give you a final challenge to four questions to consider. number one, how I should me who will I share the gospel with this year? Who will I share the gospel with this year? Who is close to you and far from God? What name came to your mind? Will you begin to pray God open doors of opportunity for me to share with this person this year and maybe you're not going to be able to at the end of the year say I'm innocent of the blood of all men, but I can say Jesus, there's some people that I shared with. I did not ab abandon the opportunity or neglect the opportunity this year you gave me second. What is God calling me to do this year? Will you live your life on mission? Will you say, no matter what else happens, the most important thing in 2025 is that I was faithful to what God called me to do. The things that the Holy Spirit of God constrained me compelled me to do finish the course this year. third how can I deepen my commitment to God's word this year? How can I deepen my commitment and that of my family to the word of God this year being committed to being his word daily, be committed to to being in discipleship groups and in life groups and getting my children in the children's ministry opportunities where we come along and partner with you in this. What will you do this year and fourth, where can I show generosity this year? What would it look like this year to say, God, I don't know what you're going to put in front of me, but when you do, everything I have is available to be a blessing to those when you give me the chance to do it, to show to experience it's more blessed to give than to receive. And finally, this could be the moment in time. This could be the most significant moment of your entire year. In fact, this most significant moment of your entire life. If today were the day you said, I'm going to turn from the life I've been living and put my faith in Jesus. He died on the cross to pay for my sin and and I don't just adding Jesus and not turning away from something is is lack there's going to be something lacking and just trying to clean up my life without trusting Jesus is not going to get it done. This is the moment where you can say, God, I want to turn from the life of a rebellion. I've been living, turn to Jesus in faith and repentance. I want to trust in him. God, I want to pray for everyone here, especially the one that would say that's a prayer they need to pray. God, would you burden their heart? Would you open their eyes? Would you help them to see their need for repentance and faith? Would you bring them where they'll turn from their life They've been living in order to trust in and walk with and follow Jesus. God open our eyes to the opportunities to be a witness, constrain, compel, burden our hearts for the ministry you have for us. ground us in your word, let us be committed to your word and let us live with extravagant open handed generosity when you put opportunities in front of us this year. Lord, help us to resolve to do these four things for your glory and to see what you might do in our lives this year. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen