NEW SERIES: ONE MONTH TO LIVE
Part One-“Determing What Matters”
James 4:14
Today, we begin a new Series and I’m calling it “One Month to Live.” It is based on the book I've been reading entitled “One Month to Live." The idea behind this series is if you knew you had one month to live, what would you value? This question isn’t new. It’s been around as long as death has been here. But I want to get from the top of your hearts right now, a quick response. If you knew you had one month to value, what would you do? One month to live, what would you do? Talk to me……….if you didn’t say anything then write it down on your outline.
So I’m going to begin today letting you know that if I’m honest with you I’m a little creeped out by this whole One Month to Live idea or series. I’m sure a little counseling would help me to get to the bottom of why thinking about death freaks me out. As I’ve gotten older I actually have thought about it more. Why is that? We all know that it is a fact of life, right? Anyone here had a near death experience? I can remember when my son Larry Jr. got in an automobile accident and he hit his head and was at home. He had a little blood coming out of his ear and he was crying and saying, “Dad, I’m going to die…..I’m going to die. No your not, I said. You’ll be fine. Most of us as kids probably were afraid to die. But, as an adult I’m not afraid to die at all. But the truth is we don’t like to talk about death all that much. I don’t like to talk about it or think about it if I’m honest.
Anyone in here like me and you just don’t like the whole talking about death thing, thinking about it. We’re not alone. We may not be the majority but we’re not alone. Even though we don’t like to talk about it, the reality is death is coming our way. Death is inevitable. No matter how rich or how powerful or how successful you are, mortality is the great equalizer. William Buffet, Bill Gates, Donald Trump… guess what? They’re all living on limited time like the rest of us. (Looks like Donald Trump gets his hair styled at a mortuary… He’s got a head start.)
When I was 22 my brother 23 was killed in an automobile accident in Germany, when he was in the service. I was stunned by his death and so was my parents, especially my mother. Brothers, mothers and fathers aren’t suppose to lose their brother or son. Eight years ago I lost an 18 year old granddaughter in an automobile accident. As I looked at her in the hospital, I saw it coming. We all experienced the death of loved ones and most often it is a time that you think about it yourself. You think about your own legacy and your own meaning and your own purpose and how temporal life is. I believe most young people under 40 don’t really think about it much. Some how they think they are invincible to it. Once you reach 40 your in the second season of life. It seems like yesterday that I was just going to grade school. Time flies………….anyone relate to that? But that phrase is cute, but not true. Time doesn’t fly. It’s one of the very few things we can rely on….on time. Inflation doesn’t effect time. Five minutes today is the same five mintues twenty years ago, just as the same as five minutes will be in twenty years. It just ticks away and as it ticks away we can never get it back.
James 4:14 says, “How do you know what will happen tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog, it’s here a little while, and then it’s gone.” There’s a nice bright cheery verse, huh? What’s it saying? It’s saying pay attention to how short life is. Instead of blaming time – time flies. Like time has a will of its own and time’s job is to torture us, we need to take responsibility and be good stewards of the time that God has given us. If you’re anything like me, and I know you are, you need help with this. Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Really that’s what this whole series is all about. One Month to Live is “God, teach us to make the most of our time so we don’t waste our time, this limited time that You’ve given us on earth.” We need to identify the true values in life, what matters the most, and pray that God gives us the power to spend our time on those values.
People today either live by the world’s values or God’s values. The apostle Paul wrote to a church in Thessalonica. These people, some were living the world’s values and some who were living God’s values. He says this in 2 Thessalonians 3:11-13, “We hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and wasting time meddling in other people’s business. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we appeal to such people. No. We command them. Settle down and get to work. Earn your own living. I say to the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.” Here he gives a slap on the hand to one group, and an encourage pat to the bottom of another group.
He says, “We hear that some of you are living idle lives.” What about that? Most of us say that it doesn’t apply to us. Nobody is idle in the world in which we live. We are the movers and the shakers. We’re busy. My questions is: are all of your moves that important ones? The word ‘Idle’ is a little confusing. When you hear it you think, “stable, setting, not moving, lazy.” But in another translation it uses the word “busybody.” You are busybodies. There’s a lot of movement but no substance. The wheels are spinning but the car is not progressing. Busy, but just not with what matters most. Anybody know any busybodies? Would identify a lot us I think. Maybe some of you are there. You think that busy is better. Are you really putting your time into what matters the most…..pursuing the values you would pursue if you had one month to live?
Paul says, “Never get tired of doing good.” These people were doing good, they were
right with God. He didn’t want them to be tempted to go the busybody route. It’s why I love God’s word. It always can teach us because it is relevant today. Think about that. If you were dying, you would immediately identify what matters most. You’d prioritize your time and grow closer to God. We are all at different places in our spiritual journey’s. No matter where you are……start where you are with this One Month to Live challenge. So how do we get there?
First:The Big Picture
This is the big picture, about me, you and what we can do practically and then God’s role in it. Under the big picture you need to live with passion. What is passion? Passion isn’t excitement because that comes and goes. You can be excited about a slurpy, but when it’s gone, it’s goen. That’s not passion. Passion is deeper. Passion is what you live for. It’s what you get up in the morning for. You realize life is short and is meant to be lived the way God designed it. Passion is lived when it’s given away. So, my question is: Am I living my life with passion? You’ve got to decide that. Start there……Yes or no.
Second: ME (Practical)
This is the practical part. We define our One Month Values. If you do this it will help you to move the ball down the field and help you not be a busybody. What would I do if I had one month to live? First you wouldn’t want it to be February. We need those couple of extra days. I want you this week to make a list. Write down everything you would do. The goal here is to help you define what matters most. This isn’t homework, it’s life work. See how many things you come up with. Then write a shorter list…………..the ones that become the object of your passion and will put into play every day of your life.
One I thought about is that I would give full attention to my family. That’s kind of broad. Need to get more specific, so for each one you put down you go to next question. How can I specifically pursue these values with my current lifestyle? We are all at different stages here. Some are single, married, might be in high school. Here’s how some it may look for me as an example to give full attention to my family.
First: Learn to be a better listener. Second: With Teresa choose conversation with her over relaxation for me. It’s easy to just want to kick back and watch TV or do something else. I need to talk with her about her stuff. Then you need to think about what changes need to be made to achieve it.
But answering these questions it’s hard work. This is life work. It will guide you how to spend your most valuable currency, which is time. Define my one month’s values.
Third: GOD PIECE (Power)
Here I want you to write down Depend on God’s power to live out these values. I am determined that I’m going to live with passion, and I define my one-month values and then I depend on God’s power to live out these values. Friends, this whole concept of One Month to Live, this isn’t new. You’ve done this before. Maybe you haven’t done it with a book or a small group curriculum or a sermon series but you’ve done it before when you’ve sat at a funeral. Think about where you go when you’re sitting at a funeral. You go quiet. You grieve. You celebrate the life of somebody who, hopefully, lived a good life. But in the quietness of that funeral you resolve to be different.
You make some decisions there. You make some things you want to change about yourself. Then you might even leave the funeral and grab your phone and call a loved one, a family member or friend or somebody like that. You might even change for a day or two. But then you go back to the way you’re living. Why is it that the resolve fades? It’s an easy answer. It fades because you relied on your own willpower rather than on God’s power. I know this because I have played spiritual ping-pong between my power and God’s power most of my life. My will power is not enough to help me pursue what matters most. To be successful in what we’re talking about in this series you’ve got to be willing to move from willpower to real power.
You depend on God’s power to help you define and achieve some of the things we’re talking about, in all areas of your life. I’m talking about time management, I’m talking about key relationships, finances, career, if you’re single your love life or nonlove life. It took me awhile in studying God’s word that I have all of God’s power available to me. Because when I have His presence, I have His power. It’s limitless power. That same power is available to you as well. It’s power to heal your relationships. Power to save your family. Power to intervene in the marketplace. Power to rescue your life. Power to help you focus on what matters most. God’s power is available to you to live the life you were created to live.
God will give you all the power you need to pursue what matters most. In Ephesians 1:19-20, is the Apostle Paul’s prayer but it’s also my prayer for our church “I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe in Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” That’s saying that the same power that defeated death is available to me. The same power that rose Jesus from the dead on Easter morning is available to you. The same power that created this incredible playground that we call earth is available to you to depend on.
It’s the power to help you live your life with meaning. But notice. There’s a condition to obtaining the power. Did anybody catch it? The power is available to those of us “who believe in Him.” If you’re here and you’re not a believer, that might sound like bad news. But it’s bad news that can be changed instantly into good news if you believe in Him. All you’ve got to do is say yes to Him and open up your heart and say “God, I want to believe that You can come into my life, that you can forgive me of my sins, that we can restore a broken relationship and I can be connected with You. I don’t fully understand it all but what faith I have I say yes to that. I believe.” You walk out of here with access to God’s power. That’s pretty awesome.
Conclusion
Let’s summarize. What are we talking about in week one? Week one, what I want you to do is I want you to live like you’re dying. That’s the big idea of this whole message, what I want you to remember – to live like you’re dying. That when you understand the temporal nature of your life it keeps you focused on what matters most. Friends, what matters most is not trying to figure out how to add years to your life. What matters most is how do I add life to my years. Imagine with me. If I live like I’m dying, how life might be different. Just pause for a second and think. If you were to live like you’re dying and you were to identify those values and you would make those time decisions based on those values you would look at everyone differently.
You would gain a passion for living. You would approach God with a tenderness and a vulnerability because you’d be in anticipation to see Him soon. If you were to put this into play your character would change. Your focus would change. Your words would change. Your life would change. Those around you, their life would be changed by your life. Determine to live with passion, define my one-month values, depend on God’s power to live out the values.
Can you see yourself taking these steps? I can. I can see you doing it. I get excited about it. I’m going to be praying for you this week as I prepare next week’s message. I’m going to be praying that you put this work into play in your life. I can’t wait for you to come back next week as we continue to unpack really the simple but profound question: what if I had one month to live? Live like you’re dying.
SERIES: ONE MONTH TO LIVE
Part Two: “Deepening Relationships That Matter Most”
In this series “One Month to Live” if you knew you had just one month to live, what would be different about you? How would you approach life differently than you currently do? It’s a great question. I’m convinced that if you and I learn to live our lives and view our lives as a precious commodity, as a limited resource, it would free us up and liberate us to live the types of lives that God wants us to live. I believe that most of us if we had to make the choice would spend our time with people, with loved ones. I know that I would, if I just had one month to live. I believe it is probably true about you. I believe another big one would be that you would want to get your spiritual life in order. Last week we talked about how do you determine what matters most? This week I want us to look at how do we deepen the relationships that matter most? Let’s revisit our verse from last week. We’ll make it our theme verse. Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” God, teach us to make the most of our time so that we can have the wisdom to pursue what matters most.
In your notes I put a little review of last week. Big picture: determine to live with passion. The practical part was to define your one-month values. The God piece: was to depend on God’s power rather than your own willpower to live out those values. I gave you a little bit of life work and I hope that you spent some time doing it. At the end of the message, I kind of summarized it into one little sentence, one little phrase. I said the only thing I want you to remember is this one phrase – to live like I’m dying. Here’s the deal. If you woke up every day and you’re going to live that day like you’re dying you would be more intentional not only with what you did but who you did it with.
Before we get into some really practical actions that I want you to take, I want to lay a Biblical foundation of some ingredients that you and I have to have if we’re going to deepen relationships. It’s in John Chapter 8. Allow God’s word to speak to you in a fresh way through this. The context is Jesus’ teaching. The Bible says that everywhere Jesus taught there was a crowd. Verse 3, Jesus was speaking. “As He was speaking the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman that they had caught in the act of adultery and they put her in front of the crowd.” The teachers, of religious law and those who are called Pharisees, Big Picture is: they were kind of the spiritual police officers. Their job was to enforce the religious law. But in this situation it wasn’t so much about enforcing the law. Really what they were doing was they were trying to trap Jesus.
I find it interesting that in this setting only the woman is brought before Jesus. Why not the guy? Where is he? Did he not get caught? Did he slip out the back door when he heard the accusers camels come up? Is he out reading the paper, checking the major league gladiator scores? Why isn’t he there? What you’ll see in a second, is it really doesn’t matter because it wasn’t about him or even her. It was all about getting Jesus. Verse 4 “’Teacher,’ they said to Jesus ‘This woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do You say?’ They were trying to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him.” The trap here is they’re trying to force Jesus into one of two answers. Either way He answers they’re going to get Him. If He says, “No, don’t stone her,” what He would be doing is He’d be going against the Mosaic Law. Anybody listening would go, “He’s not from God because He’s teaching against Moses.” And that would be a loss. If He says, “Yes, stone her.” He’d be going against Roman law. Long story short, a Jew couldn’t carry out a stoning in Roman jurisdiction plus Jesus’ credibility of being a person with compassion and forgiveness would go way down. He already had a great reputation of that.
So these accusers I’ve got to imagine, they’re just prideful, they’re thinking, “We’ve got Him!” They’re high fiving each other. People are out scampering to get rocks to throw. It’s like a movie scene “Stone her! Stone her! Stone her!” The crowd is beginning to get intense, a little bit. The rest of verse 6 is this, “Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with His finger.” So He breaks this whole momentum. You can almost kind of see Him writing in the dust with His finger. If you’ve ever heard anything that Jesus wrote in the dust, it’s all made up. It’s all conjecture. The Bible doesn’t say. We have no idea what He wrote. He might have been writing the Ten Commandments because they were originally written by the finger of God. He might have been writing the names of the people in the crowd of the people who had committed adultery. We just don’t know. He could have been writing, “Pharisees are dumb.” Or “Jesus was here. Have a great summer.” We don’t know. We don’t know what He wrote. But we know what He said.
Verse 7 “They kept demanding an answer so He stood up again and said, ‘All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stone.’” Surprise! They hadn’t thought of that angle. That His brilliant response what it did was it broke the dilemma, yet it upheld the morality of the Jewish law because He didn’t say what she was doing was right. Then it says in Vs. 8, “He stooped down again and wrote in the dust.” Why? I have no idea. Maybe He was being reflective, sad for the people. No idea. Maybe He forgot to sign what He wrote the first time. We don’t know. The trap here is they’re trying to force Jesus into one of two answers. Either way He answers they’re going to get Him. If He says, “No, don’t stone her,” what He would be doing is He’d be going against the Mosaic Law. Anybody listening would go, “He’s not from God because He’s teaching against Moses.” And that would be a loss. If He says, “Yes, stone her.” He’d be going against Roman law.
Verse 9 “When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one beginning with the oldest until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.” As these people walked away what were they doing? They were walking away and they were admitting their sin, that they were guilty. Verse 10 “Jesus stood up again and said to her, ‘Woman, where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?’” So now, she’s alone with Jesus. She was a stone’s throw away from death. Maybe in the quietness of this moment still in her ears is the ringing of all the things that were said to her. All the people jeering at her: “Tramp! Slut! Whore! Desperate housewife!” Whatever they were saying. Then the silence is broken by a tender voice. The first word she hears is “woman.” He elevated her with a term of affection. Verse 11 “She says, ‘No, Lord. No one is left to accuse me.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I. Go and sin no more.’” The one person without sin who could have confidently picked up that stone didn’t even pick one up.
Here’s what I want you to hear. In that moment Jesus didn’t mention her failure. Instead He focused on her future. That’s belief. “I’m not going to condemn you either. Go! Go and live a different life. Go and make some adjustments. This is a summary of each of our lives, if we’ve met Jesus. God’s word is alive and it’s active and it’s relevant to us. If you and I are going to have deeper relationships, the ones that matter most, instead of picking up rocks, we’ve got to pick up forgiveness and belief.
With any conflict we face there’s somebody there with the stone. Nobody in this story was innocent and everybody walked away guilty. And if relationships are important to us whether we have one month to live or fifty years to live, we have got to have forgiveness and they’ve got to have belief. Belief takes the relationship to a deeper place. Belief says, “I believe in you. I believe in us. I believe that we’ve got something that can go deeper, have a stronger connection, and be more intimate. Belief, when you believe in relationships, it keeps you freely dispensing forgiveness. That’s what I’m talking about. Let’s go after, how you and I can deliver belief and forgiveness on a regular basis. Same format as last week. We’ve got a big picture. We’ve got something that you and I need to put into play. Then we have a God piece here.
The big picture here is this: I need relationships even though they are messy.
God wired us for relationships. We need other people. God created humanity and said, “It’s not good to be alone." In your genetic DNA code is the desire for relationships. That’s why we always feel that we need to feel loved and connected and interact with people in a genuine way. We are wired for that. That’s why if we had one month to live it wouldn’t be spent counting money, polishing your car, spending more time at the office. It would be with people. That’s the big picture. We need other people in our lives. So do you. But what about the messy part? What’s the deal with that? Being in ministry over 20 years I’ve learned that nobody’s normal. Everybody is whacked out to some degree. Flawed, weird, odd, strange. If you think you are the exception to that rule if just means that you lack the self-awareness to know that you’re a total nut job. Nobody is normal. You might look normal on the outside but in the inside you have an inner weirdo. Are you with me? Anybody be brave enough to admit that’s true about you? So sometimes I’m messy.
Here are some practical things we can do. These are things I want you to do and there’s some questions I want you to think about.
First one I can do is admit and list my own faults. I want you to do this because I think this is an important factor in building healthy relationships. It’s having a realistic awareness of your own faults. If you don’t do this, here’s what you go through life doing. You go around picking on others. You go around criticizing and nagging and critiquing and accusing and piling on. But when you have an awareness of your own faults, you tend to lower the bar and be more compassionate and forgiving to other people. Jesus said in Matthew 7:3-4, “Why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your own eye, when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?”
I love this image. I wish I were an artist. I see a guy with a big ol’ honkin’ telephone pole out of his face. He’s got this log. The humor is he’s trying to get the speck in the other person’s eye and he’s killing people trying to do that. Jesus is saying, “Hey! Log-eye-face-man …..don’t. It doesn’t work!” I want to challenge you to do that. I’ve thought a little bit about it myself. Here are some things about myself: I’m selfish, prideful, insecure, am impatient at times, sometimes my car is messy inside. I have some messy relationships. Hi, my name is Larry, I’m messy. This is where health begins. Making the list and admit there is something broken about me. Start here.
The second, who are the significant people in my life?
Make a list. Let’s get this one clear. I’m not talking about your Christmas list or your email list. Think short list. At your funeral who do you want sitting in first row? Significant people. Then let them know their significance. That’s the action.
Let’s go to ME. What do I need to do to dispense forgiveness and belief?
I want to be characterized by love. I’m guessing that this would not be a stretch for
you. If you and I were to go out for coffee and sit knee to knee, eye to eye, my guess is
if you had one month to live you’d say, “Larry, I want to be characterized by love.”
What I want to make very clear is to be characterized by love doesn’t mean you just go around saying you love people. Because talk is cheap. Absolutely. The Bible says the same thing in 1 John 3:18, “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.” Anybody can say it, but to be characterized by love we need to prove it. So I want you to master the small acts. If you had one month to live with people, you would want them to remember you by something you did. By a hug, time spent with them, gifts, whatever…small acts. Here’s the question. When was the last time you encouraged those significant people in your life? It takes practice to do this and they won’t feel natural at first, but you have to practice them in your life.
Also, who do you need to clean things up with? If you had one month to live, you would make amends with the significant people in your life. I want to challenge you. Don’t wait until you get your one-month to live notice. Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed. Do it now. Ask for forgiveness. Offer forgiveness. Clean things up. Make a list if you need to. Until you clean things up with those significant people, you are giving them power and control over your life. So, clean it up. It’s not easy, but you can do it.
I want to try a little experiment. How many of you are wearing a watch. Take your watch and put it on the other wrist. If you’re not wearing a watch take a ring that you normally wear and put it on another finger. What does that feel like? Weird, uncomfortable? I want you to stay like this until you clean things up. If you walk out of here saying you don’t have anybody to clean things up with, then switch them back. Make that phone call. Schedule that coffee. Get together and clean things up. Because you would do that if you had one month to live. Yes, it is scary, but the right thing to do. God modeled it, scripture teaches it and it’s what God will bless. And friends, forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is a choice, a decision. Rarely do I feel like forgiving. But what I’m asking you to do is to live at a higher place and level of loving. Then the God’s piece in this is…I can love like I’m forgiven.
Forgiving others doesn’t make any sense unless you’ve been forgiven. Once you experience God’s forgiveness and really get it, then it makes it easier to love and forgive other people. In our culture we have a phrase that goes like this: forgive and forget. That’s not biblical. What’s biblical is forgive and remember. If you don’t know what I mean check out this verse, Colossians 3:13 says, “You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, [circle “remember”] the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others.” If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you are to remember that the Lord forgave you. What are you to remember? You’re to remember forgiveness. You remember the cross. It’s not forgive and forget. It’s forgive and remember. I remember the cross. I don’t forget that Jesus died for my sins. I don’t forget that His death on the cross canceled the debt in my life. I don’t forget the fact that I’m not deserving of forgiveness. I don’t forget. I don’t forget that forgiveness was a display a love. We’ve got to live like we’re forgiven and love like we are forgiven. Imagine what your relationships would be like if you lived this way?
When those people would be around you they would feel safe, could be themselves because they know you’re going to hand out doses of forgiveness and belief. It would change everything. They would know you’re quick to love them. Quick to believe in them. Quick to forgive them. You would become a gift to other people. You would be characterized by love. Your relationships would be more genuine, authentic and deep. You would experience what your soul looks for – connected, deep, meaningful relationships. What I’m challenging our church to do isn’t unrealistic. It’s just going to require some thought. Some time. Some reflection. Some dialogue. Some life work. As Jesus said to that woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.” I challenge us to go today. Go and love like you’re forgiven.
SERIES: ONE MONTH TO LIVE
Part Three: “Leaving A Legacy”
The last couple of weeks has been interesting as we’ve been looking at this subject One Month To Live. Sometime ago a college professor named Randy was diagnosed with a fatal disease and only given a couple of months to live. He decided that one of the things he wanted to do was give one last lecture to his college class. They videotaped it and it went on utube. It got more than 1 million hits. After that Oprah had him on her show. She had him jump up and down on the couch like Tom Cruse and he gave the lastlecture. ABC picked it up, Parade magazine, he was the cover article. It got all this attention. What it really proves is how rare it is to see somebody live like they’re dying. It gripped Americans.
But you know what? I’m dying……you’re dying. Two things we can count on in life. The Philadelphia Phillies loosing and Britney Spears in the news. No….it’s death and taxes. Randy, the college professor, made the news about his dying really was shaping his legacy. In this series we learned that its about our living opportunity to shape the rest of our life. So, we to can use the time we have left to shape our legacy. You and I will have a legacy. That’s not the question. The question is what type of legacy will we leave? Will it be a positive legacy? Will it be a good legacy? Will it be a God honoring legacy? My guess is that you want your life to count, you want it to matter and you want to leave a positive legacy. Let’s look at God’s Word and see what God values. Here are a couple of Biblical Principles that we can build our legacy on.
First: There Are Actions Of The Wise And Actions Of The Fool
The Bible says in Matthew 7:23-24, “Anyone who listens to My teaching and obeys Me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against the house, it won’t collapse because it’s built on rock. But anyone who hears My teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and the floods come and the winds beat against the house, it will fall with a mighty crash.” A solid rock is Jesus’ visual image of something that we know will last. Jesus is saying it’s not just about listening to My teaching. That’s nothing. Fools can do that. It’s about obeying My teaching. You obey My teaching and you are building your life on a solid foundation. Choose obedience and you are wise.
Second: Obedience To God’s Ways Will Produce Fruitfulness
John 15:4 says, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from Me.” Jesus makes it very clear that if you’re going to obey you’ve got to be connected to Me. And if you’re connected to Me, that obedience is going to produce fruit. Fruit is my return on investment if I’m obedient. Means you will produce something that is amazing. It will produce the furit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindess, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. It’s the picture of a fruit tree. If healthy it will produce fruit. If you’re healthy, if you remain in Him, if you walk in the way of obedience, you will continue to produce fruit.
Third: Obedience And Fruitfulness Will Leave A Legacy
This is the winning combination. This is it. If you choose obedience God’s way, remain in Him, connected to Jesus, if you choose obedience – key word choose – you will produce fruitfulness. And that fruitfulness will leave a legacy. That fruitfulness will last. Watch what Jesus said in John 15:16 “I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last.” Underline “fruit that will last.” So what are we talking about? Obedience is the action, fruitfulness is the result now – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control – that’s the result now; Legacy is what will last. Here’s the summary. Obedience results in fruitfulness, which will result in legacy. Let’s go after the same three things as we did last two weeks.
First: Big Picture: Believe That I Am Capable Of Leaving A Legacy
I want you to walk out of here today with the confidence that you can leave a legacy. Sometimes the word ‘legacy” is packed with all this expectation. I’ve got to have fame or fortune, or I’ve got to do something powerful or special. But I don’t want you to think about fame. I want you to think about fruitfulness. It’s not about fame. It’s about fruitfulness. Your name may never be in print, on a marquee, but if you live a fruitful life it will be shouted from the mountaintops in heaven and it will make a difference today. Name recognition is here today and gone tomorrow. Anybody remember Mark Roberts and what he’s famous for? Running with bulls in Spain…naked. That’s his legacy. Larry LaPrize…..wrote Hokey-Pokey…died in 1996. That is his legacy. Apparently when they buried him they had a hard time getting him in the casket. They put his left arm in and his right arm came out. Think about your legacy.
What type of legacy will I leave? You might write down name of legacy. Let’s be honest. There are people who are trying to make a name for themselves. They want to leave a name legacy. Earnest Hemmingway is known for writing. Mother Teresa..compassion, mercy, working with the down and out. Most of us will never be a Mother Teresa. We’re just ordinary people trying to live the best we can, to honor God and leave a positive legacy. Don’t go after the name legacy….go after a legacy of service. Do something that really matters. You’re never to old to start something …create a legacy. Another question I want you to think about: are the things I’m spending my time on legacy worthy? Remember when I said, “Your life is like a mist. It’s here today and vanishes.” We need to be thinking about this. Anytime you read the newspaper you see somebody’s life was cut short. I’m reminded of members of our church family that are gone.
The last question: when will I get serious about my own legacy? I get comments about my messages many times and I appreciate that. Thanks for saying that to me, but what I’d like for you to tell me is what have you changed about your life as aresult of a message. Tell me something that you’ve started or stopped as a result of a message. Friends, it’s just way too easy to come to church and to say, “Way to go, Larry! “I agree with everything you said.” Then leave and do nothing about it. I really want you to get that because I think it’s very dangerous. It’s a dangerous pattern to get into as a follower of Jesus Christ to just give mental assent but not do anything about it. That’s building your spiritual life on sand.
Second: Me (Practical)
This is the Me part….what do we need to do? You and I have demonstrated over the course of our lives that we are great procrastinators. Anybody want to agree with me on that? Saturday used to be our favorite day of the week but now it’s Someday. Someday is a hazardous word if you want to leave a positive legacy. Someday, I’m going to be the parent I always wanted to be. Someday, I’m going to slow down and begin enjoying relationships. Someday, I’m going to take God serious. Someday, I’m going to get in that small group. Someday, I’m going to serve. Someday, I’m going to work with the children or the youth. Someday. For some people someday never arrives. How do you do this? Three actions.
First: Cast your legacy vision. Think about your life and sit down not someday, but today. Put a date on your calendar, save an hour or so and begin to think about it. It’s sad when I see people that have passed away that celebrated their golf game or investments or joke telling. So, cast your legacy vision.
Second: Create a financial legacy. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to give your money to the church. This is God’s church and God could do whatever He wants. It’s really about your faith, your obedience and building your life on a solid foundation. Be obedient to God’s financial plan in the Bible. Hold your finances with a loose grip so they can be used. You’re not taking it with you. You’ll either going to be eternally with God or eternally separated from God. You’ll take nothing with you. Use your money to help others and to serve. It’s sad when you see people making hundreds of thousands of dollars their whole lives and give God the table scraps. Don’t let that be you. Create a financial legacy. Use your money wisely to make a difference in something that will last forever.
Third: Commit to a legacy of faith. You have a small part of the transformation of somebody’s else’s life. That you might be able to introduce a friend to your heavenly Father. That is a legacy that will last all into eternity. I want to encourage you to have that on your radar. That’s what I mean by a legacy of faith. Plant the seeds and don’t give up. Picture that person as a person not eternally separated from God. Keep loving and don’t turn your back on them. With all of these they have to be done in God’s power and not yours.
God (Power)
Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to acknowledge God every day. If you’re going to be obedient, if you’re going to be fruitful, if you’re going to leave a positive legacy, you’ve got to acknowledge God every day. What are you acknowledging? “God, I’m acknowledging that You’re God and I’m not.” You’re acknowledging Him every single day. Deuteronomy 4:39 says, “Remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other God.” Who are you acknowledging daily? Think about that. Who are you being obedient to? The God of self, the God of popular opinion, or the God of Oprah. Maybe for you, today’s the day where you let God be God in your life. Today is the day where you put the stake in the ground and say, “I’m going to begin an intentional legacy.” And you acknowledge that God has got to be a part of that.
If we rely on our own will power we won’t obey God. I need God’s power. Lamentations 3:23 says, “Great is God’s faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. You and I, if anything this series is reminding us that our each days are limited. We don’t have very many “each days” left in life, so don’t let a day slip by without acknowledging God. Without begging Him for His mercy today and begging Him for His wisdom to make the most of the time that He’s given us. What would a vision look like where we would live like we’re dying, loved like we’re forgiven, and leave a positive legacy? Imagine that for your own life.
You know what you would do? If that was on your radar everyday, you would cruise through life with this confidence that you are God’s man, that you are God’s woman. You would wake up. You wouldn’t hit the floor running. You would acknowledge that God is God and you’re not and you’re depending and begging for His mercy and His wisdom to make the most of life. But your day would be filled with all these God opportunities to use your gifts, to love on other people. Your very real and messy life would bump into other real and messy people and love would spill over. Because you’re living like you’re dying, you’re loving like you’re forgiven, you’re leaving an intentional positive legacy. That’s what I want for me. That’s my vision for our church. That’s what I want for you. Let’s go after it. Not someday, but today.
SERIES: ONE MONTH TO LIVE
Part Four: Thirty Days To A No Regrets Life
This is the last message on our series: One Month To Live. Thirty Days To A No Regrets Life. The good news is you’re still alive, breathing, so what’s next? My prayer is that you will turn the One Month To Live challenge into a One Month to Live Lifestyle. And you live the next thirty days as if it’s your last. Not because you’re going to die in a month, but because Lord willing you’re going to live many more years. My hope is by doing this is that you will be more fully alive than you were the month before. All of our lives are moving ahead at breakneck speed. It’s like when you ride a roller coaster. You go up, down, through hoops, and you feel all kinds of feelings. And in a few minutes the ride is over. And just like a roller coaster before you know it our lives will be over, as we know them on this earth. Our lives are temporal and finite. But this truth doesn’t need us to have fear, but embrace the truth. Our theme verse is from Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are: help us to spend them as we should.”
Our life moves so fast. This verse reminds us to stop constantly waiting to live and instead start living today. We need to be more intentional about the kind of life we live. I’d like to give you this morning four principles to live this one month to live challenge. Really put it on the inside of our hearts and let it soak in so we can live it out and express it.
First Principle Is To Live Passionately
Our life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away. You are made to live passionately. But what happens is that as we get older, our goal becomes to be comfortable. We play it safe, lower our risks to be comfortable. But the problem with that is God never called us to be comfortable. The Bible doesn’t teach that. God calls you to a life of adventure and risk and boldness. Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” God wants you to step out of your comfort zone and step into a whole new world. Helen Keller said, “Security is mostly just a superstition. It doesn’t exist in nature and it rarely happens to the children of men as a whole. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
Jesus used Luke 7:31to describe His generation but it really describes us as well. “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place calling out to each other: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance, we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.” He’s saying you didn’t enjoy life, you just sat it out. You didn’t enjoy each and every moment. You had not passion in life and no compassion for others……you didn’t really live. I challenge you today to make it a lifestyle and experience life. Go full throttle and follow God with all your heart. Follow the dreams that He’s placed on your heart. Step out of the boat…..you were not made to coast through life.
God wants you to go full throttle with your relationship with Him. Follow Him with all your passion and experience life. We can run if we’re in God’s path. Just stay straight right behind Him and follow His purposes that He’s ordained for your life. Get intentional about the purposes of God that never changes. Live the purpose driven life, because that is what it really is all about.
Second Principle Is To Love Completely
To love completely we need to stop putting unrealistic expectations on all the people in our lives who we love. So often we have this ideal in our mind of what the perfect husband or perfect wife should look like, or the perfect kids, or boss, or employee. Really none of us are perfect, are we? If we wait to love people until they get their act together, we’re never going to love each other the way God calls us to. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t wait to love you until you are perfect? The Bible says Christ died for us while we were still sinners. That’s the kind of love that we need to show to the people in our lives. Just do our part and God will do the rest. The only way to love completely is to love like Jesus. How does He love? Jesus knew when He had thirty days life to live. So how did He love?
John 13:1 “Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.” He invested His life in His disciples and loved them completely. Usually when someone is given a short time to live they immediately focus on relationships. I’ve seen this over the years in ministry. They want to offer forgiveness, say the things they wish they always would have said. They take risks in relationships and do whatever they need to do to straighten them out. What we need to do is not wait, but do it now. To love completely there’s three things we need to do.
The first is Say it Now. If there is anything that you want to say to someone, to someone you love, to someone you’ve had a falling out with, if there’s anything that you need to say, if you knew you had one month to live, say it now. Don’t wait. Write a letter, go home and pick up the phone and call someone to encourage. Do whatever it takes. Say it now.
Secondly, you need to Show it Now. Show people that you love them. Take that special trip or go on that special event with people you love. Don’t wait. There will always be deadlines superimposed on our lives by other people. We always have good intentions, but we need to be intentional and show people that you love them.
Then thirdly, Share it Now. Share your talent and share your treasure. God has gifted you to be a blessing to others. He’s gifted each of you with gifts and abilities to use for others. You just have to be willing to use them. You can be a blessing and you’re life will be blessed so much more as you give. Then share your treasures. Don’t wait to give ……do it now. All the flowers that you give at a person’s funeral will make absolutely no difference to them. Give the flowers to them today. It’s what Teresa did for her mother who loved flowers. Tell them how much you love them. Just do it now. How many of you saw the Bucket List Movie. Jack Nicholson had just months to live. Did all kinds of things, but what frightened him the most was reconciling with his daughter who he was estranged from for years. It really comes back to relationships. It’s always about the little things. So say it now…show it now…..and share it now. It might be awkward to step out, but be willing to do it. God will bless you for it.
Third Principle Is To Learn Humbly
Again Christ is our great example. In Philippians 2:5 it says, “Our attitude should be the same as that of Jesus: Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God as something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross.” So at the end of Christ’s life He humbled Himself even to death on a cross. We’re to look to Christ’s example and learn humbly through our problems and pain. Many people when they get to the end of their life have all this pride knocked out from under them. They even have to depend on others to take care of their physical needs. But really all through life we should live humbly because that’s where the power comes from to live the One Month to Live lifestyle. You can’t live this way without God’s power. We’re helpless to live this way without God’s power. But when I humble myself He fills me up with His strength.
Every day, I set out to live an intentional day, to live an intentional life. But it doesn’t take long before problems and stress derail me. But that’s when I fall to my knees and say, “God I can’t do this without You. I need Your strength to live an intentional life. I can’t live an intentional moment without You. Give me Your strength to say No to the things I need to says No to. And not be pressured to do these things that are urgent. God, give me the strength to be awkward and step out and do the things that You’re calling me to do. Because right now I feel like being selfish and just watching TV and vegging. And God I need You to give me the power to forgive that jerk who’s hurt me. I don’t feel like forgiving.”
Learn humbly through the problems and the pain. The very things that are derailing you are the very things that God wants to use in your life to help you live an intentional lifestyle. It’s the problems that come our way that we say if I could get rid of this problem, I’d really live all out for God. If I could get rid of this problem that’s really stressful right now, if I could get this out of my life, I could really focus on my kids and be a great parent. But it’s the very problems and stresses that come our way that God wants to use to help us get intentional and get on our knees so He can fill us up with His strength. And we can live this lifestyle that He’s called us to live.
Fourth Principle Is To Leave Boldly
Jesus again our great example had this sense of intentionality about His purpose. Luke 9:51, “As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus boldly set out for Jerusalem.” Circle “resolutely.” I love that. He left boldly. He left a bold legacy to change the world. I believe every one of us have a deep desire in our hearts to live a life that will outlast us. But the problem is many times we’re building what I call sandcastles on the beach. They’re elaborate sandcastles, maybe the sandcastle of success or achievements, or the sandcastle of a big bank account, or the sandcastle of fame. The sandcastle of a big house that looks so permanent. The sandcastle of a big career.
Nothing wrong with those things. It’s just that one-day the tide of time will roll in and wash it all away. Those things aren’t permanent. So many of the things that look permanent are temporary. I’ve found that the things you can’t see are the things that will last forever – faith, hope, love. There are really two things that are going to last forever. That’s God’s word “The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of God stands forever.” And the souls of men and women will live on forever in eternity. So anytime you can do anything to invest your life in someone else, it’s going to last forever. You’re not building a sandcastle.
One day this building won’t be here. Thousands of years from now every brick will have crumbled to dust. But the good news is this: Egypt Community Church will still be alive and going in heaven. And there will be many people in heaven because of what you’re doing right now. That’s building something besides a sandcastle. So are you involved in anything in your one and only life? Are you building anything with your one and only life that’s going to be here forever? Are you building anything other than a sandcastle? Are you leaving a legacy?
In Conclusion
So I encourage you, with all of my heart, to live intentionally, to become focused today. To say today, I’ll begin living with no regrets. It’s all about bringing the passion back to your life because here’s the goal. I want you to turn the One Month to Live challenge into the One Month to Live lifestyle. Live out these principles of Jesus Christ. But what about you? Are you ready to meet your maker? Have you made peace with God? The question I want to ask you, do you know for sure if you died in a month you’d go to heaven? The good news is, the Bible says you can know for sure. You’re never really ready to live until you’re ready to die. So as we conclude this series, I just want to encourage every one of us to look in our hearts and make sure we’ve really made peace with God and we’re ready to meet Him.
Then I want to just challenge every one of you who are believers in here. Every one of you who love the Lord to make this a lifestyle. Turn the One Month to Live challenge into the One Month to Live lifestyle. To do that ask this question every day, “What would I do if I knew I had one month to live? Take the risk and step out of the boat to be all that God wants you to be.
