Don't Waste Your Life

Brother Fred, thank you for your kind invitation.

I don't get a lot of invitation to come back a second time,

so I'm very grateful for that.

As we prepare our hearts this morning to look together at God's Word,

would you join me as we pray?

Heavenly Father, thank you for just the privilege

every time we're able to gather as a body of believers

to join our hearts in worship,

to be reminded that none of us would be here today

were it not for your amazing grace.

And Father, out of that awareness,

I pray today that we just present ourselves before you

in humility and Lord, in all emptying of self

to just sit before your Word today.

And we pray that your Holy Spirit would be the one who teaches us this morning.

And I pray that this Word that we hold in our hands this morning,

paper and ink, this written Word.

Lord, I pray that it will now become a living Word in our hearts today.

Speak to us.

May we be good stewards of every moment you give us.

In this time together, it's the prayer that we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

He was considered by many to be the fastest man in the world.

They called him the Flying Scotchman.

He was 22 years old.

And in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France,

Eric Little was to have competed in the 100-meter dash.

Again, he was the fastest man at that particular race,

fully expected to win the gold medal.

But Eric Little was also a Christian.

He was a strong believer.

And just a few days before the 100-meter dash was to have been run,

he discovered that the qualifying heats for that event

were going to be held on a Sunday.

And Eric Little had strong convictions about the Lord's Day.

And he determined if those qualifying heats were going to be run on a Sunday,

he could not participate.

Now, as you might imagine, a great uproar followed that decision.

The Olympic Committee in that day got together,

held an emergency meeting,

called Eric Little in and said,

Look, man, everybody's eyes are on you.

You've got to run this race.

Race, he said, No, I can't do it.

He was summoned to a personal meeting with the Prince of Wales

who had come to watch that race

and was told again,

Eric, we need you to run.

He said, I cannot run.

Finally, Eric Little received a telegram

from the Prime Minister of Great Britain,

giving him an ultimatum, in essence.

Eric, you don't have a choice.

You have got to compete in this race.

But he stood firm.

He did not run.

And many people looked at Eric Little and said,

What a waste.

You have given up fame.

You have probably given up fortune.

You have certainly given up the gold medal,

which everyone realizes you could have won.

And yet, this young man at 24 years of age

determined that nothing was more important in his life

than his relationship with Jesus Christ.

And he would not do anything that he considered

would compromise his stance for Jesus Christ.

So he did not run that race.

He did not win that gold medal.

But his commitment and his conviction stirred a generation.

And many people looked at what Eric Little did

and were moved to follow Christ

and this young man's example.

This morning, I want to ask you a question.

Where are the radicals for Jesus Christ today?

Where are they?

Where are those who would stand up today and say,

I boldly proclaim that there is nothing in my life

more precious to me

than my relationship with Christ,

than living for His glory.

And I want to ask you this morning,

just right out of the gate,

would you be willing

to be that kind of person?

I don't know any day

there has ever been when we need more

Eric Littles

who will stand up

with conviction

and proclaim

my life

belongs

to Christ

fully,

finally,

forever.

I have given

my life

to Him.

Today,

I

I sort of want to get in your face a little bit.

Is that okay?

Just get in your face a little bit

this morning

and try to give you something to live for.

I want to give you something to live for

because I am convinced

every one of us,

you this morning,

are standing

on the precipice

of a great adventure,

if you will take it.

And I don't want you to waste

your lives

in

a valley of insignificance.

I do not want you to fall prey

to what I have called

the mind-numbing,

spiritual,

anesthetizing,

destiny-dimming

enticement

of the American dream

that simply says to you

and me today,

if you'll just

get a good education,

if you'll get a good job,

if you'll raise a good family,

if you'll live a good life,

then you'll have a good time

and your life

will be a good life.

Can I tell you this morning

unhesitatingly,

you were created

for something more than that.

In fact,

you were created

for a whole lot more

than that.

So I want to say to you this morning,

whether you're a student

with the majority of your life

ahead of you,

or whether you've already retired

and trying to figure out

how you can make the most

of your final years,

I want to point you

to something this morning.

So I want you to take

your copy of God's Word

as you have it there with you,

or maybe you're going to

look this up on your phone

or some other device.

I want you to look with me

at a couple of verses

in 1 Corinthians 6.

Let me just say to you,

if we really understand

what these verses say,

they may be

some of the scariest,

most intimidating verses

in all of

the New Testament.

But we're going to look at them anyway.

1 Corinthians 6,

1 Corinthians 6:19

verses 19 and 20.

1 Corinthians 6,

19 and 20,

parts of these verses.

I want you to listen to what

Paul,

under the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit,

writes to you and to me.

Now,

you belong

to God.

You do not belong

to yourselves.

God has bought you

with a great price.

Hear that again.

Now,

you belong

to God.

You do not belong

to yourselves.

Why?

Because God has bought you

with a great price.

Do you understand

this morning?

If you are a Christian,

if you would stand here

and dare

to name the name of Jesus

as Lord and Savior

of your life,

do you understand

you are not your own?

You do not belong

to yourself.

It is not

your life.

Christ bought you.

He bought me

at the price

of His own death

so that now

we doubly

belong to God.

We belong to God,

number one,

because He created

every single one of us.

And then if we are believers,

we belong to God

because Christ

purchased us.

He purchased

our salvation

at the price

of His death

on the cross.

And that means

my life

is no longer

my life

to do with

however I want

to do with it.

Your life

is not your life

to do whatever

you want

to do

with it.

I've heard people

say before,

you know,

you grow up in America,

you can become

anything you want to be.

Can we stop

telling our kids

that lie

if we are followers

of Christ?

Christ.

You can become

anything God

wants you to become.

You can do

anything

God

wants you to do

because your life

is not your own

to do with

what you want

to do with

and neither is mine.

We're not free

to chart our own course,

pursue our own desires,

chase our own dreams.

Restricting, huh?

A little bit.

Boxes you in,

doesn't it?

Cramps your style,

infringes on your freedom,

right?

I mean,

that's what the world

will tell us.

That's what it told

Eric Little.

But this morning,

can we look for just a moment

at what God's Word

really has to say

about this?

And I want to illustrate

this 1 Corinthians

text in several ways.

First of all,

I want to illustrate it

by looking at the life

of a man in Scripture.

His name was Epaphroditus.

We find his story

in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

So,

I encourage you to mark

1 Corinthians chapter 6,

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

but

turn over

into the New Testament.

A few books here.

To Philippians.

And we're going to look

for just a moment

at Epaphroditus.

Now,

this is the only place

in Scripture

we find Epaphroditus

mentioned,

but he is

memorialized here.

He is

ensconced

because of what we see

about him

in this text.

Now,

before we look at the verses

describing his life

a little bit,

let me give you

a little bit of a background

to this book

of Philippians.

Epaphroditus

was a member

of the church

at Philippi.

the Philippian church

had heard that Paul

was in prison

in Rome.

That's where Paul was

when he wrote

the book

of Philippians.

And so,

the church at Philippi

determined that it

would come together,

it would take up

a collection,

an offering,

and they would send it

to Paul

in Rome,

and Epaphroditus

was the one

who was given

the task

to take that gift

to Paul in Rome.

As a matter of fact,

we might say

that the book

of Philippians

is sort of

Paul's extended

thank you letter

to the church

at Philippi

for the sending

of this gift

to him

in prison

in Rome.

So,

Epaphroditus

is tasked

with this responsibility.

He is taking

this gift

from the Philippian church

to Rome

somewhere on the journey

from Philippi

to Rome

or perhaps

after he got

to Rome,

we don't really know.

but Epaphroditus

became seriously ill.

We don't know

what the illness

was that he had,

but if you look

at verse 27,

you will see

of Philippians chapter 2,

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

you will see

that it was serious

enough

that the man

almost died.

And so,

the Philippian church

was concerned

about Epaphroditus.

Somehow,

they had gotten word

that he was

at the point of death.

So,

after he recovers

a little bit,

Paul says in verse 28,

I'm going to send

Epaphroditus back to you

so that he can be with you,

he can be with his family,

he can be with his church family,

and can recover.

So,

that's the background.

What I want you to see here,

the verses,

verses 29 and 30,

because this tells us something

of Epaphroditus

that is really the focus

of what I'm trying

to help all of us

come to terms with today.

Verse 29,

Paul says,

as he sends Epaphroditus back,

so receive him in the Lord

with all joy

and honor such men

for he nearly died

for the work of Christ,

risking his life

to complete what was lacking

in your service to me.

Now,

there's a little key phrase here

that Paul uses

to describe Epaphroditus.

He says,

he risked his life.

He risked his life.

Now,

in the common language

of the people in Paul's day,

that little phrase,

risking his life,

was borrowed from

the gambling world.

It was a gambler's term.

It meant to place a bet.

It meant to make a wager.

It meant to roll the dice.

Literally,

Paul said,

let me tell you

about Epaphroditus.

He was willing

to gamble

his own life

for the sake

of Christ.

He threw himself

out there

on the game board

of life.

He rolled the dice

with his life

and he literally

risked

losing it all

to do what Christ

had called him

to do.

Epaphroditus

was God's

gambler.

And he gambled

everything

because he placed

his very life

on the line

to do what Christ

had called him

to do.

I want to tell you

about one of my favorite

historical

Christian

characters.

characters.

Her name was

Ann Hazeltine.

She was the youngest

of five children

and she was doted

on by her family.

She had a wonderfully

happy childhood

and by her teenage

years she was

sparkling,

full of joy,

popular,

very attractive,

always in demand

at parties

and all kinds

of social events.

in her youth.

Her main concerns

were her friends,

socializing,

having fun.

Her father

actually constructed

on the back

of their house

a dance hall,

a big room

that was used

just for dancing

so Ann's home

really became

the center

of social life

in the town

where they lived.

Now like most

of the people

who lived in that

small town,

the Hazeltines

went to church.

But religion was,

it just wasn't

very demanding

at all.

Didn't require

much of them

and most of their

time was spent

just doing

what they wanted

to do,

having fun,

being with friends.

So in Ann's own

words she said,

you know,

I was consumed

with the things

of the world.

Even though I profess

to follow Christ,

I know my focus

was on the things

of the world,

having fun.

I was largely

directed by peer pressure.

And so I want

to read a few things

to you this morning

that come from

her diary.

And I'm just going

to read it off

this sheet of paper

because I want you

to hear verbatim

what Ann wrote

about her understanding

of Christianity

at this young point

in her life.

Here's what she said,

quote,

During the first

16 years of my life,

I very seldom

felt any serious

impressions about

anything.

I was early taught

by my mother,

though at that time

she was ignorant

of the nature

of true religion.

I was taught

by her the importance

of abstaining

from those vices

like telling falsehoods,

disobeying my parents,

taking what was

not my own.

She also taught me

that if I was

a good child,

when I died,

I would escape

that dreadful place

called hell,

the thought of which

sometimes filled me

with alarm and terror.

So,

I therefore made it

a matter of conscience

to avoid

these kinds of sins.

I'd say my prayer

every night

and every morning.

I would try not

to do the things

that I knew were wrong,

never doubting

that such a course

of conduct

would ensure

my salvation.

At the age of 12 or 13,

I attended the academy

where suddenly

as I was exposed

to many more temptations

than ever before.

I now began to go

to dances and parties.

I found my mind

completely occupied

with the things

of the world.

And for two or three years,

I scarcely felt

an anxious thought

at all relative

to the salvation

of my own soul.

Even though,

now listen,

even though,

I was rapidly heading

towards eternal ruin.

I was surrounded

by my friends

who were wild

and volatile

like myself.

And I often thought

myself,

one of the happiest

people on earth.

My time mostly occupied

with clothes,

boys,

and an amusement.

That was her life.

That was her own assessment

of her life

at 16 years of age.

Now,

she went on to say

that from time to time

she would sort of be

convicted about things

in her life.

She knew she was doing things

she had no business doing,

involved with people

she shouldn't have been with.

But because of peer pressure

and her desire

to be popular,

she said,

you know,

I was just,

it was too embarrassing

for me to try

to take a stand

for Christ

or to really get

too serious

about spiritual things

or try to be godly.

But then,

as a 17-year-old girl,

Anne Hazeltine

had a personal,

powerful encounter

with Jesus Christ

that radically

changed her life.

Suddenly,

she was overwhelmed

with a sense

of her own guilt

before this holy

and righteous God.

she said,

I suddenly became

aware of His majesty,

His holiness,

His greatness,

the grace

that He had extended

to me.

And I became overwhelmed

with my own sinfulness

and suddenly

I just had this

consuming desire

for my life

to bring glory to God.

So at 17 years of age,

she set out

to live her life

in complete commitment

to the Lord.

And she said,

Lord, here it is,

whatever you want to do.

She said,

what Epaphroditus said,

here's my life,

I roll it out there.

Let me tell you

what happened.

Anne Hazeltine

eventually married

a man

by the name of

Adoniram Judson.

I don't know

if that name means

anything to you or not.

If you know anything

about mission history

whatsoever.

Adoniram Judson

was one of the first

Protestant missionaries

sent out from North America

to the non-Christian world.

He was one of the

great missionary pioneers.

And so,

Anne ended up

getting to know

Judson

and they decided

to get married.

Let me read a part

of a letter to you now

that Adoniram Judson

wrote to Anne Hazeltine's

father

asking for her hand

in marriage

and also asking

permission to take Anne

with him

as a missionary

to India.

Now, if you're a father

out there with a daughter,

I want you to listen to the...

It ought to impact

every one of us,

but I want you to listen

to what Adoniram Judson

wrote to Anne Hazeltine's

father.

I have to ask you now

whether you can consent

to part with your daughter

early next spring

to see her

never again

in this world.

Whether you can consent

to her departure,

her subjection

to the hardships

and sufferings

of missionary life,

whether you can consent

to her exposure

to the dangers

of the ocean,

to the fatal influence

of the southern climate

of India,

to every kind

of want

and distress,

to degradation,

insult,

persecution,

perhaps even

a violent death.

Can you consent

to all this

for the sake

of Him

who left

His heavenly home

and died for her

and for you?

Can you do this

for the sake

of perishing

immortal souls,

for the sake

of heaven,

for the sake

of the glory of God?

Can you consent

to all this

in the hope

of soon meeting

your daughter again,

not in this world,

but in the world

of glory

with the crown

of righteousness

brightened

with the acclamations

of praise

that shall resound

from her Savior,

from those

heathen people

saved through

her testimony

from eternal woe

and despair?

What questions?

Her father said

what I would have

probably said.

I can't do that,

but I will let her

make up her decision.

Anne said yes.

I will go.

And Anne

and Adoniram Judson

went to India.

There they lost

three of their children.

Adoniram himself

was thrown

into a Burmese prison

where he languished

for two years.

Anne herself

at 37 years

of age

died in Burma.

Her body

wracked by pain,

ravaged

by tropical illnesses,

emaciated

from lack

of proper food,

beaten down

by the struggles

of pioneer missionary life

just as her husband

Ad predicted

would happen.

But Anne

helped to translate

the books

of Daniel

and Jonah

into the Burmese language,

the gospel

of Matthew

into the Thai language,

so that

multiplied thousands

of Burmese

and Thai

people

could come

to know the Christ

that she knew.

She rolled

the dice.

She gambled

her life.

She said,

Lord,

there is nothing

more precious

to me

than living

for your glory.

I do not

belong to myself.

You have bought

me with a great

price.

I throw myself

out.

You use me

however you want

to use me.

Now here's

the question.

Is that

something you

have ever

seriously

seriously

in your

entire life

considered

doing?

Would you

be

an Anne

Hazeltine

for this

generation?

Would you

be an

Epaphroditus

for this

day?

Would you

consider that

God may have

brought you

into His

kingdom

for such

a time

as this?

Would you

be an

Eric Little

for this

generation?

Can I

say to you

this morning

that I

believe

Christianity

has largely

lost its

teeth

in America?

There is

no risk.

we play

it safe.

We know

exactly what

we're going

to do

each and

every day

that we

live.

We're not

throwing

ourselves

out there

for the

sake of

Christ.

There is

no challenge.

There is

no costly

commitment.

There is

no great

courage.

There is

no great

cause

that we

consider

worth

this kind

of price.

There is

very little

in our

culture

or in

the church

of Jesus

Christ

today

that is

driving

us

to be

all that

this word

says we

ought to

be.

So can I

just be a

voice today?

Maybe it is a

voice crying in

the wilderness.

I do not know,

but could I say,

could I throw out to

you this morning

this possibility?

Would you

embrace being

everything that

this word says

Christ

created and

bought you

to be?

Would you

hear me say

to you,

don't waste

these few

precious years,

this tiny

increment of

time that

God has

entrusted

to you.

Don't

waste

your life.

Now listen,

I understand

this morning,

I'm not

naive,

and I

understand this

morning that

from the

perspective and

the values and

the priorities of

this world,

what looks like a

waste is to

give yourself to

Christ in this

kind of way.

That's what looks

like a waste in

the eyes of the

world.

It looks stupid,

tragic.

It's a waste

because becoming a

follower of Christ

means sacrifice.

It calls us to

embrace suffering.

It tells us we're

going to face

persecution and

loss in this

world.

Over and over

and over again in

the New Testament

we see that.

If anyone would

come after me,

Jesus said,

let him deny

himself.

Say a big fat

no to your own

life.

Let him deny

himself, then

take up a cross.

That's not the

shiny little

emblem we wear

around our necks.

It was a Roman

execution device.

That's what

everybody understood

when Jesus said,

if you want to

follow me, be

ready to take up

a cross.

Be ready to give

everything that you

have even in your

own life if you

want to follow me.

That's what

Jesus said.

He has called

us to a life

in the eyes of

the world of

a seemingly

pointless denial

of many of the

things we think

make our short

lives here on

earth tolerable.

He calls us to

walk a path that

leads in the

opposite direction

that everybody

else is going

in.

I'm going to

tell you,

identifying with

Christ, risking

your life in this

kind of way can

involve the loss

of reputation,

it can involve

the loss of

intellectual

respectability,

it can include

the loss of

status according

to the world's

version of wisdom

and honor.

Looks like a

waste of life.

But it's really

the very opposite.

Jesus said if you

want to gain your

life, lose it.

I'll tell you how

to lose it.

Try to hang on to

your life.

Try to do it your

way.

You'll lose your

life.

You'll come to the

end of your life

and you'll look

back and you'll

have a pot full of

regrets and you'll

yearn for what

might have been in

your service to the

Lord Jesus Christ and

how he might have

taken your life and

used it as a

vehicle for his

glory.

You know what?

I didn't finish the

story about Eric

Little.

Let me go back to

that.

After Eric Little

decided he would

not run in the

100 meter dash

because of his

convictions about

running on a

Sunday, a

teammate of his on

the British Olympic

team, a man by the

name of Harold

Abrams came up to

him and said,

Eric, I'd be

willing to switch

events with you.

I run the 400

meter race.

Why don't I run

that and you run

the 100?

And I'll run the

100.

See, Harold

Abrams was a

Jewish man.

And so he didn't

have any convictions

about running on a

Sunday.

It wasn't a big deal

to him.

Problem was, Eric

Little had never

trained to run the

400 meters.

100 meter was more

of a sprint.

The 400 meter was a

long distance race.

He just hadn't

trained for that.

Had never run that

race before.

Inexperienced.

But hey, the

opportunity was there

and he took it.

And so they switched

events.

Before Eric Little

got ready to run

that 400 meter race,

another athlete from

the American Olympic

team, who was also

a Christian, and who

also understood the

kind of sacrifice that

Eric Little had made,

came up to him right

before he started that

race and handed him a

little piece of paper

paper and on it was

scribbled a short

note.

You know what it

said?

God honors those who

honor him.

Do you believe that?

God honors those who

honor him.

Eric Little not only

won the 400 meter and

gained that gold medal,

but he set a world's

record.

That stood for a

decade.

And he became a

national hero.

Everybody wanted to

be around Eric Little.

They revered him in

Great Britain.

He could have had

anything that he

wanted.

He could have yelled

jump and all of Great

Britain would have said,

okay, how high?

That's the status that he

held after winning that

400 meter.

But exactly one year

after winning that gold

medal, Eric Little walked

away from everything to

become a missionary with

the London Missionary

Society.

And he went to China.

And he carried the gospel

of Jesus Christ to the

back country of that great

nation.

about that time, Japan

invaded China.

Second World War broke

out.

Eric Little was captured

by the Japanese,

declared to be an enemy

national, thrown into a

prison camp.

There he was one of 1,300

prisoners crammed into an

area maybe a little bit

bigger than this worship

area.

Housed in dormitories

three feet by six feet.

He was beaten.

He was starved.

He was denied adequate

medical care.

He was physically abused

and mentally abused.

But still, he held

athletic competitions.

He taught hymns.

And he shared the gospel of

Jesus Christ with his fellow

prisoners and with his

Japanese captors.

Just one month before the

liberation of China,

February 21, 1945,

Eric Little died in that

prisoner of war camp.

Largely unknown.

Was it a waste?

Well, it would have been a

waste.

In fact, let me just be

honest with you.

Everything I've shared with

you this morning would be

a waste if what the Bible

has to say about Jesus

Christ is not true.

If what is in this book is

not true, then yes, it is

all a waste.

But if what is in this book

is true, if Jesus Christ is

the very Son of God who in

love for you and me willingly

set aside the glory and the

status that was His,

with His heavenly Father in

heaven, if He took on the

full measure of our

weakness and was born into

the human family, if He lived

a life of perfect obedience

to His Father's will, if He

died a sinless death on the

cross to pay the penalty for

your sin and my sin, if He

rose from the dead, if He

ascended to the Father, if

today He really is the Savior

of all who trust in Him, if one

day He is going to return to

this earth and receive His

people to Himself and assume

His rightful role as judge over

all the earth, King of kings

and Lord of lords, if what this

book has to say about Christ is

true and it is true, then my

friend, there is no price in the

world that is too great to pay for

Him.

There is no loss in the terms of

what is valuable in the eyes of

the world, no loss too much to

endure for Him.

Before Anne Hazeltine left the

shores of America to sail for

India and Burma where she died,

this is what she had to say.

I'll close with these final words

from her diary.

I have at length come to the

conclusion that I must spend my

days in a foreign land, but I am a

creature of God and He has an

undoubted right to do with me as

seems good in His sight.

I rejoice because I am in His hands

and when I am called to face

danger, to pass through scenes of

terror and distress, He will

inspire me with fortitude.

He will enable me to trust in Him

because Jesus is faithful.

His promises are precious.

Were it not for these

considerations, I should sink down in

the depths of despair, especially as

no female has to my knowledge ever

left the shores of America to spend

her life among the heathen in this

way, nor do I yet know that I shall

have a single female companion where

I'm going.

But whether I spend my days in India

or America, I will spend them in the

service of my God and my Savior and

look forward to spending an eternity in

His presence.

Folks, this is hard for us to hear.

But this is not a higher life.

This is not a deeper life.

This is normal Christianity.

Normal Christianity.

It seems radical to us because we have

departed so far from what Christ calls us to be

and do in this book.

So because it seems radical to us, I will

ask the question, where are the radicals for

Jesus Christ today?

Who would rise up and say nothing, nothing,

nothing in my life is more precious to me

than Christ, than living for His glory?

Will you be one of those?

Wow.

Do we need some Ann Hazeltines today?

Do we need some Eric Littles today?

Do we need some more folks who in the spirit of

Epaphroditus would say, Lord, here's my life

and I will roll the dice, not knowing what all that

means, but here is my life today.

I give you all of me for the sake of multiplied

billions of people who are dying every day

without knowing this Savior that we know.

Would you be that kind of person for this generation?

Isaac Watts wrote a famous hymn,

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.

And in the closing stanza of that verse,

he captured exactly the truth of Scripture.

And I share these words with you in closing this morning.

Isaac Watts said, were the whole realm of nature mine.

If I had everything a person could possibly have,

were the whole realm of nature mine,

that would be a present far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul,

my life,

my all.

Pray with me.

Heavenly Father,

we stand this morning

underneath

the authority of your word

and the truth that it proclaims.

And I pray in these moments,

Father,

now that we have heard,

we might recognize

our accountability to you

for what you have entrusted to us

through the pages of your word.

And Lord,

through that great cloud of witnesses,

those who have gone on before us,

like Epaphroditus,

like Eric Little,

like Anne Hazeltine,

who now from

the grandstands of heaven

cheer us on.

But even these examples

pale in comparison

to the example

of our Lord Jesus,

who for the joy that was set before Him,

endured the cross,

scorning its shame,

who took on human form

and human flesh

and came and dwelt among us,

leaving the glory

and the splendor of heaven behind.

who took on human form

and human flesh

and being made in human likeness

and being made in appearance as a man,

taking on the form of a servant.

He humbled Himself.

He poured Himself out

and He became obedient unto death,

even death on the cross.

That is our ultimate example.

That is the one to whom we give our lives.

And so, Father,

I pray this morning

that as we prepare

in just a couple of minutes

to walk out

the doors of this building,

that we would not walk out

the same way we walked in.

That we would be Your gamblers.

That we would make the wager,

place the bet,

roll the dice with our own lives

and just say,

Lord, here we are.

We roll ourselves out before You.

Our lives are not our own.

We have been bought

with a great price.

Now take us and use us

to make a difference here

in Pickens, South Carolina,

in a nation that desperately

needs to know

the difference

that only Jesus Christ can make

and among the nations

is the prayer that we pray

in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.