A Spiritual Wellness Plan for 2018

Well, did you make any plans for personal improvement this new year?

It's a good thing to do, and the first of the year is a good time.

A lot of people do.

Most of us, whether we did or not, we do things like that from time to time, don't we?

We make plans to improve ourselves, what, physically, financially.

We make plans to improve vocationally, academically.

Some parents here wanted me to say that academic part.

It's the beginning of the new semester.

Don't get behind this semester, they wanted me to say.

We make plans.

Sometimes we'll even write them down.

Develop a well-thought-out plan for improvement in some area of our life.

Let me ask you this.

Have you ever made plans to grow spiritually?

Have you ever thought about, actually maybe wrote down a spiritual wellness plan?

Well, that's what I want us to look at this morning.

I want us to think about that, and if that might be helpful to you, write it down.

Now, what we're going to do, we're not going to just pull something out of thin air.

We're not going to make it difficult.

What I want us to do is look at something.

I want to use a model that's in the newsletter every week.

That's at the bottom of the order of service every week.

It's our church's mission statement.

You can see it there.

It's on the screen now.

Pickens First Baptist Church exists to be a worshiping, evangelizing, learning, and loving family of faith to the glory of God.

You see in the newsletter that it's based on several different passages of Scripture, mainly the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

I want you to turn with me, if you would, to Acts chapter 2 this morning because that's where we're going to just camp out.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

In looking at that statement, there still on the screen, I want you to keep in mind, when you see Pickens First Baptist Church, we're not talking about a building.

Because the church is not a building, as you well know.

The church is people.

Right now, Pickens First Baptist Church is gathered collectively.

Part of us was in the 8 o'clock service.

Some that are not in here now were in Sunday school.

But right now, a large number of our church family members, we're gathered collectively right here in this building on Main Street.

But most of the time, we're scattered.

Most of the time, Pickens First Baptist Church is scattered throughout Pickens County and beyond.

It might surprise you.

A lot of weeks, part of this church family is not just in other states.

Part of this church family is even in other countries.

And that's not a rarity.

Well, the acronym WELL.

We are a WELL, or we desire to be a WELL church.

That acronym helps us as a church to remember who we are and to stay focused on these God-given priorities of worship, evangelism, learning, and loving.

Well, today, I want us to say that that little word WELL, that acronym, can help us either begin or stay focused on our own personal spiritual wellness plan.

Turn to Acts 2, beginning in verse 42.

I want you to see where those words, worship, evangelism, learning, and loving come from.

They're being lifted right out of, not exactly those words, but as you'll read the passage, I'm going to look at one other thing before we dive into it.

You'll see that our purpose statement is based on what the early church was doing.

Let's read it.

It's the first summary statement of what was going on in the early church in its infancy.

And they, that is the believers, over 3,000 people were converted prior to this.

You can read just a few verses above it.

But the church, the people who trusted Christ, the church family there in Jerusalem,

they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,

to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

And awe came upon every soul.

And many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

But note the next verse.

They still owned their stuff.

This is not communism or socialism.

Look at verse 45.

And they were selling their possessions and belongings.

They were doing it because they wanted to.

They were doing it because they chose to sell their possessions and belongings

and distribute the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,

they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

praising God and having favor with all the people.

And the Lord added to their number day by day,

those who were being saved.

This is the first summary statement of what was going on in the life of the early church.

John Hammett teaches theology at Southeastern Seminary,

says that this is the most appropriate text in the New Testament

for identifying and understanding the ministries that the Lord's church should be involved in.

He says this passage.

And he also quotes Richard Longnecker, a New Testament scholar,

in his commentary on Acts.

He also says they describe the habitual, ongoing practices of the early church.

What many people who study this,

John Stott, some of you have read his books,

another New Testament scholar.

Many people look at this passage of Scripture and say,

this is not just something they were doing at this point in time.

This is an example of how the people of God gathered together as a church,

made up of individual Christians.

This is how they lived.

This is how they developed and grew spiritually.

They worshiped.

They evangelized.

They shared the gospel.

They learned.

They studied God's Word.

They listened to the apostles.

And they loved.

One another in a great, life-giving kind of way.

But also other people.

I put together several years ago a chart

that shows how several respected pastors of various denominations

look at what we're looking at in this section,

Acts 2, 42 through 47,

and identify what they call either the priorities or purposes or objectives of the church.

The chart is not as big as I wanted it to be because I wanted it there all at one time.

But you notice on the very end, if you go back to that last slide there,

on the very end, Greg Laurie and Harry Reader,

they actually use the acronym WELL to describe what's going on in the early church.

Worship, evangelism, learning, and loving.

Rick Warren, the first slide there,

he describes those things using five words.

Worship, evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry.

James White does something very similar in the middle.

Chuck Swindoll just uses four words.

Look at it.

The second column, worship, evangelism, instruction, and fellowship.

When Swindoll writes about that,

he actually says the purpose of the church

or the priorities of the church,

he uses the word WIFE.

Worship, instruction, fellowship, and evangelism.

Now, I'm pointing that out to say

this is not something that I or some obscure person

thought up a catchy little phrase or something.

As we think about what God has called us to be and do as a church,

and the church is made up of people,

what God calls you and me to do

as priorities in our spiritual relationship with Him,

in our growth and our maturity.

We're going to grow and mature.

We need to focus on worship, evangelize,

learning or discipleship,

loving, which is fellowship,

and service or ministry.

Let's look at it now.

Let's look at the passage,

and what I want us to do,

is think about it.

These are spiritual priorities for every Christian.

As we go through this,

and we think this is what was happening

in the lives of those first Christians

in that early church in Jerusalem.

And that is how Christians have grown and matured ever since.

It's what God expects of us.

It's the way He intends for us as Christians,

to know Him better,

to know how to please Him,

to serve His purpose.

So, these are spiritual priorities for all Christians.

They can serve as the foundation

for your personal spiritual wellness plan

if you don't have one,

if you want to begin one today.

Let's look at it.

Let's look at it in the order in which they come in the passage.

First of all, it's a priority of learning.

Look back now at verse 42.

It says,

And they devoted themselves,

excuse me,

to the apostles' teaching.

This phrase is more literally translated,

in the New American Standard,

they were continually devoting themselves

to the apostles' teaching.

This was not something they just did occasionally.

This was something that they considered a way of life.

They were serious about it.

They were devoted

to listening to the Word of God

as it came through those apostles.

Look at the object of their devotion,

the apostles' teaching.

That's what we have in our New Testament.

A good way to just think about the apostles' teaching

here in verse 42,

well, we've got it now.

What God wants us to have

in the form of the New Testament.

And most of you know

the Old Testament was the apostles' Bible,

and they quoted it liberally

in their writings in the New Testament.

So we can apply this,

the idea of devoting ourselves

to the apostles' teaching.

We need to devote ourselves to the Word of God.

We need to be serious students of Scripture.

Now, as a church,

we need to make sure

that we are teaching the Bible.

That's our playbook.

It's our primary source

for what we believe

and how we're to live as Christians.

But as individual believers,

we need to make sure

that we are reading and studying

and actually learning

what God is saying to us

through His Word.

Note,

this is the first thing mentioned

in this passage

because it's the Word of God

that informs us

how to do everything else.

How we worship.

How we love.

How we express love.

How we practice evangelism.

Think about worship.

Sometimes we will say,

and well-meaning,

and I understand what's being said

when someone says,

maybe in a prayer,

maybe around the 4th of July,

I thank God that in this country

we can worship God as we please.

I understand.

That's being thankful for freedoms

to assemble and worship.

But I want you to understand something.

We do not worship God as we please.

We worship God

if we worship Him

in an acceptable way.

We worship Him

as He has revealed Himself

and as He tells us to

in Scripture.

We need to make sure,

and some people may not think about it this way,

but we need to make sure

that what we think about God,

our image of God,

is not something we just dreamed up

or just heard somewhere.

We need to make sure

that our understanding of who God is,

how He is,

how He works,

is the way He has revealed Himself

to be in Scripture

and specifically in Jesus.

God calls us,

and He enables us

to be well Christians.

He instructs us through His Word,

and then He enables us

or empowers us

through His Spirit.

Now, in our full church mission statement

or purpose statement,

we go on to explain

how the only way we can do

what God's called us to do

is through His power,

the power of the Holy Spirit.

Look at it.

We say in this statement,

through the power of the Holy Spirit

and prayer.

Prayer is how we access God's power.

Sometimes we,

as Jesus Himself said,

we do not have

because we do not ask,

or James tells us that.

Sometimes we miss out

on some things,

spiritually speaking,

we miss out on some things

that maybe God would give us,

but we don't ask.

We don't seek,

as Jesus said.

We don't really care enough

to talk to God about it

and be serious

in our asking Him about it.

But it's through the power

of the Holy Spirit and prayer.

We will seek to accomplish

our purpose through a vital

worship encounter

with the living God,

evangelistic outreach

to the unsaved,

learning experience

with the Word of God,

and loving involvement

with both our family of faith

and the world.

Now, I want you to think.

Do you need to make

the priority of learning

a part of your spiritual wellness plan

for this new year?

Are you consistently reading,

seeking to understand

what God's saying in His Word?

I'm going to say,

if you are not,

it's because you don't want to.

Now, I know,

life is busy.

And it may be

that you don't read the Bible,

you're not really into the Word

as much as you want to.

You just can't put in the time

that you would like.

There's not enough hours a day.

I could understand that.

But if you rarely pick up the Bible,

if you just sort of give it

sort of a casual glance,

five minutes a day,

I'm going to say,

that's what you want to do.

Because deep down,

bottom line,

we do what we want to do.

We make what is important to us

a priority.

We may not can do

everything we want to do,

as much as we want to do.

I make time

to spend with my wife.

I make time to spend

with my grandchildren

every week.

There's people that I'll say,

no, I can't do that.

Because I'm going to be

doing something

with my grandson

and granddaughter maybe.

Because they're a priority.

And I'm going to make time

for them.

And you do that.

You make time

for people in your life.

Maybe not all the time

you would like.

But you make time

for people

and even things

in your life

that's important to you.

And if we don't spend

any time with God,

virtually no time

with Him and His Word

just because

we don't want to.

But if you think,

I want to want to.

I would like to have

a greater desire.

I know I am a Christian.

I want to know God.

But maybe you're just

a lazy reader.

Maybe you're easily distracted.

I want to encourage you

right here.

It's just still the,

what, the 14th day

of a brand new year.

Ask God to give you

a greater desire.

to know Him better

and develop your relationship

with Him

more deeply

by being able

to spend time

in His Word,

reading it,

and listening to Him.

Ask God to help you

to find that time

to put forth the effort

to stay awake,

to stay alert

so you can read

and listen

and just look at your

Bible reading

as an opportunity

to get to know God better,

to discover how to

please Him,

to discover how to enjoy,

I mean really,

enjoy a relationship

with Him

as your Heavenly Father.

Now,

if you are just

reading the Bible,

to say you're reading it,

I want to

caution you here.

as great as it would be

to read through the Bible

this year,

if all you're going to do

is read a large portion

of Scripture

and just check it off,

or you're just going to read

and try to just fill your mind

with more factual information,

that's not really going

to help you

grow spiritually.

I want to encourage you

to ask God

to help you

to not just be

a reader of the Word,

but as James tells us,

be a doer of the Word.

Read it with the idea,

I want to understand

what God wants me

to believe,

because there's all things,

all kinds of things

competing for your belief

right now

in this world.

Ask God to help you

understand

how to actually put

what He's teaching

into practice

in your life,

in your home,

where you work,

in school.

Make

being a

learning Christian

by studying,

listening to God,

studying His Word,

listening to Him

as He speaks to it,

it's vitally important

for you as an individual

and for us together

as a church

to be learning Christians.

The next priority

is the priority of loving.

Look at verse 42 again.

They devoted themselves,

later on,

to the fellowship

look at verses 44 and 45.

And all who believed

were together

and had all things

in common,

and they were selling

their possessions

and belongings

and distributing

the proceeds

to all

as any had need.

And then the first part

of verse 47,

and having favor

with all the people.

Now you know

the idea of loving here

comes from the word

fellowship.

It's referring to

what we have in common.

And these people,

small walks of life,

what they had in common

was their common commitment

to love for Jesus

as their Savior and Lord.

They had a common commitment

to one another

because they were brothers

and sisters in Christ.

They had the most important

relationship in all their life,

their relationship

with the Lord Jesus.

That brought them together.

And what we see

in these verses

is love in action.

No one forced them

to sell their possessions.

No one forced them

to take the money

they got for their possessions

and give it to the church,

so to speak,

to give it to other people.

They had such a love

for one another

that when they saw

people in need,

people doing without food maybe,

people who couldn't,

who were not getting

their basic needs met

and they had more

than they needed.

They were selling

some of the things

that they had,

not everything they had.

They were selling things

and giving the money

to make sure

that real needs

were being met

in that fellowship,

in that church.

That was real love,

sacrificial love in action.

And it was taking place

among the believers.

It was taking place

there among the Christians,

but it impressed

all kinds of people.

As that last verse

we looked at,

having favor with all the people,

even unbelievers

were impressed.

Wouldn't you be impressed

if you knew

a group of people

in a church

or in any kind

of organization

that they so loved

one another

that they gave

of their finances.

They gave of their wealth.

They gave up something

so that other people

could have their needs met.

It was powerful.

The apostles

emphasized love

as the priority,

character, quality

of Christians.

Paul wrote

that great chapter

in 1 Corinthians 13

on the priority of love,

and he explained

what that was,

1 Corinthians 13.

They learned that

from Jesus.

Note what Jesus

told his apostles.

A new commandment

I give to you

that you love

one another

just as I have loved you,

you are also

to love one another.

And by this,

all people will know

that you are my disciples

if you have love

for one another.

That's how we're supposed

to be known as Christians,

by the love that we have

for one another.

The question is,

are we as a church?

Are you as an individual?

You know,

one of the best definitions

of love

that I've ever heard,

simple,

is love is

meeting needs.

If you love somebody,

you're going to try

to meet their need.

And that's exactly

what was going on here

in this early church.

I see it sometimes,

or you do too.

We see it sometimes

in our church.

Some of you,

some of you,

your gift,

your spiritual gift,

your ability,

you're just a real

empathetic kind of person.

you have what might be

called the gift of mercy.

You can identify

with somebody who's hurting.

And you can just

be there with them,

encouraging them,

helping them.

You're just that friend

who just stays there.

And just your presence

is giving a gift to somebody.

Some of you have a gift,

hands-on kind of gift.

When you know someone's in need,

there's actual things

you can do

to fix something,

to take care

of a particular need.

Some people have

the financial,

or have the financial resources

to give

and meet a need.

And some people do it

in our church,

and they don't let

anybody else know it.

You don't have to do it

in honesty.

I'm not saying that.

But more of that is done

than you might realize.

There is real love

and action taking place

among God's people

everywhere,

including in this church.

The question we need

to ask ourselves now,

is you need to ask

yourself personally.

Do people see

such love in me?

Am I demonstrating

practical,

need-meeting love

to other people

as a priority

in my life?

If not,

then you need to make

it a greater priority

in your own personal

spiritual wellness plan.

And the way to start

may be for you

to just pray

and ask God

to help you

to take more interest

in other people.

It may be that you need

to pray and ask God,

Lord, help me

to not be so self-aware

help me to be aware

of people around me.

Help me to notice needs,

especially needs

I might could meet.

Help me to have

genuine concern,

empathy, sympathy

for people around me.

Take an interest

in other people.

Open your eyes.

Don't be afraid

to see needs

and then step forward

and try to meet that need.

One way to do that

is to pray for people.

Focus on them

by praying for them.

And if you are

a loving person,

don't get complacent.

Like I said,

a lot of people

in our church,

they love,

they demonstrate it

in all kinds of ways.

Sometimes we can sort of

get complacent in it,

sort of,

just sort of,

I've done my part.

Look at what Paul

reminds us of

in his letter

to the Thessalonian Christians.

He's being very

encouraging.

He's affirming them

in what they're doing.

Look at it.

Now concerning

brotherly love,

you have no need

for anyone

to write you

for you yourselves

have been taught

by God

to love one another

for that indeed

is what you are doing.

He's affirming them.

They're doing great.

But we have a tendency

in things we do great

to slack off,

to become complacent.

So he says,

but we urge you brothers

to do this more and more.

Keep on, he's saying.

Let's look at the third

priority we see

in this passage,

the priority of worshiping.

It says,

and they devoted themselves

to the breaking of bread

and the prayers

and all came upon

every soul.

Then in verse 47,

praising God,

that little praise.

I want you to note

two things in verse 42.

The breaking of bread

most likely is a reference

to the Lord's Supper.

A part of their worship

was celebrating

the Lord's Supper together

on a regular basis.

The prayers were

prayer gatherings,

corporate prayer,

church family prayer,

and it may have included

regular prayer times

in the temple.

But what I want us to see is

what is being described here is

these Christians

were focused on God.

They prayed,

and they praised

as a church family

and as individuals.

They truly experienced

the presence of God

in their lives.

And it was an awesome

experience, it says.

Is worship a priority

in your life?

Is the worship

with God's people

like we are right now,

is this a priority?

I mean,

being here

on a regular basis,

participating

when you are here.

You know,

just because we come

doesn't mean

that we worship.

We can come

and we can count

the columns,

we can count the grooves

in the columns.

When I was growing up

in church,

I have to be honest with you,

when I was growing up

in church,

there was some kind

of dental mold

in the back of the church

where I grew up.

There were 27 pieces

that came down

like this.

I counted them

a hundred times.

I didn't worship.

You come in here,

and let me say this,

if we're going to worship

on Sunday morning,

it's got to start

before we walk

in this room.

You can't stay up

half the night

on Saturday night,

get up at the last minute,

rush in here,

and sit down

and catch your breath,

and truly worship God.

We've got to prepare.

We've got to come here

wanting to join together

with others

and focus on God

and actually praise Him

for who He is

and thank Him

for what He does

in our lives,

in our church,

is worship,

corporate worship.

Is it a priority to you?

By your attendance,

by your attention?

What about private worship?

Do you spend time

with the Lord?

Maybe just quiet time

there at home somewhere,

riding down the road,

maybe listening

to some Christian music.

You really get into

praising God.

Do you ever worship God

in such a way

here at church

or privately,

at home,

out somewhere,

however you like to do it,

and you're just in awe

of who God is,

His greatness,

His goodness,

His sovereignty,

His power,

His personal presence

and some details

in your life.

Real worship will be

about God.

It'll be God-focused.

Real worship won't be

music-focused,

it won't be preaching-focused,

it won't be person-focused.

Real worship

is always all about God.

Focusing our praise,

our love,

our thanks,

whatever it is,

to Him.

Because we realize

who He is,

what He has done

and is doing.

Does making worship

a greater priority

need to be

a part of your personal

spiritual wellness plan?

I'm talking about

your personal private worship,

your corporate

church family worship,

maybe even your own

family worship

in your house,

you and your spouse

and your children.

That needs to be

an important part

of our lives

as Christians.

Well,

if we're going to be

spiritually healthy,

personally,

and as a church,

we've got to make much

of worshiping God

along with learning

and loving.

But I want us to look

at one more thing,

the priority of evangelizing.

Look at verse 47.

And the Lord added

to their number

day by day

those who were being saved.

The priority of evangelism

is different

from the others.

In one way,

we can think

the people did nothing

in this passage.

In one way,

when you read that,

you can think

the growth of the early church,

the Lord added,

God was saving people,

that it was an overflow

of everything else

the church was doing.

It was an overflow

of their learning

and loving

and worshiping.

That certainly is implied

by the way

it's expressed

in verse 47.

But we also see

in other parts of Acts

that nearly everything

that the church was doing,

nearly everything

these Christians were doing,

it had an evangelistic

emphasis to it.

They were living

like Christians

and they were talking

about what God

had done in their life.

They were sharing

the gospel.

That's what Jesus

told us to do.

That great commission

that you're familiar with

in Matthew 28,

one way to think

about that is,

Jesus said,

as you go,

make disciples.

As you go,

make disciples.

Evangelism is not just

a responsibility

that we have,

it's a privilege.

Think about it,

God uses us,

who we are,

how we live.

He uses our words,

sharing the gospel.

He uses us

in his process

of changing people's lives.

Do you need to make

the priority of evangelism

a part of your

spiritual wellness plan?

If you're not involved,

you do.

And the way to start

is demonstrating

the difference

that Christ makes

in your life.

If our lives

are not credible

testimonies

to how God works

in someone's life

to save them,

we can't be,

we aren't witnesses.

Or we're poor witnesses,

put it that way.

We need to demonstrate

by the way that we live,

the way we treat people

around about us,

the way we do our job,

the way we go about

whatever it is

that we do.

We need to demonstrate

that we do what we do

for the glory of God.

We do other things.

We do what we do

to make a positive impact

in other people's lives.

We're going to make

evangelism a priority.

We've got to develop

relationships with people

who are not Christians.

Develop relationships,

meaningful relationships.

We need to learn

to share our testimony,

how the Lord saved us,

the difference He makes

in our lives.

We need to learn

to actually explain

the gospel.

One way to make

evangelism a greater priority

is to pray for people

you know who are not Christians.

Pray for them.

Pray that they'll be

convicted of their sin.

They'll be open

to your witness.

Invite them to church.

Invite them to Sunday school.

Invite them to anything.

Just invite them

to be a part of your life.

Let me ask you.

Do you plan

to grow spiritually?

Do you plan,

do you desire

to become a more

faithful follower of Jesus,

a more Christ-like person

in this new year?

Are you seeking God's guidance

as to what you need to do

for that to happen?

Well, if you don't have

your own plan,

I want to encourage you

to develop a spiritual

wellness plan

that includes what we see

in the lives

of these early Christians.

Seek to be,

ask God to help you,

show you how

to be a worshiping,

evangelizing,

learning,

and loving Christian.

And together,

we need to be

seeking to be

this worshiping,

loving,

or worshiping,

evangelizing,

learning,

and loving family

of faith

that glorifies God

by the way we do this

and the people's lives

we impact this way.

I want to encourage you

to make

the same kind of commitment

we see in these people.

they were devoted

to this.

I want to encourage you

to devote yourself

to being a well Christian

or develop your own plan.

But right here,

just in the, what,

14th day of the new year,

let's plan personally.

Let's pray.

Let's put forth the effort

to grow spiritually

as a child of God

because that will

please God.

And if we're really

Christians,

that will please us.

And if we grow

as Christians,

we're going to

positively

affect and influence

people around us.

Both other Christians

will encourage them,

but also

unbelievers.

God will use us

to touch their lives

and we pray

change them

for all eternity.

Let's pray together.

Dear God,

show us right now

how we should respond

to you

and what you're saying

to us

about our own

spiritual wellness.

Father,

give us the desire

to be more like Jesus,

which is what we're

talking about.

Give us the desire,

dear God,

to make you

knowing and doing

your will

our priority.

Father,

show us how we should

respond.

Help us to make

that kind of commitment.

Father,

for some people

in this room,

what they need to do

is to admit

they are not believers,

repent of their sin,

change their mind

about it,

turn from the way

they're living.

Help them,

dear God,

to do that

and to put their

trust in Jesus

and really

understand

and depend upon

that when Jesus

died on the cross,

He paid the penalty

for their sin.

He took their punishment.

Help that person,

man or woman,

boy or girl,

to call upon Jesus

right now

to save him

or her.

And let's just

stay in an attitude

of prayer,

all of us,

and respond to the Lord

as He speaks to us.

I'd be happy to pray

with you during this time

if you'd like.

I'll be here at the front

and just would consider it

an honor.

So let's just be still

and quiet

and listen to the Lord

and obey Him.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.