A New Start

Welcome to this week's message from the church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

We are again starting our new study today.

It's going to be a great year.

I just, I'm telling you, I just sense it in my spirit.

You don't want to miss vision night.

It's going to be awesome.

And you're going to get to see the plans of our edition.

And you know what's exciting?

I was talking to Mike.

And I mean, I was talking to Mike, but I was also talking to Steve.

Steve came back from Chicago after visiting his children and said, I got a really burden for us, you know, to help people in our community like we're doing, but, you know, giving them clothes, giving them food, especially food, and counseling with them any way we can.

And with this new addition, thanks to SurPro again as they're moving out, we're going to be showing you the new addition and what we're going to be adding.

But part of that, on one end, I was telling we could uh uh down here on the end, we can put a walk-in freezer, we can have room uh as as they move out, expand, to have a clothing uh closet and stuff, because our association has wanted us to become their site over here on the west side.

So that's uh we're gonna be able to do that this spring.

Yeah, the satellite for our association.

So uh that's because they already know what how much we do here and feeding people and stuff.

So we're gonna have enough room back there when Bob and them and we'll show you all that, that we'll be able to and be praying right now for a big walk-in freezer.

That God, hopefully they can help us get one, uh, but God will provide a big walk-in freezer for us.

So uh uh on Wednesdays or day or two, our our amazing grades or people that are retired.

Uh, I know at Steve's heart that we'll we'll be here where people can come in and uh we'll sit down and counsel with them, love on them, you know, and because we're gonna help them physically, absolutely.

But then we want to help them spiritually too.

Amen.

We want to do the whole thing, not just give them food, but give them spiritual food too.

And uh so that's that's where we headed, and that's right around the corner.

So it's gonna be awesome.

And uh I just talked to Randy Spencer, one of my buddies.

Y'all remember hearing Randy preached in our community awakening.

I he's done a major um study on the tabernacle.

And to be honest with you, I've never preached on the tabernacle.

Uh, I really, even though it's very intriguing, it's unbelievable.

But it really is a key to the our prayer life.

And so starting and right after our uh vision night, we're gonna start our 21-day fast.

Uh, and and Susan's gonna kind of write up a little thing to explain to you about kind of Daniel's fast and uh what that means and how to do it.

And uh I always challenge myself to stay off sugar for 21 days.

Now, you may laugh at that, but that's hard for me.

I'm a sugarholic.

Amen.

I really am.

I really am.

So for me to do that, and and Susan has to move out after about three or four days for withdrawals from sugar, uh, in fact, even Rocky goes and gets in his bed because I'm not the best, I'm not you know, my sugar.

But uh, but we're gonna be dealing with that, and then hopefully right after that, um, it's not totally confirmed, we're looking at some dates.

Right in February, we're gonna do a study on the tabernacle.

I'm talking about guys putting the furniture up here and doing it and ending up on a Friday night where we you actually come in to the tabernacle, and it's kind of an all-night thing.

Now, I'm not saying we'll do it all night, but maybe the young people could do the after 12 thing, but but you sign up as you're coming in to the tabernacle.

And and and I get chills when he was explaining to me.

I I said, yeah, I want to do that.

Let's do that.

So he's working out, looking to get about getting the furniture so he can bring it with him.

And so hopefully we're gonna be able to do that in February.

Yeah, it'll be awesome.

And uh it's gonna be a great, maybe after, we're kind of looking toward after after Valentine's Day.

So that'll be awesome.

Uh Sunday through Wednesday uh or Wednesday through Sunday.

And uh so it's just gonna be awesome.

And then Easter, Mother's Day, it's it's gonna be and another thing we're gonna be doing is adding some uh uh more classrooms.

And one of the things we want to start on Wednesday night, more more uh studies.

Uh I'm praying and be praying with us about a revelation study.

I've got a pastor in in um in Tuscaloosa, actually Susan's dad's pastor.

He is a master on revelations, and so what I plan to do is try to get him in to do uh uh possibly Sunday through Wednesday on revelations and give an overview.

I mean, it's awesome about about the millennial reign, the tribulation, uh the rapture, when we think it's gonna take place, and when uh and and then after that, going to a Wednesday night study with Warren Wearsby in the B series on Revelation.

So that'd be another thing.

So these are the things that we're now gonna be able to start.

I know Carol's been wanting to do that for a while, but uh, these are some of the things that now we're gonna be able to do because of the room.

These are some of the things we haven't been able to do because we really didn't have a place.

So it's gonna be exciting around here the next couple of years.

And then hopefully in two years from now, if we all God does what I think he's gonna do through all of us, we'll be building that new multi-purpose building too.

So it's gonna be some exciting times around here.

But when we start ministering to people like we do, even taking it to another level, that's why God sends the finances.

Amen.

That's why people give when they see evidence of what God's doing, not what man's doing, but what God's doing.

And so that said, if you and I are gonna take our walk with God to the next level, if you and I are gonna really be what God wants us to be in his church in Westover, we've got to understand what it means to work out our salvation.

Now, let me go ahead and get on record.

Don't be led astray when I say work out your salvation.

That has nothing to do with you working for your salvation.

Let's get that right up front.

You don't work to be saved.

You get saved, then to work.

Let me say, for by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself.

It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9.

But then verse 10, you should never quote verses 8 and 9 without 10.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, listen to what he says, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that ye should walk in them.

So our text this morning to start this series off, working out our salvation, starts, and it's a topical series, not a verse by verse, and I do that.

You know how I do Old Testament, New Testament, and topical series.

So this is our topical series.

We we did the Old Testament Joshua, then we before that we did uh James.

So now it's it, and this topic's just also it fits everything we're doing.

So I want you to turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2, and I want us to look at verses 12 and 13 for today's message.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

And today's message is titled A New Start.

Or it could be titled, What is the purpose of my Christian life?

What it, why do I get saved?

Well, I get saved to go to heaven and not to go to hell.

That is a good reason to get saved.

Amen.

Somebody said, Well, it's more than that.

I agree, but that's a pretty good reason to get saved.

Not to go to hell.

Okay?

Now, that's just one reason we get saved.

But the reason we really get saved is because the Holy Spirit, through the power of God, through the person of Jesus Christ, draws us to himself, and then we submit to him for salvation and lordship, and when we do, we are saved, and he becomes Lord of our life, and then we are to live out that Lordship until he calls us home.

Amen.

I don't want to go any further.

That's pretty simple, but it's profound what I just said.

Are you with me?

So, what we're gonna look at, the salvation we see every week.

You hear the gospel every week.

At the end of every message, you hear the gospel the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Every Sunday we give people an opportunity to be saved.

Every opportunity.

Most of the time, somebody gets saved.

So that's the first step.

Sadly to say, a large percentage of Christians, that's the only step they take.

They get saved and they stay babies the rest of their Christian life.

And that is so sad, ladies and gentlemen.

So sad.

And not because, hey, hey, I'm sad for me, but I'm sad for you.

I'm sad for me too, if that's all I have.

It's kind of like a baby being born.

You are so excited.

I get pictures every day of my new little grandbaby that I'm gonna see in a couple of weeks.

I'm so excited.

Can't wait.

And she is so pretty.

She's smiling and just such a good baby.

My little buddy Braxton fell off and had stitches.

Some of y'all saw that on me praying for him.

He's doing better.

But uh, but that little girl, you know, she's beautiful.

But if she just stayed there as a baby and never grew, you know, after a few years, she wouldn't be that pretty.

Amen.

I mean, there's a growth process.

And that's the way it is with our Christian life.

We start out as newborn babes.

As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby, 1 Peter 2, 2.

And then we begin to grow.

And what is that growth?

Well, let me just go ahead and give you a few, three theological words.

One is justification.

Justification is salvation.

That's when you get saved.

And then once you get saved, you start a process called sanctification.

And that sanctification is basically, this is the easiest way to explain it, it's working out your salvation.

Now that should give you the difference between justification and sanctification.

Justification, you had nothing, you have nothing to do with it.

God does it all.

Can I get an amen?

You submit, you ask him to come in, he saves you.

You don't do anything for that except give your will to him and say, Lord, yes, it's no longer what I want, it's what you I want for you to give, you know, I want your will in my life, and you come in.

But then that's when sanctification starts.

The process now, and I call it working out your salvation.

You get salvation, that's justification.

Now it's sanctification, and what is that?

Working out your salvation.

Make sense?

And then when you die, and after you are continually daily working out your salvation, one day when your ministry's over, when you've finished your course, you've completed your course, hey, then you die, you go to be with Jesus, and that is glorification.

Those are the three big words that really sum up the Christian life.

Make sense?

Justification, sanctification, glorification.

And sanctification is what we're gonna be dealing with.

So, if it's so important, and by the way, you get rewarded, are you ready for this?

This is good.

You get rewarded in heaven at the beam of judgment seat, which you'll know more about.

You've heard me preach on it some, but in detail when we do the revelation study.

But but the beam of judgment seat takes place right after we get, hey, we die and we go to heaven, or after the rapture, either one.

Hey, then we stand before the beam of judgment seat and we get rewarded for guess what?

The working out of our salvation.

That's what you get rewarded for.

Make sense?

I'm making it very plain and simple, folks.

Took me a long time to make it simple, but it's simple.

I'm a simple preacher.

Amen.

So, with the part, hey, you don't get rewarded for justification, and you don't get war, well, glorification is ultimately the final reward.

But the crowns that you receive, hey, you receive them by what you do during your sanctification process, working out your salvation.

Now, if you understand that, say amen with me.

Because that's what we're gonna be dealing with these next six weeks.

Working out our sanctification.

It's powerful.

And if you do this, if you catch this, and if you allow God to radically give you that desire and that energy, and that's what that word work there in the Greek means, working out your salvation, a word Christ working in you.

God energizing you to work out his purpose in your life.

If you catch this and start it, you're gonna be the most dynamic, exciting person.

Your life will radically change, I guarantee it.

I mean, you'll live a life you've never lived before.

But it doesn't, it doesn't come easy.

But when we finish, you'll know what you're supposed to do.

And what I hope you will do.

So, with that said, that's a pretty good introduction.

Honey, would you say that's a pretty good introduction?

Now look at verse 12 in Philippians 2.

And we know he's writing to Christians because in chapter 1 he already deals with salvation and talks about the Christians at the church at Philippi.

So we know they're Christians.

That's why when he's talking about working out your own salvation at the end of verse 12, with fear and trembling, with reverence and self-distrust and with carrying out with fear and trembling your own purpose.

That's what it means, with reverence and awe, make every effort to ensure that you fulfill what God's called you to do.

He says, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, he's talking to the Christians at Philippi, you've been good, you've been obedient.

In other words, you followed my suggestions and my teachings and my instructions.

You've always been careful to follow the right instructions.

Not when I'm just present only, not when I was just with you, Paul said, but now much more in my absence.

In other words, he says, you're living, you are living a testimony for God.

And then he says, What?

Working out your salvation with fear and trembling.

Now look at verse 13.

For it is God which worketh in you, which energizes you.

For it is God Himself who powers, hey, whose power creates within me and you both the desire and the power to work out our salvation.

There has to be a desire, because the power is already there if you're saved.

Can I get an amen?

So that's what he's talking about.

So let's look at it.

I want us to look at six things this morning.

What is the purpose of my Christian life?

To work out my own salvation.

You say, Well, why am I here?

What am I here for?

Hey, what is the meaning of my life?

What is my purpose?

Why was I born?

These are questions asked by the young and the old, all of us.

In fact, when we get older, it kind of changes.

When we're young, we're we're we're saying, what does God want me to do?

Why am I here?

But the older we get, like me, you know, you go through fourth, I call it four quarters of life, your first quarter, your second quarter, uh, from uh from your birth till about 40, 45, somewhere in there, that's first and second quarter.

Then after you start hitting that 45, 48, 50 in the third quarter, and you start getting into your later 60s, mid-60s, early 70s, you end the fourth quarter.

Because the Bible only promises how many years?

76.

That's what it says.

I meant 70, I'm sorry.

I'm thinking about I will be in 76, I'm sorry.

No, well, I I was.

I was just thinking that.

I meant I'm that's that's not he's not old, he looks good.

In fact, he's grown a whole lip since his new hip.

But but what I'm saying is, when we get start getting into our our third and fourth quarter, you know what I you start asking yourself, have I really done what God wanted me to do?

You start saying, Have I done enough?

Did I miss it?

What did I miss?

And then I hate this.

Then we start saying, What if?

The what if.

I hope that I've had very few what ifs.

Because I've tried these last 35 years after God called me to full-time service to do exactly what God's called me to do.

Have I missed it?

I'm sure I have sometimes.

There's been a few times.

Or let me put it this way, there's been a few times I've I've sat back and said, man, did Lord did I miss it?

So for you that are in your first or second quarter, this series could change your life.

And for you and I that are in our third and fourth quarter, it could change our life.

Because it's not how you start, it's how you finish that counts.

Amen.

So you can finish that third and fourth quarter.

And finish well.

But it's got to be done his way.

Not my way, not your way, but his way.

And he tells us every Christian has a definite purpose and meaning for his life revealed in the Word of God.

Can I get an amen?

I want you to say this with me, church.

I have a definite purpose.

Say that.

I have a definite purpose.

God does not make junk.

Now, with Carrie came a little close, but he doesn't, he doesn't.

No, that's me, Carrie.

I saw him pay.

He doesn't mind me paying.

I know who I can pick on.

But but hey, hey, God doesn't make any junk.

God has a you're fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous is his works.

He's got a purpose for you.

Psalms 139, verse 14.

Psalms 139:14

A special purpose for you.

And that is to work out your salvation and to do his will.

So let's look at it.

The first thing that God really wants us to do is, number one, he wants us to serve him.

He wants us to serve God.

That's our ultimate purpose.

He came, he died to provide a means by which we could be saved and give our lives to Christ, and the person of the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our life, and then we live to please God.

We live to please him.

Listen to what he says in Joshua 24, 15.

This should be on every door of every Christian.

Or somewhere when people walk into your house, if, hey, hey, if you are on fire and you're working out your salvation, when people walk in your door, they ought to see Joshua 24, 15.

Choose you this day whom you're going to serve.

For me and my house, bless God, we're going to serve God.

You know where I stand when you walk in our house.

Amen.

It's kind of like the Jesus is awesome band.

You know where I stand when you see that band wherever I go or wherever I have it.

But when you walk in my house, you're going to say, see Joshua 24, 15, in a plaque, in a picture, or in something.

You need that.

It needs, people need to know where you stand.

Joshua's mind was made up to serve the Lord no matter what anyone else did.

Amen?

Or what they said.

It's the Galatians 2.20.

I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless, I live yet, not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

It's the Galatians 2 20.

It's all out.

Hey, I'm all in.

New year.

It's a new year.

All in.

I'm going to be all in with me and my family.

Everything that I do, I'm all in.

So Someone once said the best ability is availability.

Amen.

The best ability is availability.

The best thing we can do is to make ourselves available to God in His service.

We're going to be doing a fair, talking about all the difference.

And on our vision night, you'll see, you'll see a lot of the different areas of ministry that we have.

We've got, and for our size church, we got, oh, it's awesome what we're doing and what how people are getting involved.

But you need to get involved.

You need to get involved in ministry, folks.

And that's one of the requirements to being a covenant member is to get involved in some kind of ministry.

We've got the kitchen ministry, and we got a great cooking group.

We got, we even have a dishwashing ministry.

Hello?

You said, well, that doesn't take a whole lot of skill.

I didn't say it did.

But you know, you gotta be clean, that's right.

But but you know what it does take?

It takes an attitude of I want to help.

It's not the dishwashing, it's the attitude.

Amen.

It's the attitude.

I want to help.

How can I help?

Hey, it you can help pick up chairs, set up tables to feed us as a whole group.

That's ministry, folks.

Hey, and when you have done it unto the least of the little ones, Jesus says, You've done it unto me.

That's awesome.

But you, hey, you got to get involved.

There's time to serve.

And now, right now, and by the way, hey, the best availability now, now, is the watchword of the wise.

Live for God now.

Not tomorrow.

Not when I get a little older, guys.

Now, right now.

Behold, now's the time.

Behold, now's the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 6, 2.

Isaiah said, Hear my Lord, now.

Send me.

Now.

Now.

We're to become, hey, we're to be concerned about what, hey, we are not to be concerned about what people think, but what God thinks.

Can I get an amen?

Don't become a slave to the crowd or the gangs.

Hey, hey, their pressure.

Don't worry about what the world says.

It's amazing.

Now the election's over, I quit listening to the news again.

And I didn't listen to it much.

Well, about six weeks there.

Why?

Because there's nothing good.

Used to, when I was growing up, there was good stuff on the news.

You got encouraged.

You couldn't wait to hear Brinkley on the night news because they'd be talking about the good things of what we're doing.

There's nothing good.

I mean, we dwell on the negative.

Satan wants us to dwell on the negative, on the bad.

If you have never seen, that just came out on video, you gotta see the movie The Greater.

It's a true story about a football player from Arkansas.

And it's phenomenal.

One of the best movies I've ever seen.

It's awesome.

About being an influence, a walk-on that ended up winning most of his senior class to Christ and getting them involved in my Bible study.

And they went on almost to win the national championship their senior year, and they had been losers the whole time he had been there.

The greatest walk-on story in college football history is phenomenal.

Don't tell me one person can't make a difference in a school or in a house or in a job.

One person can make a difference.

What unbelievable.

And by the way, it ends.

Well, I'm not going to tell you to end and just watch it.

But hey, we can't allow people to, hey, to control us.

We gotta allow God.

Hey, no man can serve two masters.

Either you hate the one, hold to the one, and despise the other.

Either you're all in or you're not.

Jesus said, either you're for me or you're against me.

Can't be half-hearted.

No, you're all in.

You gotta be all in.

It's just like working out.

Danny's my workout buddy there.

If he didn't show up, I probably wouldn't show.

But we hold each other accountable.

But but hey, working out, either you're all in or you're not.

You can't work out one day and then decide to work out three or four days later because you can't get out of bed.

Either you're all in or you're not.

And by the way, you can't just work out, you gotta cut back on the calories.

Somebody said, How'd you lose your weight?

I said, I quit eating.

That's almost true.

1,500, 1800 calories, that's not a lot of food.

And then you burn up 600 calories working out every day.

Way to come off pretty quick.

Well, I just have a problem.

Yeah, I know you have a problem.

It's called putting it there.

I got a shovel problem.

I'm shoveling in.

That's my problem.

Amen.

Especially when it's peanut butter cake.

Donuts.

All that stuff.

I've got one more week, then it's off.

Then it's off.

But really, all right, number two.

That's don't get on the rabbit.

Come on.

Realize living, hey, and by the way, I wrote this for me.

This is very important.

When you live for this world, watch this.

I wrote this to me.

I plague my life with stress that is unnecessary.

Do you know that?

When you live for the world, or you have one foot in the world, one foot with God, that's a stressful thing.

It's a tug of war.

World's pulling you, the spirit's pulling you.

And here you are, you're being stretched, and you're wondering why you're so stressed out.

Either you're all in or you're not.

And then I wrote this to myself.

And also, then the potential, hey, not only is stress that is unnecessary, but my potential.

That will, hey, there'll be potential that's unused.

Because when the half of the potential that's over here in the world, it's not being used for God.

That means I'm half-heartedly serving God.

And then I wrote this, and then my life will be unfulfilled.

Folks, when you're half-heartedly trying to serve God, when you're half-heartedly trying to walk one foot in the world, one foot with God, you will be unfruitful.

And you will be unsatisfied.

You won't have the peace of God.

You're in a tug of war.

Some of you right there now.

I know I've been there.

You're in a tug of war.

You really are.

So, it's very important.

God places great value in faithfulness and obedience to Him and His will for your life.

Number two.

We're to be a spokesman for the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5.20.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you.

Listen to this, by us.

We pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God.

We are to be speaking up for the Lord.

That's it.

The Bible says we are to spread the gospel.

The Bible says, we always quote 2 Corinthians 5, kind of like Ephesians 2.8.9 without verse 10.

We quote 2 Corinthians 5.17 without verse 18.

And 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, therefore, if any man be, you know it, quote it with me.

Therefore, if any man be in what?

Christ Jesus, he's a what?

New creation, what?

All things have passed away, what?

All things become new.

Verse 18, though, says, and all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, and who has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

See, you can't have the one without the other.

If you are, you've just taken justification and left it there.

Sanctification is living out God's will for your life, and part of that of God's will for your life, we know is sharing the gospel, speaking up for, hey, the gospel of Jesus Christ, inviting people to church, bringing people to church, telling people about Jesus when they're hurting and when they're down and out, that Jesus is the answer.

You say, Well, I'm I'm just kind of shy.

Well, give them a life and death track.

That's all we gotta do.

I've given, I give them out everywhere I go.

And let me tell you, they I I've not had anybody not want it, and I and after I show it to them, uh, when I read it to them, uh, and they read it themselves, they say, wow, that's great.

Can I have it?

Absolutely.

So we are to be ambassadors.

Uh I was, it looks like possibly Mike Huckleby.

Are you ready for this?

Maybe.

He's in Israel right now.

There's words out on the street, take that for what it's worth.

But I think it's pretty reliable.

That Mike Huckleby may be our new ambassador to Israel.

Woo! Ha ha! Oh, that will be fantastic.

You say, well, now wait a minute, are you pro-Israel?

Absolutely.

Hey, are you pro-Bible?

If you're pro-Bible, you're pro-Israel.

God's word says, I will bless those who bless my people, the Jews, and I will curse those who curse my people.

I am pro-Israel.

It's the only really, should I say, ally in the in that region that really believes that Jesus is the Messiah.

I'm for Israel.

Amen?

So that's been the thing going along.

I just thought I'd let you know where I stand.

Yes, I'm pro-Bible.

I'm pro-Israel.

But but Acts 1.8, and you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, to the othermost parts of the world.

Why don't you think Dra goes and takes you and we go to Honduras, we go to Africa.

We are taking the gospel, hey, to all parts of the world, but especially to the parts God's told this little church to go.

And we know it's here, west over our region, right here, our community.

We know it's Africa with Ben's father and people there, and we know it's Honduras.

Those are where we're working.

And we plan to expand all of that.

But especially here at home by putting in the freezers and stuff and clothes so we can minister to this community where they come to us.

Hey, won't it be great when they're driving in the driveway for help and we're able to give them all the help they need, especially Jesus?

Isn't that exciting?

When they come to play soccer, you don't have to worry, well, bless God, we can't pledge allegiance to the flag.

Oh, okay, you can't, but guess what?

We can.

We can.

In fact, we're gonna take it everywhere we go.

God bless America! God bless America! Amen.

I'm just letting everybody know where I stand.

I figured, you know, I hadn't said a whole lot.

Well, I'm just telling you where we stand.

This is where we are, this is where who we are.

Why?

That's what the Bible is.

That's what God's word is, folks.

I am not gonna be politically correct against the word of God.

I could care less about political correctness.

What I care about is the truth of the word of God.

That's the truth.

That's what matters.

That's what matters.

You vote for the truth.

And that's so true.

Jesus invites us to come.

Hey, now watch this.

Jesus invites us to come to him, but he also commands us to go for him.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Mark 16, 15.

Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

Luke 14, 23.

Wow.

And then we're to be, hey, hey, when we're when we're speaking out in ambassadors, you know what?

Two things we're to be.

We're to be salty and shiny.

We're to be salty and shiny.

Listen to what God's Word says in Matthew 5, 13.

He says, You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salty?

It is therefore good for nothing.

If you're not salty, if you're not a salty Christian, you're good for nothing.

That kind of bothered me because I started saying, I wonder how salty I am.

Really?

Have you ever wondered about salt?

You know what salt does?

Salt purifies.

That's exactly right.

We're to have a purifying effect on this world.

We're to have a purifying effect on our community.

In other words, they ought to look at us and say, they're living right.

Amen?

There's joy at CCW.

I mean, do you understand the way God has blessed this church financially this year, the greatest year in the history of the church so far, but by far,$480,000 budget, we're going to end up with about$540,000 budget.

That's just God.

But you know why?

Because we are trying to be a purifying effect on our community.

When we go out into the community with that ice cream truck, when we knock on doors and we help people and we take care of people and we feed people, but when we go into the community with that ice cream truck and help people and give people free ice cream, that's just a means by which we're able to show them on front of that truck, Jesus is awesome.

It's all about Him.

Amen?

And what else is salt?

It's a preservative.

All right?

We are to arrest the corruption in this world.

In other words, we are to, hey, when you see something wrong, you take a stand.

You hear somebody use GD, say, whoa, please don't do that.

You say, I'm afraid what people, you know what I've learned?

I do it all the time.

People, they they don't, sometimes they do it so regularly, they don't even know what they're saying.

But when you confront them in a loving way, they apologize.

And let me tell you what, they won't do it again.

In fact, in the why, when I come in, Danny will tell you, they'll say, Oh, watch what you're talking about, how or what you're saying to preachers here.

So let your light shine before men.

That's the shiny part.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

And if you have a light, why would you put it under a bush?

Or a bush.

No, you want it to lie.

Hey, hey, don't hide this thing.

Don't hide that Jesus is awesome.

Hey, put it in their face.

When you go to, I always turn it right here when I'm buying something.

So I'll say, here.

And trust me, when you do that, they go.

And sometimes they won't say a word.

And then I just say, he is awesome.

Or most of the time they'll say, He is.

He is.

And on my new coat I got, I got big yellows, black coat with the our our CCW emblem with Jesus is awesome.

I mean, I put it right there.

I didn't put it inside my love.

I put it right there.

And it's amazing.

I wear it everywhere.

It's hospitals everywhere.

It's amazing.

They look, he is, he is, he is.

And every once in a while I say, yeah, he is.

You want me to tell you why?

And they say, yeah.

Letter A, he's all sufficient.

Letter W, he's a word.

Letter E, and I just go through the across to preaching.

And I a lot of times I have some sisters say, Woo, preach it, preacher.

When they do that, I just keep going.

Ha ha! Hey, we have we do.

We have church at the Y.

Ask Danny.

We do.

Especially when Glinda's back behind there.

She goes, I walk in, she said, Preacher, give me a word for today.

Now I didn't say a word.

She asked me.

I just let everybody hear the word.

Amen.

That's the way it is.

Why?

Hey, we preserve it.

We stand in the gal.

And then salt promotes good health.

Now, some would say it raises blood pressure, but overall it's preservative and lives.

What that means is we are to strengthen our community.

And you know what else it does?

It's tasty.

We ought to be tasty to our community.

The joy of the Lord ought to make us, they ought to see such a radiance on our lives that they want it.

When you taste, have you ever had something without salt?

It's a little blend, isn't it?

Huh?

Then you put a little salt, and all of a sudden what was awful is good.

Well, see, what people don't have a clue of, they think the Christian life is awful or we're weird, or it's it it's it's what those conservatives do.

But listen, when they see the real thing, and the and you they usually see it in in trying situations, by the way.

When they see the real thing and see that it's real, they want it.

They want it.

And that's what salt is.

And by the way, salt is a prize.

Did you know that?

In Bible days, I was researching, I didn't realize this.

Soldiers were paid a lot of times with salt.

Do you know that?

They were paid with salt.

And then I looked up the word now.

See if I pronounce this word right.

It's S O L A R I U M.

Lorium.

Florien, is that close?

Okay, well, let me tell you what that means.

It forms our English word for salary.

I didn't know that.

I learned something this week.

So, salt was the soldier's salary.

I never thought of that.

I've heard that and I've used that, but I didn't know why.

But it does, that makes sense.

You're not worth what I'm paying you.

Hello.

Really?

That's what it means.

You're not worth your salt.

And you know, I and then I thought about that.

Christians are valuable to the world.

If you took the Christians out of our community and out of our world, our world wouldn't be worth its salt.

Amen.

So it's powerful that we understand God, hey, God has placed us to bring good to our community and to our area.

Amen?

We're the salt of Westover.

We're the salt to Chelsea and Starrett and Wilsonville and Harpersville and Childersburg.

We're the salt.

That's good.

Well, number three.

We're to seek God's kingdom and his righteousness.

Matthew 6, 33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these other things should be added unto you.

The Lord is to be the number one priority of our lives.

You know what I've learned after 35 years of ministry?

Almost everyone wants the kingdom of God.

But the problem is few want it first.

They want it, but they don't want it to be the most important thing.

They want to get their ticket punched to go to heaven, and then they want to live their life the way they want to live it.

Doesn't work that way, folks.

If you really do get saved, justification, and you don't start working out that sanctification, that tug-of-war is going to start pretty quickly.

You're going to be miserable, you're going to be stressed out, you're going to be torn between what's right and what's wrong.

And that's the problem.

As a Christian, our lives do not belong to us.

Can I get an amen?

Sometimes we'll shout out, it's my life.

I'll do what I want.

Have you ever said that?

I've even said it to the Lord.

I have.

Guilty.

A couple of times in 35 years I've been in a situation where I said, Lord, take this job and shove it.

Yeah.

I am.

I didn't nobody knew that but me and the Lord.

I've told my wife, that's it.

I'm through with the ministry.

Nobody appreciates me.

Me having my pity part.

Nobody does that.

Nobody cares.

And I said, I'm through.

She says, and you know, I'm looking for her to put her arms around me, hug me, say, honey, it's gonna be okay.

Pray website.

You know what she said?

Well, quit.

Oh, get no mercy.

Quit.

Just quit.

Then she'll say, if you can.

Well, I can.

It's my life.

I'll do what I want.

Then about that time the Holy Spirit said, Ain't your life.

For you're bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God, hey, which is in you, which you are not your own, but you are His.

1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20.

Isn't that exactly what it says?

Absolutely.

For you're bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 7, 23, you're bought with a price.

Be not, yeah, hey, be not ye the servants of men.

Oh, I forgot those verses.

Not yours.

Not yours.

That's it.

We're to be seeking the Lord and alert to his leadings in our lives.

Are you alert to what he really wants in your life today?

Whoa! I read this illustration.

It was awesome.

This is applicable.

Don't you miss it?

There was an ad put in the paper for a job to be fulfilled.

And so this young lad read it, ran to the business building, walked in, there was a sign at the desk said, fill out this form for this job position.

There was already seven people sitting there that had filled out the form waiting.

But when he walked in, there was this clicking going on.

Everybody just sitting there listening to it.

So the young man goes over, fills out the form, goes sits down, looks around.

Same clicking.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

So he looks around, all of a sudden, he just jumps up and walks through the door into the interview room.

All of a sudden, these seven people looking around saying, Well, now who does he think he is?

We've been here an hour beforehand.

I mean, that's okay.

They'll show him he won't get the job.

About 15 minutes later, he walks out with a big smile on his face, and the owner of the company walks out with him with his arms around his shoulder and says, Ladies and gentlemen, y'all can leave now.

This young man's got the job.

And they all said, Wait a minute.

What?

We've been waiting here an hour, and you gave him the job.

Who does it?

What's going on here, sir?

He said, Did you not hear?

It was a telegraph.

And that was the fastest means of communication at that time.

And what it was saying, if you have come and applied for this job and want this job, come in the door right now.

So he sat there about five minutes, saw nobody going in door.

He understood the the the uh what do you call it?

Morse code.

And he just went in.

Seven people sitting there, whether they understood it or whether they didn't, they probably didn't understand it.

Hey, he was alert, he heard it, and he did it, and got the job.

Ladies and gentlemen, every week when you walk in this door, listen, God's got a Morse code for you through the Word of the Living God.

He's got a word for you every time you open your book and have your family devotions, your own devotions, you come into your church, your Sunday school, which I hope you'll get involved in these Bible studies we're gonna be doing.

He's got a word for you.

And if you're alert and you take it, he'll change your life.

Amen.

Just like that.

Just like that.

Just like that.

Then number four.

Not only are we to serve him, speak for him, seek him, we're to surrender and submit to God's scheme and schedule for our life.

Jesus saith unto them, My meet is to do the will of him that sent me, to finish his work.

Now I want to give you one verse.

You got to see this.

Acts 20, 24, Jason.

I think that's up there.

This is the best verse.

I love this verse.

It's one of my favorites.

I try to pray this every day, or at least weekly.

Listen to what Paul said.

But none of these things move me.

What things?

All the distractions, all the things of the world, all of the things that would try to take me away from what God wants me to do.

That's what that means.

Now watch.

Neither count I my life, my life dear to myself.

In other words, it's not about me.

It's all about him.

It's not what I want for my life, but it's what God wants for my life.

Amen.

That's what he's saying.

Then he says that I might finish my course with joy.

Hey, there's some people that, hey, they're doing a course.

They're Syrah Pusses.

Man, they're just they're they're complaining and griping and running.

Why am I doing this, man?

This is hard.

I don't even have the right shoes.

Well, who's floating?

I just thought.

But they no, he says, look, finish my course with what?

Joy.

Joy.

And what?

The ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus.

Now, watch to testify of the gospel of the grace of God.

Now, three things I want you to underline.

I want you to, hey, the word move, the word finish, and the word testify.

That's it.

That's working out our salvation.

We are to move.

We're not to stand still.

We're to be aggressive.

We're to do what God tells us to do, not wait around.

Move.

And in moving, we don't let the things of the world.

Instead of being a tug of war, we're pressing in one direction.

And then notice we got to finish.

We can't halfway do it.

You can't go to church 10 years and then quit.

You got to finish.

You got to finish.

And what do you got to finish?

Your ministry and your, which is your course.

Your course and your ministry.

And everybody has a ministry.

Everybody has a course.

Everybody.

And you say, well, I really don't have to find that out.

Yes, you do.

I'm telling you.

Time to work it out.

I'm going to help you do that.

We're going to look at how we work out and how you find your purpose and how you how you do these six things in your home, in your work, in your life, in your in your friendships, in your school, in your work arena, in your fun life.

You're to be working out your salvation.

And we're to finish it.

And you know what that ministry is, regardless of what platform you have.

The ministry is real simple.

He tells you what it is.

Share the gospel.

Your ministry is to share the gospel.

You can be a doctor, you can be a lawyer, hey, you can be a surf pro guy, you can be a preacher, you can be a whatever.

But whatever your platform is, your ministry is to share the gospel.

To be a testimony.

That, hey, hey, you shine, you're salty, you're shiny, and you're speaking up.

Somebody said, Well, I can just live my Christianity.

Absolutely.

Because you can't speak it if you're not living it.

But you're not to just, hey, shine, you're to share.

Amen.

Speak up.

Ambassadors.

We're ambassadors.

Man, that's good.

God has a different plan for each one of us.

And our responsibility is to know his will and accomplish it.

Can I get an amen?

Paul understood that.

2 Timothy 4 7.

What did he say?

I fought a good fight.

I finished the course.

I kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

Woo! Surrendering to the Lord is at heart.

It is at the heart of worshiping Him and fulfilling God's purpose for your life.

It is.

It is.

Surrender is not for a moment.

It's an everyday battle.

Can I get an amen?

It really is.

And it's trust.

It's putting our trust in Him, trusting in the Lord.

Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

And then number five, here's what else we're to do in 17.

We're to steer people to Christ by our life.

We're to bring honor and glory to the Lord with our lives.

We're created by Him, saved by Him so that we can glorify Him.

Say that with me.

We are created by Him, saved by Him so that we can glorify Him.

Got it?

Let's say that together.

We are created by Him, saved by Him so that we can glorify Him.

That is working out our salvation.

Paul put it this way: You are our epistle, 2 Corinthians 3, 2.

I love this.

You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men.

You're writing a gospel, a chapter each day, by the deeds that you do and the words that you say.

Men read what you write, distorted or true.

What is the gospel?

According to you.

That's 2 Corinthians 3, too.

That's what Paul said.

And then the last thing, and I'm through.

We're to be suitors of the Lord, which means loving Him and worshiping Him.

Revelations 4 11.

Oh, I love this song.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.

For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they all were created.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power.

For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

We were created to love and worship and glorify God in our lives.

You know why?

Because in John chapter 4, look at this.

John 4 · chapter mention

Put it up there.

This is awesome.

23 and 24.

The hour comes and now is.

Right now, 2017.

When true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Now watch this last phrase.

For the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Now watch this.

I'm going to teach you something you may have not heard or taught about worship.

Worship is not for you.

Hello.

For the Father seeketh to worship him.

Worship's not for you.

Worship's for God.

The reason we worship him is because we adore him.

We bring our worship, our offerings, our time, our talents, our treasures, our testimony to him.

And every day that we live should be a life of worship to him.

Not just on Sundays.

But every day.

And everything that we do.

God is spirit.

And they that worship him.

Uh-oh.

There it is.

Worship him in spirit and truth.

Wow.

I close with this.

Worship is the lifestyle of loving the Lord, enjoying and being satisfied with him, giving ourselves to him, being totally surrendered to his will.

It's the Romans 12, 1 and 2, you know it.

It's giving ourselves to him first, 2 Corinthians 8, 5.

And this they did as we hope, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

Wow.

From the rising of the sun, a beautiful praise song.

Hey, from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised.

I will bless the Lord at all times.

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Wow.

We're to be sweethearts with the Lord.

Sweethearts.

Let me add here at this point to say this.

God is offended by our half-hearted worship.

This is what God taught me this week about worship.

The phony excuses and the hypocritical attitudes of many of us today make God nauseated.

Listen to what he said.

Jesus said in Matthew 15, 8.

This people draw nigh unto me with their mouth.

And they honor me with their lips.

But their heart is far from me.

Because of their lukewarmness, they were neither cold nor hot.

I will spew them out of my mouth.

Revelation 3:16.

Revelation 3:16

Understanding God's purpose for us gives sense to our lives.

Without a purpose, our lives have little meaning.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Ephesians 5, 17, wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Paul said, this one thing I do.

Here we are, folks, and I'm through.

2017 is here.

We're to forget those things that are behind.

We're to forget our failures.

We've all had them.

Amen.

We've had them.

We all have.

But listen to me, we're also to forget our successes.

That's past.

This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind.

But I reach forth for those things which are before.

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in and through Christ Jesus.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's a new day, it's a new start, it's a new year.

It's a new you.

So work out your salvation.

Start afresh.

You said, but you don't know what, I don't care what you've done, it doesn't matter.

First John 1 9, take care that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Can I get an amen?

Start to new today.

You can do it.

We can do it.

Together.

That's why your church is so important.

Make a promise that you're going to try to be here every time you can.

Not because I just want to see it, but that's a good reason I do want to see it.

But I want us to be fed together.

I want us to be the church that when people drive by on this highway, well, 2017, they'll feel the power of God in this place.

And that is each and every one of us radically selling out to God.

It takes us all, not just one, but I'm going to tell you what, one can make a great influence.

Some of you teenagers, you've been half-heartedly serving God.

I know it, you know it.

Adults, some of us have been half-heartedly serving God.

You know it, I know it.

Because I may be one of them.

We know it.

Let me ask something.

Have you really given your all this past year?

Absolutely not.

I haven't.

Not all that I could.

Now I'm giving, but not all that I could.

You know why?

This mama love life.

Remember when you got married?

Or you got that girlfriend that ended up being your wife?

You couldn't stay apart from her.

In fact, I had to go to Lynchburg, Virginia.

She she moved to Lynchburg.

I was in love with Susan and I was a young pastor, and I didn't want her, I just knew I had to get her away.

Just get out of here.

Don't tempt me.

Go, go.

Finish your university at Liberty.

I wanted to go to my alma mater.

Well, after six months and a five, six hundred dollar a month phone bill.

Six weeks.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

Oh, summer, yeah, I guess it was.

I got in my car and I went to Lynchburg, Virginia.

And she was doing a PE class.

She was jogging.

And I pulled up beside her in that beautiful car of mine, a Pinto Station Wagon.

And I said, hey, Red.

I called her Red.

You want to go home with me?

She said, yeah.

But I couldn't, I, you know, I had to be with her.

Wanted to be with her.

I don't like it.

She goes and spends six weeks in California, and I but I understand it.

But I still yearn for her to come home.

First thing I asked her when you want to talk to her, when are you coming home?

But guys, there's a relationship there.

There's a love there.

Yes, baby.

You know it.

Do you have that love relationship with Jesus?

Does he miss you when you're not here?

Does he miss you when you don't have your quiet time?

Does he miss you when you have an opportunity to do good and share and you don't?

Can you what do you wake up thinking about him?

Do you go to bed thinking about him?

That's what I'm talking about.

Can we have that this year?

Honeymoon's over, folks.

It's time to get to business.

It's time to be that light, to be that oasis here.

And it only comes through each and every one of us together.

Together.

And it starts with an intimate relationship with him.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

If you would like to find out more about us, visit us on our webpage at thechurch at cw dot com.

You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at The Church at CW.

Need prayer or more information?

Send us an email at office at the church at CW dot com.

We hope you have a wonderful day, and again, God bless you.