The Choice - Work Hard

Well, what a great morning.

We get a worship Jesus.

We get a follow Jesus.

It's uh Baptism Sunday.

Um that's a great day.

We've got about, I don't know, 60 or more people that are being baptized uh this morning.

And it's it is such an exciting um time, and it's not a big baptism event.

It's 60 big big events that just happened to get uh rolled in one.

And and it's a statement.

You know, it's a I'm all in.

I'm following Jesus.

I'm I'm gonna live this way, I'm gonna trust him.

In Romans 6, it says, this is what happened in baptism.

When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind.

When we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace, a new life in a new land.

That's what baptism into the life of Jesus means.

When we're lower into the water, it is like the barrel of Jesus.

When we're raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus.

Each of us is raised into a light-filled world by our Father so that we can see where we're going in our new grace-sovereign country.

So it's such a great thing.

To even we, you know, to have something where we literally get to follow Jesus, do exactly what he did, and then spiritually follow Jesus and be raised to a whole new life.

After we're we're done, do a little hands in the pile.

And if you're visiting, you probably don't know what that means, but uh you'll see.

I'm sure we have people here for the first time, um, some of you maybe friends or or family to uh um experience uh a loved one getting baptized.

So we're really glad you're here.

Hope you can tell that you can just relax and and um and be yourself.

But after we're done, we're gonna take about 15 minutes.

There's big restrooms that way and big restrooms this way.

And whether you're baptizing or a baptizee change into shorts and a t-shirt, and and then we'll meet over here.

And I'll tell you, if if you're either of those and you're nervous, just uh, you know, you might be like me.

I'm a real introvert, so anything that I've got to do in front of people makes me nervous.

And I know that it's actually terrifying for some people, but I just promise you, it's such a simple, sweet experience.

We're all going to be doing it together.

If you're baptizing someone, there's something there that'll uh show you exactly what to say.

And it's just gonna really be a great time with uh with God and with each other.

Uh I want to remind you the junior high group meets on Sunday mornings.

That's kind of new, so I guess it's possible, we don't talk about it that much, um, for you to start coming and not know that there's a great that's a good sign right there.

I'm not kidding.

Anytime confetti falls from that ceiling, something big happens.

So uh this is gonna be a big day.

Junior High is great.

So uh I want to make sure you knew about uh that uh they're having an event this Friday.

It's uh it's an all-nighter.

Um it starts at 8 p.m.

and it goes to uh 9 um a.m.

on Saturday.

And it's just a great way for the junior high students to get plugged in, get connected to each other.

They're gonna have worship, some discussion, they've got a full night's uh worth of fun and uh games, and and it's really gonna be a good time.

And Justin's, just for the parents, you'll know, Justin's plan is to fill them up with pizza at midnight and hope they just start those off.

And so that's that's the plan, but it's gonna be very well supervised, very secure, and they just need to bring a sleeping bag and five dollars for pizza if they can.

Uh 21 is come up on July 13th and 14th.

It is uh a great woman's event.

It's 21 hours of time with God and other women.

Um it is, I know it is gonna be so encouraging and so fun and so bonding with each other.

And next Sunday is the last Sunday to sign up and guarantee a spot.

Now, we're gonna keep the signups going as long as there are spots, but that depends on how many rooms um are left.

And so if you can plan for that, maybe get some more information this morning.

Uh next Sunday will be the last time to um guarantee you get to participate in that.

Um, Bless the Bikes is coming up in two weeks on uh May 20th.

That May is such a great month.

We have Mother's Day next week, and uh it's uh it's a good time.

Bless the Bikes is just a blast.

We've got a lot of people that ride, and we know a lot of people that ride, and so on that Sunday we all ride in and we have a great time in here, and then afterwards we go out and we have food and music and and we get to pray for for each other and pray for for the riders and just that they'd be safe and that their lives would be uh blessed, and then we all crank up our bikes at the same time, which is very cool and uh one of the highlights for me.

And so I want to ask you a favor.

I don't do this often, but if you know anyone that that rides, um would you send them an email or a Facebook message or however you communicate and let them know about May 20th?

I did that too with a friend Friday, and he forwarded it to 16 um couples that they ride with.

And so that morning they're all meeting and coming and riding over for Bless the Bikes.

And so if we can uh can do that, I know we're gonna have an opportunity to really show people God's love that may not know about it, and it'll be a really, uh really good time.

So aren't much about giving.

We don't pass the plate, obviously, but uh it's important for what we do together, it's important for us individually as we continue to learn how to uh honor God and really trust God, is uh is a lot of what giving becomes about.

But there's four stations in the back, and you can also do that online.

Uh there's also prayer request cards in the back.

If you have any prayer we need prayer need in any way, um please fill out those cards.

We've got a team that prays every week, and uh man, those prayers are answered huge.

And so uh please do that as well.

All right, let's uh let's pray.

Father, we just praise you.

Thank you for being such a great God, for being such a loving Abba daddy and father to us, adopting us as your very own kids.

And and Holy Spirit, we just thank you for being our teacher and counselor, and uh please teach us this morning, each of us, so we can leave thinking, wow, that one thing, there was one thing from you for me.

And so we trust you with that.

And Jesus, we just praise you.

We just thank you for being our Messiah, our Savior, our Lord, our friend, and it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

So last week we started looking at a little book written about 2,500 years ago.

Um, in my Bible, it's only 25 pages long, yet it really is one of the most powerful books that's ever been written.

It has been studied and it's been implied by some of the most impactful men and women of all time.

It starts this way: These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king, written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going, a manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair, to teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.

But there's something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn, fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

Start with God.

The first step in learning is bowing down to God.

Only fools thump their noses at such wisdom and learning.

So last week we kind of set up this adventure in having a good life God's way.

But just imagine if an angel came and offered us a little book, and with it was the offer of long life, riches, and honor.

I mean, would we want to read it?

Would we absorb it, make it a part of every day?

But in Proverbs 3 it says, Wisdom is more precious than rubies.

Nothing you desire can compare with her.

She offers you long life in her right hand and riches and honor in her left.

Now, God's wisdom is different than man's wisdom.

It's even different than religion and religious people's wisdom.

Um, it's often counterintuitive, not the way that we would think about it.

You know, it starts with the spiritual and with the supernatural, a relationship with God and and uh an understanding of how much he loves us and that we can trust him.

He says, My child, this is how to live.

Like Tony Dungey, the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

James Brown, the host of NFL Today and uh on CBS, says, as a man of faith, no matter what trials and tribulations he's faced, he has embodied the scripture found in Proverbs 16, 23.

Better to be patient and powerful, better to have self-control than to conquer a city.

Dungey has followed the biblical prescription for success in football and the game of life.

Dungey is a winner.

Like Truett Cathy, the founder of uh Chick-fil-A, Mr.

Cathy's life verse is Proverbs 22, 13.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

It makes a difference when we live God's way, when we live by God's wisdom.

Proverbs 4 says, If you prize wisdom, she will make you great.

Embrace her, and she will honor you.

She'll place a lovely wreath on your head, and she'll present you with a beautiful crown.

My child, listen to me, and do as I say, and you will have a long good life.

In the book of Proverbs, we're called on to make eleven choices.

Each week we'll have an opportunity to make one choice.

Last week the choice was uh compelling and it was simple.

I will choose God's wisdom.

I will ask God to give it to me supernaturally, to infuse it into my heart and my spirit, and I will seek it with all my heart.

I'll read parts of his wisdom each day until thinking God's way becomes natural.

More than money, more than pleasure, more than approval, I will seek God's wisdom, knowing in one hand she holds long life, and the other riches and honor.

Now I'll probably feel often like I need to clarify one thing, and that is that I don't think God wants us all to be rich by American standards.

That's not what this is about, or that in any way that's a sign of his approval.

We're all going to go through different struggles and through different times and through different seasons in our life, and it's the tough times that really allow us to appreciate the easier times.

And so those are a gift in a way, too.

But I do know, because the Bible says it over and over and over, that he wants his kids to be blessed and to have more than enough and to be able to share.

And God does want each of his kids, each of us, to have a great life.

And so the book of Proverbs was written and saved because he loves us and he wants us to have a great life.

And the reason that first choice is so important, you know, I'm gonna seek wisdom, I'm gonna really go for it, I'm gonna have a you know, stir up a desire, ask God to deserve, stir up a desire in my heart.

So I really want it is because it's not all easy to apply.

And so first we have to decide, yes, I'm gonna trust God, I'm gonna do it his way.

I want to know what he says, and I want to be able to apply it in my life.

So today, the second choice.

It's not an easy one necessarily, but it will affect our lives in every way.

And it's a good one, and it's a satisfying one.

And it's talked about over and over in the book of Proverbs, so much so that we're not even gonna have a chance to read everything it says.

But Proverbs 12, 24 says, work hard and become a leader.

Be lazy and become a slave.

Thomas Edison said, Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

And our choice this morning will be to work hard.

I know, fun, huh?

It'll be okay.

Um, all of us have some lives in our mar or some part of our lives in our marriage, parenting, school, or jobs, or careers that we can apply ourselves a little bit more.

Now, on the other hand, some of us are already exhausted.

You know, this morning we're just exhausted.

We can barely keep up.

The last thing we're hoping for is to come and be encouraged to work hard.

Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

A relationship with Jesus is not hard work.

It's actually restful.

And you don't have to perform to earn God's love.

He loves you.

He loves you, he's for you.

He's not giving up on you.

He loves you.

But part of his demonstration of that love is to take the time and effort to record for us how to have a good and enjoyable life here on earth.

Families, careers, communities.

So if you've given all you have and you're feeling exhausted, it's okay because you are gonna come away encouraged because you're gonna know that all your hard work will pay off.

All your hard work will pay off.

It always pays off.

It's been true in my life.

Um, I wouldn't say I've always busted it.

I uh I got fired from my first job.

I was a bus boy at a Chinese restaurant, the blue Blue Willow Chinese restaurant in Salem, Oregon.

And one day Mr.

Yi pulled me into the kitchen and told me that I worked too slow.

And so he had to fire me.

And that wasn't the worst part.

I mean, getting fired was bad enough.

No more free pork-fried rice was bad.

But I was somewhere between 14 and 15, and I didn't drive, and so my dad brought me to work and picked me up afterwards.

And so Mr.

Yi had to drive me home.

And so he fires me, and then I tell you, that 15-minute ride was one of the longest uh 15 minutes of my life.

But I learned from it, I learned to work harder.

Oh, when I was out of school, actually I went to a two-year Bible college, which is a whole nother story.

But um, after there, I went to USF, and and and while at USF before graduating, um Susan got pregnant, we got married, and I dropped out of school and I went to work.

And I went to work as a carpenter and did that till that job ran out.

I liked that job.

Um weren't I couldn't find a job I liked, so I worked uh as a construction laborer, and my job was to carry concrete blocks to the people that were um to the masons that were building the walls, and we were building an Connell Lodge in Tampa, Florida.

And so that got done, and we were so poor, and we had no health insurance, and we had a baby on the way, and so and I had to get a job.

And so I see a job delivering television sets at a local, you know, uh, electronics company, and that looks exciting.

But I call and that job's taken.

So I don't know of anything else.

And I see this job at uh Dunham Brad Street in downtown Tampa, you know, but you had to have a degree to apply for the job.

And so I called and I said, you know what, I I know whatever this is, I could do a great job, and asked if I could come in and give them my resume.

But the person that interviewed me didn't want to hire me because I hadn't finished um my degree.

But I sold her as hard as I possibly could that I would be the best employee she had ever seen.

And eventually she decided to take a chance.

And so I started that job as$9,400 a year was the uh was the salary.

And the thing is, we talked with uh interacted with insurance agents about health insurance products, was this division of Dunna Brass Street.

And I got into this team and we had a goal of the goal was 40 to do 40 of these proposals a day.

Um and so I decided I was gonna do 80.

Uh in part because, you know, I mean I had a family to take care of, and in part because we got an extra bonus on every one of these that that we did.

And so I decided to do 80.

So I'd come in early and I would work through lunch and I would work stay late.

And I didn't always do 80, but it but I did a lot, a lot more than 40.

So after about three days of that, you know, the other people on the team, there's about eight of us, would come by and say, hey, you know, this isn't how we do things here.

You need to slow it down.

You know, you'll see, just just slow it down, everything will be good.

It's a great company, they have great benefits, good place to work, um, but you're kind of making us look bad.

But I didn't care, you know, and so I keep going.

And and after about a week and a half of that, um the manager comes to me and says, uh, Steve, I need you to slow it down.

You know, you're causing a lot of trouble on the team, and I just don't really want to deal with it.

So if you can slow it down.

And so we had a great conversation, but I said, you know, I can't.

You know, I've got uh a wife, I've got a baby, um I'm gonna go as hard as I can.

And so about six months after that, one afternoon I get called up into the executive offices.

I've never been into the executive offices, and I know I'm in big trouble because I parked illegally that morning.

And and so I know I'm gonna get it, and they had already sent out a memo about that like the week before.

And um and so I go up there, and this company has about a thousand employees, and they had picked six to be in this brand new what they called an executive training program.

You know, it was five people that had insurance degrees and me.

And it was God's favor, and he blessed the hard work.

And it was taught by the CEO and the president um of the and the chairman of this of this DN division of DNB.

So you can imagine, I mean, what a great experience that was in my life.

And so the first morning when we go into this uh um class, Charlie Guy, he's the chairman of the company, he's a uh ex-naval officer, and he looked apart.

You know, he had the flat top, um white hair, and um chewed on a big cigar.

And Dunabrad Street was a Yale company.

You know, some of the big New York companies, or you know, a Boston company might be Harvard Dunabrad Street was Yale.

So that meant that the higher all the higher-ups at Dunebrat Street actually uh graduated from Yale.

Um Mr.

Guy hadn't.

And so the first morning he gets up in front of our group and he says, I see these Yale boys with their Pepsodent smiles, and they have all the advantages, and it doesn't bother me because I know in six months I'm gonna stomp them because I'm gonna outwork them.

And hard work is the great equalizer.

I've never forgotten that hard work is the great equalizer.

It's true.

We might feel like we've been dealt a bad hand, like we're in a situation where we're at a disadvantage.

God has revealed to us a simple truth.

In Proverbs 14, it says, hard work always pays off.

Mere talk puts no bread on the table.

And this is something I've noticed just in my life experience.

That people that work hard stand out big time.

People know that know they're gonna be at work anyway, know that those hours are gonna be away from their family, they're gonna be there.

Why not hit it hard?

Why not do the best?

No unproductive phone calls, no killing half an hour talking about sports, no checking on the Facebook page, surfing the web.

Why not give it all they got?

Those people are noticed.

And if not by their employer, they're noticed by one of the employer's vendors or customers.

Somebody notices and wants them on their team because people with integrity, people with stability, people with great attitudes, and people that work very hard are a precious commodity.

They are valued and they are rewarded because they're living God's way.

And so if we say yes, you know, I could work harder and Some areas.

We can ask us, I mean, we can ask God to help us with that.

I mean, this is such a huge epiphany in our lives when we stop noticing defects or weaknesses and try to fix them so we can please God and instead go to God and say, God, would you help me fix this?

I want to be everything you've got for me.

I want to be what you created me to be.

Well, you help me.

And then he does.

And so, you know, in any area where we're like, man, I could really apply myself more, we can ask God to give that to us.

Give us that desire.

Make us enjoy hard work.

This one thing literally can change our lives.

And God helps us with this.

God doesn't pull any punches in Proverbs.

In Proverbs 6, he says, take a lesson from the ants, you lazy bones.

That's kind of kicking at old school, you lazy bones.

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy bones, learn from their ways and become wise.

Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.

But you, lazy bones, how long will you sleep?

When will you wake up?

A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit.

Scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

See, God says in his wisdom, it's the little things.

You know, just a little extra sleep.

Hey, I'm only a little late for work.

Oh, I only took a little longer lunch, only a few, you know, personal phone calls.

It adds up.

It adds up.

And God says poverty becomes the result.

That we can learn success by emulating ants.

You know, what came out this morning head in here, and we had a box on our front porch.

And uh so I picked it up to take it in, and I noticed there was ants all over it.

And so I sat it down, and I'll deal with it later.

But, you know, ants are hard to stop.

I mean, they are self-motivated.

They work together as a team and they work hard before they need the results of their labor.

God says, you know, you can learn a lesson from ants.

Because sometimes we can be the opposite.

In Proverbs 22, it says, the lazy person claims there's a lion out there.

If I go outside, I might be killed.

He says it again in Proverbs 26.

The lazy person claims there's a lion on the road.

Yes, I'm sure there's a lion out there.

It's important enough for him to say it twice.

It's not so much that we need to worry about lions.

What he is telling us is that there's always a reason to not work.

There's always an excuse to procrastinate.

And God blesses our action.

Our son is 28.

He works very hard.

I'm really proud of him.

Um, when he was 19, not quite as much.

When he is home from college, I've told this story before.

In fact, if we're together very long, you're going to hear these stories over and over because I'm so young, I don't have that many stories.

Um but when he was 19 and come home from college, he'd been there about three to four weeks.

Every day we'd bugged him to get a job, every day he couldn't find a job.

And then one morning Susan told him not to come home again without a job.

You know, that must have been the Holy Spirit, because I that was not so much like her.

But he said, You're telling me if I don't have a job tonight, you're not gonna let me in the house?

You don't want me to come home?

And so when she said, don't come home without a job, what she meant was, don't come home without a job.

And so she said, yeah, that's what I'm telling you.

He could not believe it.

Thought it was horrible.

So obviously, I still remember that day for two reasons.

One, that interaction with he and Susan, and two, it was the first day of his new job.

He got a job washing trucks, a job that he would have never wanted, a job he would have never applied for.

But he was forced to take action.

God blesses our action.

God blesses our hard work.

George Patton was one of the greatest fighting generals America's ever known.

He was a little gruff, sometimes profane.

Uh he also relied on the Bible for wisdom, read it every day of his life for wisdom, said it was the best military book of one thing, for one thing he'd ever read.

He famously said, Yes, I read the Bible every blankety blank day.

But he had a saying that has helped me so much in business.

Um, I mean, in general, but I've noticed it more in the business world.

Years ago I got to be friends with this was another thing, but uh friends with uh a man who is the chairman of a large insurance company.

His name's uh Dan Rourke.

Um he had one quote on his office wall, and it was a quote from Patton.

You might have heard it, but this this is what it is.

A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.

Hard work starts with action.

And God's wisdom is that hard work means taking care of the small stuff.

In Proverbs 24, it says, I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense.

I saw that it was overgrown with nettles, it was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down.

Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson.

You might recognize it.

A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit.

Scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

The little things matter.

This man says, hey, I can look by at how someone takes care of their property and know if they're living by God's wisdom or not.

I have a friend who hires a lot of people.

And he told me that before he hires someone, he goes and looks at their car.

He literally at the end of the interview says, you know what, I'm gonna make, if he likes them, he says, you know what, I'm gonna make a decision in a couple days, I'll call you, let me walk you out to your car.

And he goes and he wants to see their car.

Not if it's a new car or an expensive car.

He doesn't care about any of that.

He just wants to see how they take care of their car.

Because he believes that if they won't take care of their own stuff, they won't take care of his.

You know, really, it's different, but it's applying God's wisdom in Proverbs.

I guarantee you, no one that has applied for a job with him thought that little thing would make a difference.

But the little things do make a difference.

They add up.

In parables, Jesus uses a plain truth in life to teach a spiritual truth.

You know, he says, okay, here's a truth we all understand, and then he applies it and helps us understand a spiritual truth.

One time he's talking about the parable of the talents, he's talking about investing a small amount of money with someone, and it's Matthew 25.

The master said, Well done, my good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.

Let's celebrate together.

If we're faithful in little, he'll give us a lot.

You know, we can't wait for the perfect job or for a great job.

We have to go all out in whatever job or responsibility we have.

We have to be faithful with little before someone gives us much.

If you didn't have a job and you asked me my advice, which may or you know you would want to take with a grain of salt, um, I know what I'd say because I always say the same thing.

I say, choose a great company or get a list of great companies and take any job they'll give you.

Literally any job, no matter what it is, take that job.

Because usually we hold out for a good job, and we get a good job maybe with a crummy company, and that's what we have.

But if we get any job with a great company and bust it, have a great attitude, work as hard as we can, before long, we'll have a great job with a great company, which is what we all want.

My nephew started at uh Target as a part-time security person, and now he manages the whole store.

He really works hard with a great attitude.

Jesus says this in Matthew 24.

Who here qualifies for the job of overseeing the kitchen?

A person the master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day.

Someone the master can drop in on unannounced and always find him doing his job.

A God blessed man or woman.

I tell you, it won't be long before the master will put this person in charge of the whole operation.

Jesus is getting ready to explain a broader, more spiritual truth, but he's using a physical truth.

That if we work hard, you know, at work or whatever role we're in, even when no one's looking, eventually we will be rewarded.

We will have more responsibility.

The book of Proverbs, as we talked about last week, is a book of principles, general principles.

But really, with God, this one, hard work, is more of a promise.

And if we're not given it all we have, it probably isn't laziness.

It probably is that we think it doesn't matter.

It won't pay off.

No one will notice anyway.

You know, I work hard and you know somebody's friend's gonna get the promotion, or you know, it's gonna be politics or or whatever.

It doesn't, you know, it doesn't really matter if I work that hard.

That is not true.

That is a lie.

God's truth is hard work always pays off.

I'm not talking about a solid day's work for a solid day's pay.

I'm talking about giving it everything we got.

Being exceptional.

In Colossians 3, it says this servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters, and don't just do the minimum that will get you by.

Do your best.

Work from the heart for your real master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance.

Keep in mind always that the ultimate master you're serving is Christ.

The soul and servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.

Now, this is why hard work always pays off.

It's the same reason honesty and kindness and generosity always pay off.

Because there is a God and He loves you, and He rewards us.

He makes sure we get rewarded.

In Matthew 6, Jesus says, you know, don't draw attention to yourself when you pray, don't draw attention to yourself when you fast.

Don't draw attention to yourself when you give.

He says, our Father who sees everything will reward us.

He will reward us.

Our Abba Father, Daddy Father, will make sure you get rewarded for your hard work.

And the rewards for hard work are enormous.

In Proverbs 12, it says, wise words bring many benefits, and hard work brings rewards.

There's three I want to mention quickly.

Actually, maybe there's four.

You know, the first is hard work honestly gives us satisfaction.

It really does.

I mean, it's like you're talking about that car.

If that friend was going to hire me, he went and looked at my car, I'd probably be okay.

If he went and looked at my closet, I want to get the job.

Or my side of the garage, probably not.

But you know, those days that I organize the closet or clean out the garage, I feel good.

I mean, there's something satisfying about that.

Something about it puts me in a good mood.

And God created us to actually enjoy hard work, coming home knowing, man, I gave it all I got today.

And so there's a certain satisfaction God created us with, because we're created in his image, a certain satisfaction.

But another benefit is we prosper.

And in Proverbs 13, 4 says, lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.

Another thing is that our money will grow from our hard work.

In Proverbs 13, 11 it says, wealth from get rich quick schemes quickly disappears.

Wealth from hard work grows over time.

Now the third one is the best one of all.

You might know that the Apostle Paul was a small business owner.

That he wasn't supported by churches except for when he was in prison, which was quite a bit.

But uh he caused riots.

That was one of the things he did.

But he was a small business owner and he made tents.

And he provided not just for himself, but he provided for other people as well.

And this is what Paul says.

You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me.

And I have been a constant example how you can help those in need by working hard.

You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus.

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

This is the greatest, greatest benefit of working hard is we get to help other people.

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Paul says one of the greatest joys we can have in our life is to give.

And it's it's it's true.

I've got a friend who says that in God creates every person with a generosity gene, just waiting to get ignited.

And once that gets ignited, look out.

It is unimaginable, really, how much joy we can have in helping others.

How we can help those in need by working hard is what Paul says.

So we can work hard, not just at our jobs, but at school, in our marriages, with our kids, even on our health.

It always pays off.

That is God's wisdom.

He loves us, he wants us to have great lives, whatever our past, whatever our upbringing, whatever our situation, we can actually leave this morning with great hope.

Great hope.

It will only get better.

It has to get better.

God shows us to give it all we got.

And people do notice.

But even if they don't, it's okay because he notices.

Because he notices and he rewards us.

We read Proverbs 4.10, my child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.

So this is our second choice.

I choose to work hard.

I'll not settle for the comfort of wasting time, but whatever I do, I'm gonna do it all out.

Like I'm working for Jesus Himself.

With that, with that attitude, with that gratitude for the opportunity, knowing He sees and He will reward me if I choose to work hard.

And so if the worship team will come up, we'll stop there this morning.

You know, it's Baptism Sunday, and it's such a beautiful experience, and it's a symbol of a new life ahead of us.

You know, for many of us, it's a thank you and a demonstration of how God has already changed our lives.

Jesus can transform us more than we can possibly imagine.

We just need to connect with Him.

And the thing connecting with Jesus, that is not hard work.

That is not hard work.

That is simple.

We go to Him in our own way, in our own words.

Jesus, I need you.

Jesus, help me.

Jesus, save me.

Jesus, I want to follow you.

I'm gonna trust you.

And he does.

You know, and and and we're created each of us with the Spirit.

Again, in God's image with the Spirit.

And when we do that, our Spirit comes alive, connects with God's Spirit, and He starts changing us from the inside out.

He changes us in so many ways.

He changes us by each other, he changes us through the Holy Spirit.

He changes us by hearing maybe hard messages from his word.

But but he does the heaviest lifting.

He does it.

We can trust him.

He changes us from the inside out, and everything around us um starts to change.

And so let's stand, let's get ready for the last song.

And we'll just ask our dad, our father, to give us that desire, give us that energy even to give it all we got.

And so, Father, we praise you and we thank you.

And I thank you for loving us enough to teach us, to show us how to have a good life, and we trust you with that.

And God, I ask you that you would stir up in each of our hearts a desire to work hard, to work all out, to work like we're working for the Lord in everything we do.

That that would be easy, that God, that we would even enjoy it, that we'd look forward to getting up in the morning and doing whatever we're called to do.

And so we praise you for that.

We trust you with that.

Change us, God.

Give us the great life that you want for us.

And God, so many of us have so many things going on this morning.

I just whatever it is we need, I just ask you to bless us.

Give us exactly what we need.

We ask a special blessing on all those who are being baptized this morning.

Father, we love you.

We thank you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.