The Package: Usage

NOTE: This is from a sermon that was supposed to be delivered the end of December (2010), but due to illness I was unable to deliver it at that time.

I was given a gift certificate as a “thank you” for some help I had provided. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the gift certificate. It could be “hidden” or it could’ve been shredded in a big pile of junk mail when we had a “shredding party.” Either way, at this time, I cannot make use of the gift certificate.

Being given this gift certificate and not making any use of it can be similar to not taking advantage of the gift of Jesus. If I never use that gift certificate, it will be of no value other than hidden value. If I never use the value of what Jesus brings to my life then it is nothing more than hidden value, too.

Sunday, we looked at the last of “The Package” series. This one focused on using the package. When we order a package, wait for its arrival, and unveil it after it is opened, if we do not use the package, it does not do us any good. Our faith can be much the same way, it needs to be used. Here are some "uses” to choose from to use this week…

These are some of the ones that I mentioned on Sunday…

1. When at a service station one can say to someone pumping gas as they hand them a card with church info on it, "I would like to give you something to add fuel to your life.

2. Prayer walking

3. One of the best ways to share your faith is to demonstrate the very things you believe by staying positive and having a good attitude even in the middle of a crisis in your own life.

4. Understand your culture

5. View evangelism as a process rather than an event

6. Finding a person’s spiritual address – where they’re at in their walk

7. List all the lost people you know and pray for them daily.

8. Do not forget to share your testimony and the gospel with the children or grandchildren in your family. This is witnessing, too, and of the most urgent kind.

9. When at a hotel. Write your contact information on it, too.

10. Pray with someone over the phone.

11. Take a plate of home-baked cookies or a pie to a new neighbor. Include a note of welcome to the neighborhood, a New Testament, and church info.

12. Write a letter to your personal physician thanking him for his care. Include an acknowledgment of the Great Physician.

13. When given an assignment that is open-ended to write about, include things that are vital to your faith

14. Reach out to someone who is alone (or seems like they are)

15. Tell someone you’re praying for them, follow up on the area you were praying about

16. If you pray at public meals, ask the server if there is anything you can pray for about them

17. Tell telemarketers that you will give them some of your time if they will give you some of yours to share your faith. Or someone who comes to the door soliciting.

18. When making a list to go to the store, don’t forget to put down “watch for someone I can talk to about Jesus” on there

Making use of the “package” will strengthen our faith and make us more excited to share Him. However, not exercising the usage of the “package” can cause our faith to weaken. Let’s make the most of the gift we’ve been given!

Encouragement

Everyone needs it. Some provide it. Rarely is it overused. I am talking about encouragement.

“Good job”, “Way to go”, “I’m proud of you”, and “You are good at that” are examples of encouragement one might use to make someone else feel good about themselves. After all, that is what encouragement is about.

Growing up, I was one who needed encouragement. I had areas that I wanted to be better at, but I wasn’t. Other areas I did do pretty well in. However, there was something about life that caused me to need encouragement. From this, I began to feel like I was probably the only one who needed the encouragement because most others seemed OK.

Then, I grew up. Still with the cloud of discouragement around me, though it was lifting a bit, I had a hard time encouraging others. I was a young adult and would see someone do a good job at something and it was like pulling my own teeth to get me to say “good job” to them. It felt forced and fake, even though deep down inside I was proud of them. I wanted to have someone say those kinds of things to me, but it wasn’t coming. However, I still felt the urge to say something to others.

I then met my wife, and she was a very positive and uplifting person. She was such an encouragement to me, both verbally and by example. She would pump me up and let my strengths be known. I don’t know what life would have ended up like if it hadn’t been for her. The only downside was, I still felt fake and forced to say something nice to others, but it wasn’t as much as it used to be.

Then, God put me on a path that had some definite out-of-my-element phases to it – ministry. For most, ministry probably seems like a Sunday and Wednesday job, keeping in mind those who call or come by to visit. However, I quickly realized the pains that people go through or are involved in. These pains happen at any given time to any given person. These pains will range from frustrations to interruptions to loss. No matter how painful life is, I quickly found out that people need encouragement.

People need to know that things are going to be OK in the end, even if, in the storm of stress, it doesn’t seem like that is ever going to be the case. They need to have regular “pick-me-ups” so when the storm does come, maybe they’ll remember those words of encouragement.

Even though I was not very comfortable with telling people they did a good job at something, when I myself was waiting for the “good job” but not receiving any encouragement, the job seemed to be tugging at me to do more for others along the framework of encouragement.

One thing I began to realize, very quickly, was no matter if you were the star of a sports program, Valedictorian of your class, or most popular. Somewhere, sometime, would be a time or times when you would need some encouragement.

That is when I began to think about what I could do to encourage others. I began to write a blog that is geared toward encouragement (www.jarrodspencer.info) and send out e-mails of encouragement. A few years ago, I thought about an idea to reach the “non-e-mailers” where I send free texts messages to over one-hundred forty different people, which is focused on encouragement.

I am always looking for new ways to encourage people, individually and as a group. Traditional ways still work well. I have yet to witness someone giving too much encouragement or refusing to accept it. If you have a difficult time giving it out, may you learn to give it out because you know how beneficial it is to others.

Who are you going to encourage next?

Building Life

Ever since I was forced, I mean, required to read “Great Expectations” as a freshman in high school, there was something about it that I related myself to the main character. As I grew up, it seemed that my relation to the story didn’t cease. Part of what I relate to is that the boy, Pip, meets people as he is growing up that influences his life, but then he seems to meet up with them throughout adulthood.

The other day I was talking to my niece, who is in college. I was inquiring where she was playing her college basketball game at. After she told me, I knew a couple of people in that town. As we were visiting, she made the remark “You have all the connections”. Because of my life experiences, it does seem that there are a lot of places in which I know people. Most of which is not my doing, but the “deck” that life handed me.

As you go through life, think about how this quote does apply or has applied to you…

You just don't luck into things as much as you'd like to think you do. You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.  ~ Barbara Bush

There will be some situations will come about by happenstance. However, most situations will come about because of something you’ve done in the past to help pave the way or build your path to that stop-off.

As you go through life, think about how you are “building life” and help make it a great one!

For my faith-oriented friends…also think about how you can help “build life” for others by laying the path to get them closer to Jesus!

Meeting Every Day: The Social Media Way

In the early church they met every day and one of the challenges that the 21st Century church has is that time does not allow us to meet every day. We have jobs, activities, etc. that make it very difficult to meet on a daily basis.

However, one of the neat things about the social media is that it does allow for people to interact with each other on a daily basis, if one chooses to do so. Facebook is a very common form of social media. It allows people to be connected and to update what is going on in their life...some on a daily basis.

I was not ever all that close with my cousins, but Facebook has allowed me to visit and connect with them. I would have never guessed that it would have happened like it did. I also have connected with past classmates from grade school to college to preaching school, all through this this form of social media. The picture shows a picture form of my friends on Facebook.

So, even though our schedules may prevent us from meeting at a given location on a daily basis, but thanks to social media, we can meet at the location we are at and still be in the same “location” as our friends and Christian family. Though it does not take the place of person-to-person contact, it is still a great way to stay in touch!

 

Stressed Out: Loss

Of all the things I have lost, that were tangible (wallet, keys, etc.) the thing that probably stressed me out the most was losing my computer. Actually it was stolen, not misplaced or set somewhere and taken, but my office was broken into and I lost it, along with a few other things. I thought someone had played a trick on me, initially, but once the reality set in, I was stressed!

That computer had a lot of information on it. I had just downloaded a lot of useful information and it was now all gone. I didn’t know where or to whom it went. I was devastated! (not to mentioned stressed).

However it worked out. Luckily, though it was a relatively new computer, I had a previous one that still had a lot of information on, just not the most recent. So, I was able to pull off some of the information that I needed.

Sunday, we examined our final lesson in our short series called “Stressed Out”, this one focused on “loss”, which could be of any area which one loses something. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week…

• Weighing the Loss ~ As God provides everything for us, may we take that into account when it comes to losing something. This is especially true of losing things that we had little to no control over, not negligence. God provided in the first place and He’ll provide in the “second place”. Keep Him above what you lose and our perspective will be much better.
• Moving Forward ~ Sometimes stress just paralyzes you. Some may sulk as a result. Some may sit and drown their stress. May the choice be made that we do not allow stress to be a “rest area” but rather motive to move forward with our life and doing things for Him, while increasing our faith.

Losing things can be very stressful, but how we react to those losses will make all the difference! May we simply use it to glorify Him!

Tulsa Workshop Class Preview: How House Churches Can Set Us Free

Bob Grigg’s class is sure to be an interesting one…The early disciples knew their message meant a radical departure from the status quo and they went  everywhere  boldly preaching the good news'. It IS the call of every disciple to make disciples and everyone who has a house or an apartment could invite any guest and devote their homes to making disciples around a simple meal where Jesus is not the guest but THE HOST. House churches provide a medium to combat the weary and heavy-laden church with a dynamic for sharing Christ at the DNA level. No church buildings required and no large and highly educated staff required. This will not fit well with our present structure so be prepared to meet resistance.

Normal: the Unknown People

Susan Boyle and William Hung are a couple of people that a few years ago you would not have had the faintest clue who they were. They were just everyday, normal people. They had jobs, families, and a life that was lost in the crowd.

There are people all over the world that you will not ever know about because they are doing the normal, day-to-day stuff. Some will remain in that normal state and some will do something about that normalcy.

The question is…which side are you going to be?  That brings us to this week’s quote…

The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well. – Alfred Adler, Psychiatrist

Susan Boyle and William Hung are now famous and most of you probably know them well. However, even if you don’t think about all the people who you do know well. At one point, the vast majority of them were nobody’s. Even Michael Jackson was just a young kid in a group that hardly anyone knew, until…

So, are you going to be normal or not?