Sermons

It’s not easy, being a dad

Our labor is not optional, but neither is it absolute. Our labor is always a participation in the grace of God’s provision. Today we look at a familiar parable to encourage us to be hard workers who participate in the grace of God’s provision with a heart of compassion.

Jesus used the workplace as the setting to reach many people and He longs for us to do the same. The workplace is the most strategic place for evangelism in America, and every workplace follower of Christ has an unprecedented opportunity to be a significant spiritual influence in the lives of people with whom he or she works. Today, we look at the influence we can have.

Jesus came to be what Adam failed to be; a perfect image bearer of God. Just like Adam, Jesus was given a job to do. He came to show how to be image bearers, even in our work. Today, we fix our eyes on Jesus (the perfect image bearer) and will see how gospel faith impacts our work.

As a result of the curse we will see today, work became more difficult, unpleasant and liable to failure and unintended consequences. Men and women must still be fruitful, must still multiply, must still govern. But now, a second layer of work must also be accomplished - the work of healing, repairing, and restoring the things that go wrong and the evils that are committed. Roughly speaking, there is twice as much work to do now than there was in the garden. Work is not less important to God’s plan, but more. Today, let’s look at the reality of work outside the garden.

Today, we begin a new series, entitled, “Designed to Work”. Work is part of God’s creative order. We were all designed to work. As we begin our study, we look at God working in the beginning, how He worked, how He valued His work and His pattern of work. I hope as we journey through this series on work we have God’s perspective toward the work we do and see the ways that our work connects to God’s work.

The greater love of God’s plan in the story of Good Friday and Easter makes hope alive forever. Let us this Easter, celebrate our great hope that is alive in Jesus.

Identity, Interpretation, and Intent