Rev. David Holwick M Groundbreaking Ceremony
First Baptist Church Combined Service
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 6, 2008
1 Chronicles 28:9-20
DO IT!
I. IT'S JOGGING SEASON.
A. Runners are all over the roads.
1) I see some who run only in the dark. We all know why.
a) I should be running in the dark, too.
2) It can be hard to get motivated when it is cold and dreary.
a) They are all probably thinking of the Nike commercial.
b) "Just do it!"
1> Once you get started, you'll probably finish.
2> But you have to get started.
B. Solomon was starting his biggest project.
1) For a man who reached the pinnacle of success, nothing
surpassed his construction of the Temple.
2) The project began with his father, King David, but
required Solomon's effort to be completed.
C. All of us face challenges in life.
1) Solomon had his temple.
2) Our church has its multipurpose building.
3) And you have something.
a) What is something you want to accomplish?
1> Get a college degree?
A> (Celeste is taking an internet course.)
2> Build a business?
3> Make your 75th wedding anniversary?
4> Have all your immediate family believe in Christ?
b) We may have different goals, but the same challenge:
1> Are we going to do what needs to be done?
2> How are we going to do it?
3> When are we going to get started?
II. START WITH GOD.
A. Acknowledge God. 28:9
1) Not just God, but the God of his father.
a) He must maintain the legacy that has been passed down.
b) Americans are in the habit of experimenting with faith.
A study by the Pew Foundation called the Religious
Landscape Survey looked at how much change is going on.
They found that more than one-quarter of American adults
have left the faith of their childhood for another
religion or no religion at all.
If you factor in moves from one denomination to
another, the number rises to 44 percent.
Apparently we don't like the God of our father that
much!
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2) What image of God are we passing down to our kids, grandkids?
a) What do you teach them about God?
1> I hope it is more than, Go to church or I'll whack
you.
2> Find out what questions they have about God and
issues of eternity. You can be sure they have some.
b) What does your life model about your faith?
1> Our words communicate, but our actions even more so.
B. Serve God.
1) Wholehearted devotion and willing mind.
a) We would say "heart and soul." It is not just the hands.
2) God sees beneath the surface. 28:9
C. Seek God.
1) He is "findable."
2) He is also "forsakeable."
a) Following the Lord is a conscious decision.
III. PUT SOME MUSCLE INTO IT. 28:10
A. Where does human effort fit into God's plan?
1) We always stress that human effort can't get us saved.
a) This is correct -- Jesus did it for us.
b) Though there is an "effort" in the act of believing.
2) But we are not just puppets.
a) That fact that God is sovereign and can do anything he
wants does not mean we can do nothing.
1> We were created to be responsible beings.
2> We were created in the image of the Creator,
so we can create, too.
b) We can decide, and act, and accomplish things.
1> Don't dither by saying, "If God doesn't want it to
happen, my efforts don't matter."
2> Your efforts matter more than you can know.
3> That is why David says to Solomon, "Do the work."
A> We don't need a lot of philosophizing.
B> Just get started.
c) What are you going to accomplish that is significant?
1> For me, a new church building is nowhere near the
top.
2> I want to leave a vibrant, loving church as a
heritage.
3> But it doesn't happen by chance. It takes work.
A> Whatever you do will require effort as well.
B. Be strong.
1) Take a positive approach to the task.
2) Toughen yourself so you can keep your focus.
C. Be guided by God. 29:19
1) David received the plans for the Temple by divine
revelation.
a) It was like getting another book of the Bible, or
the Ten Commandments.
2) God usually doesn't speak to us this clearly.
a) But he has already revealed his principles to us and
we should apply them.
b) A Year of Living Biblically.
A.J. Jacobs is the editor-at-large for Esquire magazine.
He grew up as a secular Jew and describes himself as an
agnostic.
He knew next to nothing about religion or the Bible.
He thought, How can this 2,000- to 3,000-year-old book have
any relevance to my life?
For a special assignment, he decided to find out if the
teachings of the Bible could be followed literally, every
jot and tittle.
He spent one year eating Kosher, going to synagogue and
resting on the Sabbath, growing a beard, and reading the
Bible and praying every day.
The result was the book THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY.
He said it was the most fascinating year of his life.
It also changed him in profound ways.
He learned from the Bible to be much more thankful.
He became more community-minded as opposed to individual-minded
because the Bible is all about being a part of community.
One of his hardest lessons was forgiveness.
For A.J., forgiveness is a really hard thing.
Even when he did forgive, he forgave with an asterisk.
He read in the New Testament where Paul says love does not
keep score. (1 Corinthians 13:5)
He disobeyed this literally because, before his year, he had
been keeping score of his wife's arguments with him.
Any time he would win an argument or she would make a mistake,
A.J. would always jot those down in his Palm Pilot so that
he could remember them.
The Bible taught him to get rid of that.
He showed my wife the list, and she just laughed at him.
Her response was amusement mixed with pity that he would even
need to keep such a list.
It took a commitment to a Bible-centered life to change this
trait in him.
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What could the Bible change in you?
D. Don't get discouraged.
1) Banish doubts and fears.
a) Big things generate big emotions.
b) We start thinking of all the things that can go wrong.
1> Like, if the Building Fund falters I'll be living
in the Ed building basement.
2> We can always fixate on potential disasters,
but focus instead on what is going right.
2) God will not fail you.
a) He is much more dependable than we are.
IV. DAVID NEVER GOT TO FINISH HIS TASKS.
A. Neither did Moses.
1) Parallels with Solomon and Joshua: Deut 31, Josh 1
a) Both are told to be strong and courageous.
b) Both had the promise of God going with them.
c) Both were promised that God would not forsake them.
d) Both brought the people of God to a place of rest.
2) David (and Moses) passed on a legacy for others to complete.
B. There is always something to leave for the next generation.
1) Others have built this church to where it is today.
2) We are called to do the task for this generation.
3) We will have to give an account for our faithfulness,
or lack thereof.
4) Make sure we give our best for God!
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 355 "Living (the) Bible," adapted by David Holwick from Christianity
Today International/LEADERSHIP Journal. Winter 2008, Vol. XXIX,
No. 1, Page 17; copyright © 2008, www.christianitytoday.com.
#35125 "America's Religious Landscape Is In Flux," by Eric Gorski,
America Online (The Associated Press), February 25, 2008.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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