No More Excuses!

All of us are tempted to make rather ridiculous excuses to others, and sometimes even to God. If we would consciously examine our excuses, we would discover how ridiculous most of them sound. Someone has collected a few choice excuses that were offered to police officers in relation to automobile accidents:

“An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.”

“I had been driving my car for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had the accident.

“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law,and headed over the embankment.”

“The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.”

“The guy was all over the road; I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”

“Suddenly a tree was there, where no tree had been before!”

Often the sad reality in the life of the 21st century church is that when it comes to ministry, believer after believer will make excuse after excuse as to why they can’t or won’t consider how they can and ought to make an impact on someone else…

Pastors hear excuses all the tim...Here are some of the many excuses offered up…some I have heard….I also have included my response to those excuses...

I’m too busy with work (Yet, you find time to go to the lake)

My schedule is too full with all the family commitments (So it’s okay to push God to back of the line of what really matters)

I’m too busy with other things (e.g. spending time on your hobbies/entertainment)

I don’t know what gifts God has given me. (What have you done to find out?)

I don’t have the skills required to serve in the available areas (Are you incapable of learning new ones?)

No one asked me. (What are your reasons for thinking you need to be asked?)

I don’t want to commit to anything in advance (I’d like to keep my options open). (Yet, your going on a fishing trip with so and so next month)

I give enough money to the church to pay the staff team to do it. (So your view of church is its a country club where you receive a service because you pay your dues)

Serving is what the young people do – they’ve got the time and energy. (So you believe God said “Your good, just coast the rest of the way”.)

I don’t get anything out of it. (So serving God and others is really about you)

I just don’t want to. (The real reason finally comes out!)

Think about it this way, what if some of the people of the Bible used those same excuses

Too old — Abraham

Too Young — Jeremiah, Timothy

Family life is too hard — Joseph

I can’t speak very well — Moses

My past is too dark for God to use me — Paul, Rahab,

I’m too afraid — Gideon

I have a bad temper and I fly off the handle too much — Peter

We’ve never done that before — Apostles

See when it comes to ministry, there really is no excuse we can make that will justify our lack of service...

I know there are going to be some who won’t like me after this message, but please know I will still love you...

With those thoughts in mind, please turn to 1 Peter 4:7-11.

Main Point: Ministry To One Another Is Every Believer’s Responsibility!

If we have truly grasped what it means to be the church, then we are not going to make excuses for our lack of ministry to one another, nor are we going to accept excuses from anyone who claims to be a believer and who doesn’t minister to someone else.

Take Note of the Urgency

Notice the first part of verse 7…what does Peter say?...“the end is near”… we are in the last days my friends...

The Scripture tells us that the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ inaugurated the last days.

1 John 2:18 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.”

1 Cor 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

In the New Testament the theme that the end of history is imminent is often sounded...

James uses this same terminology to describe the 2nd coming of Christ…

James 5:8 NASB95

You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Notice what Paul says in Romans 13:11-12...

Romans 13:11–12 NASB95

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

The apostle John also believed in an imminent return...

Revelation 1:3 NASB95

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Jesus himself in Rev 22:10...

Revelation 22:10 NASB95

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

Here’s the thing about eschatology…nowhere in Scripture are we encouraged to set dates and develop charts…nor are we to withdraw from our culture and fix our gaze on the sky hoping the Lord will return right now...

The whole point of eschatology is not to argue the timing of when things will happen…each NT writer wanted God’s people to have a sense of urgency, to be alert, to live for Him today motivated by the truth that the end is near!

Knowing that this world is not our home and that our time is short should galvanize us to make sure our lives count right now!

We must think and live in the truth that every person, whether believer or unbeliever will see the Lord one day and stand before Him. Live knowing that today could be your last day…every day could be OUR last day...

Peter just mentioned that back in verses 5 & 6 when he mentioned judgment...the day is coming when all people will stand before Jesus…Believers = BEMA; Unbelievers = GWT…point is only God knows the hour, so be ready!

By using the word THEREFORE...he links the rest of the text with the truth that the end is near....Peter shifts his discussion from how we relate to outsiders towards how we should relate to one another and he wants his readers to take ownership of the urgency of it!

Peter implies that believers ought to be motivated to minister to one another…three times Peter calls us to a greater level of relationship....love one another, be hospitable to one another, serve one another…we are to do this because we understand that Jesus could return at any moment, that our time on this earth is short…making every moment count…with no excuses!

What do you want to be doing when Jesus returns?

Do you want to be found sitting on your hands, suffering from mental anguish because you’re worried about the political and cultural landscape, having no time for God or His people because you are too busy pursuing things that have no eternal value, you’re expending more energy for earthly treasures and comforts more than you do the things of God?

Or do you want to be found expending all your energy, using all your resources, employing all the gifts God’s entrusted you with to communicate and display the marvelous and multifaceted grace of God by ministering to others

We need to grasp the urgency of this text…God established our relationships with one another to be a priority… and the world needs to see that! The world needs to see the multifaceted grace of God in High Definition Color by the way we relate to one another.

Four admonitions we would do well to heed…three of these admonitions deal with how we relate to one another…so it is important for us to make our relationships with one another a priority the way God intended them to be!

The question we want to answer here this morning is “What can I do to take ownership of my responsibility to minister to others?

Admonition #1...

Pray with Purpose— 7

Regardless of age or spiritual level, everyone of us ought to be actively praying for one another…there really is no excuse we can offer up for our lack of praying for one another…it is an active choice of the will...

Peter gives us some insight into how we can pray with purpose....

Be clear minded and self controlled

These verbs are virtually synonymous…pray is attached to both verbs...

Sound judgment = Clear minded...The idea here is that we pray intelligently about things…we must have a mindset that thinks about life and evaluates situations through the lens of spiritual maturity...

Sober spirit = Being self controlled...suggests that we are to pray with a mind that is focused and alert…

Some people loose their heads when it comes to looking at world events…they look at our culture, our government, the world’s stage and just go bonkers with worry and fret!

Yes, our world is a chaotic mess, but as mature believers we have no reason to panic and lose our heads and act irrationally.

The believer who is clear minded and self-controlled thinks rationally, thinks biblically, is free from delusions…they will live life with purpose and not drift with every wave of new doctrine or chaotic event…they will exercise restraint and not be impulsive.

Just this week I heard a news story about some kids now identify as animals so some schools have installed liter boxes in the bathrooms for those kids who identify as cats!

Mature believers who think biblically, are not surprised by the thinking and actions of our culture. As irrational and chaotic our world is, we know that God never looses control of this world. He is bringing about His plan and we need to have a greater dependency upon Him.

We pray with purpose recognizing we live in a sin-cursed world...we entreat God with the understanding that He always retains His sovereignty over the affairs of man!

The mature believer can look at the worst circumstances and pray with purpose knowing that God is always in control and we can trust Him…any good that comes in this world we know is a result of God’s grace!

We know His plan is unfolding day by day and we are and always will be on the victory side!

We pray for one another as we navigate life in this chaotic world! We can pray that all of us grow in biblical thinking and behaviors!

Prayer Calendar

Admonition #2...

Love One Another Deeply — 8

Read 1 Pet 4:8

Keep fervent in your love = meaning constantly with great effort...Fervent = means to be stretched…our love is to be real, sincere, genuine

Peter tells them three different times in this letter to love…

1 Peter 1:22 “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,”

1 Peter 2:17 “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

1 Peter 3:8 “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit;”

This is of extreme importance…Peter says “Above all”…this love is agape love and is commanded because it is an act of the will…it is not a feeling…the goal of this kind of love is always to seek the good of the other person.

It is evidenced through action…it requires sacrifice…It takes extreme effort...Jesus warns us that our love would grow cold in Matthew 24:12 ““Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.”

True agape love is constantly being stretched to the limit by the demands made upon it. One of the most difficult times to love is when someone in the church hurts or wrongs us!

notice the word “because”…if we want to have any hope of moving past the hurts we need to show the power of love to forgive…

When Peter says “love covers a multitude of sins” he quotes from Proverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.” … cover literally means to hide, conceal, keep secret...

Love covering sin does not mean we ignore, justify, or condone sin....confrontation of sin is appropriate and necessary…remember we are to speak the truth in love...

Love covering = forgiveness = it is an active choice of the will...

What is meant by “love covering sin” is that once the sin has been dealt with, forgiveness will reign and you move on.

We could also call this “having the heart of forgiveness”. Our forgiveness is to be patterned after God’s

Ephesians 4:32 NASB95

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

God has forgiven you of far greater sins than any one person, or group of people could commit against you! That means we are to have the spirit of forgiveness for those who may never seek it from us.

To not forgive someone is to make your forgiveness greater than God’s forgiveness.

When we forgive we make a promise to pardon others from their offenses to us.

1. We don’t go around telling others about their sin,

2. We don’t dwell on it in our own mind,

3. We don’t bring it up to them again and again.

Admonition #1 —Pray with Purpose

Admonition #2 — Love One Another Deeply

Admonition #3 —

Show Hospitality to One Another — v 9

Hospitality = love for strangers

In the 1st century, this was a common courtesy that even non-believers extended to others…there were no Motel 6’s back then where they left the light on for you…the inns and places to sleep were not very affordable, nor were they safe...

In Peter’s day, there were traveling preachers who relied upon the hospitality of other believers…the church also met in homes, so someone had to be willing to let people into their home

if you were traveling for any reason, you hoped you would find someone who was hospitable and allowed you to stay with them…and there was no searching the internet to find a five star or four star or hope it has a least one star…

it would not be uncommon for someone to come into town unannounced and without making a reservation and want to stay at your place…and sometimes their stay would be for more than just overnight…it could be days, weeks, or months...

Regardless of what century, the arrival of guests can be inconvenient for a variety of reasons, and even the best behaved guests can overstay their welcome or even be extremely needy...

Scripture takes our hospitality to a higher level…it should be without grumbling…

Grumbling =Greek word = gongoosemos, also translated as murmuring — say it with me…repeat it a few times…that is what our griping about others sounds like...

This is an acknowledgment that those who open their homes may grow tired of serving people this way…

Just a word for those who visit those homes…in the words of one of my bible college professors…don’t be a cultural clod…show respect for other people and their property…be thankful and mindful of your surroundings...

How this applies to us today is that we are to show a love for strangers and a love for each other that doesn’t complain or whine about the time and expense involved to care for them, whether it is reciprocated or not!

Hospitality Opportunity — Fellowship with Friends

Serve One Another Faithfully — 10,11

Read 1 Pet 2:10-11

Everyone has been given a special gift to steward.

gift = charisma = root word is the word for grace...“gift of grace”

it is free meaning you cannot earn it, pursue it or work it up…you merely receive it through the grace of God...

Every believer has received a unique blend of spiritual giftedness, endowments, to be used in the life of the church. We are ministering a measure of grace to God’s people every time we employ that gift…

Your ability to function in the church and minister grace to others is a result of God’s abundant provision of grace in your life and He never intended for you to be selfish with His grace.

That is is why he made you a steward of His spiritual gift(s)…that means God entrusted you with the management of His gift of grace…it is not yours to selfishly hold back…He equipped you with special abilities to showcase His grace, especially to those inside the church!

You are to employ that gift in service of others.

You were not given your gifts so you could congratulate yourself on how good you are...

There is a very important word in verse 10…diakoneo…means to be a servant, attendant, to serve, to wait upon, to minister…the noun form is the word we get deacon from...

The significance of this word and the way Peter uses it here is that...

Participle = ongoing action, can’t get to a point in our lives together where we accept the mindset, “I have done my time”…

no where here does Peter say only use your gift when it is convenient or comfortable to do so...

All inclusive = passage is addressed to all believers, ministry to others is not reserved for only the trained professionals and selected officers in the church...

What Peter is saying here is that EVERY BELIEVER HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO “DEACON” EACH OTHER by using your spiritual gifts to SERVE the body.

Every believer has experienced the abundant grace of God and is fully equipped to minister that same grace to each other through the faithful stewardship of His gifts.

Manifold = God’s grace comes in multiple ways, through multiple people, especially when they work together at displaying that grace.

So whether your gift is speaking or serving, use it…don’t think that because you are not an expert God can’t use you!

If your gifts are in the area of speaking, you minister the Word of God to others…do you believe God’s Word is authoritative for all matters of life and godliness, speak as one who is willing to hold yourself and others accountable to God’s standards, do you love people enough to speak truth into their lives?…

Explain Soul Care Ministry

If your gifts are in the area of serving, you minister with the strength of God to do what you never thought possible…talk to an elder, talk to me, we can sit down with you and talk about the opportunities available to serve!

Greeting ministry, children’s ministry, technology, worship team, etc…everyone has a place...

Peter closes out by reminding us that a choice to minister to one another is a choice to glorify God…the opposite is also true...choosing not to minister to one another is a choice not to glorify God…when we do these things, God gets the glory, not us!

What Can I Do Today, Right Now?

These are all things you can do if you want to live in a way that is consistent with the Scripture...

Develop a prayer ministry.

Take the initiative to gather requests from people, pray for them right there, and then communicate what you can to others so they can pray also…Prayer Calendar

Enroll in the Soul Care Ministry — learning how to speak truth in love to others helping them navigate life with a right relationship with God and in obedience to the Scriptures.

Open Your Life and Home to Others

True fellowship extends beyond the walls of this building…be intentional about carving out time in your schedule for ministry to others…whether you invite them to your home or meet them in another place…don’t wait to be asked…take the initiative!

Take some time to share your life with others, bring down the barriers that keep people at arm’s length and show hospitality without grumbling.

Step up your contributions to the ministry.

How would you evaluate your consistent contributions to the ministry...

Spiritual contributions…How specifically are you using God’s gifts for the benefit of this body?

Still have a great need in our children’s ministry for nursery workers, Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, greeters, etc, there is a ministry available for anyone who wants to be involved…if we don’t have it, come talk to me...

Physical contributions…Is your attendance here with God’s people every Sunday a priority?

For every Sunday you decide it is not important to be with God’s people, is a Sunday where someone here is missing your unique gifts of encouragement and ministry of grace.

How much time are you investing in serving the body to help the body grow?

I understand when you are sick, stay home…when you are on vacation, etc…but if you did an honest evaluation of your level of faithfulness to gather with God’s people would it reveal itself as a high priority or “if I have time, I’ll squeeze it in”

Financial contributions…Does your love for God show forth a sacrifice of treasures to invest in His ministry?

It takes funds to minister to people effectively…

God’s grace is multifaceted and He has equipped us all very uniquely and put us together as only He can.

God put us together so we could minister effectively to one another and showcase His grace to a lost and dying world…it takes prayer, it takes love, it takes hospitality, it takes all of us committed to faithfully serving one another!

No more excuses!

Let’s ask for God’s help

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