Work in Progress

There are some things about us that needs a lot of work. We are a work in progress. What does progress look like? How does God moves us forward toward restoring the image of God through the finished work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ through the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Oswald Chambers

· Make sure sermon ideas are clear and well worded.

· Plan with the dynamics of oral communication.

· Design the presentation to follow the text.

· Design the presentation to engage the audience.

· Balance development for the whole man.

· Plan for the audience and for the occasion.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Slovenly

slov•en•ly \ˈslə-vən-lē also ˈslä-\ adjective

circa 1568

1 a: untidy especially in personal appearance

b: lazily slipshod 〈slovenly in thought〉

2: characteristic of a sloven 〈slovenly habits〉—slo•ven•li•ness noun—slovenly adverb

This exercise involves planning the design of your sermon for an oral presentation. This form follows the motivated sequence outline combined with the traditional introduction-body-conclusion format.

Introduction:

Last Sunday, we Preached from . Verse 8 tells us:

(NASB) 8 The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

There are some things about us that needs a lot of work. We are a work in progress. What does progress look like?

How does God moves us forward toward restoring the image of God through the finished work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ through the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit?

Oswald Chambers tells us in his devotional:

My Utmost for His Highest July 31st—Till You are Entirely His

Many of us are all right in the main, but there are some domains in which we are slovenly. It is not a question of sin, but of the remnants of the carnal life which are apt to make us slovenly. Slovenliness(Untidyness/Sloppiness) is an insult to the Holy Ghost. There should be nothing sloppy, whether it be in the way we eat and drink, or in the way we worship God.

Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the external expression of that relationship must be right.

Ultimately God will let nothing escape, every detail is under His scrutiny. In numberless ways God will bring us back to the same point over and over again. He never tires of bringing us to the one point until we learn the lesson, because He is producing the finished product.

Need

My Utmost for His Highest July 31st—Till You are Entirely His

Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect. James 1:4 (Moffatt).

Life is messy! We can get messy because we live in a world that is messy. We are messy not just on the outside, but on the inside. How can we get ready for the next promotion in our spiritual walk if we are not tested? A faith not tested cannot be trusted. We need to know that in some cases of making us more like Christ requires the work of the Spirit through the ebbs and flows called life experience to make us more like Jesus.

Work Perfect

Textual Idea:

(KJV) 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Sermon Idea:

Work in Progress

Interrogative:

Why are we so messy in our walk with Jesus? Why are we slanderous with our speech, bitterness in the baskets of our hearts, vile in our speech with the venom of Satan, greedy in our giving, disrespectful, distasteful to God and our families; Does anybody in here know that all of us from time to time, epoch to epoch, need some work?

My Utmost for His Highest July 31st—Till You are Entirely His

Many of us are all right in the main, but there are some domains in which we are slovenly. It is not a question of sin, but of the remnants of the carnal life which are apt to make us slovenly. Slovenliness is an insult to the Holy Ghost. There should be nothing slovenly, whether it be in the way we eat and drink, or in the way we worship God.

Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the external expression of that relationship must be right.

Transition:

When you walk past a construction site, you see a sign, “ WORK IN PROGRESS” Today, I concur to you that were all wearing that sign when it comes to our spiritual walk in Christ. We got bricks on the floor, dirt everywhere, unfinished, not fully developed, incomplete, still on Holy Spirt’s drawing board where he has the vision, the plans, the materials, the power, and the green light to execute the plans of the Father through the work of the Son, in the power of the Holy Ghost!

(NASB) 11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. There is a purpose to trials and calamity in our lives: The book of James wants us to grow up in our faith. James tells his audience that is struggling in various trials and tribulations the purpose of them and how God uses them to manifest

Satisfaction

Division 1 Statement

(Count Consider /) the Consequences( end result )v2

Explanation

— Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

My Utmost for His Highest July 31st—Till You are Entirely His

— Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

How can we have joy when it hurts so bad?

Joy can be defined as anything that causes cheer and dispels gloom!

Illustration:

Dr. Tony Evans gives us this illustration of Joy:

SOMEBODY has come up with a great concept—putting playrooms in doctors' offices. Many parents bring their kids to the doctor because they are sick and they need the doctor to see them. The playrooms are designed to distract the children from the pain of their problem until their problem gets fixed. The playroom gives them joy in a bad situation.

That's the way God works. Even though things may not be going the way we want them to be on the outside, God has designed a "playroom" in our soul. In the midst of our circumstances, His joy can distract us from our pain or discomfort, until He makes provision for our change or healing.

Tony Evans' Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking.

Argumentation

When we count the consequences, we start to examine our current trial which does not make us happy and begin to seek out reasons in God word that can give us a reason to have an alternative response.

King James Version (KJV)

15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) Slovenly

Application

We can trust Him because we know there is a crown waiting for us! We have hope because when you and I do the math, there is greater things before us than behnd us! When you do the math, the sum is greater than the parts…Yes, We are a work in progress, but when you are going through heat of a trial, start counting

slov•en•ly - adjective

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Count until the Holy Ghost gene of kicks in! Keep on counting until the work is done! Keep counting use you fingers and toes what Jesus has done for you.

circa 1568

Transition: while were a Work in progress We need to Count the consequences of trials inour life….but we need to consider when were under construction by the Holy Spirit we need to:

1 a: untidy especially in personal appearance

Division 2 Statement

Know the Process of Progress v3

b: lazily slipshod 〈slovenly in thought〉

2: characteristic of a sloven 〈slovenly habits〉—slo•ven•li•ness noun—slovenly adverb

Explanation

(NASB) 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

the testing of

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James I. Address and Greeting (1:1)

“James,” as we argued in the Introduction, is the “brother of the Lord” mentioned by Paul in Gal. 1:19 (cf. also Gal. 2:9, 12; 1 Cor. 15:7), the James who was leader of the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18).

— That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

faith produces

— That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

endurance

— In your patience possess ye your souls

Anything that produces something else comes from another raw materialof some sort. The key in understanding what God is doing is knowing.

A faith not tested cannot be trusted.

Illustration:

In the movie Chariots of Fire, young Harold Abrahams, a champion sprinter, had just suffered his first-ever defeat. After the race he sat alone, pouting in the bleachers. When his girlfriend tried to encourage him, he bellowed, “If I can’t win, I won’t run!” To which she wisely replied, “If you don’t run, you can’t win.” Abrahams went on to win the 1924 Olympic Gold Medal in the hundred-meter run.968

By perseverance the snail reached the ark.969

“It is better to limp in the way, than to run with swiftness out of it” (John Calvin, Institutes, 6:3).970[1]

Argumentation:

Ther is a purpose in trials. When we know our purpose in the trials and what they produce you and I can keep on going!

tells us….But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Application

No matter whether we Limp our way to glory, crawl our way to glory; Run or Walk…..When you know what’s going on…..we can keep it moving forward. You not stuck like the Devil wants you to think…..Godly trials move us forward toward the mark….When you know the process of progress……the Lord is at work…..anybody getting some work done…..God will use an iron to take out the wrinkles, Hot combs to straingten out your dew; He will stick you and I in the oven of life and like Betty Crocker make you a Pineapple Upside Down Cake in a black frying pan……He took Jesus and placed Him on a cross( taking our old rotten sinful behavior with him) so you and I can come put looking like new money….

Transition (Div. 2 to Div. 3

Division 3 Statement

Withstand til the Work is done v4

Explanation

— In your patience possess ye your souls.

— Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter of James I. Address and Greeting (1:1)

What qualified James to write such a letter was not his physical relationship to Jesus but his spiritual relationship. James was not, of course, one of the original twelve apostles. But, like Paul, James might have been added to the ranks of the apostles after the resurrection. And Gal. 1:19 suggests that Paul, at least, viewed James as an apostle: “I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.”1

— Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

Illustration

The following is attributed to “Gentleman Jim” Corbett, who held the heavyweight boxing title for five years at the end of the nineteenth century:

“Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired that you wish your opponent would crack you on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round—remembering that the man who fights one more round is never whipped.”973[2]

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Tony Evans gives us an illustration from his daughter Pricilla on her child birth….ON A Wednesday night a few years ago, I went to the hospital, because I got a phone call that my daughter, Priscilla, was in labor. I walked inside of the room, and she said, "Dad, I've never had pain like this in my life. I thought I was going to die. I hate Eve."

On top of that she had to cooperate with the pain, because the doctors wanted her to push. There were grunts, groans, and tears. It was a painful situation. But she didn't quit. Why? Because she knew that at the end of the process, no matter how long it took, hour after hour, at the end of the process, something was going to be born. She counted it all joy, not because of the pain, but she counted it all joy because she knew what would be produced because of the pain.

If you asked her when she held that baby in her arms for the first time if it was worth it, she'd tell you yes. In fact, the reason I know she and many other ladies think that it's worth it is because they decide to do it again.

Argumentation

with·stand

With- accompanied by (another person or thing).

Stand- have or maintain an upright position, supported by one's feet.

verb

1. remain undamaged or unaffected by; resist.

WE are not alone in this work! Many have gone before us. This path is familiar to some in this room. Some times we wonder when will this situation be over? How Long O Lord the Psalmist prays out in

Note: v1 How Long v1; How Long v2, Consider and answer me God v3;

When your going through, you pray differently: When you WITHSTAND YOU KNOW THAT THE LORD IS WITH YOU EVEN LIKE THE PSALMIST IT DON’T FEEL LIKE IT OR LOOK LIKE IT….Keep standing in the storm until the Lord bring you out! Look at verse #5- Mercy and Grace shows up tells me Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me, all the days of my life…..You are not alone…..The Lord is with you He send out His possee of Grace, Mercy, Salvation…….You might not be at verse #5 yet, but I dare you to start singing now in verse 6….We can stand with Jesus because He stood alone at the cross….

(NASB) 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

— Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

(NASB) 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

When you walk past a construction site, you see a sign, “ WORK IN PROGRESS” Today, I concur to you that were all wearing that sign when it comes to our spiritual walk in Christ.

Application

Don’t quit on the Job, til the work is done! Don’t be AWOL, because that is a terminal offence….Not talking about lost of Salvation, but loss of crowns, benefits, reward…..Jesus did not quit on us….He will never leave us or forsake us! Hold on, God is not done with you yet….Hold on til your change come, (NASB) 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

[2] Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 263–264.

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