Good evening. Tonight we are going to continue in our Facing The Giants series, but tonight we will have our first time of discussion. As we have spent the last 2 weeks watching the movie, hopefully some of the lessons from that movie have made a difference in your life. We won’t be able to address each of the lessons from the movie, but tonight we will begin, and we will take a look at 8 scenes from the movie that I believe we may deal with in one way or another.
As we begin tonight, let me start with a question. Why is it important to do things with all your heart?
What are some things that people tend to do half-hearted?
What are usually the results of thing when not done wholeheartedly?
Well, the first clip that we are going to look at and discuss tonight was probably the most memorable scene from the entire movie. Here is a little background on the movie. The Shiloh Eagles football team has not had a winning season in 6 years. As the new season begins, the Eagles lose the first 3 games due to their half-heartedness and apathy. Coach Grant Taylor challenges his players to give God their very best effort, both on and off the field.
In the following scene, defensive captain, Brock Kelley, the Eagles most influential leader, expresses a defeated attitude. Coach Taylor challenges Brock to do the Death Crawl drill, and to give it his very best. Coach Taylor challenges him to make it to the 50 yard line, but not to stop until he has given his very best. To make sure that he doesn’t give up when he wants to, he is blindfolded and for the first time, he demonstrates wholeheartedness.
Take a look at this clip with me. (PLAY CLIP 1 – WHOLEHEARTED)
What factors made the difference in Brock going farther than he thought he could during the death crawl?
Well, today, and for the next seven weeks, we are going to look in on the life of Coach Taylor and those around him. They will face their giants, and we will face some of ours. We will see how their lives were transformed and how our lives need to be transformed. The end result is up to each of us, but hopefully there will be a strengthening of our faith and a refreshing of our desire to serve God.
The big question tonight is this, “What is the value of giving things your best effort?” So, let me ask you that question, What is the value of giving things your best effort?
Now, because this is church, let me ask you this, are you giving your best effort when it comes to following God? You know, I think that if we were being honest, sometimes we fail to give it our all. Sometimes, we do just enough to get by.
Well, tonight, we are going to look at the giant of life known as apathy, and our need to possess the opposite of it, that being wholeheartedness. To do so we are going to see what scripture tells us is God’s idea about having a wholehearted attitude.
We will begin our study by looking at:
1. The importance of wholeheartedness
One of the clearest teachings on this issue comes to us from Paul’s letter to the Colossian church. In Colossians 3:23-24 it says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
As we began this evening, I asked you why it was important to do things with all your heart? You know, we had a variety of answers, and there were probably other ideas that were not shared.
In scripture, we are told that we need to render service to those we serve, as if we were serving God Himself. In fact, Paul uses the word “slaves” and “masters.” For us today, that would possibly be translated into “employees” and “employers.”
Everything we do should have Christ as the focal point, not just in “ministry” but all aspects of life! In verse 24, we find the mandate and motivation for all of our actions should be “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
In looking at how we interact with each other, we need to have an understanding of “slave” and “master” relationships. Slaves were unable to own property or to obtain any type of inheritance, all they possessed belonged to their master. So, Paul’s statements about an “inheritance” would have been of particular interest. Not only the knowledge that there was one, but the substance of it!
We are told that if we are faithful in our service, we will receive a reward from the Lord. In fact, in I Corinthians 7:22 it says, “For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman, similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.”
If we view our actions towards others, as if they were actions towards God, then even the most insignificant of responsibilities would gain a perspective of great dignity. We must also notice, that not only is there a reward for faithful service, but there are also consequences for a lack of faithful service.
Colossians 3:25 tells us that, “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong…”
So, we must ask ourselves are there things that we tend to do half-heartedly? If so, what steps do we need to take to remedy them?
So, we have seen scripture speak to us about God’s desire that we do all things with a whole-hearted mindset, as if we were serving God Himself. But, let’s reinforce what we have seen by taking it one step further. Next, let’s take a look at:
2. God’s view of apathy
Before we look at that, what does the word apathy mean?
What do you think God’s view of apathy might be?
It can be stated without any reservation that God does not view apathy as a positive attribute in anyone’s life. Many times we want to do things “our way” under our own power and direction. But what we fail to see, is that when we do things “our way” we have a great risk in becoming apathetic, especially when things don’t go “our way.”
When we follow God’s directions, the outcome is better than when we do it on our own.
In Proverbs 3:5-6 it says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths strait.”
Not only does God desire us to be whole- hearted in our actions, He expects us to. One of the best illustrations of this is the Parable of the Talents. In Matthew 25:14-30 it tells us that, “1”
The master expected whole-hearted service out of all of his servants. And God expects no less from us. God gives us “everything” we need in order to serve Him. He expects us to use “everything” we have as a way to serve Him.
And when we stray from His desired path for us, He desires that we would return to Him. In Joel 2:12-14 it says, “2”
Now, we have seen not only the importance of living out our daily lives with a wholehearted actions and mindset, and how God views apathy. We will conclude things by taking a look at how:
3. Giving it our best can impact others
How can you tell when someone is doing something wholeheartedly?
How can doing something wholeheartedly impact someone else?
What we do in and with our lives not only impacts us personally, but others that we come into contact with as well. We must think about this as we go through this everyday experience we call life.
We may influence another person’s life and never even know it. People impact others on a daily basis and are totally unaware of it.
Why do you think that more people don’t do things with their whole heart?
Half heartedness and apathy produce bad attitudes and mediocre results. When we don’t respect our own commitment level, others won’t either. God calls His children to be wholehearted and committed to excellence. When we do our best for God, we maximize our influence on others, we produce quality work, and we yield a reward back from God. As believers we need to stop the apathy, live and love God with all our heart.
Now, both the Old Testament and New Testament challenge us to be people who give God our best. Many times, God instructs, commands, and challenges us to be wholehearted in our obedience and worship of Him.
As we close this evening, we take a look at one last story. It is the story of a woman who gave her wholehearted best to Jesus. One of the greatest New Testament demonstrations of wholehearted love for Jesus was when he was anointed with oil in the city of Bethany.
A few days before Jesus was crucified, He was visiting the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Mary found her treasured jar of expensive spikenard oil perfume. She broke the jar, and poured it on Jesus’ feet. Then, after she had poured the perfume on His feet, she wiped His feet with her hair. In John 12:1-8 it says, “3”
The sacrifice that Mary made was beautiful to Jesus and significant to us because of her wholehearted devotion. Spikenard was extremely expensive, the jar Mary had was worth a year’s wages. We know that, because in Mark 14:5 it says, “…It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages…”
She could have easily poured a few drops on Jesus, but she chooses to break the jar and pour it all out on His feet. Because she broke the jar, the entire house was filled with the fragrance of her worship. All the worth of her treasure was expended on Jesus in honor of Him. There was no saving of perfume for her to use on herself later. And, others around her were astonished and surprised by her sacrifice.
In 1 Corinthians 11:15, we read that a woman’s hair brings her glory. Because of her wholehearted love for Jesus, Mary took what brought her glory and used it in worship to bring Him glory. Because her worship was wholehearted, Jesus said her story would be told around the world. Mark 14:9 says, “I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
So, would God consider your worship beautiful, sacrificial, loving, wholehearted, and worth talking about to others? Again, if we were honest about it, sometimes we fail to give others our best. And by doing that, we are not giving God our best either.
So, when you look at your overall life, what steps can you take to live more wholeheartedly?
Now, before we close this evening, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?
Well, if that is all, when it comes to our lives, we need to give out best to everything that we do. Weather we are serving God, or man, we need to give it our best as if we were serving God. And in order to truly follow and serve God, you have to give Him your all.
In closing, Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart!”
Let’s Pray!
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