This New Life

Several years ago, a survey was conducted in which people 95 years old or older were asked the following question: “What would you change if you could live your life over?” Here are their top three responses: (3) I would reflect more (i.e., slow down and think more deeply about things); (2) I would take more risks, more chances (i.e., try to be more adventurous); and (1) I would try to do more things that would outlive myself (i.e., do something of lasting significance). So said the 95-year-olds.

It’s interesting how the reality of impending death has a way of getting people in touch with the deeper issues of life. And, really, we don’t have to be 95 for that to sink in. A 30-year-old man who was dying of leukemia once said in the midst of his own pain and suffering, “I really don’t think people are afraid of death. What they’re afraid of is the incompleteness of their life.” Indeed, too many people are plagued by that gnawing sense of not having accomplished what they thought they would accomplish before leaving the planet.

Among believers, this dynamic is often the case regarding church work, too. Let’s face it, serious Christian service and church ministry is often hard, time-consuming, thankless, subject to criticism, and—most of the time—pro bono. It’s volunteer work that often goes unrecognized and therefore (we think) unappreciated.

If you’ve ever had that sense of, “What have I really accomplished in my service to Christ and his church?,” you might receive a tremendous amount of encouragement from the three passages highlighted in this message:

Jesus said in John 12:26, “My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
The author said in Hebrews 6:10, “God…will not forget your work.”

Pastors might forget your work. Church staff might forget your work. Ministry leaders might forget your work. You might even forget your work, but God will not forget your work!

This message looks at two instructions Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 15:58 that help us live a life of significance as believers: (1) Make your life count by standing firm in Christ (15:58a); and (2) Make your life count by serving fully in Christ (15:58b). In other words, make your life count by trusting and serving Christ. Incredible gifts await those who trust and serve the Lord (cf. Revelation 2-3), so live a life of significance for him. Just don’t wait till you’re 95 to do it!

Sermon Resources:

A Life That Counts (Sermon Outline PDF)Download

A Life That Counts (Sermon PowerPoint PDF)Download

Lord of the Rings Video Clip 1: “I Can Carry You”

Lord of the Rings Video Clip 2: “You Bow to No One”

Contact This New Life directly for the sermon audio file.

When believers get serious about neighboring the gospel, we soon discover that not everyone shares our love of Christ and our practice of the Christian faith. We may even encounter civil authorities who seek to oppress us for it. That was certainly the case for much of the church in the 1st century, and it’s increasingly the case for believers around the world in the 21st century. That’s part of what makes this passage so radical. In 1 Peter 2:17, the followers of Christ are given a shocking (and world changing) command—to honor everyone. Peter writes, “Show proper respect to everyone.” In The Message paraphrase, Eugene Peterson puts it like this: “Treat everyone you meet with dignity.”

That’s hard enough to do when relationships are good, but it’s especially difficult when people are unkind to us, or when they mock us, insult us, persecute us, or try to get us to violate our conscience. Yet that’s the lofty vision to which Christians are called. Moreover, we honor others even if they don’t honor us in return. We honor others by going beyond merely tolerating them. We honor others even if we disapprove of their values, beliefs, or lifestyle choices. We honor others by disagreeing with them “with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet 3:15). The Greek verb to honor here means, “to set a price on,” “to ascribe worth to.” It’s what store clerks do when they put price tags on merchandise. To honor people, then, is to treat them with value, significance, dignity, importance, or respect. “Honor” is not a word of emotion but a word or recognition. The point is that people matter because they’re made in the image of God. That’s where their value comes from.

For believers to do what Peter is calling us to do, we have to make a distinction between people and their deeds. Yes, everyone should be honored for their personhood, but respect for their deeds must be earned. The good news is that everyone can be honored because grace allows us to “unstick” people’s bad deeds from their essential personhood. In that sense, the cross of Christ was a heavenly “crowbar” inserted between us and our sin. Jesus—at great cost to himself—pried the two apart. If that weren’t enough, he took our sin and stuck it on himself. Then he took his own righteousness and stuck it onto us. That’s why Paul could write, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). The problem with many believers is that we’re just too “sticky” when it comes to other people. Peter calls us to “unstick” them in our minds, speech, and manner of life.