Commitment: Five Areas of Our Faith

All right. If if if you have your Bibles, let me just turn to uh the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 16. And then we're going to go to another verse in Psalms 37:5. And so Proverbs 16 1-4. And the Bible says, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighed the spirits. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. Verse four, the Lord had made all things for himself, yay, even the wicked for the day of the evil. And then turn to the book of Psalms chapter 37. Psalms 37:E5.

And the Bible there says, uh, "Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. Father Lord, thank you so much again for your holy word. We thank you for uh being such a loving uh and gracious holy God. And we thank you for providing and blessing this church and all the members here. And father, I pray now that you bless our time together. I also pray that you'll just be with Pastor Surface and Mrs. Surface as they are dealing with that memorial there. That you will bring them here safely. Lord, we thank you again for this church and for him and for all the other uh people that are here, the leadership and and all the workers.

We thank you so much. I also pray, Lord, that you would be with us uh in on Friday and Saturday as well in the latest conference that uh you would just use the speaker to to really change the lives of those who attend and pray for more people to come as well. Lord, we thank you again in Christ's name we pray. Amen. So tonight and you know the past few weeks uh we've been covering the church and certain things that we can do in in the church as members of the church. But tonight I want to talk a little bit about commitment. Commitment. You know I've been saved for many many years now. And uh a as a Christian growing up uh you know as as a new Christian I I try to be involved in certain things and committed to certain things that I need to be doing and then after a while I find myself not too committed.

Okay, we kind of fall off a little bit. So I want to talk about this whole idea of commitment. Commitment is one of those words that not too many people like to kind of have in their vocabulary because there's this there's this time that is required that you must uh commit to and uh most people have a difficult time committing and so there's you know certain things that I want to talk to you about tonight that we can do in our lives uh to commit to uh these different commitments here. I'm going to actually talk about four different commitments. We're going to examine what that is about and then try to not just understand it but to learn how to live it.

What we mean by that. So the first one is committed to God. We as believers must be committed to God. You know we we must be committed to our salvation when we are saved. Uh you give uh you you should be giving yourself to God. by faith, a commitment in the new way of life that we as saved Christians have. Let me ask you, as a Christian, do you feel like you're committed to God? Are you supposed to be, you know, are you there where you're supposed to be and so forth and and just meet the needs uh that you are given from God to to be a believer? Uh go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5:17. 2 Corinthians 5:17.

In 2 Corinthians 5:7, the Bible says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new." So I think one of the question I want to ask if you're committed to to God and committed to uh being a saved Christians how is the old self coming is the old self kind of does it appear every so often when you are saved you become a new creature and you're supposed to be a child of God and and so from but as human beings from time to time I think we we tend to see the old self coming back again. And so you are, you know, we are to be committed to God and and suppress that old self.

And so another way that we uh kind of when we talk thinking about committing to God is service. Are we committed to serving the Lord in our lives? Really, are we living for him? You know, it's it's so easy to to come to church and to listen to the preaching and leave through those doors and you're still not committed. And so that's why I'm talking about this commitment to God and to service. Are are you there serving? And go to John 12:26. John 12:26 the Bible says, "If any man serve me, let him follow me. and where I am, there shall also uh my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor.

So, we want to be able to be where Christ needs us to be. We want to be able to lead a life that we're serving him. Uh because ultimately, when we do that, God will honor us. God will will approve of what we do as well. But, you know, it's that that it's not just that. is is that desire that we need to have in our hearts to be part and to be serving the Lord. Uh you you can do all the studies, you can do all the learning in the word. Uh but if you're not applying this this whole idea of being committed to the Lord through service, then perhaps that's that's some place that you need to work on in your life.

And as this idea of committing to God, there's this whole idea about the three T's. Time, talent, and tithe. How are you doing in those areas? You know, one of the things that we all can agree on is that time is limited, right? You only have 24 hours in a day. So, what do you do with those times? Is it something that you are using wisely to commit your time to the Lord? And then talk about talents. We all, you know, in our Wednesday night Bible study not too long ago, we we talked about the spiritual gift that the Lord gave us when we got saved. One or more. Are you using those gifts? You know, I'm starting to be very intentional when I when I meet the members here.

Instead of saying, "Hi, how are you doing? How's it?" I'm going to start asking them, "What are you doing for the Lord? What are you doing with the L for the Lord? Are are you using your talents? Are you using the gift that the Lord gave you?" Because if the answer is, well, I'm just sitting here. Maybe, you know, we need to get going there. We need to get going in in serving the Lord in in using our our spiritual gifts. How about tithing? How about tithing? That's another one. You know, if you want to kind of figure out where a person's heart is, look at what they're doing with their money. really I I uh I've been giving above and beyond the 10%.

And I I'm sure most of you here are doing the same. But what I find is the more I give, the more blessings I get from the Lord. Not necessarily in in monetary value, but boy does he provide things that I couldn't even imagine. I love fish. An island person. I love fish. And there's certain kinds of fish that I love. And you go to the market and it's like $35 plus. Very expensive. You know what? People give me fish. Very expensive fish. I didn't even ask for it. But see, the Lord knows the desires of our hearts. And when we are committed to him and serving him and doing all you using all three of the T's in our lives, you're going to find that he returns our if you want to call it an investment way above and beyond uh what we can, you know, what we even expect.

And so that's why I love uh being in in the service of the Lord, being committed to God because his blessings alone is I can't even hardly describe how how so much of that is beyond my expectation. The Lord is is good. Our God is good. The second kind of commitment I want to talk to you about is committed to your church. You can be committed to God, but are you committed to your church? Now, you may not be members of this church right here, but you may you are a member of a church somewhere. Are you committed to your church wherever you are? Turn to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 and we're going to look at verses 42- 47.

It's one of uh my favorite passages when I when I study the word. Acts 22 uh 42-47. And the Bible says, "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all of men, as every man had need. And they continually daily with one accord in the temple and the breaking bread from house to house did each uh did did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily as such be saved.

And last last uh Wednesday, last week, I talked about how we need to come together in in fellowship in God's name. It's the same kind of idea here when we're talking about committing to the church. When we come together as a family and we gather, you know, breaking of bread, you know, uh we do have uh right now I'm doing Monday night uh Bible studies. And so we we gather here, but from time to time we would just go to one of the uh people in the class uh the class their house and we'll we'll they'll do a meal and we'll share share some bread. There's something about fellowshipping not just in church but at each person's place.

If you haven't had the privilege to do that, please do so. Pastor uh Wayne loves to invite people to his home and that fellowship and studying together and just breaking bread. Uh it just kind of helps. And when we come together as a family in the church and really exhorting one another and living out this passage, what happens is people look at it. Outsiders come in and they see what we're doing and guess what? Most of them want to be part of it. They they're more interested in it. I've actually seen people from other churches right here who came for a visit, maybe one or two, and they're now here.

Is because they did not experience that kind of coming together and really committing to the church. You know, every time the doors are open, we should be here. We really should be here because it's not because God needs you. It's not because the church needs you. You need it. You need it to come in and be part of it because there's so many blessings there. Now, Friday and Saturday, ladies refresh conference. And guys, just because it says ladies, that doesn't mean you're kind of exempt from this. Come, come in. Come in. we can actually help care for the kids, help set up, help whatever it is that we can do.

But through that process, you become part of that whole effort. And I I tell you when when whenever the ladies come together, I mean, I say they always have better food than us guys, but when they come together and then afterwards, I also see the impact in the lives of those ladies. My wife, for example, I I've seen her, you know, after those kinds of conferences, she's more motivated. She's more uh have a more open heart and really wanting to serve. And that's what we're looking for because, you know, when we are committed and at time, you know, when time passes, as human beings, we tend to kind of slow down a little bit.

And so we have revival, we have these uh ladies refresher conferences, we have all kinds of other activities, events that are happening. We just had the men's retreat where us guys went and we we you know, we did what guys did, you know, we got dirty and we we but we we were in together in the Lord and that was such a blessing. So think about that when you know when we're talking about committing to the church. uh specifically one of the things I wanted to cover is attendance. Are you committed and are you regularly attending the church gatherings? Are you regularly getting together with other believers to worship, to fellowship, to exhort one another?

It may sound like I'm just repeating myself, but I'm telling you this. When you come together and you regularly attend, because here's the thing. If I can I count on you that every, you know, second or third Saturday we do sound sign waving. Can I count on you to show up for sound waving? Sine waving. Because if you're like a hit and miss, we can't count on you. How are you doing in those kinds of commitment to church attendance? You know, we just did in a in the past few weeks, we've been putting a a table out there for each of the different ministries within the church and people are supposed to sign up and some of Thank you for those who signed up for the various ministries there.

But there's one thing there's a difference between signing up and actually doing. Okay, you can have a lot of people sign up. I got some names signed up for ushering for example come Sunday it's the same old ushering ushers that are doing it the new guys haven't been coming uh and so are you committed to that kind of when you say you're going to do something can we count on you can we count on you to be committed to what you're saying you're going to do committed to attendance on Hebrews 10 verse 24-2 the Bible says in verse 24 unless Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and so and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together and the manner of some is, but exhorting one another in so much the more as ye see the day approaching.

We shouldn't forsake assembly. You know, I'm so glad that on Wednesdays when I come up here and I look down, the number of people who are here is increasing. Praise the Lord for that. But there are times where we come in on Wednesday, it was just me, pastor, and two other guys. Let's get committed. Commitment to assist uh attendance. In uh Matthew 18:24, where two or uh three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. This past Saturday is our men's prayer breakfast. We come together the first Sunday of each month. And you know, some of those Saturdays I come because I want to be part of it.

But this particular Saturday, I really had the desire. I wanted to be there and I wanted to be with my fellow brothers to have a time together to discuss not how did you watch the last, you know, the football game or whatever it is. It's how are you doing personally? a genuine concern about your fellow brothers. Because when you do that and we gather and we pray, oh, the the results of that is such it's so amazing. So amazing. How about contribution? How are you committed into contributions or tithing? I know I mentioned it a little bit uh earlier, but God loves a cheerful giver. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, every man according to his uh as he purpose it in his heart, so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity.

For God loveth a cheerful giver. Are you the kind of person who when you it's time for you to give you you take out your checkbook and you're kind of struggling because you're you know h I'm not sure whether you know one of the reasons why I know people struggle is because you know you want to give your tithe but you're not sure based on your budget whether you can afford it or not. So that's a trust issue with the Lord. really. It's a trust issue with the Lord. I don't know how many times I Lord, I'm giving. I'm committed to this, but you know my budget. You're going to have to take care of that because but I've learned not to be overly concerned about that.

I've learned to stop biting my nails because financially I don't know where I'm heading. I I trust the Lord in that. But let's go to Philippians chapter 4 verse 55. Actually it's 15 to1 17. Uh uh and this is Paul saying now ye Philippians also uh know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only. For even in Thessalonica uh ye sent once and again in unto my necessity in verse 17, that's the critical one. Not because I desire gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. When you give, God doesn't need your gift.

God doesn't need your dollar. But why we're asking you to consider giving to the Lord is because the blessings that you get from it. Hey, if you don't know what I'm talking about, test God out. Really do. Test him out because you're going to be surprised on the things that he gives you. Some are things that you need and some are things that boy, you really want. He gives abundantly. Okay. So far, he hasn't really uh and this is supposed to be a joke, but you know, every time I come up and I preach to the Islanders, for example, one of the things I always tell him is that I've been asking the Lord for a Fort FD uh Fort one uh Ford F-150 truck.

He hasn't given it to me, but you know what? He gave me a Honda Accord, fully paid. I don't have to worry about payments. So, it was really your your priority and where you see things at. Okay. Sometimes is is um don't be too concerned about the details of it. Just look at what the Lord has given you and you're just going to be praising the Lord for all the amazing abundant gifts that he gives. But you know what? You get more when you give. But let me let me just really say this. If you're giving with the expectation of more, then you got the wrong motivation. When you give because you love the Lord and you want to give him, you find joy in giving.

That's the right motivation. That's the right motivation. How about committed to the church in in the sense of service? In 1 Corinthians chapter 3:9-10, the Bible says, "For we are laborers together with God, and ye are God's husbandry. You are God's building, according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder. I have laid the foundation, and another build thereupon. But let every man take heed how he build it thereupon." The key there is laborers together. We are not supposed to compare ourselves with one another because we're going to get disappointed. We hold God's standard.

But let me tell you this, you as an individual, how are you doing in that area? How are you doing in service? Are you doing everything that you you should be doing or are you intentionally not doing it? Do a selfch check because I know we have different spiritual gifts. Some are really good at help. Some are really good at, you know, just serving. Some are teaching. But we need to learn to find the gifts that we are short on and work in improving that. And and the reason why I'm saying this is sometimes I see people working, cleaning, or doing whatever it is that they're doing. And I see other people just talking.

Now, maybe they have the gift of help and they're just kind of listening in and uh but are are you really using your gift or perhaps you can improve on the service side and chip in help? Tonight, I'm asking that we come together and help set up, you know, uh maybe you can put some of that in practice when you're committing to service. The last commitment is well, not the last, but second to last is your commitment to your mate. Your commitment to your mate, and I'm talking about married folks. Turn to uh Ephesians chapter 5. And I think most of you know where I'm going. Verse 21 uh and 22. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Jump down to verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. And then jump down again in verse 33. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband. How are you doing in that area of marriage? If you're married, if you're not married, how you doing with your parents? How's your relationship there? There has to be a commitment there. I've been uh we just celebrated our my wife and I our 41st anniversary, 41 years.

And I look at this lady, I say, "Whoa." And you're still here with me. It hasn't been an easy marriage. There's a lot of things we had to work on. But you know what? The idea is perfecting See what the scripture says about marriage and commitment to marriage. Because marriage, God designed marriage as a picture of Christ and the church. How's your partnership? How's your commitment with your spouse? Is it is it something that you're committed for life? If you're struggling in that area, there are other uh things that we can do. You can come see the pastor or staff and we can help you kind of recommend some of the books that we can read and what does scripture have to say in detail.

I think pastor surface you you know what I'm talking about. He's been doing u marriage um in in the past few sermons that he's been doing about marriage. And so there's a lot to learn there. There's still going to be a lot of struggles, but be committed. And then finally, the last commitment is commitment to your job. Yes, your your regular work, your job. In Genesis 2:15, the Bible says, "And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." first man already. God gave him a job. Adam wasn't exempt. Soon as he was ready, the Lord gave him a job. But we also need to remember uh you know when we work sometimes, I don't know you, but all the tasks that I got to do in my day job sometimes get really really hard.

And then I I always think of this uh Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me. The Lord has enabled me to do things through at my job that when I look back was all him was all him. Colossians 3:22- 24. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleases, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and unto and not unto men, knowing that the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For ye service the Lord Christ. I I got to tell you when, you know, many years ago when I started the job that I was doing, I've been where I work at for 31 years.

Before I understood what the Lord required, I was doing the minimum. I was doing the minimum so I can get away with it. I can get paid. But after I started learning about God and his requirements, it it turned it was apparent to me that when I do my work, it's not for the sake of my employer. It's not for the sake of my immediate supervisor that I do a good job. It's to honor God. It's to honor God. So today when I do my work, I do it 100% and even more than 100%. Because I want the Lord to be glorified, to be honored. Now let me ask Tommy. If I go to your your work area and I say, "Hey, u I understand one of our church member works for you.

How is he doing or how is she doing?" What would the reaction be? What would the reaction be? We are to be committed to the job and do the best that we can and more. Turn to Psalms chapter 128. We're almost done. Psalms 128 verses 1 and two. Blessed is everyone that feared the Lord, that walketh in his ways, for thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. You know, you do all of this good work to the best of what you can above and beyond. You honor God, but the return from him is also very amazing. So you get to you get to eat the fruits of your labor through God.

Do the best you can. Be committed to your job. Be committed to your marriage, you know. be committed to your church and ultimately be committed to God. I'm learning to be intentional when I engage with others to really talk about where are you in relation to God? Because what I've seen a lot through the years is just showboating. Not that you are. I know most of you here and I know you are godly people who who are passionate about serving the Lord and that's how we ought to live. I hope you'd consider these commitments in these different areas of our lives. And there's more. I'm just giving you four tonight that we can really consciously be committed to.

And when we do that, ultimately we are glorifying and honoring our God. And when we do that, boy, his his blessings are beyond what I can imagine a lot of times. But here's the thing. I don't I don't I don't serve I don't I'm not committed because I want the returns. I'm not focusing too much on the return. I'm I'm committed to God because I want to honor God. Given where I was before and where I am now, I'm even more committed to serving the Lord. I hope this been helpful. Let's pray and we'll be out of here. Father Lord, thank you so much again for this time that we have. I pray Lord that not only do we learn and and try to understand and and uh just know about being committed but to really apply these truths in our lives in these areas.

And I father I pray that you would help us throughout the week to meditate on what we've learned and to apply it and to really learn more if we need to in this area. We thank you again for your provisions. We thank you for who you are and your mighty power. And father, we we definitely do love you uh as our God uh as our father. And pray lord that uh in everything that we do today, tomorrow, and the years to come that you would get the the glory and the honor. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you.