Rev. David Holwick ZI
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 17, 1993
Acts 20:17-24
WHAT MAKES LIFE WORTHWHILE
I. Our lifestyle says it all. 20:18
A. "You know how I lived," Paul says.
1) Many Christians set a poor example here.
The German philosopher Nietzsche once said,
"I will not believe in the Redeemer of Christians until they
show me they are redeemed."
#2314
2) Fortunately, some believers do stand out.
At age 79, the British atheist and famous journalist Malcolm
Muggeridge became a Christian.
Asked to explain his conversion, Muggeridge said he could
resist all the great books and all the great sermons.
But when he saw Mother Teresa in Calcutta with the poor, he
said, "If this is it, I've got to have it!"
#2316
B. Paul's threefold key to success: 20:19
1) Service.
2) A humble attitude.
3) A caring heart. (tears)
Jay Adams tells about a friend who went as a missionary to
New Guinea.
After some years of service in what is called the Fly River
region, he returned and came to see Adams.
Adams said, "Tell me what you found at your station in New
Guinea."
"I found something that looked more hopeless than if I had
been sent into the jungle to a lot of tigers."
"What do you mean?" asked Adams.
"The people were...utterly devoid of moral sense," said his
friend. "They were worse than beasts.
If a mother were carrying her little baby, and the baby began
to cry, she would throw it into the ditch and let it die.
If a man saw his father break his leg, he would leave him
upon the roadside to die.
They had no compassion whatever.
They did not know what it meant."
"Well, what did you do for people like that?
Did you preach to them?" Adams asked.
"Preach! No, I lived!" his friend replied.
"Lived? How did you live?" Adams asked.
"When I saw a forsaken baby crying, I comforted it.
When I saw a man with a broken leg, I mended it.
When I saw people in distress, I took them in and pitied
them.
I took care of them. I lived that way.
And those people began to come to me and say, `What does
this mean? What are you doing this for?'
Then I had my chance and I preached the Gospel."
"Did you succeed?" Adams asked.
"When I left," said his friend, "I left a church."
#2302
C. Preaching where the people are. 20:20
1) Emphasis on practicality - helpful preaching.
2) Gospel aimed at all people, with no one shut out. (Jew & Gent)
3) Consistent message:
a) Turn to God in repentance.
1> (we have a reason to live this way)
b) Have faith in Jesus.
4) Aggressive outreach:
a) Public ministry.
b) House to house ministry. Literally where people are.
1> Most effective ministry is personal.
2> I am a jinx at visiting - good thing others help.
II. Life is not always easy. 20:22
A. Paul felt compelled to go to Jerusalem.
1) He did not know what was in store for him, but it didn't
look promising.
2) Other Christians warned him of danger. 21:4,11
3) Paul accepted danger to accomplish a greater goal.
B. Many people will do anything to avoid pain.
My first visit to Denise Payson's dentist:
"Do you want a shot first?"
I never dreamed of a filling without being numb.
Just this year I held Josiah in my lap in the dentist
chair.
No shot, just drilling and filling.
I almost fainted.
1) Avoidance (drugs, fantasy) only leads to more pain.
C. An easy life is not always the best life.
1) Through trials we learn deep things about ourselves and God.
a) Simple pleasures are no longer taken for granted.
b) We sort out what is important, and what is not.
2) Christian life is not all joy. Often hard.
a) Those who have had it hardest are the most convincing.
III. What makes life worthwhile. 20:24
A. A worthwhile life has to have a purpose.
When Jewish psychiatrist Victor Frankl was arrested by the Nazis
in World War II, he was stripped of everything.
His property, family, and possessions were all removed.
He had spent years researching and writing a book on the
importance of finding meaning in life
(These concepts would later be known as logotherapy.)
When Frankl arrived in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp, even
his manuscript, which he had hidden in the lining of his coat,
was taken away.
Frankl wrote, "I had to undergo and overcome the loss of my
spiritual child."
"Now it seemed as if nothing and no one would survive me;
neither a physical nor a spiritual child of my own!
I found myself confronted with the question of whether under
such circumstances my life was ultimately void of any meaning."
He was still wrestling with that question a few days later when
the Nazis forced the prisoners to give up their clothes.
"I had to surrender my clothes and in turn inherited the worn-out
rags of an inmate who had been sent to the gas chamber."
"Instead of the many pages of my manuscript, I found in the
pocket of the newly acquired coat a single page torn out of
a Hebrew prayer book.
The page contained the main Jewish prayer, called the Shema.
Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one God.
And you shall love the Lord our God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.
"How should I have interpreted such a 'coincidence' other than
as a challenge to live my thoughts instead of merely putting
them on paper?"
Later, as Frankl reflected on his ordeal, he wrote in his book
"Man's Search for Meaning":
"There is nothing in the world that would so effectively help
one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge
that there is a meaning in one's life.
"'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.'"
#2052
1) What is the purpose of your life?
a) Be happy.
b) Make a ton of money.
c) Be loved by many people.
d) To honor God?
2) Paul saw God's work as the only truly worthwhile task.
a) People need something bigger than themselves to believe in.
b) Christians are working for something that will last.
c) Only God can give meaning to the apparently senseless
pain we see all around us.
B. The Christian life is a struggle, but it's the struggle of a race.
1) We know where we are headed.
2) It is not a matter of placing, but finishing.
At 7 P.M. on October 20, 1968, a few thousand spectators
remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium.
It was cool and dark.
The last of the marathon runners, each exhausted, were
being carried off to first-aid stations.
More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia - looking
as fresh as when he started the race - crossed the finish
line, the winner of the 26 mile, 385 yard event.
As the remaining spectators prepared to leave, those sitting
near the marathon gates suddenly heard the sound of sirens
and police whistles.
All eyes turned to the gate.
A lone figure wearing the colors of Tanzania entered the
stadium.
His name was John Stephen Akhwari.
He was the last man to finish the marathon.
His leg bloodied and bandaged, severely injured in a fall,
he grimaced with each step.
He hobbled around the 400-meter track.
The spectators rose and applauded him as if he were the
winner.
After crossing the finish line, Akhwari slowly walked off
the field without turning to the cheering crowd.
In view of his injury and having no chance of winning a
medal, someone asked him why he had not quit.
He replied, "My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start
the race.
They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it."
#2089
3) Spiritual rebirth is important - but spiritual growth is
just as critical.
a) Many are infants in their understanding and living.
b) Forget what's behind - what are you doing now?
IV. What good is God's good news?
A. We focus on problems, the Bible focuses on grace.
1) Grace involves the idea of an undeserved gift.
a) We expect good things because we think we are good.
b) We are never good enough for God. Only Jesus is.
2) By accepting Jesus, we receive the greatest gift of
all, salvation.
B. If your life has no direction or worth, consider what Jesus has
to offer.
[for documentation of illustrations, download Holwick's Sermon Illustration
database at http://illust.holwick.com
First Baptist Church; Ledgewood, New Jersey
This document last modified July 26, 2000