Believe: Think-Act- Be – Like Jesus
Chapter 18: OFFERING MY TIME
Video Teaching Notes
As you watch the video segment for Session 18, use the following outline to record some of the main points.
Key Question: How does God want us to view the twenty-four __________ we have in a day?
Key Verses: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it ______ in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
Key Idea: I ________ my time to fulfill God’s purposes…
Give careful thought to your ________.
(Key Application) Take care of God’s ________________ and he will take care of yours.
(Key Application) Do everything as an ________________ to God.
Key Verse: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
Key Idea: I offer my time to fulfill God’s purposes
Group Discussion
Let’s discuss our thoughts and feelings about the following declarations. Which statements are easy to declare with certainty? Which are more challenging, and why?
➢ I invest my time in others by praying for them.
➢ I spend a good deal of time helping others with physical, emotional, or other kinds of needs.
➢ I give away my time to serve and help others in my community.
➢ I regularly volunteer at my church.
➢ I invest my time in others by praying for them.
Praying for others is called intercessory prayer. It is the act of praying on behalf of others -- a type of mediator.
> The role of mediator in prayer is seen in the Old Testament, in the cases of Abraham, Moses, David, Samuel, Hezekiah, Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
> Christ is pictured in the New Testament as the ultimate intercessor, and because of this, all Christian prayer becomes intercession since it is offered to God through and by Christ.
< Jesus closed the gap between us and God when He died on the cross.
< Because of Jesus’ mediation, we can now intercede in prayer on behalf of others.
“There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God. Jesus was truly human, and he gave himself to rescue all of us.”(1 Timothy 2:5).
The Bible is clear that all Christians are called to be intercessors.
> All Christians have the Holy Spirit in their hearts and, just as He intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will, we are to intercede for one another.
< (Romans 8:26-27 < (1 Samuel 12:23)
The Lord instructed us to pray not only for our own personal needs but to reach out and pray for others as well.
> 1 Timothy 2:1-6 -- 1First of all, I ask you to pray for everyone. Ask God to help and bless them all, and tell God how thankful you are for each of them. 2 Pray for kings and others in power, so that we may live quiet and peaceful lives as we worship and honor God.3 This kind of prayer is good, and it pleases God our Savior. 4 God wants everyone to be saved and to know the whole truth, which is, 5 There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God. Jesus was truly human, and he gave himself to rescue all of us. 6 God showed us this at the right time.
➢ I spend a good deal of time helping others with physical, emotional, or other kinds of needs.
To help others in the name of Christ is called Christian Service.
> Galatians 6:9-10 > Acts 20:35 > James 2:14-24 --
> James 1:22-27 -- But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.
We see the idea of Christian Service in the Great Commandment (Mark 12:29-31), and is detailed in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
> The Bible teaching about service to God reveals hard work that is sometimes disappointing, but also promises certain rewards (Mark 29-31).
> Jesus modeled Christian service
< Mark 10:42-45 -- And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”.
< Matthew 20:28--
All Christian belief culminates in service, otherwise the belief itself will wither away. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus tells us to let our light shine so that our good works may be seen to bring glory to God.
> Service to others brings Joy.
➢ I give away my time to serve and help others in my community.
Giving service is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your life. But before you can give service, you must figure out what exactly giving service is and why you should do it.
< Giving service is doing anything that is beneficial or helpful to someone without seeking anything in return.
< The irony with this statement is that you will get something in return when you do service -- you will receive blessings from God and the sense of satisfaction that can only come through helping.
As a servant of Christ we choose to be like him and serve others.
> They see services as a way to do what's needed to lift someone else who needs it.
< They are happy to do service. > The way of Christ is the way of being a servant to others and to God, done out of the gifts of love and abilities given by the Spirit.
< Serving others is the work of the Church. < Serving others has nothing to do with servanthood.
^ It has to do with being a human being among other human beings, loving them as Jesus does, with actions as well as words.
I regularly volunteer at my church.
When you want to learn about a new opportunity first-hand, what do you do? You just DO IT. Whether you are perfect or "ready" doesn't matter--you give it a try.
> God, in His love for us, gives us the same opportunity to join what He is doing. He could easily do anything without our help at all, but He desires to work through us.
> We see this in action with Jesus and the disciples as they feed over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:16-19).
< In this story we find Jesus asking his disciples to help with the meal. He could have just done it Himself, just made food appear from nowhere, but He wanted them to be a part of the miracle. He wanted them to understand that His plan was to enable them to do more than they were capable of doing on their own.
< In the same way, He wants us to experience first-hand what God is doing so that we can better understand who He is and how much He loves his us…His people.
God is doing some amazing things at your Church! We want you to volunteer, so you can have stories like this one.
