2. A Worker for the Lord Matthew 10:16-25

3. Introduction God has not promised a life of ease If people turned against Christ Then they will turn against His disciples Christianity requires commitment 1 Cor 15:58 Steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord Paul calls it “toil” (lit. “hard or painful work”)

4. An Illustration Imagine life as canoeing upstream Some areas are wide and slow Some are narrow and fast We know we have to work hard when the stream is fast against us But if we think we can stop in the wide places Then the current will slowly send us back There is no point in our lives when we can take “time-off” from serving God

5. Serving God 1 Cor 9:24-27 Life is a great race To win, you must train Train hard, disciplined Only the best will win You have to stay on course You have to keep going to the end No one will walk to the prize No one will “walk” into heaven

6. Serving God Eph 6:10-17 Life is war A spiritual struggle in this world 2 Tim 4:6-8 We must fight the good fight Wars are not won by the ill-prepared Wars are not won by the ill-equipped Wars are not won by the uncommitted Wars are not won by a few tentative swings

7. Serving God We cannot serve God with a half-effort Lk 6:47-49 We must hear and act or we will be swept away Lk 13:24 We must “strive to enter” or we will not be able to enter “Strive” means “compete, struggle, fight, labor fervently” Think of paddling that canoe upstream

8. How? How can we keep up the struggle, day-in and day-out? Titus 2:11-14 He tells us first much of what we need to be doing, then he tells us how “Zealous of good works” “Zealous” lit. “one who is on fire” Doing good works needs to motivate us But there are some foundations to proper zeal

9. First Foundation: TRUTH Prov 19:2 We need to know what good deeds God wants us to be doing Prov 16:25 You can paddle a canoe with a lot of zeal But if the canoe is leaking, it’ll still sink 2 Tim 2:15 Make an effort to learn God’s word and how handle it (lit. “make a straight cut”) 2 Tim 3:16-17 The word will teach you the good deeds God desires

10. Second Foundation: LOVE Romans 12:9-13 We must work as a unit – Phil 1:27 Without love for each other we cannot stand together 1 Pet 1:22-23 1 Pet 4:8 Our love is what moves us onward Like the paddles in the canoe If no paddle, no progress especially in the tough times There’s never too much love – 1 Thes 4:9-10

11. Zeal produces Effort James 1:22-25 We must prove ourselves doers of the word James 4:17 Failure to do good is sin If you aren’t paddling, then you’re not progressing Rev 3:14-16 God won’t accept “lukewarm” efforts Ps 119:2-3 – Seek Him with ALL your heart

12. Conclusion Jn 4:34-38 The opportunities exist Just “lift up your eyes” If you are ready to work, then God has work for you to do Let’s get busy and paddle our canoes up through the stream of life