WHAT WE DO

Pastor Steve Lummer

Part 5

RETRIEVING YOUR CUTTING EDGE

The duller the ax the harder the work;  Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle. Ecclesiastes 10:10 (message)

Three Ways To Lose Something

1. Intentional lost ness

2. Accidental lost ness

3. Gradual Lost ness

The Bible is written to show use how to retrieve things that are lost.

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live.” 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!”  6 The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 “Lift it out,” he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it. – 2 Kings 6:1-7 (niv)

RETRIEVING YOUR EDGE

1. v. 5 IT INVOLVES CONCERN

2. v. 5 IT INVOLVES CONFESSION

3. v. 5 IT INVOLVES COMPREHENSION

4. v. 6 IT INVOLVES COMING BACK

5. v. 6 IT INVOLVES CONFRONTATION

6.   v. 7 IT INVOLVES COMMITMENT

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

WHAT WE DO
Pastor Steve Lummer
Part 4
A PERFORMANCE REVIEW

The duller the ax the harder the work;  Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle. Ecclesiastes 10:10 (message)

Did You Know?

• In your lifetime you’re going to spend about 150 THOUSAND hours at work
• The average person spends from 40%-70% of his waking hours in job-related activities.

“What do we gain by all of our hard work?” Ecclesiastes 3:9 (NLT)
Reviewing the past 3 weeks.

Week 1 – KEEPING YOUR EDGE
Week 2 – HOW TO WORK WITH PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH
Week 3 – HOW TO WIN AT WORK WITHOUT LOSING AT HOME.
TODAY – HOW TO  GET A GREAT PERFORMANCE REVIEW.

“God is far more interested in what you are than what you do.” – And WHAT YOU DO has a lot to do in SHAPING WHO YOU ARE.

“While you’re working on your job, God is working on you. What God is doing in you is more important than what you’re doing.”

Here is the outline from last Sunday’s teaching.

“In everything you do put God first and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Proverbs 3:6 (LB)

1. Work with a PURPOSE.
“An intelligent man aims at wise actions, but a fool starts off in many directions.” Proverbs 17:24 (GN)

“A wise man thinks ahead. A fool doesn’t and even brags about it.” Proverbs 13:6 (LB)

2. Insist on INTEGRITY.
“GOD cares about honesty in the workplace; your business is His business.” Proverbs 16:11 (Msg)

“Do not lie to one another since you taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self which
is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Colossians 3:9-10 (NIV)

3. Never make EXCUSES.
“The lazy person is full of excuses…” Proverbs 12:33 (NIV)

4. Never stop LEARNING.
“Intelligent people want to learn, but stupid people are satisfied with ignorance.” Proverbs 15:14 (LB)

Where can we learn?
GOD’S WORD (Proverbs 13:13)
WISE PEOPLE (Proverbs 13:10 )
CRITICS (Proverbs 19:20)
FAILURE (Proverbs 28:13)

5. Economize your TIME and ENERGY
“Teach us to number our days” Psalm 90:12 (NIV)

6. Resolve to STICK WITH IT.
“Do you know a hard working man? He shall be successful and stand before kings.” Proverbs 22:29 (LB)

‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21 (niv)

Really looking forward to next week...PFA Rocks!

Here are the bullet points to part three in the series “What We Do”.

               WHAT WE DO
           Pastor Steve Lummer
                      Part 3
 How to win at work without losing at home

The duller the ax the harder the work;  Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle. Ecclesiastes 10:10 (message)

Here is the outline to part two of the series “What We Do.”

WHAT WE DO

Pastor Steve Lummer

Part 2

How To Work With Those You Work With

duller the ax the harder the work;  Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle. Ecclesiastes 10:10 (message)

“Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord, and not merely for your masters, remembering it is the Lord who’s going to pay you… He’s the one you are really working for.” Col. 3:23-24 (LB)

“Anything you’ve done for one of My brothers here, however humble, you’ve done for Me.” Mt. 25:40 (NEB)

We serve God by REFLECTING HIM IN OUR WORK PLACE.

WHY IT ALL  STARTS WITH YOU

1. It makes life MEANINGFUL.

“…long ago God planned that we should spend our lives in helping others.” Eph. 2:10 (LB)

“Have our people learn to give their time in doing good, to provide for real needs…not live useless

lives.” Titus 3:14 (GN)

2. It makes CHRIST TANGIBLE TO OTHERS .

“Look out for each other’s interests, not just for your own. The attitude you should have is the one that

Jesus Christ had.” Ph. 2:4-5 (GN)

(Jesus) “I didn’t come to be served, but to serve…”Mt. 20:28

3. I will be rewarded FOR ETERNITY.

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of

many things. Come share your Master’s happiness!”

HOW TO CHANGE THE CULTURE WHERE YOU WORK

1. ACCEPT PEOPLE others unconditionally

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Rom. 15:7 (NIV)

2. ENCOURAGE  others continually

“Encourage one another and build each other up…”1 Th. 5:11 (NIV)

“… speak only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Eph. 4:29 (NIV)

3. FORGIVE  others freely

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Col. 3:13 (NIV)

4. HELP others willingly

“Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbor to wait until tomorrow if you can help him now. Pr. 3:27-28 (GN)

Closing challenge: Go back to work this week with a new JOB DESCRIPTION  and a new TITLE.

Job description – servant

Title – Minister

When we approach work as servants and ministers, everyone wins.

Loving the new series that we started this weekend here in Prescott at the church called “What we do”.

Here is the outline of Keeping your Edge in part one of this series.

WHAT WE DO
Pastor Steve Lummer
Keeping Your Edge
Part 1

The duller the ax the harder the work;  Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle. Eccl. 10:10 (message)

Did You Know?

• In your lifetime you’re going to spend about 150 THOUSAND hours at work

• The average person spends from 40%-70% of his waking hours in job-related activities.
“What do we gain by all of our hard work?” Ecclesiastes 3:9 (NLT)

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my ax.”
– Abraham Lincoln

1. My work matters to God because WORK IS A GIFT FROM GOD.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Gen 2:15 (NIV)
“God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their work, which are gifts from God.” Eccl 3:13 (NCV)

2. My work matters to God because MY WORK DEVELOPS ME.
“A lazy life is an empty life, but’ early to rise’ gets the job done.” Proverbs 12:27 (Msg)

3 My work matters to God because IT HELPS ME TO BE GENEROUS.
“We must work, doing something useful with our own hands, so that we may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28 GN)
“Blessed are those who are generous…” Proverbs 22:9 (NLT)
‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 (NLT)

4. My work matters to God because IT HELPS PEOPLE TO SEE HIM.
“Take care of your own business, and do your own work: if you do, then people who are not believers will respect you.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NCV)
“Whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.” Colossians 3:17 (NLT)
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27 (NLT)

(from America tells the truth)
7 hours goofing off in a week
1/2 Calling in sick when they are not sick at all
91% say they regularly lie on the job

The privilege of work is a GIFT. The power of work is a BLESSING. The love of work is SUCCESS.

I love this picture of an old gate from an old homestead here in Arizona.

Gates are interesting. They are there to keep things in or keep thing out.

Here are some thoughts about gates that are good to think about.

You can learn a lot from the crippled man at the temple gate:

(1) A weakness in one area can cripple you in others – like a habit you can’t break, a lustful spirit, a bad temper or a self-pitying attitude. Apart from lacking strength in his ankles this man was normal, but one weakness stopped him from living that way. We all struggle with something. “The temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience” (1Co 10:13 NLT). That’s why James writes, “Pray for each other so God can heal you” (Jas 5:16 NCV). So, how are you handling your weakness? Through denial? By having a pity-party? By walking past others who are struggling? This man was “at the temple gate to beg” – why are you there? You need to know that before you can get up and move on. Don’t settle there; determine “This may be who I am now, but it’s not who I’m going to be!”

(2) What are you looking for? A crutch to help you live with your problem? A way to avoid doing what’s necessary to become whole? This man was looking for handouts, not healing. Now, handouts are okay but they won’t get you back on your feet. Furthermore, when your interest in others is limited to what they can do for you, it causes you to miss what God can do for you. This man ended up walking, leaping, and praising God because that day he experienced God’s power – and you can too!

Don’t let man made gates keep you out of God’s best …

Tonight I went to see our summer ministry Vacation Bible School children’s ministry at the church.

So cool to see a campus of excited kids loving God and having TOO MUCH FUN!.

Here is what the kids are learning this week at VBS.

Wildwood Forest is a rotation based program.  Your child will visit different stations and experience the many facets of God’s character through Bible stories, challenging games, memorable crafts, tasty snacks and a whole lot more.  Following are the themes for each evening.

Evening 1 – God Is Undefeatable

Our Bible story is A Wild Battle – Gideon’s Fight (Judges 7: 1-8, 16-22)

Our Bible verse is It is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s. (1 Samuel 17:47)

Evening 2 – God is Unmatchable

Our Bible story is A Wild Stand – The Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3:1-29)

Our Bible verse is How awesome is the Lord Most High. The great King over all the earth! (Psalm 47:2)

Evening 3 – God is Uncontainable

Our Bible story is A Wild Rescue – Paul and Silas’s Night in Prison (Acts 16: 6-34)

Our Bible verse is Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. (Acts 16:31)

Evening 4 – God is Unpredictable

Our Bible Story is A Wild Encounter – Elijah Meets God in a Whisper (1 Kings 19:9 -18)

Our Bible verse is Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

Evening 5 – God is Unforgettable

Our Bible story is A Wild Love – The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12)

Our Bible verse is And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. (1John 4:14)

Here are some pics of  WILDWOOD FOREST 09′.

A HUGE THANKS to Carrie and Adam Arnold and their team of workers for a great VBS this year – you guys absolutely rock!