369: Cam Neal - Exhortation: Being Responsible

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to good Christophian talks. Thank you for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our. Daily News Feed Each week we post a talk that we previewed from suggestions sent in by listeners from around the world. Then we record a short intro beforehand as a personalized recommendation to you on why we are sharing the talk. And now?

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   Let’s talk. More about this week’s talk. Hello and welcome back. This is brother Chris Atwood, and I am excited that I have two intros to do for you in the same episode this week. First, as the other hosts have done over the past couple weeks, as we’re adding to the Good Christadelphian Talks team, I’d like to introduce you to our brother Simon Neal, who comes from Australia.

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   He originally reached out just from some genuine inquiries about how the podcast worked in question about specific talks. I really appreciated his and asking kind of probing questions. So when he decided he wanted to be more involved and even be a host to be able to share his own thoughts on classes as he shares them, I was very excited for him to join the team and I’ve appreciated his refreshing perspective and being able to be involved in the podcast.

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   Brother Simon is officially joining the Good Chris Delphine Talks team and I can’t wait for you to hear his first talk that he selected and his introduction next week. Now for this week, the normal introduction, we are listening to an exhortation that was given by Brother Cam Neil from the Pittsburgh Ecclesia back in August 24 of 2025.

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   And Brother Cam is taking a look at the idea of being responsible. And it’s a theme that we can take lessons from and that Brother Cam is taking examples from his journey, first when he was a child to now as he has learned the truth and become baptized. And what that means both as he becomes a brother in Christ, have become married in the last several years.

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   And now recently he has become a father to a beautiful young boy. And that perspective and idea of what responsibility means I found to be a really good reminder and a good refreshing view from Brother Cam. I know Brother Cam personally. I’ve had many deep conversations with him talking about our life and the truth and our roles as fathers and husbands and leaders within our own ecclesias and his insightfulness and thoughtfulness. I’ve always really enjoyed.

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   And I love Brother Kim. And I am excited for you to be able to hear his exhortation where he talks about his journey and how amazing it is for him to have discovered the truth, learned it, and the beauty that he has taken from the community that he is now a part of. So I won’t go into more detail because I don’t want to spoil Brother Cam stories.

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   They’re best heard from him directly. So I will just turn it over to him and hope that you enjoy it and find it as encouraging as I did and as the person who suggested it to us did as well. So I will now hand it over to our Brother Cam Neil for his exhortation entitled Being Responsible. Hello brothers, sisters, family, friends, and younger people. As I stand up here today and I take a moment to reflect, I’m filled with a mix of emotions, gratitude, humility, and a deep sense of purpose.

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   It’s truly both encouraging and humbling to be able to share God’s Word with you all, not just as written in scripture, but filtered through my own experiences and understanding.

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    It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly. The title of my exhortation today is Being Responsible. It’s a phrase we hear often at work, at school and our homes. But when we pause and we really think about what it means, especially in the light of our walk with God, it takes on a whole new depth. When we look up the definition of responsibility or being responsible, 2 meanings stand out. The 1st is it’s the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something.

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    The second is the opportunity or ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization. At first glance, these definitions seem rooted in worldly concepts like cause and effect, personal freedom, and accountability. And while these are valid and often used in our day-to-day lives, I began to believe there’s a deeper meaning, a more spiritual dimension to responsibility that we are called to embrace as followers of Christ. These definitions reflect how the world views responsibility through the lens of self governance, decision making, and consequences.

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    But as believers, we’re invited to go further, to see responsibility not just as an obligation, but as a calling. It’s merely about being blamed when something goes wrong or being free to choose our path, but about being entrusted, entrusted by God to carry His light, His truth, and His love into every situation, every relationship, and every decision we make. So today I want us to unpack this idea of responsibility, not just as the world sees it, but as God defines it for his people.

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    What does it mean to be truly responsible in His eyes? How do we live it out in our faith, our families, our communities? And ultimately, how can we embrace it? How can we embrace God? Sorry, how can we embrace it Godly? The responsibility that He wants to shape us into better reflections of Christ. As many of you know, I do not have the fortune of growing up and knowing the truth.

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    So growing up, when I was told to be responsible, it aligned with certain worldly things that changed throughout my life, ultimately depending on the age I was. In my early teens, being responsible meant knowing how to act and conduct myself. As I grew older, I had the responsibility of maintaining my car and insuring my bills were up to date, and most recently getting married and having a child, creating a whole new level of earthly responsibility and meaning that I continue to navigate to this day.

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    All these things have weighed my life and I strive really hard to be a person who could be seen as responsible. This idea of responsibility was instilled in me by my earthly father. I have Him to thank for how I’ve lived my life up until I began to learn the knowledge of the truth. In developing a new understanding of the truth, I realized that responsibility as of God is different than I have ultimately been following.

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    Up until this point. I had not known at this point the significance of the difference between worldly responsibility and our responsibilities to our faith, but as I will discuss later, it becomes more clear to me as I continue on my path to the Kingdom.

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    There is a quote I’ve heard many times from any brethren and sisters throughout the time. Knowing you all without works, faith is dead. James 226. Now that I have been learning this new idea of being responsible, I still struggle every day without a properly spread God’s word and maintain my faith.

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    This takes me back to the early days of me and Laura and our relationship. Within the first year I had the opportunity to go to Ottawa Bible School. This was a very eye opening experience for me and insightful because throughout the week it allowed me to see people in our community being responsible and holding each other accountable as well as themselves by applying work to their faith.

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    Whether it be volunteering, speaking, or just lifting one another up. Almost every interaction included conversations about people’s journeys and finding God, God’s word alone. An overwhelming encouragement for me to continue my journey. The Bible gives us numerous examples and teachings on responsibility. Let’s start with this one. For instance, a responsibility of one of the first instances of response to giving to mankind in Genesis 215, it says the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it.

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    Here God entrusted Adam with the responsibility of caring for his creation, highlighting that from the very beginning that responsibility is a divine mandate. When we think of responsibility must remember it comes from God.

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    Now let’s take a look at the second example in Luke 1610. Jesus teaches us whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. This verse emphasizes the importance of being faithful in small things as a foundation for greater responsibility.

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    It’s a reminder there are daily acts of responsibility, no matter how small or still significantly in God’s eyes. As I grew in my understanding of the the truth, I realized that responsibility as of God is more profound than worldly responsibility. It involves a deep commitment to live in according to His will. In Colossians 323 and 24, it states wherever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. This passage reinforces that our actions and responsibilities are ultimately for God’s glory, and we should approach them with dedication and sincerity.

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    In the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 2514 through 30, Jesus illustrates the concept of responsibility through the story of a master who entrust his servants with different amounts of money. The servants who are responsibly invest and increase their master’s wealth are rewarded, while the serpent who neglects his responsibility faces severe consequences. This parable teaches us that God expects us to use our gifts and opportunities wisely and responsibly. Reflecting on my journey, I see how my understanding of responsibility has evolved.

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    Initially, it was about meeting societal expectations and personal goals. But as I’ve embraced the truth, I learned that true responsibility is about aligning my life with God’s will and purpose. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. And it urges us. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in a view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

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    Then you’ll be able to test and approve what God’s will is this good, pleasing and perfect will. My continued time at Idyllwild Bible School has been pivotal in this transformation, witnessing how fellow believers lived out their responsibilities and inspired me to deepen my commitment. Hebrews 10 verse 24 and 25 reminds us, and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as somewhere in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day, as you see the day approaching.

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    This sense of community and mutual encouragement is vital in maintaining our responsibility and faith. After my baptism, I understood that my responsibility extended beyond personal conduct to actively spreading God’s Word.

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    The Great Commission in Matthew 2819 and 20 commands us. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.

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    This mission requires us to be proactive and sharing our faith and living out the teachings of Christ. Yet despite this these revelations, I can I continue to still struggle with complacency. I find sauce in knowing that God’s grace is sufficient for us, as Paul writes in Second Corinthians 12/9. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

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    Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. This verse reassures me that even in short, in our shortcomings, God’s strength and grace sustains.

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    As I continue to reflect about the baptism that I had two years ago, it was an essential responsibility that I’ve yet addressed in this exhortation, one that is central to the life of every believer who has committed themselves to fallen our Lord and God. In Luke 2219 and 20, we read, and he took bread, gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them, saying, this is my body given for you.

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    Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying this cup has a new covenant, my blood, which is poured out for you.

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    Through these words, Jesus calls us to come together each week with our brothers and sisters in Christ to remember and honor his sacrifice. It’s a sacred act of communion that strengthens our faith and unites us as his body.

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    I hope to encourage you all at each. I encourage each of you to take a moment and earnestly reflect on what it means to be responsible in the truth, not just in Word, but in action and intention.

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    Living out the truth requires more than knowledge. It demands integrity, perseverance, and a heart aligned with God’s purpose. Galatians 6 verse 9 reminds us, let us not become weary and doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not get up. This verse speaks directly to the weariness that sometimes creeps in when we are striving to do what is right, especially when results are immediate or when challenges amount, but also reassures us of a promised harvest.

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    A reward that comes not from the world but from God, receives every act of obedience and every moment of faithfulness. So let us move forward with renewed determination. Let us recommit ourselves to doing good, to speaking truth and living with compassion and upholding our responsibilities as followers of Christ in our homes, our communities, and even in the quiet places of our hearts.

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    May we be found faithful. Trust that God is at work even when we cannot yet see the outcome. Trust that every step we take and truth and righteousness contributes to something, something far greater than ourselves, a divine purpose we are privileged to be a part of.

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    May God bless each of us abundantly as we strive together to be responsible stewards of His truth. Thank you for listening to the good Chris Adelphian Talks podcast. We hope this talk helped you in your walk and brightened your day. If you would like to hear more, please subscribe for new episodes. We are on all major podcast platforms and also on YouTube. If you enjoyed this particular talk, please share it with someone else who you think might enjoy it too. For show notes on the talk you just listened to, visit [email protected] or check out the Show Notes section of your podcast player.

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