Bob Lloyd - The Way of Life - Class 5 - Service is Not an Option

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1. 0:00

   So we arrive at our final and fifth study together on the general theme, the way of life, which has been very uplifting. I'm sure you agree. Our fifth study is entitled, Service is Not an Option, and we thank our brother Bob for delivering that now. Well, good afternoon, my beloved brothers and sisters, young people, and friends.

2. 0:25

   After a meal, it's easy to go to sleep, isn't it? I didn't think you'd go so quickly. I think you're feeling like a sister that I met in New Jersey about 20 or 30 years ago. I was invited to New Jersey for a study weekend like this, except it was a heavier schedule than this.

3. 0:44

   I spoke Friday night, and then I spoke five times on Saturday and three times on Sunday. And I arrived on the Friday, and we went to the hall, and they had a basement, and they served a supper in the basement. And I'd just gotten my food, and I was looking for a place to sit down to eat.

4. 1:04

   And a sister came in and said, are you Brother Lloyd? And we'd never seen each other before. I said, yes. She said, I'm sick and tired of listening to you. So I think you would agree with her now. And then she starts laughing. Now, what had happened is that she lived in Florida, and this study weekend was in New Jersey.

5. 1:28

   And she was driving up for it. That's like driving maybe from Melbourne to Brisbane. And it's up the east coast from the bottom of America up towards the top. And her brother in the flesh, and brother in the truth too, had given her a bunch of used cassettes then. We didn't have these discs and stuff.

6. 1:49

   But he'd given her a stack of my tapes. I never met this sister. And she listened to me. She said, all the way from Florida to New Jersey. And by the time she got there, she was sick and tired of listening to me. So I think you can sympathize and relate to her because you've been listening to me all weekend.

7. 2:10

   And I want to thank you for your patience and enduring. They talk about suffering the word of exhortation. I know sometimes it is suffering. Well, this is our last time together, at least for this weekend. I'll be seeing some of you again because I'll be in town for another week for other things.

8. 2:27

   But for most of us, I know a lot of you have to do some traveling today. Kuna Bear Brand is not around the corner. So there will be others of you going great distances perhaps this afternoon. So this is our last subject that we'll consider on the way of life. And there are a lot of people, and some of them are Christadelphians.

9. 2:55

   And they are not winners. They are winners. W-H-E-N-N-E-R-S. And this is how it goes. If they're a young person, they say, well, when I graduate, then I'll do something for the Lord. And then I say, well, when I get a job, I'll begin to do something for the Lord. Well, when I get a car.

10. 3:21

    When I get a car that will run. When I get married. When we have children. When the children are a little older. When the children are grown. When I retire. When I retire. When I retire. And they've gone through their whole life going to do great things for the Lord. When. Not now.

11. 3:53

    When something happens. And what do those old people say after they've retired? Remember the good old days when. And some people never live in the moment. They're always going to do something when something happens. The only moment you have to live is now. Right now. You can't live tomorrow and you can't live yesterday.

12. 4:18

    And so let's stop being winners. And begin being doers. And so we're going to talk about doing. And service is not an option. And you have got to get to work. Rather than sisters. Young people. The time has now come for our classes to go. To be over. And we've got to get to work.

13. 4:38

    And what does that mean? That means you've got to find a work to do. And you need to do it. So what talents do you have? Now there's many answers to that question. Is there our people. God has never made another. This kind of blows me away. But God has never made another person.

14. 4:55

    Ever. Not since Adam and Eve. Till right now. Just like you. Now we didn't know about DNA when I was a boy. But I also knew then that no two people were alike. But now there's no two fingerprints alike. There's no two DNAs alike. You are unique. You are special. And you are God called.

15. 5:14

    And so you have a talent. Or talents. And you've got to use them for him. This is not an option. This is not a choice. Do you know that God did not give Moses a ten suggestions?

16. 5:30

    Those were commands. And we are commanded to go out and work for the Lord. And don't say. Well I can't do nothing. There's no such thing as a no talent Christadelphian. God's called you. And it means you've got something to do. And you've got to find it. And start doing it. And so we just read in Romans chapter 12.

17. 5:52

    In NIV it says. Verse 6. We have different gifts. According to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying. Let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving. Let him serve. If it is teaching. Let him teach. If it is encouraging. Let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others.

18. 6:09

    Let him give generously. If it is leadership. Let him govern diligently. If it is showing mercy. Let him do it cheerfully. So you have a work to do. And this afternoon. We're going to try to figure out what it is. And when you go out those doors. You're going to resolve. I hope.

19. 6:26

    God willing. You're going to get busy doing it. Whatever it is. You decided to do. For God. Now there's an old saying. Which has got a new modern twist. And you've all heard the old saying. Many times. But I'm going to give you the new modern twist. And this is the way the new saying goes.

20. 6:42

    Anything worth doing. Is worth doing. Poorly. Until you can learn to do it better. Now that's not the saying. That you've heard all your life. But this is the one. We're going to talk about this afternoon. Far too many people. Hold back. Doing nothing. Because. They want to do it perfect. When they do it.

21. 7:04

    And since they will never do it perfect. They have a good excuse. For not doing it at all. Now just imagine. If you wanted to learn to swim. And you had never swam. And you went to a swimming pool. Or the ocean. And you hired a swimming instructor. We assume it's a swimming pool.

22. 7:19

    Because then you can stand on the edge. And jump in. And you explain to the teacher. You've paid the money. And he's going to teach you to swim. You say. I'm not going to get in that water. Until I swim perfectly. You ain't never going to swim. You ain't never going to swim.

23. 7:35

    You have to jump in the water. You have to thrash around a little bit. You have to learn how to put your head under. And eventually you learn to swim poorly. And if you keep practicing swimming poorly. Eventually you will swim expertly. But you start off doing it poorly. So don't stop. Don't give yourself the excuse of not starting to do something.

24. 8:00

    Because well I can't do that well. You can always find somebody that can do whatever you can do. Better than you can do it. Not in my talk. But someone mentioned yesterday. They remember my D and four B's. And it fits. Doing your best is better than being the best. No matter what you're asked to do for the Lord.

25. 8:15

    There's somebody can do it better than you. And so we'll get them to do it instead of me. That's a cop out. If you're asked to do something. Do it. Somebody else can do it better. I'm not arguing that. We've had many people playing the piano this week. They all did their very best.

26. 8:34

    Doing your best is better than being the best. Not one of the piano sisters. Or brothers that played this weekend. Could play like maybe Liberace. He don't play very good at all. Now he's dead. But there are professional pianists that can play better than anyone in this room can play. I mean they are experts.

27. 8:58

    So don't you try it. You wait until you're as good as they are. And you ain't never going to do it. So if you're asked to do something. You say yes. And you practice. And you do it the best you can do. And doing your best is better than being the best. You'll never be the best there is.

28. 9:13

    But God doesn't ask you. You're not in competition with anybody in the world. God is only asking you to do your best for him. And so Peter has something to say on this. In 1 Peter 4 verse 10. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others faithfully. Administering God's grace in all its various forms.

29. 9:35

    If anyone speaks. He should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves. He should do it with the strength God provides. So that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. So as we journey through our life. On the way of life. Towards the kingdom. You have to find something to do.

30. 9:57

    And do it. And the fact that you don't do it well. Is no excuse not to do it. Do it poorly. Until you get better at it. So what are you going to do? That's what we're going to talk about this afternoon. You and I have got to find something to do. And then we have to get in the business.

31. 10:15

    Jump in the water so to speak. And get busy doing it. So experiment a little bit. Ask yourself questions. What can I do? Look for a need and try to fill it. All around us there are others who need our help. And all we have to do is. We talked this morning about a cup of cold water.

32. 10:32

    So Brother Simon and I are going to act out a little thing here. About a little story. Which teaches a lesson. I better explain this before we get him up to do it. Because I've done this before. But I used to do it years ago. Before I had what's called neuropathy. Neuropathy is when you can't feel your feet.

33. 10:50

    At first my feet went dead. And then my legs. And then my rear. And now my right hand. So I can't even feel them. You can't hurt my feelings. I don't have any anymore. But when I go to the neuropathist. The neurologist. He always makes me take off my shoes. And you walk like this.

34. 11:09

    And I cannot do it. I absolutely cannot do that. And if I've ever pulled over by a police officer. And given the sobriety test. I'll flunk the sobriety test cold sober. Because I cannot do that. So Simon didn't realize. He's got a bigger job on his hands this afternoon. Than I used to have.

35. 11:29

    But the story we're going to act out is this. We're all a bunch. Just imagine we're all a bunch of young kids. See. Just go back a few years. And we're out playing in a field. And we run across an abandoned railroad track. In this field. And there was a spur that went there one time.

36. 11:45

    And it stopped being. It's all covered with weeds. And so as kids do. Oh there's some railroad tracks. And we all start walking the rail. But because none of us are highway. High wire experts. We would walk a few steps and fall off. But Simon and I. We are smart kids. I'll tell you that.

37. 12:05

    And we get together. And we whisper in each other's ear. And then we announce to all of you. We can walk the entire length of this railroad track. And not fall off. And you being typical young kids. You say. Oh yeah. Prove it. So Simon's going to get on one rail. And I'm going to get on the other.

38. 12:26

    And just imagine there's railroad tracks here. See. Now you're going to have to really help me. Because I can't do this. So we walk the rail. We walk together. Now the question is. Did I pick Simon up? And am I carrying him? No. He's too big. I can't carry you. So what's happening?

39. 12:46

    We are reaching across the rail. And holding hands together. So that together. Each of us can do. What neither one of us can do without the other. And did we carry each other? No. We just held hands. We just extended our hand to help somebody else. Study. Study them when they would have fallen.

40. 13:08

    And I would have fallen flat on my face. Thank you very much. Thank you. the lesson is worth remembering. There are certain things that none of us can do alone, but two can. Solomon says two are better than one. We need to team up. Even the Lord Jesus, when he sent his 12 apostles out, he sent them out by twos.

41. 13:38

    He didn't send them out by ones, 12 directions. He sent them out by twos in six directions. And so we can help each other, but you have to be conscious of others, and you have to be willing to reach your hand out and hold theirs in order to steady them as they steady you.

42. 13:56

    We each help the other one. Now in Romans chapter 12, verse 4, which we read, each of us has just one body, but your body has many members. You know these. You've read this many times. Now in Christ, you see, we're all different. No two of us are alike. But we're all one body.

43. 14:16

    This is a body of the Christadelphians, and it takes all of us to make one body. And Paul says we have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it's serving, let him serve. If it's teaching, let him teach.

44. 14:32

    If it's encouraging, let him encourage. See, there's all kinds of things you can do, but there is something you can do, and we have to find it, and then we have to begin to do it. If it's contributing to the needs of others, let him give it generously. Leadership, let him govern diligently.

45. 14:47

    Showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Sometimes we do something, but we spoil it by not being cheerful about it. I've got to go see old Sister Jones and the rest of them. Boy, I hate to go there. Well, how are you today anyway? I've got to go. I'm glad I got to see you.

46. 15:06

    Sometimes we can leave people worse off than we found them if we don't do it cheerfully. So if you have something to do, decide that you're going to do it with vigor, you're going to do it cheerfully, you're going to care about people, and you're going to throw yourself into the work. Now, I'm blessed to have owned a little company, and people ask me if I'm retired, and I say, no, I'm just semi-retired.

47. 15:34

    I go to work three days a week, but I don't do anything. And they think it's a joke, but it's pretty true. I have no duties at work. I have an office, but I hardly ever sit in it. Because I have nothing to do when I get there except what I do. We have 32 employees, and 10 of them are Christadelphians.

48. 16:01

    So we're almost a third of our company are Christadelphians. But I go around to each desks and talk to the people that work for me and just encourage them. I ask their supervisors. We have a number of departments, and each department has a supervisor that runs that department. I ask, how is Jane doing?

49. 16:21

    How is Betty doing? How is Sandra doing? And they tell me. And then I go to Sandra. I say, Sandra, the boss just said, you're doing a fantastic job. I just want to thank you for that. Really? I don't know why people don't tell people when they're... Because I tell them, you tell them, but they don't.

50. 16:38

    So I go and find out how good they're doing, and then I go and tell them what the boss said. And they're so thrilled. And so that's one of the things Romans 12 said to do. If it's encouraging, then encourage. You know, it doesn't cost anything to pat somebody on the back. I mean, I walk away from their desks, and they feel better for it.

51. 17:02

    In fact, when I'm away on a trip like this, when I come back, they may be saying, because I'm the boss, but they all say, well, we missed you. In fact, sometimes the girls say, who is this strange man that just walked in? Because I'm gone so much that sometimes they pretend they don't know who I was.

52. 17:18

    But we have a great little company, and a wonderful group of Christadelphians work there, and my job is just encouraging them. I don't do any of their work. I don't even know how to do. I started off this company 53 years ago by myself. It was a one-person company. And now we have 32 employees.

53. 17:39

    And I am totally worthless in my own company. I have a computer on my desk, but I don't know how to turn it on.

54. 17:50

    And what happens, sometimes I go in there, and it's missing. Because what happens with that many employees, sometimes a computer goes down. Oh, we'll go get Bob's. He doesn't use it anyway. And so my computer will be gone for a few days, and then I come back, and it's back again. They've got the other one fixed.

55. 18:08

    So they realize that I have no... contribution to make except to encourage. But you cannot minimize how important that is to people. And so this is the body of Christ. And you need to be encouraging each other. Think of something nice and say it. Call them up and say it. Write them a note and say it.

56. 18:38

    Send them an email and say it. But you should be telling somebody, at least one a day, something encouraging. I heard a nice thing about you. Now, I just talked to my wife this morning. It's Saturday over there. So we're so far ahead of her. But I'm going to go back in time, and when I get home, we'll be on the same schedule again.

57. 19:00

    Schedule, excuse me. But so it's Saturday there, and I got up early to call her because she was going to a wedding. We have a big wedding in our hall this afternoon, and the people that are getting married are people that I'm very fond of, and I've gone to their wedding showers, and the bride's grandfather was my best man in my wedding, and so I know all these people really well.

58. 19:25

    And actually, the groom is related to me through marriage. Of course, I was getting related to everybody. And I would like to have been there. In fact, I had planned to come. And then I said to the bride and groom one Sunday, guess what? I'm on my way to Australia at the time of your wedding because the wedding is Saturday, although Saturday is yesterday.

59. 19:46

    We're a day ahead of them, but it's Saturday over there right now, and the wedding is going on right now. But we gave them as much encouragement as we could, and I even kissed the bride before I left. You know, I got a preview. I got a preview.

60. 20:05

    But there is something. No, there's lots of things each of us can do. And the thing is, we don't get as busy doing what we ought to be doing. And so that's what this class is all about. It's our last class, and service is not an option. And so you've got to figure out what to do.

61. 20:26

    And then if you do it poorly, that's okay. Just keep on doing it poorly until you get better at it. And if you practice it, practice makes perfect, and you will do it better. Paul said to the Galatians, make a careful exploration of who you are. Explore with yourself and the work that you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.

62. 20:50

    Now, that's a modern translation, but it's a lot of, find out what you can do, and then start doing it. That's what Paul says. So, we need a little self-examination this afternoon. What do you enjoy doing most? When do you feel most fully alive? What are you doing when you completely lose track of yourself and lose track of time?

63. 21:13

    Do you like routine, or do you like variety? Do we prefer to serve others or serve ourself? Well, you know the right answer to that one. Are we more introverted or extroverted? On some of these, there's no right and wrong answer. I just got a letter from a sister in architecture, because I'm trying to get them all to send a card or a letter to every member.

64. 21:36

    Once a week, you send one to another member. And so, this sister writes me an email. Well, Bob, she says, We're not all like you. And you could tell she was glad of that. And she says, I'm an introvert. She says, I just do not deal well with people. And I just think it's crazy.

65. 22:00

    She didn't use the word crazy. To send a card to somebody, and they'll know that I did it because they're on my list. I'm getting cards from people, and I know I'm on their list, but I'm so thrilled to hear from them. See, she's justifying doing nothing because she's an introvert. Well, I don't deny she's an introvert, and that's not a sin.

66. 22:22

    I do deny that being an introvert means you don't do anything. It may be hard for her to talk to people in person. She can write a note. She can do something. And I keep saying to these people, doing nothing can never be right. So I'm saying that to you this afternoon. Find out what it is you can do, and then begin to do it.

67. 22:46

    Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God's plan for us, said Paul to the Corinthians. The word boundaries refers to the fact that God assigns each of us a field or sphere of service. It's a service we're best cut out to perform, and we're to run with patience the race that God has set before us.

68. 23:04

    Not everybody can run the same race. On a track team, you have the marathon runners, you have the intermediate runners, and you have the dashes. You have people who do the pole vault, people who do the broad jump. They all have different talents, but they're all on the same team, and they're all contributing to the success of the team.

69. 23:22

    So let every man learn to assess properly the value of his own work. This is Paul now. See, this is not my ideas. I am sharing to you inspired words, ideas coming right from God's word. Let every man learn to assess properly the value of his own work, and he can then be glad when he has done something worth doing without depending on the approval of others.

70. 23:44

    Now, you should never compare yourself to someone else. The reason? There's nobody else ever been just like you. So you will not be like anybody else. And so it's important that we do not compare ourselves, because there's two reasons why not to compare yourself to other people. You can always find somebody, and you say, I could never do what they do.

71. 24:06

    That's going back to the D and four Bs. I could never play the piano like that, and I couldn't. You're right about that. And I cannot sing like some of you can sing. I admire that you. I know there's things that I cannot do, but there's something I can do. But if you compare yourself to someone else, you'll say, well, I could never do as well as they do, so therefore I won't accept the position.

72. 24:31

    All the ones that play the piano today could have said, there is somebody in this world who plays the piano better than me. Get them. They may not even be Christadelphians. You've been asked to play it. Get the hymns in it. My wife plays the organ for our closure.

73. 24:48

    If I tell you this, you won't tell on me, will you? She's not the greatest organ teacher player in the world. She works very hard at it. She gets very nervous. She asks the presiding brother a week in advance for the hymns. If you want to really throw my wife, just come to our meeting and exhort on a Sunday she's going to play the organ and tell the presiding brother when you get up there, oh, I'd like to change the hymns.

74. 25:16

    You throw my wife in a real tizzy. But she does the best she can with what she has right where she is. And that's all any of us can do. So she practices those hymns and then she plays them. And afterwards she'll say, oh, I made a mistake. Did you hear that mistake I made?

75. 25:36

    And I said, no, I didn't hear it. I'm not that musical. I said, you did fine. Oh, no, I meant, well, life will go on. The world will keep spinning around even if you did make a mistake. It's okay to make mistakes. Not that you plan on making them, but it's better to do something and make a mistake than to do nothing.

76. 25:54

    And the people who do nothing say, well, I never made a mistake. Well, that's right. And the biggest mistake you can make is the mistake of not doing anything. So find something to do and start doing it. And if you don't do it right, then do it poorly. And keep on doing it poorly until you get better at it.

77. 26:08

    So Paul says, we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves among themselves, they are not wise. So two reasons not to compare yourself. Number one, you can find somebody who can do it better than you. So therefore, you won't try because they do better.

78. 26:26

    And then the other reason you shouldn't compare yourself is I do a lot better than her or him. And then you get puffed up. Hold on. I don't make as many mistakes as she makes. And both of those attitudes are wrong. You see, if we're all doing the best we can do, even though we're doing it poorly, we should work at trying to get better.

79. 26:46

    I'm not saying that doing a poor job is the best thing to do, but I'm saying it's better to do a poor job than to do no job. And so whatever it is you're asked to do, try it, do it, practice it. If you're asked to exhort him, over in our way, when we have a new person baptized in our ecclesia, they are assigned a mentor for one year.

80. 27:13

    And every week for an entire year, the mentor meets with the newly baptized person. They read a book together. They pick a book of the Bible and they both will read it and they'll discuss chapters. I was a mentor not too long ago with a young brother. who, very shy young brother. And I figured he needed to be encouraged to learn how to exhort.

81. 27:37

    So every week, I would give him a little subject. And I said, this week, prepare me a five-minute exhortation on love, joy, peace, long-suffering, whatever. And that week, he would work on that talk and the next week when we got together, he would give me his five-minute exhortation on it. I was trying to break the ice for him to get into it.

82. 28:02

    And so when he gave his first exhortation, I praised him for it because he'd made a big effort. He was doing it poorly, but he was doing the best he could at the time. And I told him how much I appreciated his efforts. He said, well, you've heard all that before because of those things that were, those things I practiced on you.

83. 28:22

    But the point is, you need to have this caring attitude for each other and encourage each other in the work. I don't know if you have that role over here or not, but you know, we made the mistake in the early days of going to someone's home every week to help them get baptized.

84. 28:40

    I used to go to a home of a man and a woman. They're both dead now, long dead. They were old enough and they might be my parents. I was just a young fellow with three little children. But every week I went to their house and talked about the first principles for preparing them for baptism.

85. 28:58

    And finally, they were not quick learners. They were very nice people, but they were definitely not quick learners. And after two years, they were ready to be baptized. And we baptized them and I said, whew! And the next week, I didn't go. And I stopped going. And they called me and they says, Bob, we miss your visits.

86. 29:25

    I thought, well, you're baptized now. Mission accomplished. You know, get on with it. No, I didn't say that. But you see, we learn from those kind of mistakes that a person, once they're baptized, they're not, they're still a babe in the truth. What happens when you have a baby born in your household?

87. 29:47

    How often do you feed it? Every four hours, night and day, four o'clock feeding. I mean, father and mother want to sleep and that baby's crying. Four o'clock in the morning, go back to sleep. No, it's, you've got to get up and feed that baby because it needs nourishment, often because it's a baby.

88. 30:06

    baby. And when we baptize somebody, they are a babe in Christ and they need to be fed. Maybe not at four o'clock in the morning, but don't abandon your newly baptized people. Well, now you're baptized. I'll go on to somebody else. That's all right to go on to somebody else, but don't neglect the new ones in your ecclesia.

89. 30:28

    They need you and they need you for a very long time. So, we don't compare ourselves to each other and we try to help those that need a little word of encouragement. Now, whenever you do anything, there's always going to be somebody that's going to criticize you. There's lots of people who sit back, they don't do anything, but they sure criticize what everybody else is doing.

90. 31:00

    So, John Bunyan said something that was interesting. He says, if my life is fruitless, it does not matter who praises me. And if my life is fruitful, it does not matter who criticizes me. So, you sort of, sometimes, in the Christadelphian body, have to develop what I call a thick skin. You have to do the best you can and if somebody comes up and I mean, if you want to know how to raise kids, just ask somebody who doesn't have any.

91. 31:30

    You know, they can always tell people who have kids how to do it until they get one their own. Wow, it's a different story. You see, we all seem to know how to do things we've never done before. Over our way, we have a saying, hire a teenager while they're still a teenager and know everything.

92. 31:50

    Because, over our way, we have this feeling, I'm sure it's not true of the young people in Australia, but, it was like that young cat in the story this morning, went to cat college and thought they knew everything. And, as you get older, you can't, you keep realizing how little you do know.

93. 32:08

    Mark Twain ran away from home when he was about 15 or 16. He thought his daddy was the stupidest guy he'd ever met. He came back at 25 and he couldn't realize, couldn't get over how much his father had learned in that short time. Now, what had happened is Mark Twain had grown up in the meantime.

94. 32:30

    And so, remember that first little card you got, please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet. We need to use those all the time because young people need to ask older people, be patient with me, God's not finished with me yet. And the old people need to say to the young people, you know, be patient with me, I don't get around like I used to, but God's not finished with me yet.

95. 32:52

    Because you see, you all are either green and growing or you're ripe and rotting. I mean, when fruit finally gets ripe, it begins to rot. And if you just sit back and say, well, I've been baptized now, I don't have to do anything, you begin to rot. So, no matter how old you are, we all need to keep this attitude that we're green and we're growing and God is not finished with us yet and we're trying to do better.

96. 33:26

    So, Jesus told us stories along these lines. He talked about giving people talents. He gave one ten talents, one five, one one. Nobody got the same amount of talents, they were all different. So, you see, that's why you don't compare yourself to somebody else either. Their talent is not the same as yours and what Simon could have done without my help very much was walk that rail.

97. 33:48

    I could not have possibly done it without his help. But you see, I did help him and maybe I, he helped me and maybe I helped him a little bit. But you see, we need to look around the room at people who need our help. and they can't walk a rail like you can but you can sit down with them and they can, you can tell them a problem you're having at school and if they can remember back that far, they might be able to give you some advice on how to cope with a problem that you're having in school.

98. 34:22

    We old people think the young people just don't realize how easy they have it and the young people don't realize how lucky off they are but if you were a young person, you wouldn't think it was so easy. You got tons of homework, you got this and that, you got peer pressure, you got problems.

99. 34:38

    See, so each age, each stage of our life is different. Brothers and sisters with little children have a different kind of life than brothers and sisters with teenagers and those who, teenagers are now grown and they're married and they have different problems again. what I want you to do is this afternoon think for yourself what you can do that you haven't been doing for God.

100. 35:14

     I hope you can think of something. If you can't, it's going to tell you right there you got a problem. If you can't think of something you could be doing that you're not doing, then you aren't thinking right. So we ought to get a sheet of paper out and we're not asking you to do this now but when you get home and what can I do for God?

101. 35:33

     Service is not how can I serve? And figure out what you can do and then start doing it and do it poorly until you're able to do it better. Don't not do it at all because you can't do it perfect. Do your best says Paul to young Timothy. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved.

102. 35:53

     a workman that does not need to be ashamed who correctly handles the word of God. So find something you can do and then begin to do it. Do what you can with what you have right where you are now. Not when I get out of school. Not when I get a better job.

103. 36:17

     Not when the children are going. Right now, today, you go out this afternoon, this is a Sunday afternoon and most of you don't have to be at work until Monday morning. This afternoon, you do something for God by doing something for somebody else that you hadn't thought of until this class. And when you get home or if you're on the road, you may, all the time you're driving home, you can think about what is it we can do.

104. 36:43

     And when you get home, you'll have some ideas. You might call up somebody and say, oh, sorry you couldn't go to the weekend. We had a good time and let me tell you what happened. And maybe you can remember something that happened that you can share with somebody who wasn't able to come.

105. 36:57

     You see, God works with weak people and that's us. We're all weak. We're a bundle of flaws and God knows every flaw you have. So you can't hide it from him. There's no reason you're saying, well, you know. He knows, but he wants you to overcome. That was the point of the hurdles.

106. 37:14

     You have hurdles to jump and you need to jump them. So Paul says to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4, 7, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that all, this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed.

107. 37:45

     So God here is telling us through Paul that you're going to be pressed on every side. You're going to be perplexed. You're going to be in despair. You're going to be persecuted. You're going to be struck, but you've got to keep getting up. Solomon talks about a man who falls down six times, but he gets up every time to the seventh.

108. 38:02

     Don't just lie down and say, oh, woe is me. I got knocked down. Get up and get going again. Paul knew what it was to be discouraged, but what did he do when he was discouraged? He tried to encourage others. He had a thorn in his flesh and he didn't like it and he asked God to remove it and God said no.

109. 38:20

     So he says, I take pleasure then in my infirmities. You see, God can work around your infirmities. I don't race people like I did Stephen Eggington anymore. I realize that I've outgrown that. But because I can't race Steve anymore, does that mean I can't do anything anymore? No, there's something I can do and whatever it is, get busy doing it.

110. 38:46

     And when you love people, you try to think, what can I do for that? You see, sometimes this backfires. This is a case of a sister who had young children and down the street there was an old sister Jones. And so one day the mother thought, we should find out how she is.

111. 39:06

     So she said to the children, would you go down the street and see how old sister Jones is today? So the kiddies ran off and they came back and they came back a few minutes to the, she said, it's none of your business how old she is today.

112. 39:23

     Now you see, she said, go see how old sister Jones is. She meant, she was describing her not asking for her age. So, so what happens when this backfires, you can say, well I'm never going to ask her again. You see, you have to be patient with people. Her little children misunderstood the mother and the old sister misunderstood the kids.

113. 39:50

     And so she needed to go down there and patch things up and say, I didn't really ask my children how old you were, I want to know how you are. and then all the trouble would go away. But sometimes when we try to do something nice for somebody and it doesn't backfire, that's the last time I ever do anything for you.

114. 40:08

     And that's not the attitude either. You do things for people who don't even say thank you. They don't show any appreciation for what you do and you keep on doing it. And you keep on keeping on because you're doing it not just for them. It's your service to the Lord. So you need to keep pressing on for the mark for the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus.

115. 40:31

     We need to just keep on. But if you don't have a plan and you don't work your plan then nothing will happen. Now I've come a long ways to spend some time with you and I'm thankful that you invited me and I'm glad I came. But I want to tell you this right now.

116. 40:52

     If you leave this place and you go out and go back to where you came from and everything is going to be the same as it was before you came here I should have stayed home. I've wasted my time. I've wasted your time. I should never have bothered you.

117. 41:14

     Because the whole purpose of these classes on the way of life is to help all of us change and do something better than we were doing it. and so I pray that that will be true and I won't know it and it's none of my business. I'm not prying. But I do pray that the thoughts which were not mine they were God's thoughts he used me as his tool I hope that they find fertile ground in your heart and bring forth glory and honor to your heavenly father.

118. 41:53

     Why did God cause Jesus to go through everything that he endured for us he was tempted in all points just like we are yet without sin and that's such a beautiful thought and the doctrine of the trinity destroys it because you have a God who can't sin being tempted it was meaningless but you see you are having problems literally God is helping solve other people's problems by giving you yours you think about Job why did Job have all his problems he was trying to convert three friends his suffering was for their benefit sometimes your suffering is not for you it's for their benefit Paul suffered all kinds of things the Lord Jesus learned obedience by the things which he suffered because he suffered these things he understands what you're going through and when you go to your heavenly father in prayer and pray through Jesus lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil he says I know I've been there I've done that so if you are a former alcoholic alcoholics are told never to use the word former I am an alcoholic they may not have had a drink for 20 or 30 years they're still an alcoholic I don't know if you've ever been to an AA meeting in your life but I have been to one I was working with a young brother a young man he was not a brother he was studying the truth he was actually a doctor he was a medical doctor he had been a naval doctor did you know they specialized that for he had been a doctor in the Navy and he used to

119. 43:42

     come to my house once a week to study and when he started he couldn't spell Bible I mean he could but I mean he knew nothing about the Bible so we started really ground zero but after a few many sessions he said to me one day Bob he believed that he needed to keep going to AA meetings to keep himself dry he said Bob would you go to an AA meeting with me well I didn't really want to go to an AA meeting but I said do you want me to he said yes I want you to go we'll go now they have a big book like you have an ALS diary well they have a book of all the AA meetings in the world and they have them by sections because you know he had one for our area now he went to an AA meeting because he lived !

120. 44:29

     across the town West Los I would go I was willing to drive to his area to go to his AA meeting with me oh no he's so thoughtful of me he looked up in his book he found an AA meeting about eight blocks from my house now I've lived in my home for 43 years I hadn't lived there that long then about 30 maybe and our kids had gone through all the schools I had been a coach of a little league team I mean I knew a lot of people I didn't want to go to an AA meeting eight blocks from my house you know I'm going to walk in well Bob what are you doing here you know but he wanted me to and so I did and we walked in and I didn't know a soul there I was so relieved but I was quite impressed by the quality none of them were Christy Delfin except he and I and they never had a Christy Delfin before and probably never ever since but the reason I'm telling you the story is that brother is now active in Southern California helping people who are trying to break the drink habit he knows the problems they're going through because he went through them himself he is far more qualified to sympathize and empathize with an alcoholic than me I'm not bragging but I've never been one I can't really understand what it's like because I never was one he understands he can help you take a person who used to smoke and there's a person trying to stop smoking that person who was a smoker

121. 46:23

     is more able to help the person kick the habit than I am which so you see even the problems even the addictions even the things that you've done which were wrong in the past are fitting you to help somebody today who is facing the problem that you have conquered a mother with a colicky baby cries all night she's at her wits in another mother with teenage kids who remembers when they were colicky is able to help that sister far more than I can a cancer survivor who's gone through chemo and radiation and they're now in remission and they just find out that one of the sisters in the meeting was told yesterday she has cancer now I can go see her but I don't emphasize the same as that person who's gone through it can so you see even the things that have happened in your life which could have been bad things and you have conquered them now God has prepared you to look around and find somebody else who's facing this same kind of problem and you can step in and help them so everything that's happening in our life is preparing us for the kingdom even the bad things and so use the experience that you've had to help someone who is not yet conquered the thing that you have been able to overcome and so service is not an option it's not a suggestion it's a command so I want you this afternoon God willing I can't make you do this you know it'd be wrong if I could make you it'd be wrong too but I'm pleading with you to decide

122. 48:28

     this afternoon on a piece of paper some things that you can do for God by helping others that you may not have been doing every one of us can preach you don't have to know all the answers I don't tell anybody I'm a Christadelphian because I don't know how to answer the questions on the devil or the trinity the immortal soul just say you're a Christadelphian we had a man who came into the truth from the radio program and he had known nothing he was so alive for the truth he never ever exhorted in his entire life he was so full of the truth he used to say I don't talk good but he used to have a big tape record those great big things with reel to reels and he would take that carry that big thing over to somebody's house with a tape on it by Christadelphian who he said talk good and he said I want to play you something and then they'd ask him some questions I don't know but he said I'll find out he was always coming back to the rest of us saying how do you answer this question so he started off doing something poorly but doing it and he got better at it he never in his own mind ever got good at it he's in the hospital in a double in a room with two beds and the guy in the other bed is a marine and he started talking to him about the truth make a long story the marine got baptized and quit the marines but this man didn't do it alone he said I

123. 50:04

     don't talk good he couldn't he couldn't explain away the devil or the trinity difficult subject my father's house he didn't know how to answer that he knew that you didn't go to paradise that day he knew that heaven was not a reward of the righteous but he said I'll get some answers for you here's something to read let me pay you this tape you see each one of you one of the things you all have to do is become a preacher because God has nobody else in this world to do it except you we can't hire the Jehovah's witnesses do it they put us to shame in the way that they go out knocking on doors and we don't do that very much and they get converts from it they get a lot of rejections but they get converts we're finding in the mission field if you just just plant seeds when you get home this weekend tell people hope you can say this I had a great weekend what'd you do I went to some bible talks what church christadelphian christadelphian over our way nobody's ever heard of christadelphian I got a little story about christadelphian I do this with everybody I meet on the airplane wherever because most people have never heard of the word christadelphian in America we're not that good at preaching we should be in Australia it's better but it's not perfect here either and I've been talking to some people who are not christadelphians and I mentioned I'm coming to a christadelphian thing and they never heard of you either so it isn't universally known like the catholics or

124. 51:38

     the presbyterians or something but I say we're the word christ and adelphia and adelphia is a greek word it simply means brother have you do you think philadelphia is a funny word I always ask if you ask people questions they have to answer you if you start preaching and talking and talking they just turn you off and their eyes glaze over and you know you're not getting through but if you ask them a question do you think philadelphia is a funny name no I say philadelphia you don't start laughing well philadelphia is actually two greek words it's the word philio and that's the greek word that means love and adelphia is a greek word which means brother when you say philio adelphia you're saying love brother now we are christ adelphia the word christ that's not a funny word everybody's heard christ and the word adelphia and that's our name and I go through this with everybody I meet and so I had talked the truth to a man about 30 years before and he had moved away and he was came back to pasadena as a manager of a new bank and we were going to buy a piece of property for an office building and I we needed to borrow some money and I thought well you remember me he was a manager of a bank in pasadena and he moved to texas and he's back again so I walked into his new bank and he's sitting there in his big corner office with all glass around him and as he's on the telephone and I talked to his secretary outside I said

125. 53:09

     I'd like to see mr. gaskell when he gets off the phone she's sure I'll tell him you're here so I stand outside she goes in and she says there's a man here to see his name is bob lloyd so I walk into the office and joe it's joe gaskell joe how are you joe and he says hi bob are you still a philadelphian so you know he remembered something he kind of botched it up a little bit but the point is all of us one of the things you can do is you go out and tell other people you are a christadelphian and if they don't want to listen it's not your problem but Ezekiel says if you don't tell them it's your problem if you tell them and they won't listen it's their problem you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out it's better to be their problem than yours so one of the things we want to do when you leave here today is decide you're going to be more persistent in sharing your hope with others you don't have to do it well do it poorly until you get better at it but believe me the more you preach the better you'll get at it and so there's lots of homework for us to do when we leave here because this was a workshop this was not just to entertain this was to say this is a life changing weekend and we're going to leave this place and try to be more faithful in serving God we're going to thank God for our hurdles we're going to stop complaining

126. 54:48

     when we have problems we're going to realize life is a test we're being tested and life is service is not an option you've got things to do and so yesterday you got around to it now you know it was around to it because it said it was a to it if a thing says it's a to it it's a to it now it happened to be round so it was around to it and people say I'll do something when I get around to it you can't use this in any other countries except I'm English speaking it doesn't work because it's a play on words now today you're going to get a new one and it says it's a to it so it's a to it if it says it is it is but it's a little piece of wood now you call little pieces of wood sticks so this is a stick to it and you are now to get around to it and seek first the kingdom of God and now you are to stick to it and be steadfast immovable and always abound in the work of the Lord so each of you now we're going to pass these out in just a moment and take them home as reminders of what we talked about you do have to get around to it and seeking first God's kingdom you want to be in the kingdom more than anything else all the world I know that and now you have to keep on keeping on keeping on and so I want to thank you for the patience that you've given to me in these classes

127. 56:22

     over the last two days and I'm going to borrow some words from Paul he said goodbye to people he would never see again they lived in Ephesus they went in Ephesus they traveled down to see Paul but when they got there he says you will never see my face again and so they walked to the boat and they said goodbye and they felt sad and his words to them are my words to you I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified Thank you.