Message: How to Make Your Life Count for Eternity Speaker: Ronny Low November 11, 2012.

OUTLINE Introduction The Bible talks of two kinds of time: chronos and kairos. What is the difference and how does it affect our life? How do we make our lives count for eternity? By spending our lives on things that last forever. 1. God is forever (Psalms 90:2), therefore know Him and follow Him. Mt 4:19 as a life verse what are the implications for our life? 2. People are forever (Matthew 25:46), therefore love them, tell them about Christ and disciple them so that they can disciple others also. How can we do this as a lifestyle? 3. The Word of God lasts forever (Psalms 119:89), therefore study the Bible well and apply all that you learn for your life to be transformed.

Speaker Introduction Ronny and his wife Sharon are missionaries from Malaysia. They have been serving the Lord for 22 years, 16 of them in the Philippines. They have 3 children: Annie who is studying in Singapore, Ee Ern ("Ian") who is studying in Canada, and Bry Ern ("Brian") who is studying at Faith Academy, Cainta. They live in Antipolo but they are members of Tanay Christian Church in Tanay, Rizal. Ronny has a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies, and is helping churches to implement "IDS" Intentional Discipleship System with the goal of growing churches in quantity and in quality for the purpose of reaching the nations.

How to Make Your Life Count for Eternity Introduction If we look around us, we see people of different ages. We are at different seasons of life: enjoying childhood, studying hard at college, falling in love, getting married, setting up home, adjusting to parenthood, enjoying the grandchildren, retiring and then what? Our lives will soon be over. The question is: have we lived our lives that God wants? The Broadway musical Rent has a song called The Seasons of Love, and part of the lyrics say: "Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?" Is it measured in minutes, hours, weeks, months and years? Or is it measured in things that were done or events that happened? The Bible talks of two kinds of time: chronos and kairos. What is the difference and how does it affect our life? Chronos refers to time as we normally know it measured in days, months and years.

Kairos refers to the window of opportunity. A window is a specific period of time. Some things cannot happen before the window, and some things cannot happen after the window. Jesus did not die for sinners when he was 12 years old He had not yet called and trained his 12 disciples. Therefore our life on earth is not about marking time, though it is true that time does flow on like water under the bridge. Rather, our life is how we make use of the opportunities God gives to us in this life. What does He want me to do, and how do I do it? How do I make my life count for eternity?

Walter Henrichsen that one way to things that last are forever (Matthew 119:89).

in his book Disciples Are Made Not Born suggests make our life count for eternity is to spending it on forever. 1. God is forever (Psalms 90:2), 2. People 25:46), 3. The Word of God lasts forever (Psalms

1. God is forever (Psalms 90:2). It is wise to invest our lives in following God. The Lord Jesus is the captain of our salvation, and so we follow Him. He says, ] "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt 4:19). If we look at the context of Mt 4:18-25, we see that Simon and Andrew, James and John, left their businesses and father to follow Christ. Christianity cannot be lived half-heartedly; it can only be lived with passion. You do not have passion for something when you are not prepared to sacrifice for it. [Here you can give an example of someone who followed Christ whole-heartedly, even to the point of giving up his or her life for Christ.] 2. People are forever (Matthew 25:46). When we follow Jesus, he will immediately invite us to join in His mission: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mt 4:19). The disciples followed Jesus as he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. They saw that following Jesus means being involved with him in his mission of teaching and ministering to people. Let me ask you two questions. First, what was the greatest thing that happened to you? I hope you say the day you knew Christ and trusted Him as Savior. God your Maker sent his own Son to die for you to give you eternal life. I hope that was the greatest thing that happened to you. Second question: If that was the greatest thing that happened to you, what would be the greatest thing you could do for another person? I hope you say: to introduce Christ to him or her and so enjoy eternal life. To enjoy this eternal life however, one must live according to the truth of God's Word. Thus, to know more about God's Word the Bible is never a waste of time; after all God's Word is eternal. 3. The Word of God lasts forever (Psalms 119:89), therefore study the Bible well and apply all that you learn for your life to be transformed. The Bible contains the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, who said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" It is not the Great Suggestion. Jesus died for all people and he wants the Church his people to bring this good news to all nations and to teach them to be disciples who will make disciples. Look at the task before us. 43% fo the world is still unreached. Previous generations have done their part in reaching them, and not the baton is passed to us. We have to do our part in reaching them. Why is this important?

Consider the prophecy of the Lord Jesus in Mt 24:14. What will happen when the gospel is preached to all nations? The end will come. For many years Christians have debated about the time of Christ's coming. But the main thing about the Second Coming is not the calendar; rather, it is about the task of world evangelisation. The Second Coming is task-oriented: when the task is completed, the end will come! Many Christians have the bad habit of reading the Bible selectively. For example, many like the first part of Lk 24:46-47 about how Christ suffered and then rose from the dead. But they ignore the second part of the verse that says repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations. Whose responsibility is it? The Church's. Another verse is Eph 2:8-10. Many Christians often quote verses 8 and 9, but they neglect verse 10, which says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." We have good works waiting for us to do, and these are surely related to the Great Commission. God has already prepared them beforehand for you to do. Do you know his plans for you? I want you to find out, because our window of opportunity is short. If you give God your life, and spend it in evangelizing and serving people, and by aligning your lives with the Word of God, you will make your life count for eternity. And you will not be ashamed when you give an account of your life to Christ. Instead, he will say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant...Great is your reward."