Preparing for Successful Living
I Peter 3:15
We’ve come today to recognize our graduates, and to say well done, you now enter the next chapter of your life.
Secular education is necessary and needful to make it in this world.
It is important that children apply themselves starting in kindergarten to high school, college, and grad school for some.
Certainly, education is the one thing that no one can take from you.
This world view is universally accepted.
Our topic: preparing for successful living.
What is a successive life? I guess it depends on who you ask.
I believe that real and lasting success starts with being saved and knowing you are saved.
So, I want to talk to our young people, and all assembled from the biblical or godly world view of successful living.
Someone said, we make our children go to school but going to church is optional. I believe this is a worldly world view, that’s not of God but is pushed by Satan.
The Bible that I read says, “For what is a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
The American dream is important, family, owning your own home, nice car and have a good paying job.
But a relationship with God supersedes all of that, you can have all that, but without Christ in your life, with all that life is empty and unfulfilling.
The church job is to prepare children for successful living.
I Peter 3:15 tells us how to do that.
I. We must know what we believe.
II. We must know why we believe what we believe.
III. We must know how to defend what we believe.
Some Baptists are vulnerable to false teaching and are easily lead astray because they don’t know the Bible.
They don’t know the Bible because they are not willing to be taught the Scriptures.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
We are a teaching church, and it is strongly encouraged that our children and adults attend bible class, Sunday school and listen with spiritual ears to the teaching sermon.
This sermon today is to help our children prepare for successful living and that starts with:
I. We must know what we believe.
When you know what you know no one can change what you know because you have sanctified the Lord God in your heart!
II. We must know why we believe what we believe.
1st Pet. 1:20-21, “Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Bible has stood the test of time and over 300 prophecies concerning Christ has already been fulfilled and all the rest will be too.
III. We must know how to defend what we believe.
How does a child of God defend their faith in God?
And you cannot be successful without Christ.
Money, silver, and gold shall perish, but Christ and His Christ shall exist forever.
Secular education is necessary and needful to make it in this world.
It is important that children apply themselves starting in kindergarten to high school, college, and grad school for some.
Certainly, education is the one thing that no one can take from you.
This world view is universally accepted.
Our topic: preparing for successful living.
What is a successive life? I guess it depends on who you ask.
I believe that real and lasting success starts with being saved and knowing you are saved.
So, I want to talk to our young people, and all assembled from the biblical or godly world view of successful living.
Someone said, we make our children go to school but going to church is optional. I believe this is a worldly world view, that’s not of God but is pushed by Satan.
The Bible that I read says, “For what is a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
The American dream is important, family, owning your own home, nice car and have a good paying job.
But a relationship with God supersedes all of that, you can have all that, but without Christ in your life, with all that life is empty and unfulfilling.
The church job is to prepare children for successful living.
I Peter 3:15 tells us how to do that.
I. We must know what we believe.
II. We must know why we believe what we believe.
III. We must know how to defend what we believe.
Some Baptists are vulnerable to false teaching and are easily lead astray because they don’t know the Bible.
They don’t know the Bible because they are not willing to be taught the Scriptures.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
We are a teaching church, and it is strongly encouraged that our children and adults attend bible class, Sunday school and listen with spiritual ears to the teaching sermon.
This sermon today is to help our children prepare for successful living and that starts with:
I. We must know what we believe.
“But sanctify the Lord God in your heart.”
- Sanctify is hagiazo means to consecrate mentally.
- Place God on the throne of your heart, where no one else can sit.
- This comes through knowing Jesus personally for salvation.
- Knowing that you are saved and knowing how you are saved.
Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”
- The Bible does not say we are saved by the law, by not eating certain foods or worshipping on a certain day.
Rom. 8:3-4, “for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
- How do we receive this grace to be saved?
- Rom. 10:9-11, “that if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved, for with the heart man believeth unto righteous; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”
When you know what you know no one can change what you know because you have sanctified the Lord God in your heart!
II. We must know why we believe what we believe.
“And be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
- Be ready always is to be prepared any time or place.
- We believe because God said it, not some man or woman who had a dream.
- A question I have been asked and welcome the question; how we know Christianity is the faith to believe.
- God is real and he loves all people, regardless of race.
- God speaks to us through the holy Bible.
- The Bible is God’s message and is true without error.
1st Pet. 1:20-21, “Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Bible has stood the test of time and over 300 prophecies concerning Christ has already been fulfilled and all the rest will be too.
III. We must know how to defend what we believe.
“Be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
- Give an answer is to give a defense.
- Answer is apologia we get the word apologetics.
- Young and not so young, if we are going to enjoy successful living we must be prepared to defend the faith.
- Jude 3, “It was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
- Living life without Christ is a drastic failure because only what we do for Christ will last.
How does a child of God defend their faith in God?
- You have got to know some bible to defend the Christian faith.
- You have to know who you are and to whom you belong.
- You have to know that Christianity did not start in Europe, but the first churches were started in Africa.
- Many black church fathers, such as Athanasius, Augustine, and Cyril.
And you cannot be successful without Christ.
Money, silver, and gold shall perish, but Christ and His Christ shall exist forever.
