And then the title of my sermon tonight is going the extra mile, going the extra mile.
Verse 41 is the famous verse and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him
twain.
He's saying go two miles, go the extra mile.
Jump down to verse 46 where the Bible reads, for if you love them which love you, what
reward have you?
Do not even the publicans the same?
And if you salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?
Do not even the publicans so?
Be therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
He's saying look, don't just think you're so great because you love those who love you.
You know, go beyond that.
Go the extra mile.
Do more than the publicans.
Do more than the people around you.
Do more than what the heathen would do.
And he says if someone compels you to go a mile, go with him twain.
Now go back if you went to Genesis chapter 24.
This is a great Bible story with an example of going the extra mile.
We should go the extra mile in every area of life.
What do I mean by that?
Not trying to do the minimum but trying to do more, trying to do the maximum, right?
Being the best that we can be whether it's the best husband, the best wife, the best
son, daughter, the best employee at work, the best Christian, the best church member.
Not just trying to see how little we can do but actually trying to do more and go the
extra mile, not to just do the minimum that's required but to do something extra.
Now this is a beautiful story in Genesis 24 about Rebekah and Rebekah is coming to draw
water at the well and of course Abraham has sent his servant to go find a bride for his
son Isaac.
But Rebekah doesn't know anything about that.
Rebekah is just going through her normal life, everyday tasks of gathering water and
so she's going to the well.
Now let's pick up the story in verse 12.
It says, and he said, oh Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this
day and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
So this is the servant praying to the Lord and he says in verse 13, behold I stand here
by the well of water and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water
and let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say let down my pitcher I pray
thee that I may drink and she shall say drink and I will give thy camels drink also.
Let the same be she that thou has appointed for thy servant Isaac and thereby shall I
know that thou has showed kindness unto my master.
And it came to pass before he had done speaking that behold Rebekah came out who was born
to Bethuel son of Milcah the wife of Nahor Abraham's brother with her pitcher upon her
shoulder and the damsel was very fair to look upon a virgin neither had any man known her
and she went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up and the servant ran to
meet her and said let me I pray thee drink a little water of thy pitcher and she said
drink my Lord and she hasted and let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink.
So look this guy has not done anything for her she doesn't know who he is and she doesn't
really owe him anything he's just a traveler he's just a stranger she's drawing water for
herself for her own chores for her own family and their needs and this guy just runs up
and says oh hey could I get a little bit of water from that pitcher as well can I get
a drink of water and not only does she give him a drink of water with alacrity not you
know saying well you know how dare you who do you think you are whatever like I'm just
here to serve you or something no she just says sure you know let me help you out and
then not only that she then goes the extra mile he didn't ask hey can you water all my
camels but she goes the extra mile she gives the water that he asked for and then she gives
him what he didn't ask for by saying here let me water your camels also and I'm sure
this is no small task watering the camels because one man how much is one man gonna
drink you know he's just gonna drink a pint of water or whatever but how much are these
camels gonna drink I mean camels are pretty big animals and they tend to fill the hump
you know what I mean they tend to drink a lot of water so that they can use it for days
to come and so she says I'll give thy camels drink also and so basically that was the sign
that he had looked for with the Lord that whoever did that would be the one that God
had chosen because that's kind of a an extraordinary thing to offer you know to just water all
the camels and so she comes out and she hates and I love what it says in verse 18 it says
she said drink my Lord and she hated don't you love it when people do their job and they're
not slow about it right you know what I mean like people who get in there and they get
work done they're not just dragging along and don't be that guy who goes to work and
just moves really slow and somebody asks you to do some and you're just kind of well I'm
getting paid by the hour you know and just going really slow you know she's actually
energetic right when you read this story here's what you get from Rebecca you get the energy
the desire to work the desire to serve and help and go the extra mile so it says that
she hasted and she gave him to drink and when she had done giving him drink she said I will
draw water for thy camels also until they've done drinking and she hated look if this is
repeated it must be significant because he didn't have to say it the first time but yet
he says the second time that she hated because God wants us to get the picture of somebody
who's not just kind of you know fill up the water yo again oh it's Monday you know we get
the picture of somebody who's energetic hard worker and what is the virtuous woman described
as in Proverbs 31 if not a hard worker you know she's a hard-working woman she gets up early she
works hard she gets things done she works willingly with her hands she strengthens her
arms and she gets things done and so the hastening is emphasized by being repeated
twice she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough ran again unto the well do you see
that again being emphasized ran unto the well to draw water and drew for all his camels and
the man wondering at her held his peace he's wondering at her what does that mean it means
he's marveling he's amazed at her for two reasons number one she was a beautiful woman to look upon
the Bible tells us but number two he just loved the spirit and the attitude and the hard work so
he's amazed by that and so he marveled at her he held her he held his peace to wit which means to
know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not and it came to pass as the
camels had done drinking that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight and
two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold and says whose daughter art thou tell me
I pray thee is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in now obviously going through
the entire story about Isaac and Rebecca is outside the scope of this sermon but what I
want to really emphasize here is the going the extra mile of doing extra more than she
was asked to do by offering to water the camels as well but here's what's so interesting her
extra mile just immediately pays off immediately pays off okay why the Bible says in all labor
there's profit but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury in all labor there is profit let
me just promise you something okay and if you would go to Ephesians chapter 6 let me just
promise you something anytime you go the extra mile you will be rewarded 100% of the time say
well that's not true because you know I gave extra service as a waiter and I went the extra
mile and I got a small tip look I guarantee you God caused someone else to give you a big tip I'm
not saying that it's always gonna be immediate like it was here but you will always be rewarded
when you go the extra mile God will reward you if man doesn't sometimes man will reward you you
know you pour the water for the camels next thing you know you're being handed expensive jewelry now
I don't know how long it took her to water the camels and water him but you know what I don't
care if it took all day she's given an insane amount of money right there because she's handed
this earring of a half a talon of gold and she's handled these two I'm sorry half shekel of gold
and two bracelets ten shekels weight of gold when she's being handed solid gold jewelry that's a lot
of money that's worth a lot and so whatever work she did she got paid big time just for and not not
to mention the fact that she gets to marry Isaac and all the other blessings but I'm just pointing
out the fact that God is showing us the immediate payment for going the extra mile what does the
Bible say in Ephesians chapter 6 look at verse 5 servants be obedient to them that are your masters
according to the flesh with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart is unto Christ now
with I service as men pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart
with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men and then here's verse 8 here's the promise
knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he
be bond or free whether you're a slave or an employee whether your boss is a good boss or a
bad boss whether you get paid well or paid poorly whether you live off tips or you live off a salary
or an hourly rate you can take one thing to the bank whatever good thing you do you will receive
from the Lord you will always be rewarded for the good things you do you do the extra mile
you go the extra mile you will be rewarded sometimes it's immediate other times it might
take longer but you will be rewarded go to Luke chapter 17 Luke chapter number 17 we don't want
to go through life just doing the minimum the Bible says whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do
it with thy might the Bible says whatever we do whether we eat or drink whatever we do let's do
it to the glory of God the Bible says to do all things heartily as unto the Lord when you go to
your job I don't care if it's a menial job you need to treat that job as if it's important
because anything worth doing is worth doing right the first time anything that's worth doing is
worth doing right the first time so it doesn't matter whether you're a carpenter an electrician
a plumber a landscaper a garbage collector a computer programmer it doesn't matter whatever
you do do it heartily do it as unto the Lord and don't just do the minimum go above and beyond go
the extra mile do something extra knowing that whatsoever good thing any man do it the same shall
he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free and that's one of the things that God's teaching
us in Genesis 24 where we see her go the extra mile and then boom she's paid an exorbitant
amount for what she just did okay why because God rewards those who go the extra mile look
at verse 7 of Luke 17 there we'll see why we should go the extra mile it says in verse 7 but
which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle will say unto him by and by when he's come
from the field go and sit down to meet and will not rather sand him make ready wherewith I may
sup and gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken and afterward thou shalt eat
and drink does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded of him I trow
not so likewise ye when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say we are
unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to do so what's the Bible saying here he's
saying when you do what's required when you do the minimum when you do only what's expected of you
he's saying you're an unprofitable servant at that point don't pat yourself on the back don't expect
a big thank you and a bunch of accolades for just showing up and phoning it in and doing the minimum
he's saying look certain things are expected of a servant he's explaining the typical relationship
between a master and a servant when the servant comes in from the field typically the boss is not
going to say to him all right now you sit down and let me serve you let me feed you here you're
gonna eat first he's rather gonna say no actually I'm gonna sit at the table and you're gonna serve
me you're gonna bring me my meal and then when I'm done eating then you can sit down and then
you're gonna eat he's just explaining how things work that there are certain responsibilities that
a servant has and there's a certain way that a servant is treated and certain things that are
expected of him and what he's saying is that if that servant goes out and works in the field like
he's supposed to and then he comes in and serves his master dinner like he's supposed to and then
he sits down and eats his meal he shouldn't expect a thank you from the boss because he's actually
just doing simply what he was obligated to do in that obligation of that contract or that
relationship of master and servant don't expect to be praised and I just don't get appreciated
enough at my job well did you do anything extra did you go above and beyond or are you just you
know clocking in at the last second and doing the minimum and and just you know phoning it in every
day and just going home as fast as you can and your heart's not really in it then you know you
can't expect to receive great things from the Lord the Bible is saying that God wants us to go above
and beyond you know one of the things that I like in the book of Daniel is when it describes Daniel
one of the things that comes up over and over as far as an adjective to describe Daniel is his
excellence that he had an excellent spirit what does it mean to excel or to be excellent it's
someone who is going beyond the people around him I mean you'll get Daniel and Shadrach Meshach
and Abednego says there were ten times better than the people around them I mean the king found them
as his servants to be ten times better and he excelled above all the people around him and why
why did he excel why did he keep just being at the top it didn't matter whether it's Nebuchadnezzar
whether it's Belshazzar whether it's Darius whether it's Cyrus it didn't matter it isn't
interesting how Daniel just seems to always be on top everybody else goes up down you know but
he just seems to find his way to the top because he had an excellent spirit he had an excellent
spirit and obviously he's walking with God God's blessing him but he was someone who went the extra
mile he excelled okay that's why even when the king sets up a system in Daniel chapter 6 where
he has all these different bureaucrats you know running different things and then he has all the
princes and then he has the three presidents and Daniel is one of those three presidents you know
he starts to think to himself man I don't want to have three presidents I need to just put Daniel
over the whole realm you know it's not enough for Daniel to be over one-third of the kingdom
because everything this guy touches turns to gold let's put him over the whole realm that's why he
ends up getting thrown into the lion's den because the people around him are so envious when they see
the fact that he's climbing the ladder that the Kings thinking about sending him over the whole
realm they try to find fault with them and they couldn't find fault with his work performance so
they said well the only way we're gonna find fault with Daniel is if we find it concerning his God so
then they attack him on religion and then that's how they end up getting him thrown into the lion's
den and you probably know the story of how God ends up stopping the mouths of the lions and
delivering Daniel from the lion's den but you know that should be our goal we should strive for that
kind of excellence that Daniel had where if somebody is gonna get us in trouble at work it's
it has to be over religion because the work performance is too impeccable that should be
the goal now look nobody's perfect but isn't that the goal shouldn't we strive for excellence in all
areas of life whether that's our job whether that's as a church member whether that's as a
husband wife son daughter whatever we do we should do it as unto the Lord he says look if you just do
the minimum if you just do what is your duty to do don't expect a thank you for that that's the
minimum that's just the baseline if you do that he says you're an unprofitable servant you know if
you love them which love you what do you more than others if you salute your brethren only what do
you more than others you know do more go the extra mile it's funny when I was preparing the sermon
it reminded me of a story that my former pastor told you know like 20 years ago or whatever he
told a story that there was this woman that was complaining about how the church's money was being
spent so she was like nagging him about something or criticizing something about some expenditure
that the church had made and she said hey I have a right you know to have a say on where my money's
going and the pastor told her he said well he said oh you know you've been giving some of your
money and she's like well yeah I tithe every week and he's like well that's not your money you
haven't given any of your money because the tithe is the Lord's so if you're giving your tithe
you're giving the Lord what belongs to him the tithe is the Lord's you know the Bible said well
a man robbed God you robbed him in tithes and offerings so the point is you know she's like
oh I you know I want to have some say over where my money's going he said you haven't given any
money if you've tithed you gave back to you know he said have you given some of your money beyond
the well you know so I thought that was funny because that's the truth you know we feel like
oh man I'm really giving to the church because I tithed it's like well actually you know that's
just what God requires us to do you know oh man I'm just I mean honey I mean you should be so
thankful honey that I'm not out committing adultery you know I mean it's like hello that's
just required hey you know I go to work 40 hours a week and pay the bills like yeah okay that's
what we all do right folks that doesn't make you an amazing husband to not commit adultery and work
40 hours a week and you know it's like that's a start but we need to go beyond that and and
it's same thing with a wife it's like well I cooked you dinner okay well how about lunch
how about breakfast the point is look folks there are certain minimal requirements when you're
married when you're a husband when you're a wife when you're a son when you're a daughter I mean
look you know you oh you cleaned your room and brushed your teeth kids well let's just celebrate
how great you are I mean aren't those just kind of basic requirements I mean those aren't those
just things that you have to do you know taking care of your own hygiene and cleaning up your own
room you know those are just basically you know you haven't gone above and beyond until you do
something that you're not asked to do until you do something that you're not required to do so we
want to get this mentality in our lives that doesn't look for hey what's the minimum how
little can I go to church how little can I go soul winning how little can I do for my spouse
how little can I do for my family how little can I do at my job and not get fired that's the wrong
attitude we want to go the extra mile look first of all God commands us to go the extra mile if
any man compels you to go a mile with him go with him twain do more okay but not only that God's
gonna reward us for going the extra mile now children are immature and so they have this
attitude where maybe their sibling will ask them to do something and they're like I don't have to
do that for you I'm not your slave and we've all said that to our siblings you know I'm not gonna
ask for a raise of hands but probably 100% of us at some point in our life told our sibling I'm not
your slave we've all we've all okay let's do a raise your hand who said it I'm not your slave
all right that's what we say to each other why because we're children we're immature but you
know when you grow up don't get that attitude if somebody at the job hey go grab me that tool or
hey can you go run this over there for me hey can you take out the trash well I'm not your slave
well I you know I wasn't hired on as a custodian you know I'm a programmer I'm not a custodian you
know it's a waste of my talent to haul this trash out you need to get a cleaning crew in here hey
look if you're a computer programmer clean the toilet if that's what your boss wants you to do
now look if your boss doesn't want you to do that then don't do it but I'm saying if the boss needs
something done be that guy who jumps in and gets it done you know when you're at the job site and
everybody's arguing well that's not my job I saw my response right you know why don't you just step
in and say hey I'll take care of it well nobody's gonna appreciate me well what about the Lord you
know you're right humanly speaking sometimes people won't appreciate you but God is always
gonna appreciate you and anytime you do something good you're gonna receive it from the Lord whether
you be bond or free have you ever had that waiter or waitress who really goes the extra mile and it
isn't don't you love it I mean it's it's so refreshing and you know what I bet you gave them
a better tip than you typically give when they go the extra mile and there are some waiters and
waitresses that are just on the ball aren't they you know I remember my parents they used to go out
to dinner every Friday night at Chili's for like a decade or something every Friday night at the
same Chili's and they had their usual waiter skip and they there was a waiter there that every time
they got put in skip section they really liked his service so then they would just have no one
else but skip as their waiter so for like a decade every Friday night they'd go and say hey
skip is our waiter and they would go there and but why because the guy was on the ball he was
friendly what do you think do you think he was dragging and gloomy and slow no and my dad was
kind of strict on waiters my dad's one of those people where you'll be at the restaurant and he'll
be kind of like where's our waiters your dad quiet down you know you know you but yeah you've been a
restaurant with beer maybe you're that person I don't know but you know where they're just like
you know is she coming back with our water or what you know it's like dad she's behind you you know
calm down but you know this guy pleased my dad standards I mean and he was on the ball and so
they would just week after week and they gave him a tremendous tip every week because they I mean
they went to the same restaurant they had their waiter he was always on the ball and he always
got a fat tip from my parents why because he was doing a good job he was going the extra
on that I typically didn't go because this was typically my parents date together so they would
go alone but every once in a while we as kids would get in on it rarely and we get to go there
and we experienced skip service firsthand and he did a great job okay we were impressed and we've
all had those experiences you know I I use uber quite a bit I don't have my own car my wife's
vehicle is the big van with for the kids every and I you know we share a vehicle we share one
vehicle and so a lot of times I don't have a vehicle available I need to do something I end
up using uber quite a bit and I like using uber it's like a poor man's chauffeur you know you
kind of feel like a rich person you know like yeah you sit in the backseat and and you know you got
your driver and everything like that and it's pretty cheap you know and it's definitely cheaper
for someone like me than having another car because I don't need it all the time so one time I contact
you and usually you know 99% of the time I have a good experience with uber but the other day a
couple weeks ago I summoned uber on the app this guy pulls up in front of my house okay he gets out
of the car and he's literally wearing shirt and tie and one of those hats like a like a professional
chauffeur is wearing he's literally wearing the hat he gets out he runs around to the back opens
the back door sir you know come on in and I was like yeah this is cool you know see what I'm
saying you know riding around the backseat my driver and everything it's like 10 bucks or
but anyway you know that guy was on it and look I gave him a big tip and you know what I guarantee
you that guy's getting big tips all day long because he's looking the part he's going the
extra mile there's no requirement for him to dress up and jump out of the car and open the door for
you and just yes sir where can I take you you know what you know what can I do for you the fact that
the guy was so on the ball I guarantee you that he's being rewarded both by man and by
God because the fact he's taking his job serious and you know what that's a pretty humble job
that's not exactly like something that you go to college and you know you you go to all these
levels of education in order to you know someday aspire to being an uber driver but look it's a
good you know it's honest work amen but you know what that guy's taking a job that's a menial job
he's taking it seriously and I guarantee you he's doing well and you know what maybe he's gonna be
an uber driver for many many years maybe he's just doing this on the side maybe he has another
job maybe he doesn't but I guarantee you this guy's gonna succeed in life with that attitude
okay it doesn't matter whether he drives or whatever he does because he had an attitude
of saying hey I don't care what the job is yeah I can get you from point A to point B or I can do
it in style okay and and obviously you know God's gonna bless him that there's a pizza restaurant
that we used to go to and you know the manager was just always really friendly and he was always on
the ball and I noticed a lot of the workers were really friendly and just it was just great service
and I I walked up to the manager this is I was around like 23 years old it was shortly before I
started the church year or two before I started the church here and I walked up to the manager
and I said can you just like teach me what you do as a manager for your employees to all be so
effective you know because I just saw the ad it just seemed like this guy ran a tight ship so I
you know I was trying to pick his brain and get some wisdom from him on just leadership but I
remember this guy was so on the ball and we only ate there once a week if that you know when we
got around to it we'd go there once we was kind of well you know we got a little habit of going
there once a week for a little while and this guy would literally see us in the parking lot
getting out of our car and he would already put the pizza that we liked in the oven no joke and
we'd walk it because it was like an all-you-can-eat type thing it was like a buffet style but he knew
what we liked and so I mean we're only there like once a week we walked in and he's like hey you
know I've already thrown in an XY and Z pizza I don't remember what phase we were in at the time
what kind of pizza we were into because we you know we change it up but he just said hey I've
already thrown in XY and Z pizza you know what else can I throw in for you guys because that's
already in the oven I mean that is that on the ball or what but look hey that's a menial job
being a manager at a pizza restaurant it doesn't matter folks you can succeed in any field you can
succeed in any industry you can succeed at any job you can succeed in life when you go the extra
mile and you know to sit there and say well I'm not getting paid much so I'm not gonna do much
you know what that's why you're not getting paid much because if you start doing more you'll start
getting paid more well you don't know my boss you don't know God God is going to pay you God's gonna
reward you and you know what God can do things for you that you think are impossible I remember one
time it's a long story but one time you know I was at a job where I'm getting paid by the hour
there's no bonuses there's no Commission's how do you make extra at this job but yet one time my
manager took me aside it was just a freak thing and he said hey I don't know why this happened
but corporate made a mistake and you've been issued a bonus even though you're not a supervisor
you're not supposed to get a bonus and he said look they've issued you this check I'm just gonna
give it to you but just don't tell anyone else because we don't want people to realize that you
got this bonus that you weren't supposed to get and nobody else around you got it and look that
wasn't them trying to reward me it was a literally an accident it was just a glitch but was it a
glitch or was it God rewarding me for something or other you know what I mean so what I'm saying
is even if you're in a job that feels like it can't reward you God can do anything so he can
give you a reward and not only that but maybe God will just get you a different job or a better
job or or maybe a change in management or something where you'll get more but I can guarantee you one
thing if you'd whatever you do you're gonna get rewarded for it whatever you do so if your brother
and sister want you to help them out with something help them out why because the Lord's gonna bless
you for having that attitude if your parents want you to do something if your parents ask you to do
some tasks hey do what they ask you to do and then do a little more okay whether it's your school
work whether it's housework whether it's your job whether it's being a husband a wife you know go
above and beyond do more hey if there's something that you can do to make your husband's life a
little bit better something nice you can do for him something special you can do for him don't
have a said well he doesn't do anything for me okay does he do anything for you does God do
anything for you because you know what he died for you he did everything for you he gives you
everything so you know first of all you should love your husband and want to do for your husband
but you know what even if you're feeling a little grouchy toward him do it unto Christ and you know
what be that virtuous woman be that godly wife do the extra go the extra mile and I guarantee you
God's gonna reward you and you know what your husband's probably gonna reward you too but for
sure the Lord's gonna reward you same thing to the husband's you know go above and beyond do
something nice for your wife even if she doesn't require that even if she is being a pain in the
neck hey do something nice for her anyway go the extra mile be the best husband you can be be the
best provider you can be be a loving companion do what's necessary and then go the extra mile
okay don't just say well you know I you know I don't get drunk and I don't beat her up and I
don't commit adultery and I put food on the table so I rule as a husband I mean that's a great start
okay that's a great place to start you know well you know I you know I stay home with these kids
all day and blah blah you know and the house is trash and you know it's a hungry man in the
microwave once again and you know do more go beyond and you know what I guarantee you so many
women they're going out in their careers and and and just you know working long hours to excel in
whatever that you know why don't you excel as a homemaker what's wrong with excelling as a wife
what's wrong with excelling as a mother what's wrong with excelling you know in the culinary
arts for your family oh I just always dreamed of being a five-star chef and be a five-star chef in
your home all right why so that your family can enjoy that good you know oh you just want to serve
gourmet food to strangers so much how about serving gourmet food to the people that you love and the
people that love you that's even more fulfilling you know I guarantee you that people look at some
famous chef or some author of some cookbook or some you know famous TV show cooker Martha Stewart
Pioneer Woman what you know what I mean they might look at these kind of celebrity type people in the
kitchen and think like oh that's so cool but you know what why not just do that in your home why
don't you be that person you know why don't you excel well why is it so important to do it for
strangers it should be better to do it for your husband for your children and you know the people
that you love so it doesn't matter what you do it doesn't matter whether you're doing a menial job
whether you're doing a really cool job or a spiritual job a secular job a highly skilled
job an unskilled job whether you're working outside the home whether you are a homemaker
whatever you do go the extra mile go the extra mile in your relationships go the extra mile in
your work go the extra mile for the Lord you know what does the Lord require of us do more you know
excel you know people will sometimes say well you know where does the Bible say that we have to go
to church three times a week it doesn't the Bible does not say you must go to church Sunday morning
and Sunday night and Wednesday night you must attend three times a week you know so some people
are just like well why don't I just go once a week that's all that's required but you know what
is that even really required is there a certain frequency that the Bible requires or does the
Bible just tell us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but
exhorting one another and so much the more as we see the day approaching so much the more as we see
the day approaching look in the Old Testament they had one day per week that was holy unto
the Lord in the Old Testament and then they had other feasts and things that would emphasize
spiritual things but you know what in the New Testament we see the disciples getting together
and meeting on the first day of the week so you know having a weekly gathering seems to be the
basic right I mean that seems to be a minimum at that point of just at least getting together
once a week with God's people with the church we see the church assembling and we see even Old
Testament Israel having a weekly day of spiritual emphasis on the Sabbath and so that seems to be a
baseline but is the Bible just saying hey just do the minimum phone it in look why come back to
church on Sunday night why come back to church on Wednesday night I don't know about you but I like
church I like it I want to go now look some churches are so lame that yeah you just kind of
go once a week and you just you're bored out of your mind and you check it off I went to church
and you know what there are literally millions of people all over America they don't go to church
because they enjoy it they don't go to church because they're looking forward to learning
something they don't go to church because they enjoy singing praises to God and they want to
learn something new from the Bible and they want to be spiritually edified they want to grow in
grace they want to have their family hearing the preacher you know many people are just going
because they know it's a command of God and you know what that's great because hey it is a command
of God to go to church and so some people that's where they're at they just they go to church and
they check it off okay God I went to church but you know what if that's how you feel about our
church then I'm ashamed as pastor because then that means that I'm not doing a good job if you're
if it is a chore for you to come to faith forward Baptist Church and you have to just kind of hold
your nose and force down the meal that I provide you know then then shame on me at that point am
I am I doing a poor job of feeding you you know the point is that I hope that you want to come
to church you know I hope that church is something that you enjoy I hope that the preaching is
edifying I hope that it's even enjoyable that you can actually enjoy it and look forward to it and
I hope that you get good fellowship while you're here and that you can make friends and I hope that
singing the songs is a blessing to you and I would hope that you don't have an attitude that says
what's the minimum that I can go to church and God's not gonna get mad at me I would hope you'd
have an attitude of hey man if I can make it back Sunday night and Wednesday night then that's just
three times the preaching and you know what if you're not gonna do it for yourself do it for
your children because let's face it folks we're living in a crooked and perverse nation there are
a lot of bad influences out there your children will come under bad influences fact they're going
to it doesn't mean oh I really shelter no matter how much you shelter them bad influences are gonna
get they're gonna get in they're gonna permeate the iron curtain you know that you have for
whatever folks we're in this world we're not of the world but we're in this world and they're
gonna be exposed to all kinds of music they're gonna be exposed to different billboards and
friends that are gonna try to lead them astray even in church they're gonna be bad friends even
in church they could try to lead them astray and lead them into sin and then you know once they
grow up and they're a teenager and then you know they get a job folks they're not all gonna go work
in the ministry or something I mean you know my kids are out working in the plumbing field right
now you know they're doing plumbing work and they're doing blue-collar jobs hey I guarantee
you that when they're out on the job they run into bad influences from customers bad influences
possibly from co-workers bad influences just from being in this world that we live in folks there
are bad influences out there the magazine covers or they're all promoting a philosophy that's
contrary to the Word of God you really think that you're gonna go through this life without
being bombarded with bad influences you're going to okay so if my children are gonna be bombarded
with all these bad influences I want them to get as much Bible preaching and Bible reading and good
influences as I can so that to try to counteract and here's the good news folks the truth is
powerful the truth is so much more powerful than the devil's lies so the truth can cut through all
that garbage you can raise godly kids in 2019 you can be godly you can have a godly family even
without withdrawing into some commune or compound you can be in this world and still have a family
that serves God but you know what you're gonna have to do something to counteract all the junk
that's coming in you're gonna have to have some good stuff coming in and you know what I don't
want my kids to get one hour a week of preaching and then all the world's junk the whole rest of
week you know what I mean I meant I want them back on Sunday night I want them back Wednesday
night plus you never know which sermons really gonna click with them you know some sermons your
kids might be sitting there and it's kind of going over their head or they kind of zoned out
or whatever but you know what there are certain sermons that really get you and I you know I look
back to certain moments when I was growing up certain sermons that were transformative sermons
or or turning points where I heard a sermon and something really clicked with me and I made a
certain decision of hey I'm not gonna do that or I'm gonna do that or you know something clicked
you don't know when that's gonna be is that gonna be on Sunday morning is that gonna be on Sunday
night is that gonna be on Wednesday night folks bringing your kids to God's house and getting
them under this preaching is helping them to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ why am I here right now pastoring and not out living like the devil I'll
tell you why because my parents faithfully took me to church when I was growing up that's a big
part of why I ended up serving the Lord is because my parents took me to church and you know they
they took me to the best church that they could find so sometimes we would drive 30 minutes to go
to church or drive 40 minutes each way to go to church and you know what that taught me hey church
is important to my parents and it's important to them to take us to the best church that's why
they're willing to drive us 45 minutes and they'd you know they'd make those sacrifices and they'd
go back Sunday morning Sunday night and Wednesday night and it never felt like it was a drudgery to
them it never felt like all right let's go to church it was always like you know what we love
church and and they would they would and they would they would go to church and one of the
things my parents would do is they would stay after church and fellowship and I mean they they
would they would close the place down you know there's some people like that here that really
closed the place down you know what I'm talking about everybody's gone and it's just like two
families or something that was us when we were growing up you know we were those two families
now these days I tend to go to bed early but back then man I'm telling you when I was a kid my
parents would close it down I mean they'd be the ones where people the staff's kind of looking at
them and kind of turning the lights off and you know kind of dangling the keys like yeah we're
trying to lock up I remember my parents just fellowshipping in the church building and then
they'd move it out to the parking lot and then they'd be fellowshipping the parking lot after
it's all shut down and then it was like all right we're going to leather bees and we would go to
this ice cream place called leather bees and then we'd go hang out leather bees I mean we get home
Sunday night we get home at like midnight sometimes I mean we're kids we're loving it
you know we're like party on mom and dad but you know why it's because my parents were just they
were hungry for the fellowship and they enjoyed the preaching and it was just it was just uh
something that we looked forward to and you know what that there were so many bad influences on me
growing up so many bad influences bad I mean I could point to bad friends that I had people
that I shouldn't have been hanging around that were bad influences just watching just hours upon
hours of tv and movies and just garbage and just getting all the wrong things how did I even
sometimes I wonder how did I even turn out uh for God and and I'll tell you a big reason is because
of all the good preaching that I heard because man some of that preaching some of that hellfire and
damnation preaching that I heard it really scared me to death I mean I just believed that if I
committed fornication God was going to kill me and you know what he probably would have you know
I mean God he doesn't take that lightly when you're when you're handed everything on a silver
platter and you're an independent fundamental Baptist and you get all this great preaching
and your parents love you and take care of you and everything and I was you know what when I was
tempted to sin the fear of the Lord kept me from sinning and I obviously were all sinners but I'm
saying committing major sins you know that's why I didn't go through that phase of going out and
getting drunk and partying and fornicating and all those things with drugs and whatever
why because I was scared to death because the fear of the Lord came to me yes through my parents but
a lot of it was the preaching going to church getting that preaching and let's face it when
are some of the most hellfire and damnation sermons they're they're typically on the evening services
in most churches now you know I feel like my three services are pretty similar but you know when I
was growing up the Sunday morning sermon was usually the mildest service and then you know
you got really your face ripped on Sunday night or Wednesday night and so I'm glad my parents
took me and I don't know which sermon it was that put the fear of God into me but at least I was
there and my parents didn't just decide to stay home that week and then I missed out on that
sermon and I was only getting the milk of the word on Sunday morning and not coming back for
the meat on Sunday night and the meat on Wednesday night okay and so if not for yourself do it for
your kids right and and and so you know how many times do you have to go to church to be right with
look anybody who comes to church once a week anybody who comes to church once a week I don't
think you could say to that person hey you forsook the assembly if you're coming once a week you
didn't forsake the assembly but at the same time you know it doesn't hurt to go to an evening
service it doesn't hurt to come back Wednesday night why to get more preaching more edification
for yourself for your wife for your kids hey I want my wife to be edified I want my kids to be
edified and I myself want to be edified even as the pastor church does something for me spiritually
just being in God's house being around God's people it's encouraging it's uplifting and when
I go to a conference or another church and listen to someone else preach it's edifying it's
uplifting we all need it okay and I kind of went off on a tangent there about church but the the
the point of the sermon is going the extra mile and so when it comes to church attendance I'm not
trying to do the minimum trying to do the maximum okay when it comes to Bible reading what's the
minimum I think you know the minimum that I put forth that I recommend I think the minimum is
that you should read your Bible once a year cover to cover I think that's that that's a good minimum
you know because that takes about 15 minutes a day and I think that's pretty reasonable
for people to pick up their Bible for 15 minutes and and read it you know what
but it'd be good to sometimes do a little bit of extra reading wouldn't it
and just do a little extra reading and and and and even go a little beyond that okay and and
now if you're going to be a pastor you better go way beyond that if you're gonna be a pastor
but I'm talking about for the layman for the godly layman the godly uh uh man and woman in the church
you know you should read your Bible once a year but folks that's not a maximum though you know
you could you could go the extra mile you could go beyond that you know would it really hurt you
to say you know what I was gonna do this other activity uh this fun thing I was gonna go do this
recreation but you know what I think I'm gonna sit down and read my Bible is that gonna hurt you
no you're it's good you're doing extra and you know what God's pleased when we do extra when
we go the extra mile hey look what's the minimum on soul winning hey I think I think that a good
minimum on soul winning is to go soul winning once a week you know get out there for an hour
every week and go sorting but you know what it's not gonna hurt to go a second hour or go on a
missions trip and basically do some extra soul winning extracurricular soul winning where you
get out there and and emphasize it for a few days whether it's down in Mexico or in Guyana or on one
of these Native American trips where we go up to the Indian reservation you know what I mean that's
a great thing to do and hey maybe you're really busy and you can't do it all the time but hey if
every once in a while you can carve out a Saturday take a Friday off from work and just go out and do
extra soul winning you know what that's great is it required no nothing's required in that sense
you know what Paul said all things are lawful for me but all things are not expedient all things
are lawful for me but all things edify not he's saying look I'm not going through life just
figuring out what's allowed what's not allowed just following rules now are there rules yeah
in the Bible there are rules but you know what that's not the main thing that determined Paul's
actions Paul asked the question not is it lawful he asked the question is it expedient
is it expedient what does it mean to be expedient to be expedient is is it something that's helpful
is it something that's profitable is it something that's beneficial is this something that's helping
me be a better person is this helping me do more for Christ is this helping the kingdom of God is
this helping my family is this helping uh my brothers and sisters in Christ is this helping
the loss you know his attitude wasn't do the minimum his attitude was hey what's the best
way I can be living my life you know let's all try to do our best let's be excellent let's do more
not less and let's do that on our jobs let's do that in our home and let's do that in our service
for the Lord let's excel and not say what's the minimum the minimum is just just the beginning
let's borrow that word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word Lord and thank you for
godly examples of of great men in the Bible who go the extra mile like Daniel but Lord thank you
for even providing examples of women in the Bible like a Rebecca who who went above and beyond and
she was a zealous worker and she was a kind soul she was hospitable to strangers she was uh had
a servant's heart she was a hard worker she had energy and uh haste in her work and a good attitude
Lord and you rewarded her greatly with uh with a wonderful husband Lord I pray that uh every man
and woman and boy and girl who's here tonight would would take these things to heart and uh
just go the extra mile do more and and not just always seek to scrape by with the minimum
but to seek to do something a little extra and in Jesus name we pray amen