April 3, 2005 Sermon Notes

I. The Priorities:

1. PUT GOD FIRST.
"You shall have no other gods before Me." –Exodus 20:3
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…" –Matthew 6:33
"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength." –Mark 12:30

a. Heart = passion
b. Soul = emotion
c. Mind = thoughts
d. Strength = energy

How do I do this?
(1) In all your ways –Proverbs 3:6
(2) Grow up spiritually. –Colossians 2:6-7

2. PUT OTHERS SECOND.

"The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" –Mark 12:31

How do I do this?
a. See people as Jesus sees them.
b. Look for the best in people.
c. Offer help in their weakness.

1. SUCCESS
"…and all these things will be given to you as well." –Matthew 6:33
"As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success." –2 Chronicles 26:5

Meditation

Karl Rahner, in his book Encounters with Silence, expresses these thoughts:
"When it stands before You [God] and Your infallible Truthfulness, doesn't my soul look just like a market place where the secondhand dealers from all corners of the globe have assembled to sell the shabby riches of this world? Isn't it just like a noisy bazaar, where I and the rest of mankind display our cheap trinkets to the restless, milling crowds? My soul has become a huge warehouse where day after day the trucks unload their crates without any plan or discrimination, to be piled helter-skelter in every available corner and cranny, until it is crammed full from top to bottom with the trite, the commonplace, the insignificant, the routine."
In my lifetime, I have known two warehouse owners. One man lives comfortably with peace and success. The other lives comfortably but with much stress and some difficulty. This latter individual runs a company where anyone at anytime can store their product depending upon the available space. The result is that the clients and the owner become embroiled in situations of poor access, unclear boundaries in space and environment, and the constant moving of products. The other man has developed a system whereby volume, product type, and conditions are analyzed before housing space is rented. He even turns away business because of his requirements and standards. The result is a much easier and cleaner operation.

We can easily relate our spiritual lives to this kind of prioritizing of focus and disciplines. Spiritual chaos breeds an anxiousness and inadequacy that keeps us from realizing intimacy with God and peace with self and others. God's priorities will lead us well. "And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength" [Mark 12:30].

–George Skramstad, 2005