Here are the notes to Sunday’s message;  Part 2 of Work Orders.

The Big Idea: God works through your work  to bless you and others.

1. We were created for God with an intrinsic capacity for work.

“The LORD God tooke the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”  Genesis 2:15

2. However, the Great Catastrophe (also known as The Fall) radically changed the relationship between humanity and work.

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken’ for dust you are and to dust you will return.”  Gen 3:17-19

3. Work now moves easily into the realm of meaninglessness without the grace of God to bring blessings to us through the labour.

“What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.   Ecclesiastes 3:9-14  NIV

4. God restores our identity to its proper place through Jesus Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”  Galatians 2:20-21  NIV

5. As you work you can experience God blessing you and others.

A. The blessings of purpose.  When your work is connected to His purposes, and to either or both:  earnings, and enjoyment of your unique abilities and passions.  See Psalm 139:13-15

B. The blessings of provision.  God provides for you and your household through your work.

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”  1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

“…for even when we were with you, we gave you this rule:  If a man will not work, he shall not eat.  We hear that some among you are idle.  They are not busy; they are busybodies.  Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus to settle down and earn the bread they eat.  And as for you brothers, never tire of doing what is right.”  2 Thessalonians 3:10-13

“Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.”  Titus 3:4

C. The blessing of generosity.  Work yields earnings that allow you to not only provide for your household, but also to participate in God’s Kingdom work.

“He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.”  Ephesians 4:28

“It is more blessed to give than receive.”  Acts 20:35

D. The blessing of influence.  Work / the Marketplace is a setting in which you may influence a domain with the Presence of God in you and the message of the Good news of Jesus Kingdom.

“You are the salt of the earth…  You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  In stead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  Matthew 5:13, 14-16