Dear Christian friends:

Today I begin a series of eight sermons on the subject of STEWARDSHIP, These eight sermons are intended to help us all prepare for our Loyalty Sunday on November 2, and to help us grow in our understanding about the Christian way of living.

There is a hymn that explains STEWARDSHIP very clearly and beautifully the hymn is called: "LIVING FOR JESUS".

Living for Jesus a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

St. Paul says the same thing in our text, that we Christians should live to please Jesus. So today I want to preach that text to you under the topic:


Most people do not live for Jesus, but they live for themselves.

These people don't know Jesus' will and they don't care what God wants them to do with their life, their time, talents and money. They want money for themselves, a good comfortable life, pleasure, power and fame. They never ask, "What does God want me to do with my life?" We Christians also are tempted to forget about God and live a selfish and greedy life. That is because we still have our old sinful nature.

But we Christians should not live like the unbelievers. In our text St. Paul admonishes us Christians, saying, "All who live - those who believe in Jesus - can live no more for themselves, but spend their lives pleasing Christ." (verse 15)

Do you live to please Jesus? Ask yourself these questions: Is Jesus pleased with my life? Is He pleased about how I spend my time? Is He pleased about how I use my talents? Is He pleased about how I spend my money?

In our church service we often sign-sing that favorite hymn of many Christians, the hymn, Beautiful Savior. We sing:

Beautiful Savior,
King of Creation
Son of God, and Son of Man!
Truly—I'd love Thee,
Truly I'd serve Thee.
Light of my soul, my Joy, my Crown.

Is Jesus really your "Beautiful Savior"? Do you really love Jesus? Do you really want to serve Him? Is Jesus really the light of your soul, your Joy and Crown? Or are you just saying some nice words and not really loving Jesus and serving Him with joy?

If we really believe in Jesus we will love Him and gladly live for Him.

In our text St. Paul reminds us of Jesus' great love for us, and gives that as the reason why we live for Him: "He died for all so that all who live can no more live for themselves, to please themselves, but spend their lives pleasing Christ who died for them and rose again."

And the second verse and the Chorus of the Hymn, Living for Jesus says the same in a very beautiful and impressive way:

Living for Jesus who died in my place,
Bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace;
Such love constrains me to answer His call,
Follow His leading and give Him my all.

Chorus

O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou in Thy atonement,
Didst give Thyself for me,
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O Christ for Thee alone.

If someone loves us and dies for us, it really touches our heart, and causes us to love that person too. A little girl was seriously ill and needed a blood transfusion. She had a rare blood type which was hard to match, but her brother's blood was the same, so the doctor and the parents asked the brother to give his blood to his sister. The boy lay down on the bed and the nurse prepared him for the transfusion. When the nurse had finished taking a pint of his blood the boy asked her, "When will I die?" The nurse said to him, "Did you think you would die when I took some of your blood?" He replied hesitantly, "Yes?" Then she explained to him that taking one pint of his blood would not make him die, just a little weak for a while.

When the doctor and the parents heard what the boy said they were very surprised and they loved him very much because he was willing to die for his sister.

Jesus has loved us in the same way. He gave His life and blood for us on the cross.

President Truman almost got killed once by a man from Puerto Rico, who tried to assassinate (shoot) him, but one police guard stepped quickly in front of the President when he saw the man raise his gun to shoot. The bullet hit the police guard and killed him, not the President. President Truman was very impressed by the policeman's brave sacrifice. Truman said, “You can't understand how a man feels when someone dies for him." President Truman felt very much love and respect for that policeman who died to save him.

So we Christians feel great love and respect for Jesus, because He gave His life on the cross to save us from eternal punishment in hell; so that we can have eternal life with God in heaven.

St. Paul really believed in Jesus and understood and appreciated Jesus' death. He said, “I live for Jesus; it is no more I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

If you in the past failed to live for Jesus, now is the time to confess and tell Him sorry, and ask Him to help you remember everyday to live for Jesus. We all can improve and live more carefully for Jesus.

That gives us great joy and satisfaction. True, it also costs us much, as we learned from the Gospel Lesson today. But we pray that Jesus will help us accept suffering, trouble, and losses as part of our cross.

Living For Jesus, Hymn by Thomas O. Chisholm
Verse 3. Living for Jesus wherever I am,
Doing each duty in His holy name;
Willing to suffer affliction and loss,
Deeming each trial a part of my cross.

Chorus

O Jesus, Lord and Savior,
I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement,
Didst give Thyself to me;
I own no other Master,
My heart shall be Thy throne,
My life I give, henceforth to live,
O, Christ, for Thee alone.

Amen.