June 2, 2025 • 20 mins
Good works aren't simply actions we perform—they're the heartbeat of our Christian identity. In this final episode of the season, we unpack what we've learned through sixteen weeks of exploring service and reveal what we believe is the ultimate good work: sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
Both of us reflect candidly on the lessons that transformed our own approaches to service. Josh shares how conversations about marriage and parenting challenged him to create more opportunities for his children to witness and participate in service. Mark opens up about how losing his brother at age 57 profoundly shifted his perspective on time as a precious gift, making Jesus's example of "going about doing good" more urgent and personal than ever before.
We explore the essential balance between public and private service through Scripture, acknowledging that some good works should shine brightly to inspire others while some giving should remain private. The danger many believers face isn't doing good works incorrectly—it's allowing a season of service to become merely a fond memory rather than a lifestyle. As Paul instructed Titus, we must "be careful to devote ourselves to good works" because these things are "excellent and profitable."
Our final challenge invites you to create a Good Works Commitment Plan, selecting one area of service to focus on for an entire year. We encourage bringing others alongside you, recognizing that partnership multiplies both impact and joy. Consider crafting a simple mission statement to keep yourself focused: "I commit to using my time, talents and resources to serve others, to glorify God, and to make good works a lifelong habit."
Thank you for journeying with us through this exploration of purpose and service. Your engagement and feedback have been deeply encouraging. Remember that you were made for good—not just for a season, but for a lifetime.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to Made for Good, the podcast where we
explore how to live out ourpurpose through good works out
of a biblical truth.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, I'm Josh and I'm Mark.
Well, josh, we've arrived atthe final episode of this season
and we really focused on thegood works mission, the mission
of good works in the Christianlife.
Over these past well, 15episodes this being the 16th one
we've explored a lot of aspectsof good works, but one thing
(00:34):
that we haven't talked about,that I want to make sure we do
talk about.
The ultimate good work that weshould be doing is sharing the
gospel of Jesus Christ withothers.
That's the ultimate good work.
If we do that, all these otherthings can come from it, because
, again in our foundationalverse Ephesians 2.10, it says
(00:54):
created in Christ.
We were created in Christ forgood works.
So what we really need to do isto make sure that the created
in Christ part happens, andthat's sharing the gospel,
that's acknowledging that Jesusdied on the cross for our
redemption and that he haspurified for himself a people
(01:17):
zealous for good works.
We've got to make sure that wedo the ultimate good work, and
that's sharing the gospel ofJesus Christ with others.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I'm so happy that you talked about what we're called
to do and what we hope that'shappened over the last 15 weeks
is through these exercises,these challenges, that you've
gained more confidence where youcan actually do just that.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, so you've built a relationship with others,
potentially, and maybe thoseothers aren't believers.
They aren't Christians.
Again, the ultimate good workis to make sure that they are
created in Christ as well, sothey can go and do the good
works.
We've explored why good worksmatter, how they shape our
(01:57):
character, our identity, howthey can lift us up when we're
sad, how they can help ourmarriages and our families, and
how, ultimately, they'reintended to glorify God.
Yeah, so this, but this episodetoday is about what comes next.
So let me ask a question, josh,to start us off here.
(02:17):
What was the one lesson that wetalked about this season that
really stuck with you the most?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, I think I would just think back to the great
philosopher Nate Bregazzi.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I would say everything, all of it.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Everything, all of it .
Okay, no, I mean, can younarrow it down a little bit?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Sure, yeah, I'll be more serious.
I love the message throughoutof our study and our time
together where we've realizedthat good works aren't just
something we do there, who weare as Christians.
And then, more specifically tome individually, I think back to
several studies that werehelpful the episode on being a
(02:54):
husband I know it was about yourmarriage, but for me as a
husband, I just think about mywife and I's marriage, how, when
we grew spiritually, it wasbecause we were serving together
.
So I love the conversationaround that.
I love the idea that people arelistening and thinking as a
couple, let's talk aboutsomething that we both love and
(03:16):
could bring us joy, and let'sserve together to do just that,
because you can grow togetherand your families can just be
stronger.
You can keep your motivation.
I love that.
I love the one episode that wehad about parenting.
Do as I do.
If I'm being honest, you knowthere were some things that I
talked about that I may not benecessarily doing all the time,
(03:37):
yeah, and so there wasreflection.
After that day that we recordedthat episode, I just thought,
man, there's so many times thatI could give my boys more
opportunities to serve, but Ikind of take it away from them
as a parent, and I need to reinback on what I'm able to do and
give them opportunities andencourage them to do that,
(03:58):
because, ultimately you talkedabout having arrows, you know as
parents and and I want to pointthem in the right direction,
but I want them to be warriorsin the kingdom, and so there may
have been parents that arelistening to the episode that
thought the same thing Wow, Ican do things like the story you
shared about your mom.
I can do things to my kids thatthey can experience at a young
(04:19):
age, they'll never forget andthat will make them a servant
and a child of God later on intheir life.
But thinking about some thingsthat they did as a kid, yeah,
yeah, I love those.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Those are great.
The one that stuck out for meis the one I think that I
struggle with the most, when wetalked about emulating Jesus.
You know, when, when Peter wasintroducing Jesus, we talk about
the most significant, youusually leave with the most
significant thing, and in thefirst sentence, peter was
introducing Jesus to them and hesaid who went about doing good?
(04:51):
And that was an explanation ofhow Jesus spent his time.
Yeah, and you know, I lost myolder brother at the age of 57.
He was almost 58.
And so, now that I'm past thatage, I'm thinking I've had more
time than he had.
I struggle with using my timewisely and not wasting it.
(05:15):
I've come to understand thatthat time is a gift, and it's a
gift that not everybody gets,and so I want to make sure that
I spend my time wisely, and sothat's the one that's really the
most impactful for me.
They're all good, and I thinkthey all have their own impact.
When you look at what scripturesays about good works, let's
(05:39):
remind everyone what Paul wroteto Titus in chapter three, verse
8.
And this is really our messageto our listeners here at the end
of this season, one where wewant them to continue these
things.
Titus 3, 8 says this saying istrustworthy and I want you I
Paul, want you, titus to insiston these things so that those
(06:02):
who have believed in God that'syou and I and our listeners may
be careful to devote themselvesto good works.
Devoting ourselves to goodworks Not something we do when
we get around to it, going backto our trailer at the beginning
of the season it's a devotion togood works, it's a habit, it's
an identity.
(06:22):
Why Last sentence in thatpassage?
These things are excellent andprofitable for the people, so
powerful God prepared theseworks ahead of time for us to do
.
Our challenge is just as wesaid step in serving others and
(06:43):
making that a lifelongcommitment.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Mark, I remember being in the back classroom of
the church building where weattend and we were looking out
at the members and we have allbeen studying together for 16
weeks, like we've done in thispodcast and you looked out at
them and you said do youremember what you said to them?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, I'm glad this is over.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No, not that part, although you probably thought
that, yeah, I'm glad this isover.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
No, not that part, although you probably thought
that no, what I said was don'tlet this summer of good works
the summer of 2023, when wetaught the class be a memory
where you look back and go hey,remember when we did all that we
cut so-and-so's yard, we wrotethose letters, we volunteered at
(07:28):
the food bank, we spent timewith our fellow believers,
fellow Christians, we tookpeople to lunch and we did all
these great things.
Remember that, man.
That was good, that was goodtimes, that's good times, good
times.
And it didn't change us, itdidn't enable us into a habit of
(07:50):
good works.
And that's the risk With thenew season being released on
whatever streaming service youuse and you get back and you
want to sit down and watch thatand you fall back into those
habits of again of wasting time.
Yeah, we've experienced it.
We know that time is precious.
Yeah, a lot of people don'thave wasting time.
We've experienced it.
We know that time is precious.
(08:11):
A lot of people don't have thetime that we have had.
We need to make sure that weguard against falling back into
bad habits, and some of thehabits may not even be bad.
They just they're not, as welearned with Mary and Martha,
the best use of our time.
They can be good, but we needto be wise about using our time
(08:32):
in the best way.
That's the risk.
We just want to encourage allthe listeners, as we did, the
people in the class andourselves as well, because in
class we talked about ourselves.
We had such an intense 16 weeksof teaching that you and I were
tempted to feel that, okay, 16weeks of teaching that you and I
(08:53):
were tempted to feel that, okay, I've done my time.
I deserve some time off fromthis service and we don't.
We don't deserve that.
We need to keep going.
We need to keep excelling and,as Paul told Titus, to tell and
teach the people that he waspreaching, to be careful to
devote yourselves to good works,because these things are
(09:14):
excellent and profitable for us.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So what you're saying to the listeners is fight off
the urge or temptation to belazy.
Yes, exactly.
Let's shift gears to our lastBible basis of the season.
At the start of this study, weasked the question what does the
Bible say about good works?
And we've seen that it says alot.
Some key truths we've learnedin the Bible include good works
(09:40):
are a part of our identity inChrist.
We've read about that in Titus2, 11 through 14, a couple of
times We've read that good worksglorify God in Matthew 5, 16,
and 1 Peter 2, 11 through 12.
And we've also seen in thisstudy that good works are our
responsibility, and we can readabout that in Proverbs 3, 27.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
You know, and Jesus showed us really the perfect
example of good works, and theway he did it was he turned his
compassion into action.
Just remember that verse inMatthew 14, when he went ashore
and he saw a great crowd and hehad compassion on them and he
healed the sick.
That compassion that he had, hedidn't just feel it, he acted
(10:24):
on it, and I think that that'sour challenge too.
I agree.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
As we move forward.
How can we keep good works atthe center of our lives?
Well, here are three key ways.
One, use your time and yourmoney well, think about
Galatians 6.10.
So then, as we have theopportunity, let us do good to
everyone, and especially tothose who are in the household
of faith.
So, as far as your time goes,remember what we talked about
(10:48):
Replace wasted time withmeaningful service and strive
for a balance from work, restand serving others.
And then, when it comes to thefinancial aspect of this,
understand that all of yourmoney and your belongings belong
to God.
Job 41 talks about that.
And when you give, givegenerously to those in need.
(11:10):
We talked about that in 1 John,3, 16 through 18.
The second thing we want to talkabout is finding your groove.
By the way, I love that episode,but in that episode we talked
about a handful of things, onebeing pray, about where God
wants you to serve, and wetalked about using your talents
(11:31):
wants you to serve, and wetalked about using your talents
to do good things in the kingdomand looking for opportunities
in your church, in yourcommunity, to do just that.
One of the things we talkedabout in the Find your Groove
episode is, and I would say itto you even now, if you still
are thinking I know God saysthat he's given us all talents,
but I'm really struggling onwhat mine is and remember what
we talked about in that episode.
Go talk to someone that youlook up to at your home church
(11:54):
or you're a member of someonewho is well-respected, who you
love, and ask them what am Igood at?
And I guarantee you they canpoint you in the right direction
and get you going prettyquickly.
And the last thing is startsmall little things.
They lead to great things.
We talked about a number ofbiblical examples where that's
the case.
But think about Matthew 17, 20,where Jesus said if you have
(12:17):
faith as a grain of a mustardseed, nothing shall be
impossible unto you.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So the takeaway is good works don't have to be
grand, they just have to befaithful.
Yeah, and when the good workscome from a place of faith and
desire to serve God, then Godcan take that effort and he can
magnify it and they can bebeyond what we can even conceive
(12:43):
is possible.
I think that when we had thatconversation in the back of the
building about what does theBible have to say about good
works, I don't think that we hadany idea of how many people we
were able to touch with thisclass and with the podcast and
now with the book.
God's taken that one littleconversation and magnified it
(13:08):
that one small grain of amustard seed, as you said and
done wonders with it.
Yeah, we also talked aboutanother challenge.
You know, and this is kind ofour final reality check the
challenge for us is balancingpublic and private good works.
(13:29):
Yeah, Jesus said in Matthew 16,as we talked about letting your
light shine, let your lightshine before others so that they
may see your good works andgive glory to your Father in
heaven.
It's okay for your good worksto be seen by others.
It's okay, in fact, it's good.
And why is it good?
Because it gives glory to God,and that's the goal, that's our
(13:55):
reason.
But we also remember we lookedin Matthew 6, verse 3, where it
says when you give to the needy,do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing.
The question, josh, is how dowe balance this?
And I think there's a couple ofways we can do this.
Let your light shine when itglorifies God and inspires
others and serve quietly.
(14:19):
When the focus shifts topersonal recognition.
If there's something that's gotyour name on it, like a
contribution check at yourchurch or something like that
that needs to be done in private, it needs to be done, and I
think it's interesting that notletting your left hand know what
your right hand is doing is inthe context of giving to the
(14:41):
needy, and you know there's alsothings about when you fast.
You know, don't go abouttelegraphing that you're fasting
but in the context of financialgift, financial giving, that
should be private and I thinkthat we just need to learn, we
(15:02):
need to have the wisdom to knowwhat's done publicly and what
should be done privately.
For instance, back to thepublic thing letting your light
shine when you're trying to stirsomebody else up to love and
good works and getting theminvolved in it.
They're going to see it,they're going to be there.
You ask them to participate inthe good work.
The mindset should always be toGod.
(15:24):
Be the glory.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Well, this brings us to our last mission challenge.
This is the most difficult oneout of all the ones we've had so
far, and I know some may bekind of chuckling because we put
them through the wringer.
I mean, we had a five-daychallenge, we had a seven-day
challenge.
Well, the reason I say this oneis the most difficult is
because what we're asking you todo is to make a lifelong
(15:47):
commitment to GoodWorks.
And so here's what I mean wewant you to make a plan, a good
works commitment plan.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, choose one area of service that you enjoyed and
commit to that for a whole year.
So what we're talking about issetting a goal.
Maybe it's volunteering monthlyor doing something every week,
going to visiting someone everyweek or maybe it's you know, it
could be a seasonal thing, likeyou know cutting someone's grass
or something like that.
So, yeah, I love this.
Make a good works plan for theyear.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And at this point, you've been a part of so many
challenges and we've been a partof them too.
You know what brings you joy.
So, a part of this, thiscommitment to good works, what
we want you to do is you knowwhat your thing is that brings
you joy.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Go do it, do more of those things, because it'll help
you, it'll bring light to yourday and it'll shine your light
to others as well.
We're letting our light shine,literally, matthew 5,.
Letting your light shine sothat others can see and glorify
God.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Absolutely.
And last part of this challengeis that we expect you to bring
someone alongside with you.
We encourage you to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Good works can grow exponentially when we bring
other people in, because we knowthat two are better than one.
If someone falls, we can belifted up by them.
It doesn't just multiply, it isan exponential growth in
blessing for you, the otherperson, your relationship, as
well as the person that you'rehelping, the object of the good
work.
Well, hey, I'm going to add onemore.
Okay, this is a very popularthing in our society today and I
(17:24):
think that there's probably agood bit of validity to it, and
that's this concept of a missionstatement.
Companies do this,organizations do this, and it
keeps everybody focused on whatthe main thing is right.
Keep the main thing, the mainthing.
Maybe.
Write something like this andI'm not saying post this on
social media, I'm just sayingwrite it in your notebook, write
(17:44):
it on a post-it note, stick iton your mirror so that you see
it.
Something like this I commit tousing my time, my talents and my
resources to serve others, toglorify God and to make good
works a lifelong habit.
That's it for today's episodeand really for this whole season
(18:07):
of Made for Good.
One thing that I'd like to dois express thanks.
I want to express thanks to you, josh, for this journey this
season.
You've challenged me Number one.
I've never done a podcastbefore you have, and so I really
relied on your knowledge andyour expertise and the skill
that you developed previously.
But I also want to thank thelisteners, the subscribers and
(18:31):
the feedback that we got.
We started getting feedbackbefore we ever released episode
one.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
That was wild, if we're being honest.
We knew that we were going todo a trailer, we were going to
be quiet about it and just ahandful of folks knew and that
was so encouraging to hear backfrom just folks and that really
prompted us to move on prettyquickly with the episodes.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah, it was a shot of adrenaline to to get to get
these, the rest of the episodesdone.
I mean, you know, before a weekhad passed after we dropped the
trailer, you know we hadseveral hundred views of that in
in in that in that first weekand at that point I don't even
know if we'd recorded episodeone yet.
So it was a shot in the arm togo and to do this.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
First of all, I'd just like to say, you know,
thank you for you know, justtaking time to do just that.
Thanks for everyone who'slistening.
We have been very encouraged,you guys.
Our goal was to stir each otherup for good works and you guys
have definitely done that.
We've heard from people instates away, some people that we
don't even know, and somepeople that we don't even know,
(19:40):
and you know, as you referencedearlier.
I'm thankful for what's beensaid to our spouses and my
children, just so reallygrateful to be a part of this,
and if you found thisconversation valuable, consider
sharing it with a friend.
Until next time, keep serving,keep shining and remember you
were made for good, thank you.
Welcome to Made for Good, the podcast where we
explore how to live out ourpurpose through good works out
of a biblical truth.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, I'm Josh and I'm Mark.
Well, josh, we've arrived atthe final episode of this season
and we really focused on thegood works mission, the mission
of good works in the Christianlife.
Over these past well, 15episodes this being the 16th one
we've explored a lot of aspectsof good works, but one thing
(00:34):
that we haven't talked about,that I want to make sure we do
talk about.
The ultimate good work that weshould be doing is sharing the
gospel of Jesus Christ withothers.
That's the ultimate good work.
If we do that, all these otherthings can come from it, because
, again in our foundationalverse Ephesians 2.10, it says
(00:54):
created in Christ.
We were created in Christ forgood works.
So what we really need to do isto make sure that the created
in Christ part happens, andthat's sharing the gospel,
that's acknowledging that Jesusdied on the cross for our
redemption and that he haspurified for himself a people
(01:17):
zealous for good works.
We've got to make sure that wedo the ultimate good work, and
that's sharing the gospel ofJesus Christ with others.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I'm so happy that you talked about what we're called
to do and what we hope that'shappened over the last 15 weeks
is through these exercises,these challenges, that you've
gained more confidence where youcan actually do just that.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, so you've built a relationship with others,
potentially, and maybe thoseothers aren't believers.
They aren't Christians.
Again, the ultimate good workis to make sure that they are
created in Christ as well, sothey can go and do the good
works.
We've explored why good worksmatter, how they shape our
(01:57):
character, our identity, howthey can lift us up when we're
sad, how they can help ourmarriages and our families, and
how, ultimately, they'reintended to glorify God.
Yeah, so this, but this episodetoday is about what comes next.
So let me ask a question, josh,to start us off here.
(02:17):
What was the one lesson that wetalked about this season that
really stuck with you the most?
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Well, I think I would just think back to the great
philosopher Nate Bregazzi.
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
And.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I would say everything, all of it.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Everything, all of it .
Okay, no, I mean, can younarrow it down a little bit?
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Sure, yeah, I'll be more serious.
I love the message throughoutof our study and our time
together where we've realizedthat good works aren't just
something we do there, who weare as Christians.
And then, more specifically tome individually, I think back to
several studies that werehelpful the episode on being a
(02:54):
husband I know it was about yourmarriage, but for me as a
husband, I just think about mywife and I's marriage, how, when
we grew spiritually, it wasbecause we were serving together
.
So I love the conversationaround that.
I love the idea that people arelistening and thinking as a
couple, let's talk aboutsomething that we both love and
(03:16):
could bring us joy, and let'sserve together to do just that,
because you can grow togetherand your families can just be
stronger.
You can keep your motivation.
I love that.
I love the one episode that wehad about parenting.
Do as I do.
If I'm being honest, you knowthere were some things that I
talked about that I may not benecessarily doing all the time,
(03:37):
yeah, and so there wasreflection.
After that day that we recordedthat episode, I just thought,
man, there's so many times thatI could give my boys more
opportunities to serve, but Ikind of take it away from them
as a parent, and I need to reinback on what I'm able to do and
give them opportunities andencourage them to do that,
(03:58):
because, ultimately you talkedabout having arrows, you know as
parents and and I want to pointthem in the right direction,
but I want them to be warriorsin the kingdom, and so there may
have been parents that arelistening to the episode that
thought the same thing Wow, Ican do things like the story you
shared about your mom.
I can do things to my kids thatthey can experience at a young
(04:19):
age, they'll never forget andthat will make them a servant
and a child of God later on intheir life.
But thinking about some thingsthat they did as a kid, yeah,
yeah, I love those.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Those are great.
The one that stuck out for meis the one I think that I
struggle with the most, when wetalked about emulating Jesus.
You know, when, when Peter wasintroducing Jesus, we talk about
the most significant, youusually leave with the most
significant thing, and in thefirst sentence, peter was
introducing Jesus to them and hesaid who went about doing good?
(04:51):
And that was an explanation ofhow Jesus spent his time.
Yeah, and you know, I lost myolder brother at the age of 57.
He was almost 58.
And so, now that I'm past thatage, I'm thinking I've had more
time than he had.
I struggle with using my timewisely and not wasting it.
(05:15):
I've come to understand thatthat time is a gift, and it's a
gift that not everybody gets,and so I want to make sure that
I spend my time wisely, and sothat's the one that's really the
most impactful for me.
They're all good, and I thinkthey all have their own impact.
When you look at what scripturesays about good works, let's
(05:39):
remind everyone what Paul wroteto Titus in chapter three, verse
8.
And this is really our messageto our listeners here at the end
of this season, one where wewant them to continue these
things.
Titus 3, 8 says this saying istrustworthy and I want you I
Paul, want you, titus to insiston these things so that those
(06:02):
who have believed in God that'syou and I and our listeners may
be careful to devote themselvesto good works.
Devoting ourselves to goodworks Not something we do when
we get around to it, going backto our trailer at the beginning
of the season it's a devotion togood works, it's a habit, it's
an identity.
(06:22):
Why Last sentence in thatpassage?
These things are excellent andprofitable for the people, so
powerful God prepared theseworks ahead of time for us to do
.
Our challenge is just as wesaid step in serving others and
(06:43):
making that a lifelongcommitment.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Mark, I remember being in the back classroom of
the church building where weattend and we were looking out
at the members and we have allbeen studying together for 16
weeks, like we've done in thispodcast and you looked out at
them and you said do youremember what you said to them?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, I'm glad this is over.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No, not that part, although you probably thought
that, yeah, I'm glad this isover.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
No, not that part, although you probably thought
that no, what I said was don'tlet this summer of good works
the summer of 2023, when wetaught the class be a memory
where you look back and go hey,remember when we did all that we
cut so-and-so's yard, we wrotethose letters, we volunteered at
(07:28):
the food bank, we spent timewith our fellow believers,
fellow Christians, we tookpeople to lunch and we did all
these great things.
Remember that, man.
That was good, that was goodtimes, that's good times, good
times.
And it didn't change us, itdidn't enable us into a habit of
(07:50):
good works.
And that's the risk With thenew season being released on
whatever streaming service youuse and you get back and you
want to sit down and watch thatand you fall back into those
habits of again of wasting time.
Yeah, we've experienced it.
We know that time is precious.
Yeah, a lot of people don'thave wasting time.
We've experienced it.
We know that time is precious.
(08:11):
A lot of people don't have thetime that we have had.
We need to make sure that weguard against falling back into
bad habits, and some of thehabits may not even be bad.
They just they're not, as welearned with Mary and Martha,
the best use of our time.
They can be good, but we needto be wise about using our time
(08:32):
in the best way.
That's the risk.
We just want to encourage allthe listeners, as we did, the
people in the class andourselves as well, because in
class we talked about ourselves.
We had such an intense 16 weeksof teaching that you and I were
tempted to feel that, okay, 16weeks of teaching that you and I
(08:53):
were tempted to feel that, okay, I've done my time.
I deserve some time off fromthis service and we don't.
We don't deserve that.
We need to keep going.
We need to keep excelling and,as Paul told Titus, to tell and
teach the people that he waspreaching, to be careful to
devote yourselves to good works,because these things are
(09:14):
excellent and profitable for us.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So what you're saying to the listeners is fight off
the urge or temptation to belazy.
Yes, exactly.
Let's shift gears to our lastBible basis of the season.
At the start of this study, weasked the question what does the
Bible say about good works?
And we've seen that it says alot.
Some key truths we've learnedin the Bible include good works
(09:40):
are a part of our identity inChrist.
We've read about that in Titus2, 11 through 14, a couple of
times We've read that good worksglorify God in Matthew 5, 16,
and 1 Peter 2, 11 through 12.
And we've also seen in thisstudy that good works are our
responsibility, and we can readabout that in Proverbs 3, 27.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
You know, and Jesus showed us really the perfect
example of good works, and theway he did it was he turned his
compassion into action.
Just remember that verse inMatthew 14, when he went ashore
and he saw a great crowd and hehad compassion on them and he
healed the sick.
That compassion that he had, hedidn't just feel it, he acted
(10:24):
on it, and I think that that'sour challenge too.
I agree.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
As we move forward.
How can we keep good works atthe center of our lives?
Well, here are three key ways.
One, use your time and yourmoney well, think about
Galatians 6.10.
So then, as we have theopportunity, let us do good to
everyone, and especially tothose who are in the household
of faith.
So, as far as your time goes,remember what we talked about
(10:48):
Replace wasted time withmeaningful service and strive
for a balance from work, restand serving others.
And then, when it comes to thefinancial aspect of this,
understand that all of yourmoney and your belongings belong
to God.
Job 41 talks about that.
And when you give, givegenerously to those in need.
(11:10):
We talked about that in 1 John,3, 16 through 18.
The second thing we want to talkabout is finding your groove.
By the way, I love that episode,but in that episode we talked
about a handful of things, onebeing pray, about where God
wants you to serve, and wetalked about using your talents
(11:31):
wants you to serve, and wetalked about using your talents
to do good things in the kingdomand looking for opportunities
in your church, in yourcommunity, to do just that.
One of the things we talkedabout in the Find your Groove
episode is, and I would say itto you even now, if you still
are thinking I know God saysthat he's given us all talents,
but I'm really struggling onwhat mine is and remember what
we talked about in that episode.
Go talk to someone that youlook up to at your home church
(11:54):
or you're a member of someonewho is well-respected, who you
love, and ask them what am Igood at?
And I guarantee you they canpoint you in the right direction
and get you going prettyquickly.
And the last thing is startsmall little things.
They lead to great things.
We talked about a number ofbiblical examples where that's
the case.
But think about Matthew 17, 20,where Jesus said if you have
(12:17):
faith as a grain of a mustardseed, nothing shall be
impossible unto you.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So the takeaway is good works don't have to be
grand, they just have to befaithful.
Yeah, and when the good workscome from a place of faith and
desire to serve God, then Godcan take that effort and he can
magnify it and they can bebeyond what we can even conceive
(12:43):
is possible.
I think that when we had thatconversation in the back of the
building about what does theBible have to say about good
works, I don't think that we hadany idea of how many people we
were able to touch with thisclass and with the podcast and
now with the book.
God's taken that one littleconversation and magnified it
(13:08):
that one small grain of amustard seed, as you said and
done wonders with it.
Yeah, we also talked aboutanother challenge.
You know, and this is kind ofour final reality check the
challenge for us is balancingpublic and private good works.
(13:29):
Yeah, Jesus said in Matthew 16,as we talked about letting your
light shine, let your lightshine before others so that they
may see your good works andgive glory to your Father in
heaven.
It's okay for your good worksto be seen by others.
It's okay, in fact, it's good.
And why is it good?
Because it gives glory to God,and that's the goal, that's our
(13:55):
reason.
But we also remember we lookedin Matthew 6, verse 3, where it
says when you give to the needy,do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing.
The question, josh, is how dowe balance this?
And I think there's a couple ofways we can do this.
Let your light shine when itglorifies God and inspires
others and serve quietly.
(14:19):
When the focus shifts topersonal recognition.
If there's something that's gotyour name on it, like a
contribution check at yourchurch or something like that
that needs to be done in private, it needs to be done, and I
think it's interesting that notletting your left hand know what
your right hand is doing is inthe context of giving to the
(14:41):
needy, and you know there's alsothings about when you fast.
You know, don't go abouttelegraphing that you're fasting
but in the context of financialgift, financial giving, that
should be private and I thinkthat we just need to learn, we
(15:02):
need to have the wisdom to knowwhat's done publicly and what
should be done privately.
For instance, back to thepublic thing letting your light
shine when you're trying to stirsomebody else up to love and
good works and getting theminvolved in it.
They're going to see it,they're going to be there.
You ask them to participate inthe good work.
The mindset should always be toGod.
(15:24):
Be the glory.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
Well, this brings us to our last mission challenge.
This is the most difficult oneout of all the ones we've had so
far, and I know some may bekind of chuckling because we put
them through the wringer.
I mean, we had a five-daychallenge, we had a seven-day
challenge.
Well, the reason I say this oneis the most difficult is
because what we're asking you todo is to make a lifelong
(15:47):
commitment to GoodWorks.
And so here's what I mean wewant you to make a plan, a good
works commitment plan.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah, choose one area of service that you enjoyed and
commit to that for a whole year.
So what we're talking about issetting a goal.
Maybe it's volunteering monthlyor doing something every week,
going to visiting someone everyweek or maybe it's you know, it
could be a seasonal thing, likeyou know cutting someone's grass
or something like that.
So, yeah, I love this.
Make a good works plan for theyear.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
And at this point, you've been a part of so many
challenges and we've been a partof them too.
You know what brings you joy.
So, a part of this, thiscommitment to good works, what
we want you to do is you knowwhat your thing is that brings
you joy.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Go do it, do more of those things, because it'll help
you, it'll bring light to yourday and it'll shine your light
to others as well.
We're letting our light shine,literally, matthew 5,.
Letting your light shine sothat others can see and glorify
God.
Speaker 1 (16:48):
Absolutely.
And last part of this challengeis that we expect you to bring
someone alongside with you.
We encourage you to do that.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Good works can grow exponentially when we bring
other people in, because we knowthat two are better than one.
If someone falls, we can belifted up by them.
It doesn't just multiply, it isan exponential growth in
blessing for you, the otherperson, your relationship, as
well as the person that you'rehelping, the object of the good
work.
Well, hey, I'm going to add onemore.
Okay, this is a very popularthing in our society today and I
(17:24):
think that there's probably agood bit of validity to it, and
that's this concept of a missionstatement.
Companies do this,organizations do this, and it
keeps everybody focused on whatthe main thing is right.
Keep the main thing, the mainthing.
Maybe.
Write something like this andI'm not saying post this on
social media, I'm just sayingwrite it in your notebook, write
(17:44):
it on a post-it note, stick iton your mirror so that you see
it.
Something like this I commit tousing my time, my talents and my
resources to serve others, toglorify God and to make good
works a lifelong habit.
That's it for today's episodeand really for this whole season
(18:07):
of Made for Good.
One thing that I'd like to dois express thanks.
I want to express thanks to you, josh, for this journey this
season.
You've challenged me Number one.
I've never done a podcastbefore you have, and so I really
relied on your knowledge andyour expertise and the skill
that you developed previously.
But I also want to thank thelisteners, the subscribers and
(18:31):
the feedback that we got.
We started getting feedbackbefore we ever released episode
one.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
That was wild, if we're being honest.
We knew that we were going todo a trailer, we were going to
be quiet about it and just ahandful of folks knew and that
was so encouraging to hear backfrom just folks and that really
prompted us to move on prettyquickly with the episodes.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Yeah, it was a shot of adrenaline to to get to get
these, the rest of the episodesdone.
I mean, you know, before a weekhad passed after we dropped the
trailer, you know we hadseveral hundred views of that in
in in that in that first weekand at that point I don't even
know if we'd recorded episodeone yet.
So it was a shot in the arm togo and to do this.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
First of all, I'd just like to say, you know,
thank you for you know, justtaking time to do just that.
Thanks for everyone who'slistening.
We have been very encouraged,you guys.
Our goal was to stir each otherup for good works and you guys
have definitely done that.
We've heard from people instates away, some people that we
don't even know, and somepeople that we don't even know,
(19:40):
and you know, as you referencedearlier.
I'm thankful for what's beensaid to our spouses and my
children, just so reallygrateful to be a part of this,
and if you found thisconversation valuable, consider
sharing it with a friend.
Until next time, keep serving,keep shining and remember you
were made for good, thank you.
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