Turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. No snow, no ice, springs right around the corner. Yeah, right. 1 Corinthians 15. We call this the resurrection chapter of the Bible. Starting in verse one, we have, you might say, the gospel in a nutshell in these first four verses. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, the gospel means good news, which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, how that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And it goes on to tell us that he was seen after his resurrection. The gospel itself is a good news that basically you summarize in this nutshell that Jesus Christ was crucified became our substitute, he took our place on the cross of Calvary. And if we understand that, the moment we put our faith and trust in him, and what he did for us on the cross, is how we get saved. The title of the message is First Things First. There are certain things that have to take a particular order. And if you don't do them first, you can't do the next step. If you're gonna be a concert pianist, you gotta play chopsticks before you get to that point. And if you're going to start shooting three-pointers, you better hit a layup. You know, if you're going to do anything in life, you're, you know, you find out there's an order and there's certain steps you cannot avoid. Now, it's an idiom that, you know, first things first, what does that really mean? But it's saying there is a, an order of certain things that you cannot avoid, that step and that one step leads to another step. In life, there are a number of things that we have to do first. There are different stages in life where certain things have to be done first. First things first show you how to stop looking at the clock and start looking at your compass. You start looking at the direction rather than what can I do immediately. And you figure out what's important. You start prioritizing the things in your life and you develop then a vision for the future. So if you want to have a good life and a happy life, you say that's my direction, then how do I get there? And you have to start at a certain place. If you want to have a happy family and a good home, there are certain steps you have to take. It does not just automatically come. One of the leadership books, I forget which one that I was reading, but several years ago, this stood out in my mind. We have to prioritize certain things, and there are four categories of things that we have to make decisions about. Some things are urgent, but not important. You know, that phone call that's an 800 number, You know, it keeps ringing and buzzing and it's, you know, some crank call or, you know, some crazy thing that has nothing to do with you and it makes you think it's urgent. But it's totally unimportant. There are some things that are not urgent and not important. You know, a lot of people spend all their time on things that are neither urgent nor important. And then there are some things that are urgent and important. And if it's urgent and important, it ought to be attended to. And there are some things that are not urgent, but they are very important. And the interesting thing is, so often, people neglect that category, things that are not urgent, but they are really important. Dealing with children, you're trying to raise a family, we're going to hear a sermon tonight on that. You know, there are certain things that you have to do to get your children to a certain point in life. So all of it's not urgent. Getting them out of school and graduating, you know, developing a skill in life, you know, it may not be urgent. You got to do it sometime, but it's not urgent. But wow, it's really important, isn't it? Really important. And sometimes we neglect those things. You know, the bills start coming in and we, you know, whatever happens, we'll pay that, we'll do this, and there's no long-term plan. But to be financially free, everything's not urgent, but everything is important when it comes to that. So there are a lot of things in life that we have to deal with that, You know, there's an order, first things first. They got to be careful. There was a guy on one of these TV programs, quiz, and he picked a category of history, and he had made every, answered every question up to that point. And then they gave him the last question, he chose history, and they said, now, it comes in two parts. The first one may be more difficult, and the second part of the answer may be a little bit easier. Which would you like first? So he contemplated and kind of rattled him a little bit, and he said, well, I'll try the second part first. So the question is, in what year did it happen? Now, if it had the first one, you know, he might have been able to answer the second one. But he didn't get the first one, he couldn't possibly answer the second one. You know, I guess he had a 1 in 5,000 chance maybe to get it right. So there are certain things you got to put in order. In the Christian life, there are certain things that go in order. And it all begins with salvation. And if a person doesn't get that right, you can't live the Christian life. Now, you hear about this over and over again. You're faithful in church. But think about it. Some people have the idea, I'm gonna live the Christian life, but they've never been born again. Well, they might be Christian-like. They may go to church. They may believe in God. But you have no real Christian life until you're saved and born again. So you have to get first things in order. Remember, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, and Jesus said, you have to be born again. And he didn't understand that. He knew something was missing. He knew Jesus had some message that he needed to understand, but he didn't understand it. And so the order is, yeah, you're a religious leader of the Jews, but you've never been born again. And so there are things that people try to do that they can't possibly do. There are people who are in the ministry, there are preachers. I have a preacher friend who's with the Lord today, but he started preaching and wasn't even saved. One time he gave an invitation, he almost came forward at his own invitation. He knew he wasn't saved. I remember being in a revival meeting, they're playing the invitation, suddenly the piano stopped playing. And it got everybody's attention. The pianist came to the altar. and got saved in that meeting, the pianist for the church. So you've got to get things in order. The first thing is to truly be saved, truly be born again. Sometimes I fear for young people. They say, oh, I've done that. I came forward or I was in vacation Bible school. Oh, I was at home. I was five years old. My parents led me to the Lord. Let me tell you, there's a big difference between whether you're saved or lost. and you can put up a front, profess to be saved, and not have the real thing. The first thing you have to do is be under conviction of the Holy Spirit, be convinced what the Word of God teaches, that our only hope is through Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross, and put our faith in Him. At that instant and moment, we are born again. Now the question is, how good of a Christian am I? You're saved, you're on your way to heaven, but that is the first step. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people procrastinate, put it off. There's a statement in the Bible that said that we are here to hear. I watch this at funerals where people are not necessarily church-going people, and they come to funeral, and I'm wondering, is there anybody home? It looks like the light's on, Maybe the front porch light's on, but there's no one inside. You can almost see right through them. It's like they don't hear. They're not really listening. You wonder sometimes if people don't come to church and it just, it doesn't sink in. I remember what it was like as a young kid. You know, I'm thinking, hey, there's a clock up there. Boy, when are they going to be done? When is this over? I can get out of here. I think there are people like that. They procrastinate, they put it off. Sometimes people are under conviction, and they know they need to make the decision. I remember talking to a Japanese fellow, and he had started coming to church. It wasn't this church, it was another place. And he had heard the gospel and understood. And after the service was over, I turned to him and I said, do you understand what it means to be saved? Oh, yeah. And I said, well, what's stopping you And he looked and they said, I don't know. And I said, well, you can't put it off. Would you like to be saved now? And he said, yeah, I guess I need to get saved. Sometimes people procrastinate and they put it off. They think sometime in the future. Or sometimes young people think, man, I'm going to find out what life's all about and I'm going to enjoy life and have a great time. And they're a rebel rouser. And they think someday out in the future I'll get saved. They put it off. Let me tell you, there's no guarantees. No guarantees that tomorrow you'll be under conviction or have any interest in being saved. So you cannot put it off and be sure of tomorrow. The first step in any Christian life is to truly be born again, to be saved. The word save or saved is given over 60 times in the Bible in reference to salvation. So when a person is saved, what's the next first step? What's the first step for a new believer? Say, I just came forward. I remember when I got saved, man, I was happy and excited, and what do I do now? First thing I did is I surrendered to the Lord, and I said, Lord, I'll do whatever you want me to do. And that didn't happen to everybody. But for me, I said, I believe God wants me in the ministry, and I surrendered to preach. Immediately after that, I was baptized. Now the Bible teaches this, that a person, once they're saved, then they follow, it's called believer's baptism. Remember that the eunuch, he said, what doth forbid me to be baptized? There's water here, and he said, only if you believe with all of your heart. Salvation comes first, then, as a new believer, one of the first steps is to follow the Lord in believer's baptism. If you've been saved and you've never been scripturally baptized, that is immersed in water, identified to a fundamental local church, then you should follow the Lord in believer's baptism. And become a member of a church. Today everything is so loose, it's like people just come and go, they want no accountability. People should become a member, it's an official thing. They are a member of a church. And then it's a matter of, I'm going to start reading my Bible every day. So you're saved. You follow the Lord in baptism. Now you say, I'm going to grow. How do you grow? Make a determination. I'm going to read the Bible every day. For me, it was a little bit of a struggle. I was not a reader. And I got saved. And I would start the day. I'm running out. I'm ready to go to class. And I, oh, I forgot to read my Bible. I'd read one verse. take off. And I realized I have to establish a time to be with the Lord, to read my Bible and to grow. You need to be in church, but you also need a personal quiet time to read your Bible and study it and learn scripture. And then it's a matter of getting involved. Say, I'm going to do something for God. The people that continue to serve the Lord or continue to follow the Lord always get involved. There's something that they can do. When you start serving, it changes things. Soon after I got saved, especially when we started the church here in town, when the Sunday was over, we were exhausted. It was different than just go sit and listen to the service. We were exhausted because we were so involved and doing so many different things. Service changes your whole perspective. And there has to be that concern. One of the things about a new church, which we don't face now, but one of the things about a new church is people identify it as, oh, that's Pastor Townsley's church. And to get over that where people realize this is my church, or this is God's church, our church together before God, took a long time. But part of the reason people own it is because they begin serving. They're committed. They're involved. People who work in the different ministries, whether it be a deaf ministry, the RU ministry, the bus ministry, Christian school or the college, all those things, it changes your perspective when you're involved. And so there's a step of service. But it begins with salvation and baptism, church membership, learning and growing in the Bible. and then a matter of serving the Lord. Hebrews 5.12 says, for the time you ought to be teachers, you need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not strong meat. So the complaint was, they had not learned those first principles of the oracles of God. Immediately after I got saved, I knew I need to be in church every service. The doors are open, I'm there. I settled that. I had no question about that any longer. And so there are certain steps we have to follow. In our worship, in our relationship to God, there are certain steps that we take. 1 Timothy 2.1, I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, giving of thanks be made for all men. Now listen to the verse again. I exhort therefore that first of all, where do we start at? Prayer. Worship involves us talking to God. And if you want God to speak to you, then you need to speak to God. It is a communication, a relationship with Him. Certainly prayer, Bible reading. Church attendance. There's something about being in church. Listen, folks who are listening on live stream, we're glad you're with us today in live stream. But, oh, if you can be in the church service, you should be because it's so much better to fellowship with one another. There's just something about people getting together. It doesn't matter if you're in a tent outside, on the open public market, in a mission field, if you're in a rented storefront, or if you're in an established church building. It doesn't matter. When God's people gather together, there's something special and unique about that. And our worship always results in our witnessing. We testify of what God's doing in our lives. So after a person is saved, You take tracts with you, you talk to people as God opens the door. So there's a step of discipleship that kind of follows along. You're growing, you're learning, you're worshiping the Lord. But if we're going to be a disciple, that's something we have to count the cost. Turn with me to Luke chapter 14, Luke 14 verse 28. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he hath sufficient to finish it? Lest happily he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it. All that behold, begin to mock him. So if you're going to build something, you have to start by looking at the whole project. What's this going to cost? What, how much time is involved? What financially are the concerns about it? And you might end up starting and say, oh, we don't have enough, get it done. I remember as a child growing up, we would go by, there's a certain church building, they were going to build a new church, and they put in a block foundation, which was pretty common out in the Midwest. So they had the block foundation, they had the subfloor, and it was like that my whole life growing up. They never got beyond that. They didn't have enough money to finish it and they never got anything done. So a monument of not figuring out what the cost was, that's basically how it ended up. But there is always a cost involved in discipleship. Are we willing to pay that price? Are we willing to count the cost? There is a cost. There's a cost of giving up the things of the world. You know, a lot of people, they're living for the next paycheck, for a job position, you know, to get into a certain college. You know, there are all these things that they're living for. But as a Christian, you say, no, no, I'm living for Him. Whatever He wants, I'm willing to do it. What is His will for my life? That's what I want. So in discipleship, we have to put our hand to the plow and we don't turn around. We don't go back. There's a cost involved. Remember our missionary, he signs all his letters, no turning back. He went to Africa and they've been faithful all these years in Africa. No turning back. So discipleship is a matter of counting the cost. What will be involved? It may be a sacrifice of time. There are a lot of things that take time. How do you spend your time? It's no longer spending time the way you want, it's spending it the way he wants. Several years ago, we cleared some of the property back here. I don't know if you remember that. We cut down a bunch of trees and, you know, we actually got a bandsaw in here and we lumbered some of the, you know, cut into boards, a lot of it. We made a shelter. How many remember that? We had a shelter out there. Remember the snow came down and the thing collapsed? So we tore it down, threw it all away. But we had some other boards we cut, and we had some great big sassafras trees that we cut down. I mean, they were huge. I mean, when those things fell, it was like, boy, that's impressive. Wow, I'm glad I wasn't under that. And so we lumbered some of that. And however long ago that was, 20, 25 years ago, and I kept some of the lumber, and I was going to make a coffee table out of it. 25 years ago. And so recently we had to replace my boiler at the house and I said, oh, there's that wood that we cut 25 years ago. And that coffee table I was going to make out of that sassafras. And finally this week I got it all done. Just took 25 years. Maybe you've had a project like that. You're going to get to it sometime. You're going to fix that someday. But you know, everything has a cost. Cost of time, cost of money, sweat, perspiration. You know, messed up my arm a little bit in the process. You know, different things happen. There's a cost involved. There's some scars sometimes along the way. And if you're going to serve God, You've got to realize there is a cost. It's not free. I like what David said when he went to get the property to build the temple on. And a man said, we'll give it to you. He said, no, no, no. He said, there's a cost involved here, and I'm not going to take anything for free. I'll pay for it because this is for the Lord. Now, that means David could not have been a Baptist. If it were a Baptist, we would have said, free, absolutely, yeah, I'll take it. Every time a new church planner tries to buy property, their first prayer request is maybe they'll give it to us. That's their first prayer request. But David said it, I'll not take anything, it cost me nothing for the Lord. There is a price to discipleship and there are some tragedies along the way and there are some scars that go along with it. If somebody tells you, oh, if you get saved, your problems are over. Well, not necessarily. Life is better. You're on your way to heaven. God will give you direction in your life. But you may have some struggles along the way. There may be a price to take. There were martyrs in the Bible that gave their life. Throughout history, there have been those who have sacrificed, and some make great sacrifices. C.T. Studd was a man of great wealth and he gave it all away to go to Mission Field. There was a sacrifice involved. There is a step of faith that's kind of scary. You have to trust that God is going to take care of you. How is this going to work out? I'm not sure, but I know God's leading me. It's a step of faith. So there is a cost involved to discipleship. And then there's a first step of stewardship. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 16, then we'll go to 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. Verse two. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." Now, there was in the early church established a pattern. On Sunday, the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, people would give money, no doubt tithes and benevolence offerings. They'd all be collected on the first day of the week. And it became a pattern of the church. people gave tithes, 10% of their profit or income to the Lord. You know, the first time I did that, even though my family were very generous, there was an ouch to it. The first time you take 10%, wow, out of $100, that's $10. Out of 1,000, that's 100. The first time you do that, learning as a new Christian, there's an ouch, wow. There's no ouch after a while. You know, you get used to it and you realize, hey, God provided for me. And I've heard over and over again, people tell me, I can't believe how God's blessed us. He's taken care of us and our needs are all met. But that's how the ministry goes on. That's God's plan to support a local church. But it begins with the idea that it's not just giving 10% of our income, it's God owns everything. He owns 100%. And I've got to be a good steward of all that He gives me. Not only money, but all the possessions that I have. It means take care of my home and car and my family. Everything I have, I am a steward of all those things. And then we know that they gave benevolence offerings. I like in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 5, how these early believers had this attitude, it says, and this they did, not as we had hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. See, it all begins by just saying, okay, reporting for duty, here I am. Whatever you want. When you give yourself to the Lord, the rest of it just follows. If there's a need, you try and help that person in need. You start out in life, young family, young couple, boy, there's a lot of costs, a lot of things involved. When we started, I remember, I don't know why certain things you remember, but I remember exactly what I made. I made $77.30 a week. And we were putting half of it back into the church as an offering to the Lord. You say, how'd you get by? God just took care of us. That's all I can say. God took care of us. But we gave ourself to the Lord and our attitude was whatever it takes. We're just gonna do whatever it takes. Now God bless us, we didn't die. We paid all of our bills, we don't owe anybody anything. God provided for us. But you know, there's a first step in everything. And when it comes to stewardship, the first step is I've gotta learn to give myself to God. And then there are incremental steps I'm gonna give as God provides. Giving to missions is a great and wonderful thing. Our missions conference coming up. And to be able to help get people out of the mission field, I don't think it's possible unless people give themselves to the Lord. And whenever there's a need. Whenever we have, probably we'll have a meal for the family coming up this week. People just bring stuff in. I can't believe it. Someone's sick and people bring stuff to people's homes. I mean, that's benevolence. But it begins by giving yourself to the Lord. If God owns it all, then nothing else really matters. On a negative side, there's also a first step to backsliding. You know, that first step is we move from the front to the back. Oh, we miss a service, a Sunday night or a Wednesday night. Or we miss Bible reading and then do become spasmodic. One preacher said, I don't mind if people are spasmodic as long as they have a spasm often enough. Well, when people become spasmodic, you know, that's a step in getting away from God. In Revelation chapter 2 and verse 4, it says, nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Isn't that the first step, really? That we lose our love for the Lord, our joy, and the Lord is gone. Now, there are different reasons we lose that love. Maybe it becomes stale. We take things for granted. Sometimes in a marriage, you know, you take your spouse for granted. I certainly don't want to take my wife for granted. I know she probably thinks I do sometimes. They're so busy and everything. But, wow, I'm just thankful God brought us together. But we can do that with the Lord. We can take things for granted. He's always there. He's always counting on us. He's always there. but are we always where we belong to be? And that first step is a pretty serious one. It might not seem like a big one at the time, but it's because it's that first one away from God. You draw near to God, God draws near to you. We can turn that around, you draw away from God, he's farther from you. And we lose our heart and our joy. Sometimes people get offended or hurt, maybe if they're not of their own fault at all. But because of that, they kind of pull away. But that loses the joy and the love for the Lord. Whenever we get hurt, what we should be doing is drawing closer to Him to give us comfort and strength and help. But we can easily get way out of God's will because it was a gradual step, one after another, farther and farther away from the Lord. It's always little by little, too. It's just a little bit at a time. Not quite as involved here, not quite as fervent, not quite as excited, not talking to people anymore. There is a first step to backsliding. But I thank the Lord there is a first step to revival. You can always come back. You can start over. You can get right with God. 1 Peter 4, 17 says, For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. And at first begin with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? It begins by self-judgment. Revival begins by humbling ourselves, 2 Chronicles 7, 14. We have to humble ourselves and say, I don't know everything. I need God. I need his help. Look, you go to church, you read your Bible, you can get into routine, and it's a good routine, but we can say there are times when it is just a routine. It's not fervent, exciting, and we lose a little bit of that joy or edge that we should have. We need to be there. We need to hear the services. We need to hear the Word of God. There are people sitting here, no doubt this morning, a good number of people, you're not going, over the next month, you may come to church and not really get one new thing that you did not know, as far as information. You may know everything that was said, but that doesn't mean you don't need to be here and get the help and the spirit. See, when you miss the joy of that spirit and learning, every time I sit and hear preaching, which is not that often, but I certainly enjoy it, and I take notes, and I'll, almost without fail, someone's preaching on something, and God speaks to my heart about something that really wasn't the text of the sermon or the point of the sermon, but there was something that God showed me out of that that helped me. But if you're not listening, Hey, if you're a student, here's a key, this is an element that might be missing. If you struggle in class and doing tests and things, you really learn when you're listening for something, if you're looking for something. If you go in that class and you're waiting on the teacher to wow you with something you'll never forget the rest of your life, you're gonna miss a lot of stuff. So you come to listen and let it permeate your mind and your soul. We humble ourself and then pray. As we humble ourself and we come to God, then we confess our sin. Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for being stale, losing my love, losing my joy. Forgive me of sin in my life. You know, when you get to a certain point and you go far enough, one day you wake up and you think, how did I get here? Well, I'm not sure how you got there. I'm sure it happened little by little, but the real question is how do I get back? How do I get back to the Lord? Seek God. Seek Him with your heart. Repentance. And it goes on in 2 Chronicles 7, 14, then will I heal their land. So as we turn from our sin, from our backsliding, we turn to God, there's healing. God heals our soul, our mind, our spirit. We're made better, we're made healthy, we're made well. And then there's forgiveness. Everyone has some area of their life where they need forgiveness. And when you know you're forgiven, there's no greater feeling in all the world. No, it's over. Past is gone. I am made right with the Lord. The truth is, every single one of us can go to bed at night, lay our head on a pillow, and say it's well with my soul. And if you can't do that, if you can't do that, then there's something you do need to do to get back to that place. There are first steps you have to take. Sometimes the first step's at an invitation, responding, coming forward, getting saved, or calling someone to your home, or meeting someone. Say, I want to get this settled. Maybe getting home in your prayer closet and getting right with God. But there is a first step, and that first step's a big one. If you make the first step, the other ones become a lot easier to follow. Let's bow for prayer.