Living Intentionally Good Afternoon!

OPTIONAL: For those of you who attended the Christmas Program, I want you to know . . . I have notes! (Hold them up....) (LAUGH & PAUSE) I want to thank my fellow class members for the privilege of addressing you on this Special Occasion. I regard it as a high honor.

On behalf of the Senior Class, I thank the faculty and staff for the investments you each have made as you poured your lives into ours. You have helped shape our future careers and direct our values with a Christian worldview. We are deeply indebted. And, on a personal note, Mr. Musick, I thank you for what you have meant in my life.

And, of course, we thank our parents and supportive families for the many material sacrifices you have made and for the God-honoring

homes you provided which allowed us to be educated in the Christian atmosphere of Lakeland Christian School. We do not take this support for granted and recognize we won't fully grasp the extent of those sacrifices until someday we sit where you are seated today. Again, we thank you! (LONG PAUSE) A sad reality of our culture is that most Christians in America do not fulfill Gods calling on their lives. As the temptation to conform to the world increases with daily pressures and pleasures of life, it becomes increasingly easier to abandon our responsibility to live our life intentionally.

James 1:22 reads: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

To live an intentional Christian life is to make a conscious decision to glorify God in every area of our lives. We know that is the answer,

but the real question is how do we do it? In other words, how should we live if we want to reflect Jesus intentionally next fall and beyond? (PAUSE) We just finished unpacking from the senior trip, and before you know it, most of us will be packing for college. Packing is a very intentional activity; it requires knowing what will be needed when you arrive at your destination.

For example, Josh Stanz, at Florida Southern, will not need the heavy winter clothes that Casey Jones must have in Tiffin, Ohio.

As we start making plans to head off to college and careers, allow me to provide some "packing instructions" . . . a list of things you cant leave home without.

But let me make it clear that in this case, we are not talking about packing a suitcase for a short trip . . . we are packing for a lifetime.

Perhaps the acrostic P A C - K will help us remember to include all the items to live more intentionally. The P stands for Prayer. The first item to pack into each day is an active prayer and devotional life.

Scripture challenges us to pray without ceasing. While this may seem a daunting task, it is practically achieved if we simply work at expanding our prayer life throughout the day. This involves purposeful prayer for people as we see them in need or when we are reminded to pray for someone's needs.

Prayer also involves an organized time of lifting needs to the Lord from a list we create on our phones or computers and taking time daily to share them with Jesus. We are more capable of loving and understanding others when we are also praying for them.

We must seize scheduled time to be intentional about our personal relationship with God as we devote daily time to seek His will. By

studying the Bible, reading stimulating books, and being consistent in prayer . . . we will be better prepared, as Peter challenged us, to give an answer to everyone that asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (I Peter 3:15).

The second letter is A . . . for Accountability. We must find specific individuals who will ask us about our activities and keep us accountable to live out Gods Word.

If we want to live intentionally, then we MUST have someone who will hold us accountable and will "get in our face" if we make bad decisions.

Individuals who challenge us to live Biblically and authentically are faithful friends in every sense of the word.

The next step in living intentionally is being willing to be that kind of friend in someone elses life. Proverbs promises: "Faithful are the

wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy." Those wounds come from times of required honesty. Make sure you are investing honest accountability into another's life just that way.

Next is C . . . for Community. The best way to find Community is by immediately finding a campus ministry and church home as soon as we move into this next phase of our lives. The way we prioritize our lives during the first couple of weeks of college will determine how most of us will live through the rest of college.

A recent survey revealed by the Colson Institute sites that 43% of Christian students fall away from the disciplines of their faith when they get to college. We cannot live intentionally if we allow that to be our fate!

We must find and associate ourselves with a community of believers the first weeks of college. On our senior trip, Pastor Rice

talked with us about staying power. He admonished us not to spend 4 years church shopping -- commit to a place of worship! A church provides a place to worship, grow in our faith, and the ability to be able to minister back to others. Scripture calls us to meet regularly and the years ahead are no exception. Getting involved in campus ministries such as "CRU", RUF, and CCF provides a great opportunity to introduce unbelievers to the faith, but they are not designed to take the place of the church. We must balance our time wisely!

In this regard, being intentional means pre-deciding to worship. We can practically live this out by making it a priority to set out alarms on Saturday night before we are tempted to sleep in on Sunday morning.

And last letter, K stands for the Kingdom. It is critical that we keep intentional eyes for building the kingdom.

We do this by first building relationships with non-Christians and giving them the opportunity to see a Christian who actually lives out their faith consistently on a day-by-day basis. They are used to seeing an absence of authenticity. We have the high privilege of providing for unbelievers a true example of the Christian faith.

We cant afford to let those opportunities pass us by. I have had the privilege of watching my older brothers and sisters during their college years as they impacted others and watched many of their friends came to faith in Jesus Christ.

Most recently, my sister, Kelli, had a friend who went from a life of despair to living purposefully simply because of the living impact Kelli had on her as they worked on accounting projects together. Her friend said she had never known a Christian who actually lived out their faith. We should strive to be that person in anothers life.

So, if we are to follow James command to live intentionally . . . that we do not merely listen to the Word . . . but that we also Do what it says, then we must P-A-C-K for life. Remember: Prayer Accountability Community, and Kingdom Let's consider some of the Heroes of the Faith that lived intentionally: --Joshua challenged the people of Israel to decide whom they would serve, but he had already decided that he and his house would serve the Lord.

-- Noah lived intentionally when, having never seen rain, he obeyed God and built an ark.

--Taken prisoner by the Babylonians, Daniel lived intentionally when he resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine - before the rich foods were ever brought to him.

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I am determined to live my life intentionally, my prayer to you, my fellow classmates, is that you will decide to do the same.