God invites every person into both a relationship with Him and a partnership with Him — including in the everyday work we do Monday through Friday.
Our day jobs are not a curse to endure but part of God's original blessing and invitation to partner with Him in caring for His world. Pastor Scott shows from Proverbs and Genesis that God wants us to bring diligence and resilience to our work, trusting Him with the results, whatever our vocation is.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 1 of 6
Proverbs contrasts the path of the diligent with the path of the sluggard, and the outcomes are predictable over time.
Pastor Scott reads Proverbs 13:4 in two translations, noting that a sluggard still has an appetite and desires but never gets filled, while the diligent are fully satisfied. He explains that proverbs describe a predictable, though not instant, result of consistently following wisdom versus foolishness.
“A sluggard's appetite is never filled”
— Pastor Scott Rodgers
“Lazy people want much but get little”
— Pastor Scott Rodgers
“But those who work hard will prosper”
— Pastor Scott Rodgers
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 2 of 6
Work is part of God's original blessing, not a result of the curse.
Walking through Genesis 1:26-28 and Genesis 2:15, Pastor Scott shows God inviting Adam and Eve to be fruitful, rule over creation, and work and care for the garden before sin entered the world. He notes that naming the animals was the first act of partnership God gave Adam, showing work was baked into creation as a blessing, not a punishment.
“God's invitation to partner with him and to work with him was before the curse. It was part of God's blessing”
— Pastor Scott Rodgers
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 3 of 6
As followers of Jesus, we're called to be diligent and work as if for the Lord, not just for a paycheck.
Pastor Scott reads Colossians 3:23-24 and challenges listeners to bring hard work back into fashion, working at whatever they do with all their heart as service to Christ rather than to human masters. He unpacks Jim Collins's three hedgehog principle questions — what are you passionate about, what could you be the best in the world at, and what drives your economic engine — applying them to a seventh-grade teacher as an example of pursuing excellence for God's glory.
Illustration
Jim Collins's 'hedgehog principle' from Good to Great — three questions about passion, excellence, and economic engine applied to purposeful work
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 4 of 6
Being diligent also requires being resilient when the work gets hard.
Pastor Scott walks through the parable of the bags of gold in Matthew 25:14-30, explaining that God entrusts each person with gifts according to their ability and rewards faithfulness with what's given, however small. He voices the fearful servant as Eeyore, showing that fear of failure led him to bury his gift and do nothing rather than risk something.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 5 of 6
Faithfulness over the long haul, even in small or slow places, is what God calls well done.
Pastor Scott shares a phone call with his pastor friend Carlos in Houston, who has discipled just three men over twelve years of starting and stopping a church in an under-resourced community. He also recounts meeting four pastors in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, who simply asked to be encouraged, tying both stories to the master's words, well done, good and faithful servant.
A story from life
Carlos, a Houston pastor of 12 years, shares excitement about discipling three men in an under-resourced community
A story from life
Four Nicaraguan pastors in Chichigalpa ask only to be encouraged as they pour their lives into their communities
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Point 6 of 6
Rock Point's own story shows what God does through diligent, resilient people over time.
Pastor Scott recalls first visiting Rock Point around 2006 at Higley High School with about 100 people, hearing Bill Bush challenge the small crowd to serve and give sacrificially. He connects that faithfulness sixteen years ago to the baptisms celebrated that weekend, asking what God might do in the next sixteen years if the church stays humble, diligent, and resilient.
“God, would you use me to make a difference”
— Pastor Scott Rodgers
“you way overestimate what God wants to do through you in a year, but you underestimate what He can do through you in a lifetime if you stay at it”
— Pastor Scott Rodgers
A story from life
The preacher recalls attending Rock Point around 2006–2007 at Higley High School with roughly 100 people and hearing Pastor Bill Bush challenge the congregation to serve and give
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI
Take it into your week
Pastor Scott frames the charge as living out a partnership with God through diligence and resilience in the work already in front of you.
Application
Be diligent in your work
Whatever your day job is, put in the work as if working for the Lord and not for human masters, as Colossians 3:23-24 says.
Ask what you're most passionate about
Use Jim Collins's questions to consider what you love, what you could be great at, and how it connects to your work, then bring your best effort to it for God's glory.
Don't tie your passion to your paycheck
Recognize your calling and your income may come from different places; live out your passion even if it isn't what pays the bills.
Stay resilient when the work gets hard
Like the servants in Matthew 25, take risks with what God has entrusted to you rather than burying it out of fear, and keep showing up when it's discouraging.
Pray to make a difference, not to change the world
Shift from an audacious desire for big impact to a daily, humble prayer that God would use you to make a difference right where you are.
Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI