Josh: 0:07

Welcome to Made for Good, a podcast where we explore how to live out our purpose through good works, guided by biblical truth.

Josh: 0:14

Hey, I'm Josh

Mark: 0:15

and I'm Mark. Welcome to the Good Works Studio for this first episode. So we're finally getting around to it, Mark what do you think of it?

Josh: 0:23

I don't know. You're not supposed to talk over people when you're having a podcast. Sorry, can I just say it's a little excessive that you built a studio.

Mark: 0:30

Well, I think it's important and I love the smell of new paint.

Josh: 0:34

Yeah, so sorry talking over you again, again, no one can smell it. This is all audio.

Mark: 0:39

Oh okay, maybe a little excessive, maybe. Well, josh, tell us, how did we get here today?

Josh: 0:48

Yeah, I'll make a long story short. Years ago we were walking out of the church building and in the back of the building you said to me have you ever looked up how many times the Bible talks about good works or actively doing good? And from there that led to a Bible study with me and you. We met every Thursday at a coffee shop. For what a year yeah, a year. We were supposed to be there an hour. Sometimes we were there longer, got texts from our wives when are you? We might have gotten in trouble. Yep, yep, dinner's ready.

Mark: 1:18

We closed the coffee shop down most days we really did. Yeah, they would say we're closing, you guys need to leave.

Josh: 1:23

But they were really sweet. But that turned into at one point and I felt like you knew what was going to happen the whole time. If we're being honest, because you said early on hey, who knows, this may turn into a Bible class.

Mark: 1:33

Yeah, and it did.

Josh: 1:35

It did.

Mark: 1:36

We prepared 12 lessons and then the elders where we attend church decided that they were going to do trimesters that year,

Josh: 1:47

by the way. Huge heads up,

Mark: 1:48

oh yeah. After we got it all planned out, they said oh, 12? No, we need 16 lessons. Actually, I'm glad. I'm glad that we had 16 lessons to cover everything, because there was just so much. We had one person say look, have you ever taught the class again? Why don't you teach the class on Sunday and then leave Wednesday night for just the discussions about the class, right right.

Josh: 2:14

And I think you should add too it was a different setting for the two of us. We both taught before. We've never taught with someone together at the same time.

Mark: 2:22

Yeah, like we were two people sitting in front of 80, 90 people. It's a large class for us in chairs and so we had a lot of interaction between ourselves and the class. Yeah, absolutely so. There's this, there's this, back and forth.

Mark: 2:37

but what were some of the comments that people said

Josh: 2:40

Well, I'll tell you what I thought was funny early on was, and we had several people say, hey, I just want you to know. I'll tell you what I thought was funny early on was, and we had several people say, hey, I just want you to know. I feel like I'm being a part of a live podcast.

Mark: 2:50

Yeah, well, and so here we are, um, full circle. This is a live podcast. Uh, again in the in the newly finished, uh, good work studio. Uh, we are, um, we're actually not in a studio. So, just just to be real clear, we did not build a new studio, goodworks studio. We can call it the GoodWorks studio, but it was. The paint in this room has been long. It's dry. Yeah, it's dry.

Josh: 3:16

Exactly, it's dry. One of the things I really enjoy going back to the class. That I enjoyed about class was every class was different because, like we talked about, the Bible talks so much about good works that there were just so many different topics that we had to talk about. That's similar to this podcast Every episode is going to be different and today is more of an introduction to good works, right?

Mark: 3:37

Yeah, today we're going to talk about the study of good works as an introduction, kind of an overview, and we're going to look at how good works are really the purpose of a Christian life. They're a mission in a way. We'll talk more about that in a little bit. Why, josh, do you think people are reluctant to study good works? It's not a topic you have a lot of times in your Bible study, small group study, whatever. Hey, we're going to get together and talk about good works. Why are we reluctant to do that?

Josh: 4:14

I think that this is even some feedback we got from class. You cringe a little bit because you think about what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 and Matthew 6. Said on the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 and Matthew 6. There's this idea. Or Jesus is talking about what we should be actively doing in one chapter followed up by the next chapter. He's then saying don't let your left hand know what your right hand's doing.

Mark: 4:35

Yeah, so we should practice these good works, letting our light shine before others so they can see them. But the purpose is to glorify God in Matthew 5. In Matthew 6, it says be careful that you don't get your motivation wrong, that we're doing it to be seen of men, so people struggle with that they struggle with.

Josh: 4:57

They almost feel like well, this limits me on what I can do it actually for some people they may not have a lot of confidence to be able to go actively do good because they're so worried about being seen by others, right.

Mark: 5:08

But what we want to be very, very clear on right here up front is that we're not saying that good works leads to salvation. Right, it's really the opposite. The thing that we're going to do in this podcast is use the Bible. Right, the Bible is going to be our basis for what we talk about, and so let's start over in Ephesians, chapter two. Ok, we're going to look at verses eight and nine first. Let's read that. For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. So very clear not a result of works. So salvation is a gift. It's one that we receive by grace, through obedient faith in Christ. That's not something we achieve.

Josh: 6:02

It's something that God gives us freely, let's say, let's hang out in Ephesians 2. So look at verse 10. It tells us what happens after salvation, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This, for a lot of us, is a shift in perspective. Good works don't lead us to salvation. What this is saying is that it flows from salvation. When we become followers of Christ, we're transformed, made new for a purpose, and that purpose is to live out our faith through action.

Mark: 6:37

Yeah, I love that word workmanship. We are the work, we are God's work. You know, the whole act of sanctification is a process, and we'll look at other verses where it's very, very clear that that is a connection between us and good works, that there is a sanctifying element to those good works. If we were to look at this from the perspective of a Christian, we've got to look to Jesus. Right, we've got to look to Jesus and see how he embodied this truth. He didn't just preach love, as a lot of people want to say. He demonstrated through feeding the hungry, he healed the sick, he served the broken. You know, you look at Mary Magdalene and how he just restored her very being. His life is really the model of good works. And his approach was never pointing to him, it was always pointing to the father. He wanted to glorify the father, as we should as well.

Josh: 7:41

Let's shift to our mission profile segment of the podcast for this episode. So at this point a lot of us probably thinking, or listeners may be thinking what does that mean for us today? How do we walk in the good works that God has prepared for us? Well, first we need to understand that good works are not optional for a believer. For a believer, matter of fact, jesus said in Matthew 5, 16, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who's in heaven. Good works are meant to point others to God. They are a testimony in action when we serve, when we love, when we give. People see Christ in us.

Mark: 8:21

Right, but you know we're not trying to always do some big grand thing. It can be something very simple, like just encouraging somebody. You know, seeing somebody we talk in today's vernacular. I see you, you know I understand where you are. I see maybe you're struggling. You look to be sad, you look to be, you know, a little distant. You know to check in on people, people going through stuff all the time, and we're showing that we're we're caring. There's other ways to care we can care for. You know, a widow at church Maybe we go and cut their grass. Or maybe a single parent we volunteer to babysit their child for them while they go to the doctor or whatever they need. You know, something even so simple as providing a meal to a neighbor, and sometimes it means standing up for truth or justice in a really difficult situation, you know, standing in the defense of those, maybe, who can't defend themselves. So here's something that's really profound, and this is the part that I love about that Ephesians 2, verse 10 passage, part that I love about that.

Mark: 9:39

Ephesians 2, verse 10 passage. God has already prepared these opportunities for us to do good. It says that he was, that these were prepared beforehand. So he's already defined what is good, as we mentioned. You know scripture defines that for us. You know you don't have to go and search for them, you don't have to wonder what to do to be to do good. Just turn to God's word and he shows you that they're right there. And there's, there's more than we can ever do in scripture. All we got to do is do them.

Josh: 10:18

Yeah, I agree with that, and I think that we should be more bold with our prayers. We should actually pray for these things. We should pray that God open our eyes to see opportunities to do good, and when he does that and he will, that's where we got to step up. And maybe in that same prayer, we should pray God and give me confidence, Because when I see these opportunities that I'm praying about right now, give me confidence that I can go do them.

Mark: 10:43

Well, Josh, what causes people to not do good works? What are those barriers to doing good? Because we know God's scripture gives us what they are and we know the importance of them, why don't we always do them?

Josh: 10:58

Well, I think there's a lot of things. I can think of. Four off the top of my head. One busyness. Think about people's schedules, how packed they are, and we just struggle for time. Sometimes we feel like we don't have enough time in the day to do things.

Mark: 11:13

We've got an upcoming episode dedicated totally to time management redeeming the time so we'll explore that in detail.

Josh: 11:23

Yeah, very true. I think another thing is fear, mark. Think about how crippling fear can be in general. And so fear, can you know? I could be afraid of rejection, I could be afraid of how I will feel in a moment by just pushing myself to do something I don't normally do. I will feel in a moment by just pushing myself to do something I don't normally do. Another thing that happens a lot for a lot of folks is doubt, wondering if maybe even these small things that I do are they even going to make a difference? Yeah, yeah. And then, outside of those things, and maybe in the same line of thinking, as you know, fear is comfort. Sometimes doing good just requires us to, flat out, get out of our comfort zone and do it. And so, for a lot of folks, we may actually think about opportunities, we may even see them in our mind, but we can't capitalize on them because we don't feel comfortable enough to go forward and do them.

Mark: 12:12

That's really true If you look back to the Sermon on the Mount, if you go over to Matthew 6, verse 1, this ties into what you were talking about about fear, us worrying about what other people may perceive. Our motive is, you know, in Matthew 6, verse 1, it says very clearly Jesus told his disciples beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your father in heaven. And having someone see you do good. There's always the risk like yeah, we're just doing that to be seen, or you know they're just showing out, or they're just always wanting the limelight or those types of things, and in reality that is a risk of doing good.

Mark: 13:08

But if you go back to the Matthew 5 passage we talked about, how do we let our light shine before others? We're going to have an episode in the future where we talk about stirring one another up to love and good works. How do you stir one another up to love and good works without letting them in on what you're doing and asking them to come along to do the good work? Maybe you're going to go get two or three guys and you're going to go cut one of the widow's yards or something like that. We're not bragging. There's power in doing good together, and we'll explore that in an upcoming episode.

Josh: 13:43

Mark, can I just say this too, though I think that some people, if you are the one who's thinking like, oh, they're doing this to do good, because they want to be seen by others, A lot of times and like I'm talking to myself here I probably should look at the mirror and just think you know, am I jealous that I didn't do this, or am I jealous that this is even occurring, and so it's not? We shouldn't question someone's motives as much as we should look in the mirror and think why am I feeling this way?

Mark: 14:10

Right, Our good works need to be motivated by our love for God to do what he's programmed us to do in Christ. We're created in Christ for good works. That's the mission, but we also should be motivated by love for other people, and it shouldn't be just any desire for recognition. It's really fulfilling the mission that God has given us as Christians.

Josh: 14:39

But here's the encouragement and we mentioned this in the trailer early on, when we dropped that Every act of goodness, every act, no matter how small, it just creates this ripple effect. It impacts lives in ways that we may never even see.

Mark: 14:55

Well, we've come to the portion of our podcast format where we're going to talk about a mission or a challenge. So we're going to begin to give you three things that we'd like for you to do this week. First one is to pray for opportunities. You know we ought to everything that we do we ought to do this week. First one is to pray for opportunities. You know we ought to everything that we do we ought to start with a prayer, whether starting our day or starting a new opportunity, a new job. In this case, we're looking to do more good. We're looking to fulfill our mission as Christians to do good. So pray, ask God to open your eyes to the good works that he's already prepared for us. They're there. And then now let's do that one act of good, something like maybe helping a neighbor writing an encouraging note. It takes almost no time. If you don't know what to say, go to chat GPT and say I have a friend who's going through some medical.

Josh: 15:54

Yeah, you can actually do that?

Mark: 15:56

Go to chat GPT and say I have a close friend who's who's going through, you know, some health struggles and I want to encourage them. What would be a nice two or three sentence note that I could write?

Josh: 16:09

Can I say this is just an aside and I know this is kind of. I've been a recipient recently. I had a procedure done that was pretty scary and there's just power in a written form in a letter. I think we've kind of got to wait away from it. We text people. That's great too. I'm not saying that texts aren't good and a phone call is powerful, but there's something about seeing someone's words, their handwriting.

Mark: 16:32

You mean like put it in the mail.

Josh: 16:35

Yeah, it is just. It's a powerful thing. So when we think, oh, it's just a small act of kindness, it's tangible, well, it will even matter in your hand. Well, I'm telling you, as a recipient, it matters. You remember that, you feel that and you're just thankful for it.

Mark: 16:50

Yeah, and of course you got to ask yourself in all this, why am I doing this? Am I doing it for recognition or am I doing it out of a sense of purpose and a love for God and the people that I'm doing it for?

Josh: 17:07

Well, we didn't really talk about this, but I'd like to add a bonus mission.

Mark: 17:11

Okay, you're going to add to my list.

Josh: 17:13

Yeah, I hope that's okay.

Mark: 17:14

It's going to be four. Okay, yeah, go ahead.

Josh: 17:17

I want people to keep a journal this week. Each day, write down what you did, one good work that you did, no matter how small, and at the end of the week look back on those things.

Mark: 17:26

And post them on social media.

Josh: 17:37

No, no, no, no. You just talked about the Sermon on the Mount. I want you to think about what and how God used you. So this is a private journal. Yes, yes. And here's the thing. There's times where you may feel like at the end of the week, it gets to be Friday and you think, man, what did I do this week? Did I even do anything good in the kingdom? And this is a way that you can stay encouraged yourself, almost stirring yourself up. So you continue to do good, and we would love to hear about your experiences. Share them on social media using the hashtag made for good.

Mark: 18:02

So that's M-A-D-E the number four good, and you can find us on Instagram. You can find us on X, we don't need to say formally Twitter anymore.

Josh: 18:16

Are we past that? I think so. I think none of us know what to say with that.

Mark: 18:18

Okay, I think let's just say it's X, we're moving forward, okay. Well, look, this is, we did an episode. Wow, we're here, episode number one. We've been talking about this for a long, long time and we hope listen, we hope this conversation maybe inspired, you, caused you to think about good works, maybe in a different way, as more of your mission, rather than you know, something that you, we can be paralyzed sometimes, for it's very, very clear Our motivation should not be to be seen of others, but sometimes that prevents us from doing it. Step out there, do something. You may do something that's out of your comfort zone, as we talked about, but listen, if this conversation inspired or challenged you, just be sure to subscribe to this podcast and so that you won't miss the next one.

Josh: 19:09

And if you found this valuable and we hope that you did consider sharing with a friend, until next time, go out and do good, because you were made for good.