We do. For years we frequently declared the goodness of God. Do you remembering singing, "Let Every Heart Rejoice and Sing"? In the chorus we sing,

"For He is good, the Lord is good, And kind are all His ways;
With songs and honors sounding loud, The Lord Jehovah praise;
While the rocks and the rills, While the vales and the hills
A glorious anthem raise; Let each prolong the grateful song,
And the God of our fathers praise, And the God of our fathers praise."

In recent years many of us have found the praise song, "God is Good," meaningful.

God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He's so good to me!
He cares for me, He's so good to me!
I love Him so, He's so good to me!
He answers prayers, He's so good to me!

Goodness and God are inseparable. Genesis 1 affirms that God brought this world into existence. By His order, light came into existence, and God saw that the light was good (1:4). He separated the land from the seas, and it was good (1:10). He brought the vegetation into existence, and He saw it was good (1:12). He established the sun and moon in their roles, and He saw it was good (1:18). He brought marine life and birds into existence, and He saw that it was good (1:21). He made all forms of land creatures, and He saw that it was good (1:25). And when the entire creation was completed, God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good (1:31).

James says of our God that He is the source of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17, NIV)

1. The psalmist used the goodness of God as a worship theme frequently.
   1. Many, many of the psalms declare God's goodness.
      1. Psalm 25:8--Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
      2. Psalm 34:8--O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
      3. Psalm 86:5--For you, O Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon you.
      4. Psalm 100:5--For the Lord is good, His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness is to all generations.
      5. Psalm 135:3--Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
   2. And how did the psalmist say that we should respond to God's goodness?
      1. Psalm 34:8 said taste and see that the Lord is good, and then in verse 14 he declared, "Depart from evil, and do good."
      2. Psalm 37:3 urges us to "Trust the Lord and do good."

2. This theme that stresses God's goodness continued in the teachings of Jesus.
   1. In Matthew 5:44,45 Jesus declared:
      1. God is good--He causes His sun to shine on the evil as well as the good; and sends rain on the unrighteous as well as the righteous.
      2. It is because we are the children of the good God that we love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us.
   2. In Luke 6:45 Jesus again declared:
      1. The good person has a treasury of good things in his heart.
      2. So he reaches into that treasury of good things within and shares those good things through his actions and conduct.
      3. The evil person does the opposite.
      4. Belonging to the good God produces good people who have good treasures in their hearts, who produce good actions, and who speak good things.

3. This theme increased after the resurrection of Jesus; it is repeatedly found in the letters to the churches.
   1. Again and again, those who belong to the good God because they have accepted Jesus Christ are told this: belonging to Christ means we are devoted to doing good.
   2. Consider Paul's statement to the Christians in Rome in Romans 12:1,2:
      1. Give your bodies to God as a living, holy sacrifice.
      2. Climb up on His altar everyday--with all He has done to save you, nothing less is reasonable, acceptable worship.
      3. Because of what God did for you in Jesus Christ, you belong to God, not to this ungodly world.
         1. Do not allow the ungodly world to shape your life.
         2. Allow God to totally remake you, and let Him begin by creating a new way for you to think and understand.
      4. As you climb up on God's altar every day, you have a new purpose, a new goal.
         1. You want to discover God's will.
         2. God's will shall reveal to you what is good, what is well pleasing to God, and what is perfect.
   3. To these same Christians in the same chapter, Paul said, "Do not allow evil to triumph over you; defeat evil by doing good" (Romans 12:21).
      1. I find it fascinating that Paul did not say to defeat evil with knowledge, or defeat evil with logic, or defeat evil with irrefutable arguments, or defeat evil by exposing evil for what it is.
         1. Unquestionably, knowledge is important, but evil can confuse knowledge.
         2. Certainly, there is a place and need for logic, but evil can pervert logic.
         3. Sound arguments have their role and place, but evil loves to exploit irrefutable arguments.
         4. Surely evil needs to be exposed for what it is, but evil is very skilled at making itself look so good and making what is right look so vile.
      2. But evil cannot handle good; when evil attacks good, it discredits itself.
   4. The instruction to Christians in the epistles to do good continues on and on.
      1. The Corinthian Christians were told that God's grace could provide what they needed that "you may have abundance for every good deed" (2 Corinthians 9:8).
      2. The Galatian Christians were told, "Let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ" (Galatians 6:10).
      3. The Ephesians Christians are told, "Christians are handmade by God, the master Craftsman. He created us in Christ Jesus, and He designed us to do good works. He predetermined those good works before He sent Jesus, and He predetermined that Christians would live their lives doing these good works" (Ephesians 2:10).
      4. The Colossian Christians were told that they should bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God (Colossians 1:10).
   5. For many years one of the key memory verses in churches of Christ has been 2 Timothy 3:16,17.

      All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

      1. We do an excellent job of properly emphasizing that Scripture exists as "the breath of God;" it exists a God's own personal expression of Himself.
      2. We do an excellent job of stressing what Scripture does:
         1. It destroys my ignorance.
         2. It reveals what is wrong in me and my life.
         3. It instructs me in what is right.
         4. It trains me in righteousness.
      3. We could do a better job of stressing why scripture does these things for me: to make me spiritually adequate, to equip me to do all forms of good.

4. As we assembled for worship, you should have received a commitment sheet.
   1. The sheet is very simple.
      1. It contains two simple commitments.
      2. Commitment # 1: I commit myself to doing something good every day, something that I would not ordinarily do. Every day I will look for opportunities to be kind, thoughtful, compassionate, and merciful.
      3. Commitment # 2: Beyond my usual involvement and attendance, every week I will do something good that will bless and encourage this congregation.
   2. There is a place for you to sign the commitment sheet.
      1. If you are willing to make those commitments, sign it.
      2. It is yours; take it home with you; place it where it will be a reminder to you.

5. Joyce and I have been a part of this congregation for 81 days.
   1. You have created many wonderful opportunities for us to meet you, and we sincerely appreciate it.
      1. Tonight we will meet with our forty-second group or family.
      2. We are amazed that so many of you have created opportunities to meet us.
   2. Many, many times someone has said to me, "Your being here is the answer to my prayer."
      1. You have indicated that you are astounded at the way God answered your prayers by placing us together.
      2. Joyce and I also are astounded at the way God answered our prayers in placing us with you.
      3. You and we are agreed--God has answered our prayers.
   3. Because we are agreed, I ask all of us two questions.
      1. Question # 1: To what end did God answer all these prayers?
         1. Why has God placed us together?
            1. So we can be religiously comfortable?
            2. So religiously things can be like we want and enjoy?
            3. So religiously we can stop being anxious about matters that concerned us?
         2. Or does God have something more in mind? Does the God who had something in mind when He sent Jesus, who had something in mind when He called Paul, who always has something in mind when He acts, does this God have something in mind for us?
      2. Question # 2: Will we now stop praying?
         1. Or will we continue to pray as fervently that God will accomplish in us what He has in mind?
         2. Because of fervent prayer, we are together.
         3. Will we pray as fervently that God will accomplish His purposes in this congregation?
         4. Will we pray that God will use us to do good?
   4. "But David, is doing good really that important?"
      1. Let Jesus answer.
         1. John 5:28,29--. . . For an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; those who did good deeds, to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
         2. Do you remember the judgment scene in Matthew 25:31-46?
            1. Do you remember that people were separated to the right and left hand of Jesus as he sat on the throne?
            2. Do you remember that those on the right were blessed and those on the left condemned?
            3. Do you remember the basis for the separation, for the blessing, for the condemnation?
            4. "I was hungry, and you fed me; thirsty and you gave me a drink; a traveler, and you gave me lodging; naked, and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me; in prison, and you came to me. . . .To the extent that you did it for the least of my brothers, you did it to me."

The people in Fort Smith will have little interest in what we believe until they are impressed with the ways that our faith in Christ and our love for God produce good through our lives.

And that is wonderful! Because every Christian can do good. Because God Himself is our power source for doing good. Because we only need eyes that will see and bodies that will act. Do good, and let our God work through the good that you do.