For fun, I enjoy hill walking. You can't beat the beautiful scenery, fresh air and challenge of a mountain to climb. When walking, things come to mind which I'd like to share with you.
Hill walking is like life in that we are all on a path. Sometimes it is relatively flat and smooth but just like a hill walk we also face ups and downs, boggy bits, wet bits and steep rocky bits. How we get through, over or around them will depend on how we are prepared, and our mental attitude as it is very easy to give up before the end.
The ups and downs of life can be, and often are, the work of the enemy as we are in a spiritual battle, but God allows things so that we can grow as people. It doesn't feel that way when you are going through it as you can only see the negatives but people develop when challenged.
When you get to a boggy part you have to pick your way across. Solid ground may be in sight but there are numerous ways of getting there. I've seen a boy get stuck in the bog up to his thighs. Without help, he could go no-where! That's why we are told to help each other.
Joh 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
1Co 12:24-26 But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Do you think that boy got stuck by choice? No - but the path he chose led to him needing to be rescued.
On a spiritual level, like the boy, no matter how careful we are, we all fail and we are all reliant on God's grace to forgive us and pull us out of the bog.
The end goal - the summit - is the Kingdom of God. Remember, walking is as much mental as physical, in order to get to the end we have to believe we can do it or we'll give up. In life, Christ has already scaled the heights for us, so we need to believe in Him. So take encouragement, look to the summit and don't give up because in Christ we are already there!
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Sunday, 24 January 2016
But it was an Accident!
"But it was an Accident..."
This is a phrase we hear
in our house rather a lot. This is
normally following a howl or a scream or a cry for help with another person
crying in pain. That other person is
normally me!
Some people think that Jesus dying was an accident and
that if He had been more careful, he could have escaped death.
Maybe if He hadn't gone to Jerusalem; or if he hadn't publicly
rode in like a King on Palm Sunday? Maybe
if he hadn't gone to the temple - or overturned the tables upsetting everyone? Maybe if he had stopped Judas leaving instead
of telling him to get it over with... What if he'd gone to hide instead of
going to Gethsemine or if he'd defended himself to Pilot.
Some say He was careless - maybe it was all an accident? Did God make a mistake and let his son die? What do you think?
Just like the temple lambs were born to be sacrifices, so
was Jesus.
It was God's plan that Jesus was needed to save
humanity. God knew that we would not be able
to resist temptation but had the rescue planned out from the start.
God lives outside our time and Jesus said that the
kingdom was prepared since the creation of the world, so in His grace, He did
what it took to make sure the Kingdom was filled with his people despite their
disobedience.
Mat 25:34 talks about "... your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world."
Jesus himself knew what was going to happen to him.
Mar
10:33-34 "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief
priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will
hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him
and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."
It was no accident - the Kingdom was pre-planned and so was the rescue mission. Despite man's sin, Jesus sacrifice makes it
possible for us to enter the Kingdom.
"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed." 1Peter 2:24
Isn't that an encouraging thought - that God's love for us is so great that Jesus came to earth and has paid the penalty for our sin. Our sin was nailed to the cross and has been
paid for despite the fact that we make mistakes.
That's Grace so we can be confident that our
future is safe in His hands.
Saturday, 9 January 2016
Happy New Year - Romans 5.
Good morning everyone - happy new year!
I'd like to look at a chapter of the bible that's been on my mind over the Christmas period and we've been looking at it in Llanelli (www.llanelli.church).
The incarnation is an incredible event which cannot be emphasised enough at any time of the year. The word becoming flesh was the miraculous union between God and humanity and should never be under emphasised.
Romans 5 contains some profound statements and I thought it would be good to go through the chapter as a bible study and look at the issues it covers as we go through.
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rom 5:2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
On first reading this you could conclude that if you have faith you are justified and have grace. Yes, belief takes faith but some people talk as though it is some kind of magic pill that you can take to cure all problems. I'm sure you've all hear the health and wealth preachers say "Have faith and you'll get this that or the other ... however Eph 2 says that even the faith is not ours - it's a gift - so no one can boast. So who's faith is it by which we are justified and have grace? _ Jesus! It is through Jesus faith we are justified and have gained access to the grace in which we stand. Jesus was fully man as well as being part of the triune God so it took faith for him to submit to God's will. Remember he sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemine so you can't underestimate what he went through humanly before, during or after the crucifixion when he hung there dying. This sounds dramatic however you have to realise this to appreciate the faith he had in God and what He did for us individually so that we can stand here in grace.
Before we move on, notice finally that we don't boast in our own glory - we boast in the hope of the glory of who? _ God. The NIrV puts it this way "We are full of joy because we expect to share in God's glory." None of this is for our own glory! Notice the word Hope or Expectation - this is something that features in this chapter.
Rom 5:3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Rom 5:4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Rom 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
We don't like suffering and would rather not go through any - but Paul had a different perspective of it after all he'd been through... Jail, ship wrecks, beatings stoning - anything else?
The end result is hope or expectation or anticipation - your present suffering makes you yearn for better to come. That's human nature - people generally want what they don't have - and if they are presented with an image of the Kingdom with peace love and abundance - they want a piece of it.
The spread of Christianity seems to be more evident is poorer countries - GCI certainly finds this with growth in Asia and Africa. It seems that when people suffer or have less material wealth they are more receptive to the gospel message and the hope it brings. In the western world people seem to have no interest perhaps because they don't see how it's anything they need to be interested in. Most people have a house, food and relative security and they are not fearful for their lives. It's only when something bad happens that people look to the church to seek comfort.
Paul continues this thought in Romans 8v24-25
Rom 8:24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Maybe it is at people's lowest point that the presence of God becomes evident and He gives hope in the midst of despair?? After having been through it, Paul was able to see the joy in the suffering.
The next section cuts us down if we think we're saved through our own strength.
Rom 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Bang - this puts us in our place and shows the great love of God. Even though human people sin - God's love is greater and he died for us while we were sinners.
Paul uses powerful language to emphasise the point that Jesus did not die for us because we are good enough, or because we are godly righteous people. He died for the ungodly while were still sinners. As we'll read in v12 later, all have sinned. No one is good enough for all have fallen short as it says in Romans 3v23-24.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
This is the love and grace of God being demonstrated.
Paul poses a dilema in v7 - if you had a chance to donate a kidney to save a life, you were a perfect match, but it posed great risk. Would you do it for a national hero - what if it was for Simon Weston, or Sam Warburton - you may think you'd consider it to save the life of a hero even if it was risky - but what about someone in prison who'd done a horrible crime, maybe a terrorist or what about a homeless person on the street. I would hazard a guess that most people would think twice and not take that risk to save the life of a person they didn't think deserved it. But - that is exactly what Jesus has done. He has died so all can live.
Rom 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Rom 5:10 For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Rom 5:11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Notice that we are no longer enemies of God - we are reconciled to him. It talks about being saved from wrath - don't forget that God hates sin so much that he was willing for Jesus to die to pay for it! Jesus has taken the wrath for everyone, thus bringing reconciliation. However if you don't accept the gift of life that he talks about later on, we would have to accept the wrath of God because, it says, we are His enemies. Revelation talks about the second death and people being punished if they choose not to repent. Let's not down play the consequences of not choosing life. However it says that while we were God's enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of Jesus. In reality, humanity is therefore at peace and reconciled with God through what Jesus has done on our behalf to take the punishment and wrath. For those who believe it seems inconceivable that people can't see this as good news - however unless God opens peoples eyes to it, the whole thing is meaningless and people don't realise they are in any kind of danger that they need to be rescued from and just don't believe any of it.
Notice again it says in verse 11 that we therefore boast in Jesus Christ - it's not our own doing but it's all about what He's done for us.
The next section is particularly relevant when we think of the significance of the incarnation. Jesus is compared to Adam which Paul also wrote to the church in Corinth in 1 Cor 15v22 so the incarnation is kind of a new creation for humanity. He re-booted humanity or ran a restore disk to use computer terminology, to make a fresh start. [Expand if time??] In the context of reconciliation, he first of all talks of death. Following on he says...
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned--
We read earlier that all have fallen short of God. The second Adam therefore put right what the first Adam messed up.
1 Cor 15v22 says "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."
Rom 5:13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
As we've heard in sermons over the years - sin is falling short of God's standards - missing the mark. What the law did was set out God's standards for Israel into a written law code, and even then Israel didn't keep them! What Paul is saying is that as a result of Adam's sin all people are guilty. People still died between Adam and Moses even though that law code did not exist. Adam sinned, Cain sinned, the people at the time of Noah sinned, people in Sodom and Gomorrah sinned. They all fell short without breaking the law of Moses. What about the other nations of the world who had no contact even with the law of Moses? They were given to Israel and there is no record that I'm aware of showing the Israelites went out telling anyone else to keep them!! So is everyone lost? Let's continue.
Rom 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Rom 5:16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
Rom 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Rom 5:18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
Rom 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Wow!! Isn't that a wonderful passage. Through one man - Jesus - we receive God's abundant provision of Grace. Just as the first brought death to all, the second brings life to all. Even after many trespasses that have taken place since Adam, God's grace has it covered!! We've all enjoyed gifts over Christmas but this is the greatest gift that we have received. I like the way the Contemporary English translation puts it.
Rom 5:15 But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of kindness to many people.
Rom 5:16 There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times.
Rom 5:17 Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.
Rom 5:18 Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life.
Rom 5:19 Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.
The result of this is that we have the gift of abundant grace, we're not promised health and wealth in this life, however what we are promised is the gift of eternal life itself.
Hebrews talks about the sacrifice of Jesus being once for all. Jesus was faithful and obedient and we stand cleansed by his blood. The incarnation was a new beginning - God became flesh so that he could live and die to deal with Adam's mistake once for all to bring reconciliation between God and humanity.
Let's finish off the chapter.
Rom 5:20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
Rom 5:21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The law defined sin, but as sin increased, grace increased even more. The law increased sin because it set out and defined how Israel was to live - by defining everything it was easier to fall short because you have something to measure it by. However, no matter what we have done before or do from now on, God's love for us is greater and his grace expands to cover it. Notice that grace reigns in righteousness - Jesus righteousness - to bring eternal life through him.
That eternal life is life in Christ with Christ in us by his Spirit, so bit by bit we are more like him - so we are changed by the abundant grace that we read about earlier.
What Jesus did at a specific time was in reality outside time so his sacrifice covers all people who accept it. One day, when the small and great talked about in Revelation - stand before God, he will show them what He had planned for them all along and they can choose whether or not to accept the gift of life on offer. What Adam did has been cancelled by what Jesus did in response, so as we enter a new year, let's be thankful for the abundant grace that we have been given.
Scriptures from Todays NIV.
I'd like to look at a chapter of the bible that's been on my mind over the Christmas period and we've been looking at it in Llanelli (www.llanelli.church).
The incarnation is an incredible event which cannot be emphasised enough at any time of the year. The word becoming flesh was the miraculous union between God and humanity and should never be under emphasised.
Romans 5 contains some profound statements and I thought it would be good to go through the chapter as a bible study and look at the issues it covers as we go through.
Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Rom 5:2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
On first reading this you could conclude that if you have faith you are justified and have grace. Yes, belief takes faith but some people talk as though it is some kind of magic pill that you can take to cure all problems. I'm sure you've all hear the health and wealth preachers say "Have faith and you'll get this that or the other ... however Eph 2 says that even the faith is not ours - it's a gift - so no one can boast. So who's faith is it by which we are justified and have grace? _ Jesus! It is through Jesus faith we are justified and have gained access to the grace in which we stand. Jesus was fully man as well as being part of the triune God so it took faith for him to submit to God's will. Remember he sweat blood in the garden of Gethsemine so you can't underestimate what he went through humanly before, during or after the crucifixion when he hung there dying. This sounds dramatic however you have to realise this to appreciate the faith he had in God and what He did for us individually so that we can stand here in grace.
Before we move on, notice finally that we don't boast in our own glory - we boast in the hope of the glory of who? _ God. The NIrV puts it this way "We are full of joy because we expect to share in God's glory." None of this is for our own glory! Notice the word Hope or Expectation - this is something that features in this chapter.
Rom 5:3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Rom 5:4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Rom 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
We don't like suffering and would rather not go through any - but Paul had a different perspective of it after all he'd been through... Jail, ship wrecks, beatings stoning - anything else?
The end result is hope or expectation or anticipation - your present suffering makes you yearn for better to come. That's human nature - people generally want what they don't have - and if they are presented with an image of the Kingdom with peace love and abundance - they want a piece of it.
The spread of Christianity seems to be more evident is poorer countries - GCI certainly finds this with growth in Asia and Africa. It seems that when people suffer or have less material wealth they are more receptive to the gospel message and the hope it brings. In the western world people seem to have no interest perhaps because they don't see how it's anything they need to be interested in. Most people have a house, food and relative security and they are not fearful for their lives. It's only when something bad happens that people look to the church to seek comfort.
Paul continues this thought in Romans 8v24-25
Rom 8:24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Maybe it is at people's lowest point that the presence of God becomes evident and He gives hope in the midst of despair?? After having been through it, Paul was able to see the joy in the suffering.
The next section cuts us down if we think we're saved through our own strength.
Rom 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Bang - this puts us in our place and shows the great love of God. Even though human people sin - God's love is greater and he died for us while we were sinners.
Paul uses powerful language to emphasise the point that Jesus did not die for us because we are good enough, or because we are godly righteous people. He died for the ungodly while were still sinners. As we'll read in v12 later, all have sinned. No one is good enough for all have fallen short as it says in Romans 3v23-24.
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Rom 3:24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
This is the love and grace of God being demonstrated.
Paul poses a dilema in v7 - if you had a chance to donate a kidney to save a life, you were a perfect match, but it posed great risk. Would you do it for a national hero - what if it was for Simon Weston, or Sam Warburton - you may think you'd consider it to save the life of a hero even if it was risky - but what about someone in prison who'd done a horrible crime, maybe a terrorist or what about a homeless person on the street. I would hazard a guess that most people would think twice and not take that risk to save the life of a person they didn't think deserved it. But - that is exactly what Jesus has done. He has died so all can live.
Rom 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Rom 5:10 For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Rom 5:11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Notice that we are no longer enemies of God - we are reconciled to him. It talks about being saved from wrath - don't forget that God hates sin so much that he was willing for Jesus to die to pay for it! Jesus has taken the wrath for everyone, thus bringing reconciliation. However if you don't accept the gift of life that he talks about later on, we would have to accept the wrath of God because, it says, we are His enemies. Revelation talks about the second death and people being punished if they choose not to repent. Let's not down play the consequences of not choosing life. However it says that while we were God's enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of Jesus. In reality, humanity is therefore at peace and reconciled with God through what Jesus has done on our behalf to take the punishment and wrath. For those who believe it seems inconceivable that people can't see this as good news - however unless God opens peoples eyes to it, the whole thing is meaningless and people don't realise they are in any kind of danger that they need to be rescued from and just don't believe any of it.
Notice again it says in verse 11 that we therefore boast in Jesus Christ - it's not our own doing but it's all about what He's done for us.
The next section is particularly relevant when we think of the significance of the incarnation. Jesus is compared to Adam which Paul also wrote to the church in Corinth in 1 Cor 15v22 so the incarnation is kind of a new creation for humanity. He re-booted humanity or ran a restore disk to use computer terminology, to make a fresh start. [Expand if time??] In the context of reconciliation, he first of all talks of death. Following on he says...
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned--
We read earlier that all have fallen short of God. The second Adam therefore put right what the first Adam messed up.
1 Cor 15v22 says "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."
Rom 5:13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
As we've heard in sermons over the years - sin is falling short of God's standards - missing the mark. What the law did was set out God's standards for Israel into a written law code, and even then Israel didn't keep them! What Paul is saying is that as a result of Adam's sin all people are guilty. People still died between Adam and Moses even though that law code did not exist. Adam sinned, Cain sinned, the people at the time of Noah sinned, people in Sodom and Gomorrah sinned. They all fell short without breaking the law of Moses. What about the other nations of the world who had no contact even with the law of Moses? They were given to Israel and there is no record that I'm aware of showing the Israelites went out telling anyone else to keep them!! So is everyone lost? Let's continue.
Rom 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
Rom 5:16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
Rom 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Rom 5:18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
Rom 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Wow!! Isn't that a wonderful passage. Through one man - Jesus - we receive God's abundant provision of Grace. Just as the first brought death to all, the second brings life to all. Even after many trespasses that have taken place since Adam, God's grace has it covered!! We've all enjoyed gifts over Christmas but this is the greatest gift that we have received. I like the way the Contemporary English translation puts it.
Rom 5:15 But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of kindness to many people.
Rom 5:16 There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times.
Rom 5:17 Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.
Rom 5:18 Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life.
Rom 5:19 Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.
The result of this is that we have the gift of abundant grace, we're not promised health and wealth in this life, however what we are promised is the gift of eternal life itself.
Hebrews talks about the sacrifice of Jesus being once for all. Jesus was faithful and obedient and we stand cleansed by his blood. The incarnation was a new beginning - God became flesh so that he could live and die to deal with Adam's mistake once for all to bring reconciliation between God and humanity.
Let's finish off the chapter.
Rom 5:20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
Rom 5:21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The law defined sin, but as sin increased, grace increased even more. The law increased sin because it set out and defined how Israel was to live - by defining everything it was easier to fall short because you have something to measure it by. However, no matter what we have done before or do from now on, God's love for us is greater and his grace expands to cover it. Notice that grace reigns in righteousness - Jesus righteousness - to bring eternal life through him.
That eternal life is life in Christ with Christ in us by his Spirit, so bit by bit we are more like him - so we are changed by the abundant grace that we read about earlier.
What Jesus did at a specific time was in reality outside time so his sacrifice covers all people who accept it. One day, when the small and great talked about in Revelation - stand before God, he will show them what He had planned for them all along and they can choose whether or not to accept the gift of life on offer. What Adam did has been cancelled by what Jesus did in response, so as we enter a new year, let's be thankful for the abundant grace that we have been given.
Scriptures from Todays NIV.
Jesus - Light of the World.
Jesus - Light of the World.
The bible talks about light coming into a dark world so today I'd like to talk about Jesus - Light of the World. Let's start by looking at a few scriptures from the book of John and see how we can relate them to our lives.
John introduces the concept in Chapter 1v1-9.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
Joh 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Joh 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Joh 1:6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
Joh 1:7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
Joh 1:8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Joh 1:9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
John used this terminology because Jesus himself described himself as light. John records this later in the book.
In John 8v12 Jesus said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
This was said in the context of the woman who was caught in adultery just after he invited anyone who had not sinned to cast the first stone and when no one did, he said neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.
She was in a dark place, she had been naughty, got caught, nearly got killed but Jesus had shown her grace. He gave her new life which He likens to light. There was an association between light and life. Remember we just read in John 1 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. "
John also records Jesus describing himself but not only himself but God the father as light in Chapter 12v44-48.
Joh 12:44 Then Jesus cried out, "Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
Joh 12:45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
Joh 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Joh 12:47 "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
Joh 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.
This is an interesting passage - notice that Jesus was saying that when we look at him we see God the father - so we see that Jesus is the revelation of God. John 1 we read that the word was with God and the word was God. He reveals the Father's heart.
Notice, He did not come to judge but to save, and it is only those who reject him and do not accept His words that are judged. Notice too there is a difference in terminology between hearing the word and not keeping, and rejecting Him and not accepting His words. As we'll see later people have blind folds on so don't see it clearly until they are removed.
If you hear and don't do, you are not judged, but if you hear and reject you are judged. Revelation talks about the consequences of those who refuse to repent. You see a picture here of God's grace - and confirmation he doesn't want any to perish - but it also confirms the fact people have the option of rejecting him and not repenting. This seems preposterous, but we see suicide bombers all over the place nowadays so we can't discount people rejecting the gift of life if they think there's a better alternative elsewhere!!
We can read this in parallel with the most famous passage of all - John 3v16-18
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Joh 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Joh 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
We see that Jesus came to save not condemn, to give life not death, so we see the heart of God yet again. And - if we read on we see Him described as Light.
Joh 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
Joh 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Many crimes are committed at night - and the phrase used is "under the cover of darkness". Along with apathy and irrelevance, this is the third biggest obstacle for churches to preach the gospel. People actually enjoy their sinful behaviour and do not want it exposed as being wrong.
Ok that's a generalisation and I realise that some people steal out of necessity as they are desperate, but if you look at the Hatton Garden jewel thieves for example, they went further than providing for their families. Under the cover of darkness they excavated a tunnel to break in to the vault and they were careful not to be exposed.
For someone to live in the light is to be exposed to scrutiny and be accountable for their actions. For example the snooping saga has people infuriated because if the Government suspects you of anything they can check your internet and phone records - but if you are not doing anything wrong why would you care?? If you live in Christ, you live in the light. Yes your mistakes are exposed, but in Christ they have also been paid for.
The other occurrence of Jesus describing himself as Light in John is in John 9 when Jesus encountered a blind man and the disciples asked who had sinned to cause his blindness - Jesus said
Joh 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Joh 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Joh_9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Some will say that illness and trials are caused by sin, and if you want to be rid of them you must work very hard and have faith, thus treating God as a puppet who can be manipulated. This health and wealth thinking is very damaging as it can make people feel that it's all their fault. Jesus on the other hand said that the blind man was not a victim of sin, but that it was for the works of God to be displayed - so that the man and all around could see the light of God defeating the darkness of the man's trial. It also exposed the gulf between legalistic observance of the old covenant sabbath and Jesus way of expressing the law as love God and love your neighbour - the man was healed on the sabbath so they accused him of sinning and this was not the only occasion when Jesus put love above law. Anyhow that's another story.
By flitting around a few passages in John we see the picture of God emerging. Under the old covenant law, Israel proved itself incapable of living up to God's standards, so God in his love and grace sent his son into a dark world. Jesus turned the law on its head by saying you can't even think about sinning so made it even more difficult. But - instead of leaving in the darkness of sin, Jesus was the light that was to guide people to God, all people, not just Israel. Jesus did not come to condemn but bring life and that's true for us also. We should not condemn people for not following God - we should love them as God does and be a light to guide them to Him. Not our own light - that can be dim sometimes but reflect the light of God and let his presence burst out of us.
Yes, we have a role to play.
In Matt 5 Jesus said
Mat 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Mat 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
This all sounds great in theory and we should be perfect examples and everyone will glorify God because they see how great we are. However, we're not perfect are we, so we can feel inadequate. Don't worry - life throws all sorts at us - both good and bad - and it's easy for one of two things to happen.
1. Everything is going good so we don't see the light of God because we think we're ok on our own. Perhaps we take God's love for granted and lose focus. It's good to remind ourselves how much we rely on God's grace as we are not perfect on our own despite how much we'd like to be or think we are. God's grace is there for us despite ourselves so don't feel either inadequate or proud of our own efforts. Jesus has done all that's required for our salvation.
2. Secondly we can be so focussed on the dark stuff that it obscures the light. As we read in 2 Cor 4v4 the enemy not only throws bad stuff at us, he also blinds people from seeing the light of God. We should not condemn people therefore if they don't follow the word right now. Even believers can find it hard to feel the comfort and see the light sometimes because Satan tries his best to obscure it - and that's ok - we're human. To quote Disney Pixar "Beyond the cloud, the sun is shining, even though we can't quite make it out". Can you name the film. __ Cars __
Remember that the light is always there and darkness in itself is nothing. The enemy can't dark something - all he can do is put stuff in front of the light to make it difficult to see.
In Llanelli when I gave this message I illustrated the point by putting this blind fold on Clara and asking if she could see the light. The expected answer was no - illustrating the point that Satan blinds people. But she said Yes - which illustrates another point whilst Satan puts things in the way - light still penetrates the darkness. We discovered that when Clara went further away the light grew dimmer and dimmer and disappeared. The light was however still there, just the blind fold was more effective. When God is working on someone, they are drawn to the light and the clearer the light becomes until eventually the blind fold is ineffective and they see the full picture. The light is however there throughout. We sang Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet - if someone has a blindfold on and they can see a light and follow it - they can be led through dangers as long as they keep straight ahead following it. The word of God provides that guidance. God may use us to be that light to draw people to him, but if we hide it, it makes it much more difficult - but wait - God is still more powerful!
I refer to the Martin Luther King Jr quote again. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that, Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
When we see the darkness and hate around us, let's pray that we can be beacons of God's light and love to those we come in contact with. Let's thank God that through his Grace, God has revealed his light to us and the blind fold of the enemy has been torn. Let's pray for Jesus return when the darkness will be a thing of the past and the world will be lit by the glory of God.
So in conclusion, when we think about the incarnation, think about the fact that Jesus is described as light which shines in a dark world. God saw that people could not be shining lights on their own so he sent Jesus to become one of us. Remember the Martin Luther King quote - darkness can not drive out darkness - man cannot do it by themselves - only light can drive out darkness - man needed Jesus intervention to light the way to God and new life. Let us be lights in this dark world by reflecting the light and love of God. Wouldn't that be a great gift this Christmas.
Scriptures from Today's NIV.
The bible talks about light coming into a dark world so today I'd like to talk about Jesus - Light of the World. Let's start by looking at a few scriptures from the book of John and see how we can relate them to our lives.
John introduces the concept in Chapter 1v1-9.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 He was with God in the beginning.
Joh 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Joh 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Joh 1:6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
Joh 1:7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe.
Joh 1:8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Joh 1:9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
John used this terminology because Jesus himself described himself as light. John records this later in the book.
In John 8v12 Jesus said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
This was said in the context of the woman who was caught in adultery just after he invited anyone who had not sinned to cast the first stone and when no one did, he said neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.
She was in a dark place, she had been naughty, got caught, nearly got killed but Jesus had shown her grace. He gave her new life which He likens to light. There was an association between light and life. Remember we just read in John 1 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. "
John also records Jesus describing himself but not only himself but God the father as light in Chapter 12v44-48.
Joh 12:44 Then Jesus cried out, "Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
Joh 12:45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.
Joh 12:46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
Joh 12:47 "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
Joh 12:48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.
This is an interesting passage - notice that Jesus was saying that when we look at him we see God the father - so we see that Jesus is the revelation of God. John 1 we read that the word was with God and the word was God. He reveals the Father's heart.
Notice, He did not come to judge but to save, and it is only those who reject him and do not accept His words that are judged. Notice too there is a difference in terminology between hearing the word and not keeping, and rejecting Him and not accepting His words. As we'll see later people have blind folds on so don't see it clearly until they are removed.
If you hear and don't do, you are not judged, but if you hear and reject you are judged. Revelation talks about the consequences of those who refuse to repent. You see a picture here of God's grace - and confirmation he doesn't want any to perish - but it also confirms the fact people have the option of rejecting him and not repenting. This seems preposterous, but we see suicide bombers all over the place nowadays so we can't discount people rejecting the gift of life if they think there's a better alternative elsewhere!!
We can read this in parallel with the most famous passage of all - John 3v16-18
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Joh 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Joh 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
We see that Jesus came to save not condemn, to give life not death, so we see the heart of God yet again. And - if we read on we see Him described as Light.
Joh 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
Joh 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Many crimes are committed at night - and the phrase used is "under the cover of darkness". Along with apathy and irrelevance, this is the third biggest obstacle for churches to preach the gospel. People actually enjoy their sinful behaviour and do not want it exposed as being wrong.
Ok that's a generalisation and I realise that some people steal out of necessity as they are desperate, but if you look at the Hatton Garden jewel thieves for example, they went further than providing for their families. Under the cover of darkness they excavated a tunnel to break in to the vault and they were careful not to be exposed.
For someone to live in the light is to be exposed to scrutiny and be accountable for their actions. For example the snooping saga has people infuriated because if the Government suspects you of anything they can check your internet and phone records - but if you are not doing anything wrong why would you care?? If you live in Christ, you live in the light. Yes your mistakes are exposed, but in Christ they have also been paid for.
The other occurrence of Jesus describing himself as Light in John is in John 9 when Jesus encountered a blind man and the disciples asked who had sinned to cause his blindness - Jesus said
Joh 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Joh 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Joh_9:5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
Some will say that illness and trials are caused by sin, and if you want to be rid of them you must work very hard and have faith, thus treating God as a puppet who can be manipulated. This health and wealth thinking is very damaging as it can make people feel that it's all their fault. Jesus on the other hand said that the blind man was not a victim of sin, but that it was for the works of God to be displayed - so that the man and all around could see the light of God defeating the darkness of the man's trial. It also exposed the gulf between legalistic observance of the old covenant sabbath and Jesus way of expressing the law as love God and love your neighbour - the man was healed on the sabbath so they accused him of sinning and this was not the only occasion when Jesus put love above law. Anyhow that's another story.
By flitting around a few passages in John we see the picture of God emerging. Under the old covenant law, Israel proved itself incapable of living up to God's standards, so God in his love and grace sent his son into a dark world. Jesus turned the law on its head by saying you can't even think about sinning so made it even more difficult. But - instead of leaving in the darkness of sin, Jesus was the light that was to guide people to God, all people, not just Israel. Jesus did not come to condemn but bring life and that's true for us also. We should not condemn people for not following God - we should love them as God does and be a light to guide them to Him. Not our own light - that can be dim sometimes but reflect the light of God and let his presence burst out of us.
Yes, we have a role to play.
In Matt 5 Jesus said
Mat 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Mat 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
This all sounds great in theory and we should be perfect examples and everyone will glorify God because they see how great we are. However, we're not perfect are we, so we can feel inadequate. Don't worry - life throws all sorts at us - both good and bad - and it's easy for one of two things to happen.
1. Everything is going good so we don't see the light of God because we think we're ok on our own. Perhaps we take God's love for granted and lose focus. It's good to remind ourselves how much we rely on God's grace as we are not perfect on our own despite how much we'd like to be or think we are. God's grace is there for us despite ourselves so don't feel either inadequate or proud of our own efforts. Jesus has done all that's required for our salvation.
2. Secondly we can be so focussed on the dark stuff that it obscures the light. As we read in 2 Cor 4v4 the enemy not only throws bad stuff at us, he also blinds people from seeing the light of God. We should not condemn people therefore if they don't follow the word right now. Even believers can find it hard to feel the comfort and see the light sometimes because Satan tries his best to obscure it - and that's ok - we're human. To quote Disney Pixar "Beyond the cloud, the sun is shining, even though we can't quite make it out". Can you name the film. __ Cars __
Remember that the light is always there and darkness in itself is nothing. The enemy can't dark something - all he can do is put stuff in front of the light to make it difficult to see.
In Llanelli when I gave this message I illustrated the point by putting this blind fold on Clara and asking if she could see the light. The expected answer was no - illustrating the point that Satan blinds people. But she said Yes - which illustrates another point whilst Satan puts things in the way - light still penetrates the darkness. We discovered that when Clara went further away the light grew dimmer and dimmer and disappeared. The light was however still there, just the blind fold was more effective. When God is working on someone, they are drawn to the light and the clearer the light becomes until eventually the blind fold is ineffective and they see the full picture. The light is however there throughout. We sang Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet - if someone has a blindfold on and they can see a light and follow it - they can be led through dangers as long as they keep straight ahead following it. The word of God provides that guidance. God may use us to be that light to draw people to him, but if we hide it, it makes it much more difficult - but wait - God is still more powerful!
I refer to the Martin Luther King Jr quote again. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that, Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
When we see the darkness and hate around us, let's pray that we can be beacons of God's light and love to those we come in contact with. Let's thank God that through his Grace, God has revealed his light to us and the blind fold of the enemy has been torn. Let's pray for Jesus return when the darkness will be a thing of the past and the world will be lit by the glory of God.
So in conclusion, when we think about the incarnation, think about the fact that Jesus is described as light which shines in a dark world. God saw that people could not be shining lights on their own so he sent Jesus to become one of us. Remember the Martin Luther King quote - darkness can not drive out darkness - man cannot do it by themselves - only light can drive out darkness - man needed Jesus intervention to light the way to God and new life. Let us be lights in this dark world by reflecting the light and love of God. Wouldn't that be a great gift this Christmas.
Scriptures from Today's NIV.
Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Harvest
In an agricultural society, the autumn is harvest time when the fruit of the year's work is collected and stored for the winter months. Therefore this time of the year churches traditionally have harvest services and collect food for needy people. Harvest services are about thanking God for the blessing of the harvest and helping others. We also think about the harvest of people that the bible talks about, so that's the theme for today.
We are reminded of harvest at home because our apples ripen and are harvested. Many churches have harvest services when they thank God for the harvest and have a lovely tradition of bringing food to church and give it to those in need. In Llanelli we're introducing a Foodbank Box to the hall and we're going to be talking about helping others.
As a church we've traditionally had a deep affinity with the harvest as we used to focus on the Holy Days which were based around the seasons in Israel. Please turn to Exodus 23 v14-16 this gives an example of how the Israelites Holy Days were embedded in the harvest seasons.
Exo 23:14 "Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
Exo 23:15 "Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
Exo 23:16 "Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field. "Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
We've never traditionally had harvest services as such with food collections, however we were very familiar with the concept of the first fruits of the harvest, and the main harvest itself which is to follow.
Through our greater understanding and the shift in focus over the last 20 years, I believe that the topic of harvest has been strengthened rather than diminished although not specifically in name. One clue is that over the last few years the autumn festival has gone from being called the Feast of Tabernacles to the autumn "Harvest" festival but there has never to my knowledge been an official pronouncement or explanation.
Today I want to write about Harvest - not combined harvesters or apples, I'd like to talk about the harvest of people that Jesus talked about.
Jesus talked about the harvest in Matt 9v37-38 and Luke 10v2. In both places he said.
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Jesus referred to the world as a harvest field which is plentiful. There are billions of us in the world who need the gospel and relatively few of us who are believers. You could call it the Church's market place if we were in the business of selling. The number of people who are believers is relatively small and the number of believers who make the effort to come to church is smaller still compared to the population at large. You would think therefore that as the gospel is a) good news and b) a matter of life and death, that it would be an easy task to go into the world and sell the gospel message. Of course we are not a business and we're not into sales. What Jesus makes clear in this scripture is that the harvest field is His not ours and we ask Him to send workers into His field. It's not our job to recruit workers and it's not our field to go and harvest. God is in charge.
Let's start at the beginning. For there to be a harvest you first have to sow the seeds.
In Mark 4 and Luke 8 Jesus acknowledges that when seeds are sown they don't always fall on fertile ground.
Mar 4:2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
Mar 4:3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mar 4:4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Mar 4:5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
Mar 4:6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Mar 4:7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
Mar 4:8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times."
Mar 4:9 Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
Mar 4:10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
Mar 4:11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
Mar 4:12 so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
Mar 4:13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
Mar 4:14 The farmer sows the word.
Mar 4:15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Mar 4:16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
Mar 4:17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Mar 4:18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;
Mar 4:19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mar 4:20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown."
This is in some ways discouraging as you know that many of the seeds come to nothing, but on the other hand it's encouraging to know that it's no reflection on us. Jesus warns us that this is the case so we carry on regardless. We are going to leaflet the area around the hall in Llanelli. I don't expect the leaflets to miraculously save anyone from the jaws of hell, however it will raise awareness that we exist and will hopefully make non attending Christians think about supporting a church locally and join in Jesus work where He's calling people by pointing them to a reference point locally. We'll see what happens as a result.
Let's look at 1 Cor 3v6-9.
1Co 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
1Co 3:7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1Co 3:8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
1Co 3:9 For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building.
It is God who makes the seed grow and when you look at this in the context of first fruits and the elect, it is God who chooses who to reveal the gospel to at any particular time. We however are human and of course we want to see the result of our efforts bringing thousands of people to Christ now. Books are written about how to do this that or the other in order to find that magic bullet that will bring revival. Of course humanly we're missing the point.
So why can't we do it on the back of our own efforts?
We're in a spiritual battle zone here. Jesus has done everything necessary for people to be saved and he holds out the gift of life but people have free will and need to realise firstly that they have a problem which Jesus offers them a solution to.
I used to think that the problem was apathy but I was corrected by a Vicar back in the summer who said no - apathy is when people know something to be true and don't do anything about it, or can't be bothered to engage with it - this may be true of Christians who don't attend, but not for the general population. The reality is that people don't see the gospel to be relevant in their lives - they are not apathetic - they have no interest or engagement in the first place. Church is not for me - it's for the old people in their Sunday best.
This is the harvest that we're dealing with, especially in the western world. I'll give you an example. We have a very productive apple tree in the garden. An apple is happily living in its tree, it has good days and bad days, enjoying the sun some days and being buffeted by wind and rain on others. The apple is nice and secure, connected by a stalk, it has enough nourishment so doesn't need anything, and it grows and matures until it gets to a certain size and falls to the ground. Then it rots away or gets eaten by slugs and worms.
That's what most people lives are like in the western world. They are comfy and relatively affluent & secure. They eat drink and are merry until they die.
An apple on a tree has no understanding of it's potential as a tasty snack, or a crumble or pie, or even a pint of cider into which it is transformed after it's been harvested!! The end result i.e. the glass of cider has no relevance to the apple which is clinging onto the tree. This is the problem we face, for most people they are like the apples, they have no spiritual awareness that there is something greater being offered to them. They will be aware that Christians believe in heaven but what has that got to do with me they think. How could such a wonderful gift be ignored by millions?
2 Cor 4v4 says that the god of this world blinds people.
2Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2Co 4:5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Only God can remove that blindfold and has done for believers. When people are in darkness they need the light of God to penetrate the darkness and show them the direction to go. Here's the thing - we have no idea who God is working on and revealing the gospel message in their hearts right now. If someone is being called, they need to connect with the body of Christ.
Lets look at John 1v3-5
Joh 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Joh 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Last week when preparing a different message I noticed something about this passage which is relevant today. Notice the tense of v4 and v5 are different. v4 Past tense, v5 present tense. In Jesus was life which was the light of mankind - this refers to his creative powers in the context of v3, but this did not stop at creation - v5 shows His light shines in the darkness NOW through creation and through His body - us - and all the acts of love that people do right now. He's alive and well providing light in the darkness that is Cardiff!! When you see the foodbank donations, and other charities helping the homeless, addiction rehab centres, Christians Against Poverty etc you see the light of Jesus shining and you see the personal contact with Jesus love that can act as a catalyst when there are gaps in blindfolds of the enemy.
It's our job to be here to represent Jesus. It's not our job to sell a product or to use snazzy marketing to hook people in, until someone realises they need God, they are blinded to anything we do. But that is no excuse to do nothing - just like a harvest, it won't grow unless someone sows the seed. As we've read, Paul said he sowed and Apollos watered but God made it grow. The seed needs to fall on ground that God has prepared, so it will grow. That is what we should be praying for - that the seeds we sow through our lives make contact with the people God is calling. It's a phrase we hear from HQ - joining in the work that Jesus is already doing in the world. As we've read being co-workers. It's His work and we are joining in not the other way around as we'd like it to be.
Historically we have seen revivals when thousands have accepted life in a dramatic way. The 1904 Welsh revival is an example, and we all deep down pray that there will be another revival and that we'll be part of it. More recently we've seen the Cwmbran outpouring which saw many people accept the gift of life. They never claimed it was a revival but it caused great excitement over the several months in which they had daily meetings. During times like this we see God moving powerfully and the blind folds falling off many at a time, so we know God's power to do this at a time he chooses.
When it happens the churches need to be ready and welcoming.
When we see people, we should see them as God's beloved children. We should not condemn people for the problems they face even if it is self inflicted. What if a drug addict walked in between hits after having a moment of clarity. Would we welcome him or her with a cup of tea and a biscuit afterwards? What about Muslims in town - are we afraid of them or do we see them as people who God loves? As I said last time, one German church has seen over 800 people convert from Islam. We call ourselves "Welcome" because we should welcome anyone here who God is calling no matter what their background or circumstance. The harvest is plentiful and we are only a small group. Let's pray not only that God will open people's eyes, but that He will send a team to help.
So what about the people who do not accept the gift of life and repent?? The bible clearly shows that people have free will and therefore God's wrath is reserved for those who reject his grace. Whilst we believe Jesus died for all, and his sacrifice was universal, people for whatever reason can still reject it. Revelation 14-16 is clear that all sorts of bad things are destined for the remnant of people who do. But - this is only for those who remain unrepentant. Rev 16v9.
Rev 16:9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
The implication here is that even at this last minute, if people did repent and glorify Him, they would be saved by God's grace. We have no idea how many will remain unrepentant after all this and take part in the ultimate battle when Satan and the forces of evil are bound? We'd like to think based on scriptures such as Phillipians 2 that everyone will eventually bow before him.
Php 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Rev 20 shows the that there are more than one resurrection. Just like there was the first fruits of the harvest and a main harvest, we see the elect, the believers raised before the rest. We have traditionally believed that people who have not believed in this life will have a chance to repent at the great white throne judgement and under our new understanding we hold to the belief that death is no barrier to God's love and that at some point everyone will be confronted by God's grace. This is the good news - whilst we believe now and sow the seeds so others who God is calls can too - the main harvest is yet to come.
To conclude, understanding the harvest gives us a more compassionate outlook of life when we see suffering around us. Instead of condemning people to hell for the choices they make or the circumstances imposed on them, see them as beloved children of God who He loves and who Jesus died for. It may not be someone's time right now, at the point when we have contact with them, it may be yet to come, but at some point Jesus light will pierce the dark veil that is cloaking their eyes and they will respond in one of two ways. Let's pray that all will accept the gift of life when it's their time to be harvested.
We are reminded of harvest at home because our apples ripen and are harvested. Many churches have harvest services when they thank God for the harvest and have a lovely tradition of bringing food to church and give it to those in need. In Llanelli we're introducing a Foodbank Box to the hall and we're going to be talking about helping others.
As a church we've traditionally had a deep affinity with the harvest as we used to focus on the Holy Days which were based around the seasons in Israel. Please turn to Exodus 23 v14-16 this gives an example of how the Israelites Holy Days were embedded in the harvest seasons.
Exo 23:14 "Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
Exo 23:15 "Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
Exo 23:16 "Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field. "Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
We've never traditionally had harvest services as such with food collections, however we were very familiar with the concept of the first fruits of the harvest, and the main harvest itself which is to follow.
Through our greater understanding and the shift in focus over the last 20 years, I believe that the topic of harvest has been strengthened rather than diminished although not specifically in name. One clue is that over the last few years the autumn festival has gone from being called the Feast of Tabernacles to the autumn "Harvest" festival but there has never to my knowledge been an official pronouncement or explanation.
Today I want to write about Harvest - not combined harvesters or apples, I'd like to talk about the harvest of people that Jesus talked about.
Jesus talked about the harvest in Matt 9v37-38 and Luke 10v2. In both places he said.
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Jesus referred to the world as a harvest field which is plentiful. There are billions of us in the world who need the gospel and relatively few of us who are believers. You could call it the Church's market place if we were in the business of selling. The number of people who are believers is relatively small and the number of believers who make the effort to come to church is smaller still compared to the population at large. You would think therefore that as the gospel is a) good news and b) a matter of life and death, that it would be an easy task to go into the world and sell the gospel message. Of course we are not a business and we're not into sales. What Jesus makes clear in this scripture is that the harvest field is His not ours and we ask Him to send workers into His field. It's not our job to recruit workers and it's not our field to go and harvest. God is in charge.
Let's start at the beginning. For there to be a harvest you first have to sow the seeds.
In Mark 4 and Luke 8 Jesus acknowledges that when seeds are sown they don't always fall on fertile ground.
Mar 4:2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
Mar 4:3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mar 4:4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Mar 4:5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
Mar 4:6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Mar 4:7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
Mar 4:8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times."
Mar 4:9 Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
Mar 4:10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
Mar 4:11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
Mar 4:12 so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
Mar 4:13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
Mar 4:14 The farmer sows the word.
Mar 4:15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Mar 4:16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
Mar 4:17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Mar 4:18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;
Mar 4:19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mar 4:20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown."
This is in some ways discouraging as you know that many of the seeds come to nothing, but on the other hand it's encouraging to know that it's no reflection on us. Jesus warns us that this is the case so we carry on regardless. We are going to leaflet the area around the hall in Llanelli. I don't expect the leaflets to miraculously save anyone from the jaws of hell, however it will raise awareness that we exist and will hopefully make non attending Christians think about supporting a church locally and join in Jesus work where He's calling people by pointing them to a reference point locally. We'll see what happens as a result.
Let's look at 1 Cor 3v6-9.
1Co 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
1Co 3:7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1Co 3:8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
1Co 3:9 For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building.
It is God who makes the seed grow and when you look at this in the context of first fruits and the elect, it is God who chooses who to reveal the gospel to at any particular time. We however are human and of course we want to see the result of our efforts bringing thousands of people to Christ now. Books are written about how to do this that or the other in order to find that magic bullet that will bring revival. Of course humanly we're missing the point.
So why can't we do it on the back of our own efforts?
We're in a spiritual battle zone here. Jesus has done everything necessary for people to be saved and he holds out the gift of life but people have free will and need to realise firstly that they have a problem which Jesus offers them a solution to.
I used to think that the problem was apathy but I was corrected by a Vicar back in the summer who said no - apathy is when people know something to be true and don't do anything about it, or can't be bothered to engage with it - this may be true of Christians who don't attend, but not for the general population. The reality is that people don't see the gospel to be relevant in their lives - they are not apathetic - they have no interest or engagement in the first place. Church is not for me - it's for the old people in their Sunday best.
This is the harvest that we're dealing with, especially in the western world. I'll give you an example. We have a very productive apple tree in the garden. An apple is happily living in its tree, it has good days and bad days, enjoying the sun some days and being buffeted by wind and rain on others. The apple is nice and secure, connected by a stalk, it has enough nourishment so doesn't need anything, and it grows and matures until it gets to a certain size and falls to the ground. Then it rots away or gets eaten by slugs and worms.
That's what most people lives are like in the western world. They are comfy and relatively affluent & secure. They eat drink and are merry until they die.
An apple on a tree has no understanding of it's potential as a tasty snack, or a crumble or pie, or even a pint of cider into which it is transformed after it's been harvested!! The end result i.e. the glass of cider has no relevance to the apple which is clinging onto the tree. This is the problem we face, for most people they are like the apples, they have no spiritual awareness that there is something greater being offered to them. They will be aware that Christians believe in heaven but what has that got to do with me they think. How could such a wonderful gift be ignored by millions?
2 Cor 4v4 says that the god of this world blinds people.
2Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2Co 4:5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Only God can remove that blindfold and has done for believers. When people are in darkness they need the light of God to penetrate the darkness and show them the direction to go. Here's the thing - we have no idea who God is working on and revealing the gospel message in their hearts right now. If someone is being called, they need to connect with the body of Christ.
Lets look at John 1v3-5
Joh 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Joh 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Last week when preparing a different message I noticed something about this passage which is relevant today. Notice the tense of v4 and v5 are different. v4 Past tense, v5 present tense. In Jesus was life which was the light of mankind - this refers to his creative powers in the context of v3, but this did not stop at creation - v5 shows His light shines in the darkness NOW through creation and through His body - us - and all the acts of love that people do right now. He's alive and well providing light in the darkness that is Cardiff!! When you see the foodbank donations, and other charities helping the homeless, addiction rehab centres, Christians Against Poverty etc you see the light of Jesus shining and you see the personal contact with Jesus love that can act as a catalyst when there are gaps in blindfolds of the enemy.
It's our job to be here to represent Jesus. It's not our job to sell a product or to use snazzy marketing to hook people in, until someone realises they need God, they are blinded to anything we do. But that is no excuse to do nothing - just like a harvest, it won't grow unless someone sows the seed. As we've read, Paul said he sowed and Apollos watered but God made it grow. The seed needs to fall on ground that God has prepared, so it will grow. That is what we should be praying for - that the seeds we sow through our lives make contact with the people God is calling. It's a phrase we hear from HQ - joining in the work that Jesus is already doing in the world. As we've read being co-workers. It's His work and we are joining in not the other way around as we'd like it to be.
Historically we have seen revivals when thousands have accepted life in a dramatic way. The 1904 Welsh revival is an example, and we all deep down pray that there will be another revival and that we'll be part of it. More recently we've seen the Cwmbran outpouring which saw many people accept the gift of life. They never claimed it was a revival but it caused great excitement over the several months in which they had daily meetings. During times like this we see God moving powerfully and the blind folds falling off many at a time, so we know God's power to do this at a time he chooses.
When it happens the churches need to be ready and welcoming.
When we see people, we should see them as God's beloved children. We should not condemn people for the problems they face even if it is self inflicted. What if a drug addict walked in between hits after having a moment of clarity. Would we welcome him or her with a cup of tea and a biscuit afterwards? What about Muslims in town - are we afraid of them or do we see them as people who God loves? As I said last time, one German church has seen over 800 people convert from Islam. We call ourselves "Welcome" because we should welcome anyone here who God is calling no matter what their background or circumstance. The harvest is plentiful and we are only a small group. Let's pray not only that God will open people's eyes, but that He will send a team to help.
So what about the people who do not accept the gift of life and repent?? The bible clearly shows that people have free will and therefore God's wrath is reserved for those who reject his grace. Whilst we believe Jesus died for all, and his sacrifice was universal, people for whatever reason can still reject it. Revelation 14-16 is clear that all sorts of bad things are destined for the remnant of people who do. But - this is only for those who remain unrepentant. Rev 16v9.
Rev 16:9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
The implication here is that even at this last minute, if people did repent and glorify Him, they would be saved by God's grace. We have no idea how many will remain unrepentant after all this and take part in the ultimate battle when Satan and the forces of evil are bound? We'd like to think based on scriptures such as Phillipians 2 that everyone will eventually bow before him.
Php 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Rev 20 shows the that there are more than one resurrection. Just like there was the first fruits of the harvest and a main harvest, we see the elect, the believers raised before the rest. We have traditionally believed that people who have not believed in this life will have a chance to repent at the great white throne judgement and under our new understanding we hold to the belief that death is no barrier to God's love and that at some point everyone will be confronted by God's grace. This is the good news - whilst we believe now and sow the seeds so others who God is calls can too - the main harvest is yet to come.
To conclude, understanding the harvest gives us a more compassionate outlook of life when we see suffering around us. Instead of condemning people to hell for the choices they make or the circumstances imposed on them, see them as beloved children of God who He loves and who Jesus died for. It may not be someone's time right now, at the point when we have contact with them, it may be yet to come, but at some point Jesus light will pierce the dark veil that is cloaking their eyes and they will respond in one of two ways. Let's pray that all will accept the gift of life when it's their time to be harvested.
Thursday, 10 September 2015
How strong are you?
Sermon Cardiff 25 07 15
Good morning everyone and a big Cardiff Welcome to our guests.
The question we're looking at today is - how strong are you? When I did this in Llanelli I got the kids doing a tug of war.
At SEP, when I was a camper, they had a giant tug of war and on one side they hooked up a speed boat to help them... This is the same for us today - on our own we are weak, together we're stronger - but still we're fighting forces we don't know or understand which seek to undermine us - so we desperately need help.
Do you remember Joe Tkach's message a couple of months ago where he spoke about the young oxen learning from the old and being allowed to develop and strengthen alongside the older one. It's the same with us - we have Jesus alongside us supporting us as we develop and mature.
That speaking of life was based on Mat 11: 28-30 when Christ said.
Mat 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus yoke is light as he's there helping us bear it. Jesus has already suffered and died on our behalf, he's even carried our cross - and we can rest in him knowing all that needs to be done for our salvation has been done already. Our part is to believe this is so, and accept the gift of salvation.
Whatever happens in life should therefore be seen in this context. Things happen that we're not happy about and we get discouraged, however our strength is the assurance that there is more than this life and our problems.
Judy's favourite scripture was Php 4:13 which says in the King James "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." She did some amazing things despite her latter illness and we are very grateful for all the things she did especially for the children with children's church.
People have defied the odds and defied their physical circumstances all over the world and done amazing things in the name of Jesus. People like Mother Teresa. I'm sure you can think of people.
Even GCI, although we are a relatively small denomination have got churches all over the world and some are in the poorest places like refugee camps and rubbish dumps. Spreading this good news of God's grace amongst the most challenging circumstances, and that is where the growth is taking place.
We have a summer camp called SEP (www.sepuk.org) and there, a team of people work hard over two weeks turning a sheep field into a community - amazing efforts by the set up staff. But where to they get the strength and motivation? It is a big ask for people to give up weeks of their time for something some of them don't even see working.
Moses isn't renouned for his singing but after they crossed the red sea he sang.
Exo 15:2 "The LORD is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
Notice he gave God the credit for saving the people from Egypt - the deliverance from Egypt and especially the crossing of the red sea is an example where they could not have physically done it on their own strength. The plagues are an example of divine intervention. Israel could not have physically done this for themselves. Do you remember them all?
1. Water into blood 2. Frogs 3. Lice 4.Flies 5. Livestock got sick 6. Boils 7. Hail and Fire 8. Locusts 9. Darkness 10. Death of First born.
God strengthened them by displaying his power against the Egyptians. Remember that it was God who hardened their hearts
Exo_10:1-2 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."
This is clear that their hearts were deliberately hardened for the Israelites benefit so that they could declare the strength and glory of God for generations to come.
There are examples in the bible where people were given strength beyond their physical capabilities in order to glorify God.
David and Samson are two famous examples.
The story of David and Goliath for example showed that a child plus God could achieve more that the finest soldiers. Notice however he gave God the glory throughout. Lets pick out a couple of verses.
1Sa 17:37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
1Sa 17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1Sa 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
1Sa 17:47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
1Sa 17:48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
1Sa 17:49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
1Sa 17:50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
1Sa 17:51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
Clearly it was divine intervention here and it was for God's glory by showing both the Philistines and Israel how powerful he was.
Samson likewise lived in the strength of God. I won't go through the story as you'll know it, however at the end they've captured him and he's tied up in their temple.
Jdg_16:28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."
Other famous examples are Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrach Mishak and Abednigo in the Fiery Furnace etc. Again divine intervention which was beyond human strength.
What about us? We only really see God's strength coming through us when we are going through adversity. People going through trials can cope with things beyond their wildest nightmares when they are living in the strength of God. Some say that trials show lack of faith or that you are doing something wrong - therefore if you don't have any you are living right. Many people are proud of their achievements and think they are right with God because of the effort they are putting in. There is a flaw in this thinking however as Ephesians says we are saved by grace so no one can boast.
Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
Eph 2:9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
How many here think that they are perfect?
1John 1 says if you say you are without sin you are calling God a Liar. I certainly don't want to be accused of that!!
1Jn 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
So all have sinned - all have fallen in weakness, however it says that God is faithful and just to forgive.
So we've established that we are not perfect - but God loves us anyway.
So, what is it that we need to do? For what purpose does God give us strength? __ Helping people __
Gal 6:9-10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Notice help ALL people - but they had a fledgling church like ours - so they were told to especially help their Christian brothers and sisters.
We see people suffering all over the world and we can't help everyone - but we can help when we feel moved to do so. As a church we have sent money from the UK office to our church brothers and sisters in places like Nepal and the Philipines to help them re-build their lives and their communities - thankfully none of our members have died but their lives have been devastated.
They need God's strength at this time and so do those being persecuted around the world. So please remember them in your prayers.
So, if you feel weak and can't carry on in your troubles, if you think you are being punished for issues you may have, pray for God to uphold you and lets live in His strength. God loves us where we are at and whatever we have done - we can't do much in our own strength as our strength is flawed - however he can do anything through us if we are open to the lead of his presence in our lives. Lets live in His strength.
Reference are Today's NIV.
www.gciwales.org
www.llanelli.church
Good morning everyone and a big Cardiff Welcome to our guests.
The question we're looking at today is - how strong are you? When I did this in Llanelli I got the kids doing a tug of war.
At SEP, when I was a camper, they had a giant tug of war and on one side they hooked up a speed boat to help them... This is the same for us today - on our own we are weak, together we're stronger - but still we're fighting forces we don't know or understand which seek to undermine us - so we desperately need help.
Do you remember Joe Tkach's message a couple of months ago where he spoke about the young oxen learning from the old and being allowed to develop and strengthen alongside the older one. It's the same with us - we have Jesus alongside us supporting us as we develop and mature.
That speaking of life was based on Mat 11: 28-30 when Christ said.
Mat 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Jesus yoke is light as he's there helping us bear it. Jesus has already suffered and died on our behalf, he's even carried our cross - and we can rest in him knowing all that needs to be done for our salvation has been done already. Our part is to believe this is so, and accept the gift of salvation.
Whatever happens in life should therefore be seen in this context. Things happen that we're not happy about and we get discouraged, however our strength is the assurance that there is more than this life and our problems.
Judy's favourite scripture was Php 4:13 which says in the King James "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." She did some amazing things despite her latter illness and we are very grateful for all the things she did especially for the children with children's church.
People have defied the odds and defied their physical circumstances all over the world and done amazing things in the name of Jesus. People like Mother Teresa. I'm sure you can think of people.
Even GCI, although we are a relatively small denomination have got churches all over the world and some are in the poorest places like refugee camps and rubbish dumps. Spreading this good news of God's grace amongst the most challenging circumstances, and that is where the growth is taking place.
We have a summer camp called SEP (www.sepuk.org) and there, a team of people work hard over two weeks turning a sheep field into a community - amazing efforts by the set up staff. But where to they get the strength and motivation? It is a big ask for people to give up weeks of their time for something some of them don't even see working.
Moses isn't renouned for his singing but after they crossed the red sea he sang.
Exo 15:2 "The LORD is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.
Notice he gave God the credit for saving the people from Egypt - the deliverance from Egypt and especially the crossing of the red sea is an example where they could not have physically done it on their own strength. The plagues are an example of divine intervention. Israel could not have physically done this for themselves. Do you remember them all?
1. Water into blood 2. Frogs 3. Lice 4.Flies 5. Livestock got sick 6. Boils 7. Hail and Fire 8. Locusts 9. Darkness 10. Death of First born.
God strengthened them by displaying his power against the Egyptians. Remember that it was God who hardened their hearts
Exo_10:1-2 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."
This is clear that their hearts were deliberately hardened for the Israelites benefit so that they could declare the strength and glory of God for generations to come.
There are examples in the bible where people were given strength beyond their physical capabilities in order to glorify God.
David and Samson are two famous examples.
The story of David and Goliath for example showed that a child plus God could achieve more that the finest soldiers. Notice however he gave God the glory throughout. Lets pick out a couple of verses.
1Sa 17:37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
1Sa 17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1Sa 17:46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
1Sa 17:47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
1Sa 17:48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
1Sa 17:49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
1Sa 17:50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
1Sa 17:51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.
Clearly it was divine intervention here and it was for God's glory by showing both the Philistines and Israel how powerful he was.
Samson likewise lived in the strength of God. I won't go through the story as you'll know it, however at the end they've captured him and he's tied up in their temple.
Jdg_16:28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."
Other famous examples are Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrach Mishak and Abednigo in the Fiery Furnace etc. Again divine intervention which was beyond human strength.
What about us? We only really see God's strength coming through us when we are going through adversity. People going through trials can cope with things beyond their wildest nightmares when they are living in the strength of God. Some say that trials show lack of faith or that you are doing something wrong - therefore if you don't have any you are living right. Many people are proud of their achievements and think they are right with God because of the effort they are putting in. There is a flaw in this thinking however as Ephesians says we are saved by grace so no one can boast.
Eph 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
Eph 2:9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
How many here think that they are perfect?
1John 1 says if you say you are without sin you are calling God a Liar. I certainly don't want to be accused of that!!
1Jn 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
So all have sinned - all have fallen in weakness, however it says that God is faithful and just to forgive.
So we've established that we are not perfect - but God loves us anyway.
So, what is it that we need to do? For what purpose does God give us strength? __ Helping people __
Gal 6:9-10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Notice help ALL people - but they had a fledgling church like ours - so they were told to especially help their Christian brothers and sisters.
We see people suffering all over the world and we can't help everyone - but we can help when we feel moved to do so. As a church we have sent money from the UK office to our church brothers and sisters in places like Nepal and the Philipines to help them re-build their lives and their communities - thankfully none of our members have died but their lives have been devastated.
They need God's strength at this time and so do those being persecuted around the world. So please remember them in your prayers.
So, if you feel weak and can't carry on in your troubles, if you think you are being punished for issues you may have, pray for God to uphold you and lets live in His strength. God loves us where we are at and whatever we have done - we can't do much in our own strength as our strength is flawed - however he can do anything through us if we are open to the lead of his presence in our lives. Lets live in His strength.
Reference are Today's NIV.
www.gciwales.org
www.llanelli.church
Tuesday, 5 May 2015
"Worship"
Today we are going to explore what worship is, and how it impacts the life of a Christian.
Definitions of the words in old and new testaments indicate the bowing or lowering yourself or lyeing down before God. The word in the old testament referring to God is shaw-khaw which is defined "prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God): - bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship." There are two other words used in Jer and Daniel which refer to worshiping other gods or the king which is just the bowing part of the meaning.
People used to literally lie face down in worship to God. Clara often lies down when we are praying. This is where bowing your head comes from when we are praying. Even today, when you meet the Queen you bow or curtsey as a mark of respect and lowering yourself before her. I've even seen people doing this in public prayer and worship even in today's society which goes back to the original meaning.
The new testament word pros-koo-neh'-o also indicates the kissing of a hand. (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, that is, (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): - worship.
The English word is literally worth-ship - to give worth to something.
In olden days the subjects used to bow before the King or Queen and kiss the ring of office which was the royal seal which is a continuation of the thought that you bow before the King and kiss the hand.
Worship is therefore the Act of holding God higher than ourselves and putting God first. Put it the other way - by lowering ourselves we're lifting God up.
In the old testament they used to make sacrifices and offerings for all kinds of reasons as part of their worship, mostly to thank God and to say sorry for the things they did wrong. Lets look at one example from the old testament that links worship and sacrifices.
2Ki 17:36 Worship only me! I am the one who rescued you from Egypt with my mighty power. Bow down to me and offer sacrifices.
Israel made a range of offerings including Lambs, bulls, doves, also grain offerings. This was an important part of the Sabbath and Holy Days which were also linked to the harvests.
In the new testament, we see things change which I'd like to point out.
First, God became flesh and took humanity therefore into himself uniting the physical and spiritual. This changed the relationship between God and man.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God.
Joh 1:2 From the very beginning the Word was with God.
Joh 1:3 And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created
Joh 1:4 received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone.
Joh 1:14 The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.
Jesus was God and His sacrifice therefore was once for all as set out in Hebrews. He did it vicariously - on our behalf - collectively, and therefore the sacrificial system was perfectly fulfilled in the ultimate act of worship. This is why we don't kill animals nowadays.
In the book of Eph chapter 2 Paul says that we are sat is heavenly places.
Earlier we sang there is a higher throne. This is taken from Rev 4 and shows that heaven is full of colour and light with praise and worship. READ? When we worship we are therefore bowing down and lifting God up inside of us - kind of standing aside and joining in the worship that is happening 24/7 in heaven. READ We read in places like Jesus birth the heavenly host rejoicing in praise and worship but this is only part of it.
Matt 25 says that whatever we do for others we are also doing for Jesus. Jesus is one element of God, Father Son and Spirit, so by helping others we are doing it for Jesus and we are therefore worshipping God.
We are included in the life and love of God as we are "In Christ" - please turn to 1 John 4v11-19 which shows that God dwells in us by His Spirit. READ
Worship is therefore more than singing songs - it's a whole life experience which permeates everything we do.
Romans 12v1 - says that we are to be living sacrifices.
When we did this interactive last week, Tom made a good point - worship is the only thing we can give God. We can't give physical things as He made everything and He's Spirit so physical riches are useless to him. Worship however comes from the heart and is an act of love to hold someone else up in high esteem. We hear of people being martyred for their faith - not sure how many of them would do so willingly - I'm sure they would rather not have been caught by an terrorist group! However to be a living sacrifice is an ongoing act of love and when you think of people who care for loved ones or friends with long term illness, you get a glimpse of what this means.
God is love and when we worship him, we see the love flowing back in return. Isa 55v11 talks about God's word not returning empty.
Worship tends to get narrowed down to the singing part of a church service, however it's much wider than that and when we pray or show love and concern to others we are showing their worth - and this is worship also. For example, let's build each other up at church and give each other the encouragement we need. It's the Act of God's love flowing through us and back to him in so far as whatever we do for others the loves flows back to God.
Last thought - People don't seem to care much about God nowadays, but one day all the world will bow down and worship him.
Rev 15:4 Lord, who doesn't honour and praise your name? You alone are holy, and all nations will come and worship you, because you have shown that you judge with fairness."
A thought occurred to me - if, as we believe, God will reveal his love and grace to wider humanity and people will have the opportunity to respond on judgement day - this scripture is profound! God will reveal the gift of life when people deserve death so all the nations will bow down. Can you imagine when He returns in Glory - people will be afraid when they realise he does exist and they will expect that they will be punished for their actions. Jesus however is the judge and he's paid the penalty already so we'll see his grace being poured out on all who repent and believe. Phil 2v10-11 says At the name of Jesus everyone will bow READ.
Don't forget how he dealt with Paul - he asked him why he was persecuting him but he didn't destroy him, he loved him and Paul responded. What we see in Paul is heart change and heart worship - and he kept referring to how bad he'd been and how great God is. Paul's life was therefore transformed into a life of worship.
As we see the atrocities in the middle east and increasingly closer to home lets keep praying "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and look forward to the time that everyone will kneel down and worship God.
So what have we learned today about worship? It's more than just singing songs, although when we sing, we are joining the worship in heaven. Our lives are living sacrifices to help others and this is an act of worship as we bow down and hold others and therefore God up higher than ourselves. This is something that cannot be fabricated or created - it's an act of love that comes from the heart.
Definitions of the words in old and new testaments indicate the bowing or lowering yourself or lyeing down before God. The word in the old testament referring to God is shaw-khaw which is defined "prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God): - bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship." There are two other words used in Jer and Daniel which refer to worshiping other gods or the king which is just the bowing part of the meaning.
People used to literally lie face down in worship to God. Clara often lies down when we are praying. This is where bowing your head comes from when we are praying. Even today, when you meet the Queen you bow or curtsey as a mark of respect and lowering yourself before her. I've even seen people doing this in public prayer and worship even in today's society which goes back to the original meaning.
The new testament word pros-koo-neh'-o also indicates the kissing of a hand. (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, that is, (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): - worship.
The English word is literally worth-ship - to give worth to something.
In olden days the subjects used to bow before the King or Queen and kiss the ring of office which was the royal seal which is a continuation of the thought that you bow before the King and kiss the hand.
Worship is therefore the Act of holding God higher than ourselves and putting God first. Put it the other way - by lowering ourselves we're lifting God up.
In the old testament they used to make sacrifices and offerings for all kinds of reasons as part of their worship, mostly to thank God and to say sorry for the things they did wrong. Lets look at one example from the old testament that links worship and sacrifices.
2Ki 17:36 Worship only me! I am the one who rescued you from Egypt with my mighty power. Bow down to me and offer sacrifices.
Israel made a range of offerings including Lambs, bulls, doves, also grain offerings. This was an important part of the Sabbath and Holy Days which were also linked to the harvests.
In the new testament, we see things change which I'd like to point out.
First, God became flesh and took humanity therefore into himself uniting the physical and spiritual. This changed the relationship between God and man.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God.
Joh 1:2 From the very beginning the Word was with God.
Joh 1:3 And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created
Joh 1:4 received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone.
Joh 1:14 The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.
Jesus was God and His sacrifice therefore was once for all as set out in Hebrews. He did it vicariously - on our behalf - collectively, and therefore the sacrificial system was perfectly fulfilled in the ultimate act of worship. This is why we don't kill animals nowadays.
In the book of Eph chapter 2 Paul says that we are sat is heavenly places.
Earlier we sang there is a higher throne. This is taken from Rev 4 and shows that heaven is full of colour and light with praise and worship. READ? When we worship we are therefore bowing down and lifting God up inside of us - kind of standing aside and joining in the worship that is happening 24/7 in heaven. READ We read in places like Jesus birth the heavenly host rejoicing in praise and worship but this is only part of it.
Matt 25 says that whatever we do for others we are also doing for Jesus. Jesus is one element of God, Father Son and Spirit, so by helping others we are doing it for Jesus and we are therefore worshipping God.
We are included in the life and love of God as we are "In Christ" - please turn to 1 John 4v11-19 which shows that God dwells in us by His Spirit. READ
Worship is therefore more than singing songs - it's a whole life experience which permeates everything we do.
Romans 12v1 - says that we are to be living sacrifices.
When we did this interactive last week, Tom made a good point - worship is the only thing we can give God. We can't give physical things as He made everything and He's Spirit so physical riches are useless to him. Worship however comes from the heart and is an act of love to hold someone else up in high esteem. We hear of people being martyred for their faith - not sure how many of them would do so willingly - I'm sure they would rather not have been caught by an terrorist group! However to be a living sacrifice is an ongoing act of love and when you think of people who care for loved ones or friends with long term illness, you get a glimpse of what this means.
God is love and when we worship him, we see the love flowing back in return. Isa 55v11 talks about God's word not returning empty.
Worship tends to get narrowed down to the singing part of a church service, however it's much wider than that and when we pray or show love and concern to others we are showing their worth - and this is worship also. For example, let's build each other up at church and give each other the encouragement we need. It's the Act of God's love flowing through us and back to him in so far as whatever we do for others the loves flows back to God.
Last thought - People don't seem to care much about God nowadays, but one day all the world will bow down and worship him.
Rev 15:4 Lord, who doesn't honour and praise your name? You alone are holy, and all nations will come and worship you, because you have shown that you judge with fairness."
A thought occurred to me - if, as we believe, God will reveal his love and grace to wider humanity and people will have the opportunity to respond on judgement day - this scripture is profound! God will reveal the gift of life when people deserve death so all the nations will bow down. Can you imagine when He returns in Glory - people will be afraid when they realise he does exist and they will expect that they will be punished for their actions. Jesus however is the judge and he's paid the penalty already so we'll see his grace being poured out on all who repent and believe. Phil 2v10-11 says At the name of Jesus everyone will bow READ.
Don't forget how he dealt with Paul - he asked him why he was persecuting him but he didn't destroy him, he loved him and Paul responded. What we see in Paul is heart change and heart worship - and he kept referring to how bad he'd been and how great God is. Paul's life was therefore transformed into a life of worship.
As we see the atrocities in the middle east and increasingly closer to home lets keep praying "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and look forward to the time that everyone will kneel down and worship God.
So what have we learned today about worship? It's more than just singing songs, although when we sing, we are joining the worship in heaven. Our lives are living sacrifices to help others and this is an act of worship as we bow down and hold others and therefore God up higher than ourselves. This is something that cannot be fabricated or created - it's an act of love that comes from the heart.
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