Portland Heywood Lutheran Church and School

Sermon Outline: Acts 2:1-21a...The essential ingredient for mission...the Holy Spirit

2011-06-15T09:06:00.000+10:00

The essential ingredient for mission....the Holy Spirit
God calls us to be in mission @ locally, to our neighbours, to people in other towns and states, to people overseas....to the ends of the earth...EVERYWHERE and EVERYONE

When we are involved in mission we will be mixing with and interacting with people who are:

different from us,
who see life differently,
who we might not understand!!!

To be able to do God's mission, we need His Spirit....(Acts 1:8)
The Spirit changes us from our natural way of living which is self focussed to seeing life differently....that it is about loving God and loving others (despite their differences)...

Accessing God's Spirit....
Spirit is given to us at our baptism
God's Spirit continues to come to us through His word....so being involved in prayer, bible reading and study, small groups, worship and Christian relationships will help us be renewed by God's Spirit.

Also God's Spirit brings together as a community to be active in mission...
Mission is primarily a community thing (involving not just one but numerous people)...

This week:

Spend time in prayer, worship and with other Christans talking about scripture
Take notice of the many people you are interacting with...(God has placed you amongst them so you can bear witness to him).
Make an effort to interact with people who are different from you...
Over the next month build a bridge to someone for the sake of the Gospel....think about how your friendship can link them to Jesus not just through you but also other Christians (the church).

2011 June 5....John 17:1-17 Jesus' prayer for us.... sermon notes

2011-06-07T20:27:00.003+10:00

Jesus' prayer for us....

Is a prayer for His Father to be glorified....John 17:1
Is that we may have eternal life......John 17:2
Reveals that eternal life is knowing God and knowing Jesus....John 17:3 (How much time are you investing in knowing God and Jesus?)
Reveals that glorifying God, for Jesus and us, means doing the work He has given us....John 17:4 and 17:10
God's work for us includes:

Loving God first then loving others (those in and outside the Christian community) in a Godly way (Matthew 22:37-40)...
Making disciples of EVERYONE (Matthew 28:19-20)
Being God's witnesses EVERYWHERE (Acts 1:8)
Being active in receiving and sharing reconcilliation (forgiveness) (2 Corinthians 5:11-21)

Is not to be removed from the world but to be protected in the world.......John 17:11 and 15
Is that we be joyful as Christians as we carry out God's work (God's work is our purpose not a hinderance to our lives)....John 17:13
Is that in ALL areas of our lives we rely upon and live according to God's Word.....John 17:17

2010 September 26 : Who is shaping you....the world or the Word

2010-09-28T22:02:00.006+10:00

SERMON NOTES FOR

Who is shaping you....the world or the Word?

Main Text: Luke 16:19-31

Many things shape us...some shape is in healthy good ways, some shape us in negative ways.

What are some of the things and people who have shaped you?

In today's reading the rich man has been shaped in a particular way and he has four main problems:

RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 1:

Fails to listen to God's Word and allow it to influence his life

Luke 19: 31 “Jesus said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Question for you: Are you taking seriously what God's word says? Is it influencing your life, how you relate to others? Are we falling into the same trap as the rich man?

RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 2:

Fails to care for others with the resources he has

Luke 19: 19-21
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
Thought: At times we hear this story and think that this is only relating to wealthy people. Jesus wasn't having a dig at the rich because they were rich, he was having a go at them because of their attitude to their riches. They saw it as theirs and for them to enjoy. However as Christians Jesus reminds us in other parts of scripture(see Matthew 22:37-39), we are given resources (money, time, knowledge, property and skills) to love God and to love others.

Question for you to think about: How are you using the resources God gives you? Are there people in your life who need your help?

RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 3:

SHORT SIGHTED LIVING....Living with only today, this earth in view....not focussed on eternal living

Luke 19: 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

Question for you to think about: Are you living with only the present in mind....or are you living with eternity in mind?

RICH MAN'S PROBLEM NUMBER 4:

He's now dead.....and can't do anything about His Spiritual defecit

Luke 19: 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
Thought: Once someone is dead nothing can be done about their eternal future.

Question for you to think about: What are you doing now to grow spiritually? Do you know someone who is like the rich man, how might God be using you to help them be in heaven?

HOW DID THE RICH MAN GET INTO THIS SITUATION?

He was shaped by worldly thinking of comfort and luxuries.....what the world saw as important

Luke 19:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.”

Time to think about how you have been shaped by the World in positive ways and negative ways:

Shaped by your family....family relationships, family attitudes, family teachings, family's relationship to God

Shaped by the people you mix .....with at work, school and socially. How does their talk and behaviour affect you? Think about what they see and say is important? What about their attitudes? What do they encourage you to believe is true?

Shaped by experiences.....especially disappointments and 'feel good' times.

Shaped by how others tell you life should be.....people, media, news

Thought: God can use anything in this world to shape us in a positive way. Satan can also use worldly things like family, people we mix with, our experiences and what others say to also shape us in a negative way.

God shapes us through:

Weekly Worship

Regular Bible reading and study

Relationships with other Christians....where we toss around God's word and talk about what it means for our lives.

When God is shaping our lives we will get a heavenly focus that affects how we live today. God shaping us affects our future: Salvation
God shaping us affects how we live now: Sanctification

We see money, resources, time and skills for loving God and loving others

MP3: to come

2010 September 19 Bible Sunday

2010-09-28T09:19:00.004+10:00

Bible Sunday

God's Word: Drink it, Think it, Live it and Give it

DRINK IT

Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives. Col 3:16a CEV
Main thought: God's word is for us to soak it up, to read it daily and study it regularly.

THINK IT
Blessed are those…… who delight in the law (teachings) of the LORD and meditate on His law (teachings) day & night. Psalm 1:2 NIV
Main thoughts: God's word is something that is most helpful when we reflect on it continuously, allowing what God is saying to be tossed around in our mind, as we interact with others and live in this world.
As we read the bible stories and verses there are two critical questions to ask:
What is God saying about Himself?
What is God saying about me & my relationships with Him & others?
Use these two questions to help you think what God is saying to you!!!

LIVE IT
Do not merely listen to the word, & so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22 TNIV
Main thought:God's word is not just some good ideas or thoughts about the future, but inspires people to change the way they live today, reflecting Christ in the world they live.

GIVE IT

"That's how it is with my words. They don't return to me without doing everything
I send them to do." Isaiah 55:11 CEV
With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. Acts 4:33 NIV
Main thought: As we soak up God's word it will affect us, and we will want others to have it...

We can give it in at least two ways:

By buying bibles for people who can't afford them, eg. Kenya through the Bible Society and our sister school in PNG (this we were able to buy 150 bibles for the sister school)
Sharing what God says through what we say and do....

The more we drink it, think it and live it....the more of God's word that will drip onto the other people in our lives.

As we give it we also get to experience and see God's grace in our lives.

MP3 download available at: to come

What's happened to our sermons

2010-09-28T09:16:00.002+10:00

During the year we have been working towards putting our sermons online....as mp3s and with study notes.
This has taken a little longer than expected.
We anticipate that in the next month you will be able to download our sermons as mp3s and gain a sermon outline from this site.

Please visit again soon.

2010 Jan 24 Sermon and Worship

2010-01-30T17:55:00.002+11:00

Bible Readings
Nehmehiah 8:1-10
1 Corinthians 12:12-21
Luke 4:14-21

Sermon: Jesus sets the stage for God's mission for us

Up to now
We have been seeing how Jesus is slowly revealing himself to the world as the Messiah,
The saviour
not just for one group but the entire world

John the Baptist pointed us to Jesus as the One
And as Jesus was baptised….
God said to Him you are my Son with whom I am well pleased
And God’s Spirit descended on him

And last week we saw how Jesus turned water into wine
For the purpose of revealing God’s glory
And that God is about bringing long lasting joy to our lives
Joy that extends into eternity

And today’s Gospel reading continues revealing more about Jesus
And importantly more about how God goes about His mission

Our reading from Luke 4 in verse 14 begins with 3 significant factors
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.

Three significant factors
Galilee: This is Gentile territory….
Very early on His ministry Jesus highlights that He is hear for all people
For both Jews and non Jews
We know from verse 15 he also came to preach to his own people
The Jewish people…
It is important to remember that true Christian mission is neither one group or another …but all
Being in mission means being in mission for those who are part of the church and for those who are not part of the church.
Christian mission involves reaching out to people outside the group and reaching out to people in the group…

Secondly The power of the Spirit….
.It is God’s Spirit that makes mission possible.
God’s Spirit is the essential ingredient for all Christians.
Without God’s Spirit there is no chance of Good News..
No chance of it being spread.
God’s Spirit means being influenced and directed by God…

And thirdly
News of Jesus spread throughout the countryside
People told others about Him….about what he was up to…
and what good he was doing….
And that continues to be the same
God’s plan to helping others experience God is for each one of us to share and reveal the good things about God to others.

What about you?
When was the last time you told people how good Jesus was?
What good you have experienced or heard about Jesus?

There is however something more significant from today’s reading
As Jesus went back to His home town Nazareth
He read the following at synagogue from Isaiah 61 and 58

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

This reading reveals a lot about God
It reveals how Jesus would go about His mission
And also how the mission God has given us should look.
God’s mission is about freeing people from the burden of sin.
And from worshipping gods that promise a lot but deliver nothing.

Unfortunately Western minds distort this passage
Western minds think that if we follow God we have freedom
and we can do whatever we want.
Well that’s not how the scriptures or how God sees freedom.
Freedom from the scriptures is about being free from the negative things that sin brings into our life.

This is not a new problem
When the reformation started to take off in the 1500s,
The reformers faced the same issue
As a result there is available a short publication written by Martin Luther called The Freedom of a Christian
Which goes into details of what free truly means from a biblical perspective..
Some passages that reveals God’s freedom for us include:
1 Corinthians 9:19
19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.

Ephesians 3:7
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power

Phillipians 1:27-30
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
In Romans 8 verse 1 and 2 we hear
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, a 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Being free from sin,
means we are free from having to go through the burden of paying for our sins
or having to worry whether our sins will prevent us from a life with God
It means we can be assured that we are loved by God.
It means really knowing that Jesus death on the cross is enough to pay the penalty for any sins you have committed.
And therefore you are free to use your life to help others experience and grow in this freedom

Sin can have terrible effects on people
Over January I got the opportunity to read the biography of Hansie Cronje
After he admitted to accepting money from bookies
For over 4 years His life was a misery
He was ashamed
He didn't know whether God could possibly love him
As a result he closed himself off to the world

Fortunately there were some people in his life that helped him deal with the sin
Helped him focus on what God had done for his sin
And when he understood this he started to return to wanting to relate to others
To wanting to help others
Understand the reality that God forgives sins changed his life.

And this is our mission
When Jesus says in Matthew 28
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in a the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We are being called to do what Jesus was involved in
God is saying to us go and
proclaim good news to the poor.
Go proclaim freedom for the prisoners
Go and help the blind see
Go and set the oppressed free,
Go and proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."
The only difference between us and Jesus
Is that we do this in Jesus name
Using the authority that He has given us
In other words we are to
introduce and help others to grow in a life of God’s freedom
That is what making disciples is about
Now this is not always easy week
It is very rewarding….
but it means us being willing to get involved in difficulties,
to listen to problems
to put in effort when things are not going well
It means giving when disasters like the Haiti earthquake occur
It means volunteering for ministry areas,
because there is a need not just because you feel comfortable or it suits you.

So what does this being freed mean for you and me

First of all I would like you to consider yourself.
What sins are burdening you?
What sins are preventing you from getting on with God’s mission?
Maybe its a love of something that leads you away from God!!!
Maybe its some sins you have committed that your scared others may reveal.
Maybe it sins that have been committed against you?

Lets stop and spend some time in prayer.
(Prayer time asking for the burden of sins to be lifted from us and that we clearly see we are forgiven.)

For some people they may need further help in dealing with their sins.
There maybe consequences, or other worries.
Please talk this other with another Christian or make an appointment to see myself.

Secondly
Who do you know who is burdened?
Who needs God’s Good News.
Maybe it is someone who feels let down by life.
Who thinks there is no future.
Perhaps they haven’t been financially blessed.
Or have made some stupid decisions.
Maybe they struggle with life.
Maybe they struggle with relationships…they don’t want people too close.
Maybe they push people away.

Remember if you know anyone who needs to hear and experiences God’s Good News
they are in your life for a reason

They are there so you can proclaim good news to the poor.
You can proclaim freedom for the prisoners
You can help the blind to see,
You can set the oppressed free,
And proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

Now it wont necessarily be easy
But aren’t you going to enjoy being with them in heaven.
As a result of them experiencing and receiving God’s Good News of freedom from sin.

And when we get involved in doing God’s mission
Bringing Good News to others
God and His kingdom becomes not some distant reality
Not something that people have to wait to experience

But it begins as verse 21 says….TODAY
Right now!!
Amen

2010 Jan 17 Worship and Sermon

2010-01-30T17:49:00.002+11:00

Bible Readings
Isaiah 62:1-5
1 Cor 12:1-11
John 2:1-11

Sermon: Jesus is revealled as the one through some signs

Throughout our life we rely a lot on signs
Signs play an essential role in our life
They always point to something
They point to something far more important than themselves
For instance as we drive towards Melbourne we will see a sign pointing to Melbourne
The sign is not Melbourne….but it tells us which way to Melbourne
When we feel our head hurts or our tummy rumbles this is often a sign something is wrong
When our belt buckle moves to the next spot,
this maybe a sign we need to do something about our weight
When a family member or friend won’t talk to us,
this is a sign that reveals something is wrong
We need to explore what is wrong
When the fire alarm makes that piercing noise,
it could mean we need to get out of the house
or that dad has burnt the toast again

Constantly in our lives
We rely on signs to reveal something to us
Often we need to check out what the signs mean
Sometimes we notice the signs and sometimes we don’t

And in the gospel reading from John today we hear
11What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him.

The turning of water into wine was not a magic trick to entertain audiences at the wedding
or church members for years to come
But this event was a sign revealing the glory of God
And within this reading there are also a number of signs that reveal more about Jesus and about us.

Something we will not pick up unless we delve deeper into scripture is the timing of the event
This event took place on the third day…
Jesus was at a wedding with his disciples and his mother
When we dive deeper into scripture we discover that the third day is mentioned at least 40 times in the old and new testament
On many occasions throughout scripture the mention of the third day is connected with the fact that God’s presence is clearer,
in other words God’s presence becomes clearer not straight away but after a passage of time
From
Hosea 6:2 we hear “After two days he will revive us and on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence.”
In Esther chapters 4 through to 8 we are told that Esther fasted for three days…
then went to the king seeking to rescue the Jewish people
In the book of Jonah, Jonah is in the belly of the fish for three days before he is spat out
And in the New Testament we constantly here that the resurrection of Jesus took place after 3 days…
Listen to 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 and 4
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance a: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Every Easter we highlight the importance of the third day….
when we attend both the Good Friday and Easter Sunday service,
we get a clearer picture of what is involved in God’s presence being visible to us.
Also in our lives we can not always see God at work until a passage of time has passed
Often God is at work, however it takes time for us to see Him at work and how He went about His work
Three days indicates God’s presence is about to be seen by some one or some people

Another sign we will miss unless we delve deeper into scripture is the importance of wine in the lives of people of Jesus time and culture
Scripture indicates good and bad uses of wine.
Using wine at celebrations is one of the good uses.
An abundant supply of wine indicated a blessing from God
From Genesis 27, verse 28
28 May God give you of heaven’s dew
and of earth’s richness—
an abundance of grain and new wine.
And when used with God’s favour wine also points to joy,
From Ecclesiastes 9, verse 7
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favours what you do.
With these to things in mind…

Put yourself in the picture of the wedding at Cana
And the wine had run out
Imagine if you were the bride or groom
It is an embarrassment

Now we are not told why the wine ran out
And it is not important
It could have been the fault of the family organising the wine through bad planning or being misers..
thinking that each person should drink half a glass of wine only
Maybe the guests were wine gluttons
Maybe there were unexpected guests, gatecrashers
Perhaps those serving the wine had decided to take some of the wine for their own personal use
The reality is we don’t know why it ran out
But we do know that it was gone
And that this is a problem
And we do know that only Jesus intervened to address the problem
Now think about your life
Particularly when problems occur
The problems in our lives…are the result of sin
Sin that we have committed or sin others have committed that affect us.
And often they are both.
And one of the consequences of sin,
whether we have committed it or someone else has
is that we are embarrassed or feel ashamed
because it highlights our weaknesses, our inadequacies.
Sin often shows the areas in our life where we are inadequate
But like the gospel reading of the wine running out
when we put God in the picture a solution is revealed.
Without Jesus the family and their friends at the wedding would have been stuck with the problem of no wine,
and their joy would have been short lived.

Likewise in our lives without Jesus life, death and resurrection
we would be stuck in this life, with no possibility of a future joy in heaven
And we would be without the Holy Spirit giving us gifts as we as we find in 1 Corinthians 12
and guiding us through God’s Word and God’s community commonly called the church,
we would have no hope of discovering what gives us true and long lasting joy now and in the future

Interestingly Jesus also reveals something more about the way God works
A sign of the way God works
Jesus doesn’t just give the wedding party any old wine
because they had run out the wedding party probably would have been satisfied with some wine,
even if it was a bit ordinary,
But that is not God’s way
Jesus gives them the best wine of the event, from verse 10 we hear
Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.
Many people are looking to God to help them today
They want instant help from God
God does help us deal with our everyday issues,
Sometimes in the way we like…
sometimes in ways we have never thought of.
But we need to remember that the joy he brings to our life now
is only a small reflection of the joy he will bring to our lives in the future
it is there to help us see the future
As God reminds us through St Paul’s letter to the Colossians in chapter 2, and as he reminds us in the final chapters of Revelations
The joy and the good we experience now is only a minute reflection of our life to come

Jesus has prepared something a lot better for us than this earth
Its God’s way to save the best to last
Think about the best time you have ever had a times it by 1000 and that is still only a small reflection of the time to come
Whatever you experience now….
God promises eternal life will be far superior
A final sign we can see from today’s reading is that of Mary
Mary is portrayed as many things in scripture
A faithful servant willing to do whatever God asks
In today’s gospel reading we can pick up two signs from Mary that help us as we live our lives
As we interact with others, and be God’s missionaries in the world.
The first comes from verse 3
When the wine was gone,
Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
Now there is much debate amongst scholars about this comment from Mary and Jesus’ reaction
But what can’t be debated is that Mary brought the problems of someone else to Jesus attention
And you to can do the exactly the same thing, in your prayers
Often we pray only for those things that directly concern us
But each one of us is called also to pray for others….
In Romans 8, Paul reminds us that we are constantly to remember others in our prayers
When you notice someone in trouble, experiencing difficulties
Be like Mary and bring this trouble to Jesus

The other thing Mary does is that she points people to Jesus for advice and help
Listen again to verse 5
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Many people are either keen to give advice or to say nothing

But when was the last time you said to someone
Let’s go to Jesus and see what he says
When was the last time you listened to Jesus
To get God’s perspective on the way life should be
The way you should approach issues and problems in your life
Mary understood that only Jesus can provide the solution
So she directed people to Jesus
And we can do the same…
Through how we live
and by helping our friends and family explore the pages of scripture
We help them gain Jesus’ insight for our life now and in the future
And in doing so we become like Mary
Signs pointing to God’s generosity, God’s way of life, God’s forgiveness and who God is

Today’s reading from John has many signs about who Jesus is and who we are
It highlights and reinforces that Jesus is God, the Messiah, the chosen one
That God is about bringing long lasting joy to people’s lives
That God deals with our problems, even smallish problems like running out of wine
And that God is focussed on our future
But it also suggests there is a time of waiting for us to see God’s work fully in our lives

Amen

December 6th Year of Evangelism Launch

2009-12-08T18:34:00.002+11:00

Sermon for this week can be found here

PoWeR SuRGeS: Being boosted by relationships influenced by Christ

2009-11-21T12:20:00.005+11:00

Bible Readings
1 Samuel 18:1
1 John 4:7-8
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Sermon

One day two children were playing on the beach.

They built a magnificent sand castle.

It wasn’t just a sand castle it was a fortified city.

With gates, towers, moats and underground tunnels.

But just as they were about to finish a huge wave came along and knocked down the castle.

It was now nothing more than a pile of wet sand.

Together the children stood up, ran further up the beach, laughing and holding hands.

Then they sat down and built another castle.

These two children had lived out a valuable lesson.

All things in our lives

All the complicated structures we spend so much time and energy creating are built on sand.

They should be nothing but tools that are used to encourage and develop relationships with others.

It is our relationships with others that have the chance to survive through disasters and celebrations.

And it is relationships with others that will help us endure through disasters.

The truth is Christianity is about relationships.

Relationships with other Christians so that both of you benefit by being spiritually supporting each other.

And having relationships with others so that you are able to introduce them to Christ.

Many people have a picture of heaven that talks about it being a quite idyllic place.

A garden.

But scripture reveals to us that heaven is a city.

A splendid city, a perfect city

And for a place to be called a city it must have a significant number of people.

People living together.

That is what God is preparing us for.

Life with each other and others.

So our lives together,

as part of a congregation is about being prepared for life in heaven God’s city

In Luther’s Small Catechism we hear

In the same way the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth….

Which is simply a reflection on 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5

⁴For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

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How do you view your relationships here in the congregation?

Do you see them as Holy Relationships?

Something God has initiated.

Our church relationships are something that God wants us to have.

This week.....

I encourage you to look through our members and friends directory.

If you don't have one contact our office for one.

As you read each name….

remember you are in a relationship with them initiated by God

and it is a relationship that God wants you to have

He wants each of us to have a Godly relationship with each other.

It is also a relationship that God wants you to develop.

To develop in ways that are centred on Him

and Him influencing our relationships with each other.

Our relationships at church are not just about being friends.

Although friendship is important.

Do you realise that if a person has at least 7 good close friendships at church they are likely to be actively involved in church life throughout their life?

Friendships at church actually benefit us by strengthening our relationship with God.

Our relationships as Christians are for encouraging each other in a relationship with God

and keeping each other accountable in our spiritual journies.

1 Corinthians 12:24-25 says

God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

Recently I read a story about Bill

Bill has always been part of the church

He remembers attending a congregation at a young age where people of all ages talked to him and encouraged him

When he couldn't reach the counter at morning tea, adults would hand him the tin of biscuits to choose from

He remembers feeling encouraged.

As he became a teenager he was encouraged to participate in the various activities of the church

And not just in the things he like, but remembers being asked what he would like to be doing at church

At a young age he was invited into leadership roles.

He remembers people praying for him.

His parents encouraged him to care and pray for others, especially those he did not regularly mix with.

When he had some troubles he remembers people who were older than him offering help.

Now he has an active role in the church and feels part of the life of the congregation

He comments that the church is a great place to be and one of the few places in his life that is for all ages

Bill’s experience reflects what the local church is called to be,

a gathering of people that welcomes people of all ages,

regardless of their background, experience, age or standing in the community.

This reflects what Jesus was on about

Jesus encourages us to welcome everyone….

Not just those we regularly associate with and can relate to …

In Matthew, Mark and Luke….we hear the following encounter

¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Are you encouraging younger people in our church?

Greet them with a smile.

Say hello to them

Showing interest in who they are and what they are doing.

Offering them a biscuit.

Carefully guiding and redirecting them.

Helping them feel welcome and that this is their place too.

That is the relationship God encourages us to have with others.

And younger people

Remember we are also called to encourage older people,

in 1 Timothy 5:1-2 we hear

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, ²older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Our relationship with each other is to be similar to equals not older or younger.

As Christians we have a unique opportunity.

To mix with people of other generations.

To grow together.

To learn from each other.

To care for each other.

To develop relationships that go across generations, races and boundaries.

Relationships that are centred on and influenced by Christ

This leads to the other part in having relationships with others.

Good Christian relationships not only bring comfort to our lives

But they also keep us on track.

They help us be accountable to filling our lives with activities that help us be in constant contact with God’s grace.

God’s perspective on life.

Two ways that this accountability occurs in our congregation which everyone can access.

One is through Small Groups

Small Groups play an important role in our lives.

It helps us see

that my way is not the only way

that my life is not all about me

that I don’t have to bear all my worries…

That when people come in our life needing help we are not alone in helping them

We get to see life and the bible from various perspectives

The other type of Christian Relationship that is important to us is one on one relationships, some people call these mentors.

It is important for each of us to develop close relationships with individuals where we discuss spiritual things,

Where we discuss life and the bible

And where we are accountable

In my life I have a number of people who I have a close relationship with

They understand me better than most others

They don’t expect me to become a replica of them

But they can challenge me

They ask me questions like…

how is my prayer life going…

what about bible reading

Am I avoiding things in my life?

Do I need to be so critical of myself?

Am I really worshipping when I am leading worship?

They challenge me when I am avoiding forgiveness from God’s perspective.

Such relationships are helpful as the Holy Spirit uses them to help me and help the other person gain encouragement and to give guidance.

So how are your relationships with others?

Are you experiencing the blessing from the Holy relationships God has placed you in?

Are you blessing others with the love of God?

Each one of us are called to continue developing our relationships with each other….

And as we do the love of God continues growing in each of us….

And extends into the lives of others…

Remember when we offer friendship to someone…

We are not just offering our friendship

We are offering the friendship of the one who

Created us….

Died on the cross for us

And cares and guides us

Amen

PoWeR SuRGeS: Being boosted by Serving in and outside the Church

2009-11-21T12:17:00.002+11:00

Bible Readings
Micah 6:8
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

Mother Theresa frequently said; “God loves the world……

through me and you!”

Serving is a natural and essential aspect of being a Christian.

Unfortunately though many people don’t understand the difference between Christian service

and service that takes place by non Christians or non Christian organisations.

Three marks help us identify what true Christian Service is about..

First….The reason why we serve is for God’s glory.

As 1 Corinthians 10:31 says

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

As Christians it is so important that as we serve that we focus on what God wants to happen,

And that is…...people connect our service to God.

In other words your service becomes a way God connects with others (in and outside our church) and they connect with God.

Martin Luther once commented,

what does it mean to serve God and do His will.

For it is others who need our service; God in heaven does not.

Serving in ways that glorify God has some major implications,

It means we recognise that the opportunity to serve

and the ability we have to serve originates from God.

It means we don’t get so hung up with getting credit for what happens

or what we have done in the past.

Instead we look for ways to connect people to God and other Christians through our service

And we get excited when people who are served connect with other Christians

and begin developing a relationship with God and them.

And it also means that we serve people even when we don’t feel like it,

but rather because God has placed them in our life

and under our nose.

Part of our service is that we connect people with others.

Our focus on serving others is for God’s glory.

The second mark….is that we serve people not because they deserve to be served,

but because they need to be served.

Did you notice in our reading from Matthew 25 that Jesus praises people for serving others who come into their lives when they fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, clothes to those who were in need of clothes and visited people in prison.

They served because people were in need.

That is the Christian basis for serving,

that we serve people who are in need.

A question for you.

Who is in need in your life?

Who do you know who needs help?

Who needs to see and experience God’s mercy and love through your service?

Now our service as Christians is not limited to simply giving water, food, clothes and visiting,

rather these things highlight that our service is about helping people be worthy and feel valued,

giving them what they need to have life.

Therefore the way we serve people is also important.

In other words it is not just what we give in our service

but how we give in our service.

That we give in ways that say to people I value you as Jesus values you.

One of the interesting twists on the Matthew 25 reading is that when we serve people in need we interact with and serve Jesus.

This may seem puzzling.

However look at it this way.

God has placed people in our lives so that they can be served.

Think about all the people in your life.

Your family.

Your work colleagues.

Your neighbours.

Your friends.

Everyone here at church and school.

And anyone else you interact with.

God has placed them in your life for you to serve them on His behalf.

Also consider that we serve people

because they need it

not because they deserve to be served,

this is exactly how Jesus serves us.

Jesus serves us because he sees us as valuable and worthwhile not because we deserve to be served.

And he serves us by paying the price for our sins, which cost him his life.

He serves us by making heaven possible for us

not because we have met His expectations,

but because we need Him to do so.

And so everytime you serve someone,

in a way that improves their quality of life

that is a significant reminder that Jesus is behind what is happening

and it is exactly what Jesus is doing for each one of us.

So at work, amongst your family and friends, amongst the people at church, your neighbours and other people who God places in your life

when you see someone in need,

don’t judge why they are in need

or how they have treated you

or whether they deserve to be served

instead look at serving them in ways that help them see they are valued and loved.

Serve them in ways that reflect the love, God has for you.

And the third mark of Christian service is that we are not individuals in our service,

but we serve as a body, a team.

As a congregation God has placed us together to serve each other in ways that help each other

And together we are called to serve the wider community, other Christians and non Christians together.

Working together is essential for every community.

Our congregation here has decided on some basic things in what it means to work together.

That we focus on knowing, growing in and sharing the love of Jesus.

Our service is orientated around this mission statement.

Is your service encouraging people to be involved in activities that help them know, grow in and share the love of Jesus.

Or is your service discouraging people to be involved in activities that help them know, grow in and share the love of Jesus.

I encourage you to reflect on this.

Also as someone who is part of our congregation it is expected that you be intentionally involved in activities that help you

Know Jesus love

Grow in the love of Jesus

And share the love of Jesus

This week I encourage you to undertake an assessment of your life.

Ask yourself are you being a team player?

Are you being part of Christ’s body

by being involved in activities that help you know, grow in and share the love of Jesus.

List them, write them down.

If you can’t identify them you have a responsibility as part of Christ’s body to change, to approach our leaders and Pastor Richard

and say you need help to identify activities

that will help you know Jesus love, Grow in Jesus love and share Jesus love.

There are two other important things in being part of a team, Christ’s body.

One is we speak well of each other.

That in being a good witness to Christ and His church that we don’t publicly put down or condemn anyone in our congregation.

But rather we speak well of people and use every opportunity to praise them publicly.

I know at times that some of us get under the skin of other people.

We should expect this because we are different and at times we are influenced by sin.

But as part of God’s team, God’s body where there are problems we should be focussed on forgiveness.

The scriptures relating to church life, emphasis that forgiveness between each other is important.

This is one of the ways we serve each other,

by taking the initiative to be involved in forgiveness.

Which means looking at ways to live and work with each other.

A question for you?

Is there someone or some people in this congregation you have a problem with?

Does someone offend you?

Do you avoid interacting with some people?

Do you realise that this not only affects you and them

but it affects each of us.

And it even affects those people outside the church you are interacting with.

We actually serve the church and others when we talk in public in a positive way about church and the people at church

When they hear this people are encouraged to connect with our community

and more importantly to connect to God through us.

Likewise when we talk negatively about the church and individuals at our church we are actually discouraging people to connect with God through us.

We are not only not serving them, we are also working against God.

The other aspect of serving as a Christian in a team

is that God places us under leaders.

God has placed us under leaders to direct us, make decisions on behalf of us, encourage us, teach us and guide us.

Whilst there are many different ways to serve,

God gives us leaders to help us live in ways that are more consistent with God

and consider a bigger picture

and not just what we personally believe is right.

As a Christian community, we need to follow leaders and the direction they are taking.

When we do our own thing,

or ignore the leaders God has placed among us

we are not just ignoring them,

we are potentially ignoring God.

When some of the Israelites stopped listening to Moses

and did their own thing

because they thought they knew what was better

they ended up building a golden calf

and so not only sinned against Moses they sinned against God.

Being part of a Christian community means placing yourself under the leadership of that community.

At the head of every Christian community and team is Jesus

then there are leaders,

which in our congregation includes Pastors, BCL, team leaders and leaders of our various groups.

Some of us will be both leaders and followers depending on the situations we are facing.

In a few weeks time we are electing leaders not to represent us,

but to lead us to develop our relationship with God

and to lead us in being an evangelising community.

Every leader in our congregation has the responsibility to lead people in ways that encourage us to develop as Christ’s disciples

to help us be part of the bigger picture

and to help others to connect to God through our congregation.

So as part of this congregation

I encourage you to support and encourage our leaders,

to listen to our leaders and follow their guidance

especially when they are encouraging you to be part of a team

and to work with others

and are helping you to connect with God

and are helping you to help others connect with God.

Being a servant is not an optional extra for a Christian

it is part of our life

When we serve others we are serving God.

We serve so people know what God is like and who He is

We serve so people experience God’s tremendous love even though they don’t deserve it

We serve not as individuals but as part of a team,

as God’s body of Christ connecting people to each other.

Look around you…

Who needs God’s love….go and serve them

And through you God is at work

Amen

PoWeR SuRGeS: Being boosted by Regular Bible Reading and Study

2009-11-21T12:14:00.002+11:00

Bible Readings
Psalm 119:105
2 Timothy 3:14-17
Matthew 4:1-4

Sermon

Many years ago I was staying at the parents of a friends house.

I arrived at the house late at night.

Was invited in and shown my room.

And went promptly to bed.

But then it happened...i needed to go to the toilet

And I had no idea where it was…

Was it upstairs or downstairs?

So I carefully made my way out the door.

And fortunately there was a night light in the passage

So headed towards this light

And even more fortunate was the fact that this light was positioned just outside the toilet door.

I am very thankful for that light.

In our Christian lives

The bible acts as God’s light for us

It is the foundational tool for each one of us

It is the tool that the Christian faith is based on

It is how we get to know and experience Christ.

Martin Luther commented that the entire bible is the cradle that holds Christ for us.

Last week I said with Jesus Christianity can not exist so Christ must be central to all our worship

And the Bible is what reveals Christ to us’

Why we need Christ

What Christ has done and is doing for us

And Christ’s affect on the church

Throughout life we all make assumptions about God,

And it is important that these assumptions be tested by scripture

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

One example of this is that many people know God is a God of love.

And to understand what it means for God to be a God of love we need to open the pages of scripture

And discover how God sees love

In 1 John 3:16 we hear

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

One aspect of God’s love is that Him and us give up something so others can benefit.

In His case it was His life

And in our case it maybe our agendas, our material things, our goals so others can experience God’s love through us

The Reformation was sparked by the fact that Martin Luther identified that the church at the time had neglected significant parts of the bible and interpreted some parts incorrectly or not in relation to other parts.

In basic his concern was that the church and people were using the bible only to impose more and more unnecessary obligations and guilt on people

Rather than pointing out the truth that God was about freeing us from needing to earn our way into relationship with God because of the blood of Jesus,

And with this freedom we are free to help others develop and grow in their relationship with Christ.

Unfortunately, some people miss this last point.

Many people love having freedom.

But I keep having to remember that freedom is a gift from God for us to use for His purposes.

And the reality is when we get involved in reading and studying the bible it not only changes us,

It changes how we see and view others

And it has the potential to also change the lives of others.

When Luther read the bible it changed his life

But it also changed the life of others including me and you.

I saw this greatly a few years ago, when a former atheist presented his testimony at a Gideons conference

He mentioned that one night alone, away from home on work

He opened up the only book in the motel room, a bible.

As he flicked through the pages he was hit with the fact that despite being not right Christ died for us.

Over the next few months he gradually began changing, he wanted to discover more about this God and who God saw he was.

The truth is the more we read the bible

The more God will have an influence and affect on us.

Unfortunately though not every worshipping Christian reads the bible

In Australia in 2006

35% of all Church attenders said they read the bible privately more than once a week,

An additional 6% read it weekly

24% read the Bible occasionally, when it suited them

18% hardly ever

17% not at all.

And only around 41% of worshipping Lutherans read their bible at least monthly.

The same research also highlights that

People who say they sense a growth in faith

Are involved in small groups and other congregational activities that study the bible and life

And they read the bible privately

Something interesting for us as we head into the year of evangelism

73% of people who are actively involved in intentional evangelistic activities such as

sharing the Gospel verbally

and encouraging others to develop relationships with God

and other Christians read their bible at least weekly

Private bible reading when accompanied with regular involvement with other Christians in worship and small groups

is a powerful tool God has given us

As Romans 1:16 says

I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile

Through regular bible study God continues speaking to us about how he saves us and how he gives us the opportunity to be involved in saving others.

Are you reading the bible regularly?

There is the story of a young man who applied at a forestry firm for a job.

The foreman asked him if he could fell a tree with an axe.

The young man walked over to a tree and felled it like an old pro.

The foreman hired him.

On Monday, the young man outdid everyone else on the crew.

But, each day after that, he got slower and slower until Friday, he could barely cut one tree down.

He went through all the motions; swinging his axe, hitting the tree and repeating it, but it just didn’t work very well.

Finally, the young man laid down his axe, sat on the ground in exhaustion and wondered what was causing this.

The foreman came over and told the young man he knew what caused it.

He said he had been so busy all week doing the things that a forester does, that he had forgotten to get back to basics and sharpen his axe. It has become dull and is all but worthless today because it had not been kept in good condition.

Have you been so busy in your life, that you have forgotten to go back to the basics and listen to God through scripture?

Do you know what God is really saying….or are you just guessing?

Do you need to sharpen up your faith….with some regular bible study?

Ever week in our bulletin we have short daily bible readings and devotions related to the worship service

that I encourage everyone to read.

Using them is a way of reinforcing God’s message in our life.

Some people say they have tried reading the bible….but it is too difficult or too hard and they don’t get much out of it

I once heard a story with a neat lesson.

There was an old man on some property near the mountains and a creek.

Every year a grandchild would visit.

One day one of the old man’s grandsons approached him with a problem.

The Grandson said, "Grandpa, I read the Bible and I don’t understand it, and what I understand I forget as soon as I close the Bible covers. What’s the use of reading the Bible!"

The Grandfather ordered the grandson to get the basket they used to carry the wood to the fireplace and the ashes to the garden.

He said run down to the creek and bring back a basket of water to the house.

To please his grandfather, the grandson grabbed the basket,

ran to the river and got a basket of water.

The lad ran back to the house with the water.

By the time the lad reached the house the basket was empty.

The grandfather said try it again but this time faster.

The lad ran quickly from the river, the basket was full when he left the river, but by the time he arrived at the house the basket of water was dry.

After his third trip, the boy told his granddad, it is no use, I can not retain the water in the basket until I get here. It is useless.

The grandfather looked at the disgusted young boy, and said, "So you think it is useless?"

"Yes! Grandpa it is useless to try!" the boy replied.

The Grandfather said to the boy,

"BUT LOOK AT THE BASKET, CAN’T YOU SEE SOMETHING?"

THE SMALL BOY WAS AMAZED, AFTER THREE TRIPS TO THE RIVER, THE DIRTY Wood and ash BASKET WAS CLEAN.

Grandpa said, " See, that is what the Word of God does to you.

As you read, you say you don’t retain and understand it, but your basket is cleaned.

THE WORD OF GOD DOES THE WORK OF GOD!

Frequent reading of the bible will continually reveal God’s light,

the way He works and the path we are to take

It will help us make better decisions in our lives

But importantly it will reveal and remind us that we are God’s children loved by Him and forgiven by Him.

There are many ways people have found in studying the bible.

Here are some basic questions I ask whenever I read scripture

How is this revealing that I need God?

What has God done, is doing or will do?

As a disciple of Jesus how is God asking me to live (for my own benefit and the benefit of others, especially those who are different)?

These are not sideline questions, but questions that direct and focus my life…..

Over time regular bible study and reading will change you….

Because God’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path…

And through His word God is at work moulding us an comforting us.

As Matthew 4:4 says 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Keep using this wonderful tool God has given us

because Jesus and His love is the focus of all scripture and through it the Holy Spirit is guiding us.

Let us pray

PoWeR SuRGeS: Being boosted by Weekly Worship

2009-11-21T12:10:00.001+11:00

Bible Texts
Psalm 100:1-5
Hebrews 10:18-25
John 4:23-25

Sermon

For many people when you ask them about what they think church is about,

Even those who hardly engage with the church,

They say church is about worship

And the truth is worship is central to the life of the church

So no wonder people get so passionate about worship.

True worship is an activity of the church,

God working through His people.

God bringing people together and God sending them out

We could preach on this topic for hours

Today though I will not be so much focussing on how to worship, but the importance of worshipping weekly.

Worship is about worshipping God.

We are commanded to worship only God...this is one of the commandments.

Why?

Now in an age when commands are not popular.

Like all good commands

The command to worship is not for God’s benefit but for our benefit.

An elderly lady reminded me of this.

As she talked about her life to me one day, it became apparent that she had had many difficulties.

Her life and family had not been an easy one.

So I asked her, “How did you continue having faith in God?”

Her response was instant, every week I went to church

I sang songs, prayed, listened to the sermon and the readings and spent time with other Christians,

And during this time God and not my life was the focus

And every time I met with God,

How God saw things seemed to be different to how I saw things.

Brothers and sisters the truth is when we worship, we benefit.

We benefit substantially from God.

Jesus has something to say about this.

Matthew 2:27 says

The Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

One of the areas worship has a significant impact on us,

Is it deals with the problems that isolation and the attitude of total independence causes.

The Western Societies of USA, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe have been encouraging isolation, privatising and total independence for many years.

Non of which are godly.

All of which lead to problems including depression, substance abuse and the lack of love

At their extreme a life of isolation, privatisation and total independence severely affect people’s socialising skills and behaviours.

Juilan Knight, Martin Bryant and those involved in the Columbine killings some years ago lived very closed lives.

The Columbine shooters actually had so many walls up that they put locks on their own bedroom doors, so they didn't have to interact with family.

This is the extreme result of isolation.

Have you ever felt the effects of isolation or the failure of total independence?

When I lived in Melbourne I discovered that you could be around many people, but still feel isolated?

And what happens when we are isolated?

We worry about every little thing.

We worry what people might be saying.

We develop extreme levels of guilt.

One of the ladies I visited regularly in Launceston never left home.

She was so frail she only interacted with her doctor, and those who visited her.

On occasions when other people had visited her, she was happy and had a good outlook on life.

She would still feel guilty

However when no one had visited her she always had tremendous guilt.

She was guilty because she couldn't do what she had previously had been able to do

She said she was a terrible sinner.

However as I we spent time in worship,

Proclaiming God’s word and receiving His forgiveness her outlook changed.

When we are isolated we become self focussed.

We worry what people think of us.

We put up walls

We don't care how our action and words affect others.

We become more determined to get what we want.

When we are isolated, when we offend someine it is their fault,

And we fail to see that our words, actions and timing could have contributed to their hurt.

We become ruthless, others matter less

However worshipping God with a true heart helps us deal with the issues of isolation and independence.

Worship refocusses our lives to God’s reality.

One aspect of worship that we are often involved in is stating our faith using a creed.

Whenever I say the Apostles Creed I am reminded that everything in my life has been created by God

Think about the things you enjoy most.

That you are most thankful for.

What are they?

God has been behind them all.

But the God we worship is more than just a creator.

He is also our saviour.

A saviour that recognises we need his help.

A saviour that is prepared to suffer and die for us

Even though we don't always follow him.

And the creed also reveals that God is my guide, encourager and strength.

God is at work constantly redirecting me back to Him,

And reminding me He is constantly prepared to forgive my sins and give me a new life.

And is constantly encouraging and guiding me in how I am to live with others.

And this God is putting me in relationships with others

When we worship we can not ignore how important God is in our lives

And how important it is to have relationships with other people.

Scripture is clear true Christian relationships is centred around Loving God and Loving others.

True Christian worship is never a private thing

Many people mix up personal and private.

Private is keeping things to myself.

It doesn't involve others.

It often is seen in people doing what they want.

And others not having to know about it?

God does not want us to keep our faith or worship private.

He wants our worship and faith though to be personal

Personal is owning and accepting the faith

It means you be authentic

It means you contribute to the faith and you do so not alone,

But with others, in community

Our worship with God is also a two way deal.

In our worship God, what he has been doing, is up to and will do should be highlighted and emphasised.

That’s why we have bible readings, the sermon and the sacrament.

That’s why when people give testimonies, a good testimony always highlights God and what He has done.

The truth is without God, Christian worship would not be possible.

God initiates and inspires true Christian worship.

Throughout our worship service God is constantly working.

He is calling us into his presence and putting us in situations where we are with other Christians

He is forgiving us

He is speaking to us

He is listening

He is giving gifts to us

He is preparing and inviting us to a banquet

He is giving us His body and blood

And He is equipping us to partner Him in taking His Good News to all those people we are mixing with.

And as a result of God’s actions

We respond

We gather in His presence

We confess our sins and seek His help to live holy lives

We listen to Him

We pray to Him

We offer gifts for His mission through His church

We dine with Him

We give ourselves totally to Him

We thank and praise Him

We go from this place praising Him and taking what He has to offer to others.

Did you notice how much our responses rely on God’s grace.

As we respond we are reminded of God and How great He is and that without God there would be nothing.

So be committed to weekly worship

Don’t see it as a task where you have to, but as an opportunity to be encouraged and touched by God and His love

View weekly worship as the flood light that shows the reality of how good God is.

Amen

PoWeR SuRGeS Worship Series: Being boosted by Daily Prayer

2009-11-02T23:58:00.002+11:00

Bible Reading
Luke 18:1-8
1 Thess 5:16-18
Daniel 9:2-3

Sermon
Prayer is one of the basic but fundamental tools of everyone of us.
Prayer is a gift from God to us;
Deutronomey 4:7 says
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?
More people pray than attend church or even believe in God, an unusual concept.
At Amazon search for books on prayer and you will get close to 500000 options.

However many people are confused and even unsure how to pray?
Visit to an older lady….don’t assume I know how to pray..

Then it struck me
My prayer life became more significant and changed when realised that prayer was about my relationship with God and how I see this relationship

Invite you to close your eyes for a moment….

Now think of God…what do you see!!!
How do you see God??
How do you see God talking to you and you talking to God?

Old man…judge….strict…creator….awesome….etc

Now do the same thing again….but this time think of Jesus…
How do you see Jesus?
How do you see Jesus talking to you….and you talking to Jesus?

Share
God wants us to know him through Jesus
Without Jesus there is no Christianity!!!
John 14:6 we hear
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
It is only through Jesus that God has chosen to display who He is…..
What He is on about…
And how He relates to us
And how we can talk to Him

Think of the disciples….how they talked to him

And prayer is about developing your relationship with God!!!
Not because you have to but because you want to
Think about some of your close loving relationships
Ever been in a situation where you talked to your wife/husband because you had to and you needed them to do something for you?
Compare this to talking to your wife/husband because you want to?
Our relationship with God is not just about getting something…
In fact very few relationships that are orienated around us getting something and us being pleased all the time last too long….shops/church/friends
Often we limit our prayers to asking for stuff and things from God.
We treat God as the ultimate vending machine up in the sky….
But God desires something better for us…
A growing and loving relationship

Think of the difference in conversation
One where you just ask for things?
One where you are in constant conversation for the relationship to grow
How many can remember the time you felt truly in love with someone…being the person I am Veronica and I went out for tea one night and didn’t stop talking until…the sun came up…..I wanted to know and grow with this person

Relationship with God is one where we trust God
God’s view of life is bigger and better than ours
The most effective prayers are when we realise that we are not in control and we put our lives in the hands of God

And so with prayer being about our relationship with God
God is interested in more than just dumping things in our lap
He is interested in who we are and the more we are to become.
As a result we will get to know God more and see Him in action
How God answers our prayers highlights who He is!

And so an effective prayer life will lead to us changing
We will move from just asking for things to asking to be changed.
Scene about one part of CS Lewis’ life the writer of the chronicles of Narnia
He had fallen in love with Joy Gresham who developed bone cancer.
In the movie Shadowlands there is this magnificent scene where,
CS Lewis moves from being drained…not knowing what to do….
To being fully energetic
Reverend Harry: Christopher can scoff, Jack, but I know how hard you’ve been praying; and now God is answering your prayers.
C. S. Lewis: That’s not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can’t help myself. I pray because I’m helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me.

How we deal with and respond to situations change
We place our lives in the hands of God

Stop and pray…..God….. situations bothering us…pray

The one you have just prayed to is a loving God
Who hears your prayers as one who cares for you….

Our prayer life is an open door to the presence of love,
and an incentive to be part of God’s love and welcome to others.

If you are uncomfortable praying…then a challenge.
Remember our life as disciples is not about being comfortable, or doing stuff that only suits us,
Infact being a disciple of Jesus means doing lots of stuff to benefit others.
To putting up with things so others feel welcome
To be prepared to listen to someone drop their worries and concerns into your life
And it is about welcoming others not in ways that suit you
But suits them

No matter what you experience get into the habit to ask people would they like prayer
What would they like to pray about…

Because prayer is a people orientated thing there are a variety of ways to pray
From standard prayers from the deep history of Christianity…but don’t just read them…pray them…reflect on them

Using formulas…like ACTS
Free prayer

When we limit ourselves to one style of prayer….like one style of worship we are shutting off God in speaking to us in the many different ways he can speak….
Explore different ways to pray….
What works well today….may not in a years time

Finally
Time aside…what is best for you
Keep a journal so u can see how God answers your prayers

And keep remembering that God is always wanting to be in conversation with you so that you and others know His love

And so the call to pray continuously is not a demand from God but an invitation to keep on being and growing in relationship with God
So that you will experience some of heaven now and heaven completely in the next life,
Amen

PoWeR SuRGeS Worship Series: Being boosted by God to be His disciples

2009-11-02T23:46:00.002+11:00

Bible Readings
Matt 4:18-22
Eph 4:7-16
Matt 18:21-35

Sermon
Today we begin a new worship series focussed on developing as God’s disciples.
Every Christian is called by Jesus to be a disciple.
From the moment you were baptised God was acknowledging that you were now one of His disciples.
A person called to follow him.
To learn from Him.
To grow with Him and other disciples.
Our baptism is the beginning of a new life with God.

In Matthew chapter 4 verse 19 we heard…
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Come follow me when you are able to be fishers of men
Or come follow me if you can be fishers of men
But come follow me an I will make you fishers of men.
Jesus’ call to His early disciples highlights that being a disciple is not based on what or who you know,
what you have achieved
or that you have everything in place.
It is based on God calling you and you responding by being loyal to him.
And as a result of this loyalty God continues to mould, change and have an affect on our lives.

As disciples God calls us into a unique and special relationship with Him and others, who are following Him.
He continues to offer us help, to bless us and to develop us.
Unfortunately, not everyone sees being a disciple this way.
At times being a disciple of Jesus is not easy.
There will be troubles.
The scriptures and life’s experiences reveal that from time to time there will be difficulties
However being loyal to Jesus helps us be prepared for these difficulties.
It enables us to be nurtured and cared for throughout our lives.
It helps us experience how God changes something bad into something good for us.
As Jesus says in Matthew 11:28
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
And being a disciple means experiencing Jesus
and being influenced and changed by Jesus.

Our worship series Power Surges is about helping each of us grab hold of 7 tools in our life called marks of discipleship.
God uses these to influence, form, nurture and guide us.

And Underpinning our lives as disciples is the whole area of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is an essential component of any church and every Christian.
I heard a slogan once that is very true of the church.
Our business is forgiveness.
The truth is we are God’s forgiven people and we are God’s forgiving people.
And why is forgiveness so essential?
Because the truth is we live in a world where sin is present.
Matthew 18:21 makes this clear
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Did you notice Peter didn’t ask,
will my brother or sister sin against me, but how many times will I have to forgive.
In other words, how many times do I have to put up with His sinning, and offer forgiveness.
Have you ever asked that question?
How many times do I have to forgive that imbecile, my brother, my sister, the person I thought was a friend?
That’s not only Peter’s question, that is often our question.
Like Peter, we live in a world where sin is a part of life.
And in asking the question we recognise that our lives are not only impacted by people sinning against us,
but also our own sin of not wanting to forgive others.

God’s response to this question is
that He expects us to forgive an infinite number of times,
that is what is meant by Jesus’ response to forgive seventy times seven.
As forgiven people, we are expected to be forgiving people.

But before we go much further it is important to recognise
that forgiveness from a biblical perspective is not about pretending that everything is ok, it recognises sin exists.
Think about it forgiveness is only needed because sin exists.
The forgiveness which Jesus taught asks that we set aside our need for “pay back” or revenge.
But at the same time we can learn from the hurt sin brings.
Biblical forgiveness doesn’t mean that we immediately put ourselves back into a situation to be sinned against over and over again.
In fact, we may make changes to the way things are done to stop sins being repeated and people being hurt.
However, God’s standard is that as His disciples forgiveness is essential.
As forgiven people, we are expected to be forgiving people.
The truth is we are all forgiven sinners.
None of us are perfect.
We all sin.
We are in fact a community of forgiving sinners.

One thing that still surprises me is that paradox of what it means to live in a Christian Church.
On one hand many people expect there to be no conflict in the church.
Yet the truth is we are a community of sinners, so sin will exist.
Yet we allow behaviours that no business or government organisation would tolerate,
as if being nice will make up for everything.
As the Christian Church we have responsibility to deal with sin by forgiving those who sin, but also protecting those who could be sinned against.
Perhaps though this is not a paradox.
Maybe it is because we do not take the bible and our theology seriously.
We are unprepared to be honest about the future
and the conflicts we face.
We get ourselves into major problems when we deny the reality that sin exists in the world, even in the church and even in ourselves.
And we get ourselves into even more trouble when we do not deal with sin with appropriate forgiveness and boundaries.

So lets be a real church.
A church full of forgiven sinners, who recognise that sin exists
And we deal with sin through appropriate forgiveness and appropriate care.
That is Christ’s church in action.
As God’s forgiven people…we are to be God’s forgiving people.

In other words as you have been welcomed by God into His discipleship team,
you are to go about welcoming others.
Welcoming others is an important part of being disciples.
So who are you going to welcome?
Who do you know needs to know they are welcome here?
That God is wanting to forgive them and welcome them?
Is it time to start being proactive?
Be one of the 20% of Christians who invite someone to church.
This whole business of being proactive only makes sense when you realise that
“you have been bought by Jesus”
None of us belong to ourselves.
We are God’s investments.
God has bought us.
1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 20 says
You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
And that price is the body and blood of Jesus

But God has not bought us to sit and wait for Him to return.
He calls each of us to be His active disciples
And Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11, along with 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12 remind us that each of us have been equipped by God for ministry in the church
and in our daily lives.
Each of us are given gifts, talents, skills, authority and opportunities from God.
as part of His Spiritual investment in the world.

And this investment is for a purpose.
Ephesians chapter 4 verse 12 to 13 tells us we are called to grow one another.
This wisdom from God says
We are gifted to prepare God’s people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up
until we all reach unity in the faith
and in the knowledge of the Son of God
and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

In other words Jesus death of the cross and God’s gifts to us
is God giving us an important role to play in His investment.
As people who belong to God,
God is calling each one of us not to bless ourselves
but to bless others with our skills and talents, and the gift of forgiveness.
God gives us the privilege of being a gift for others.
Ephesians 4:14 speaks to us about what it means to be a gifted disciple.
Many people with gifts often use them for their own means,
to build their own empire
or they take them for granted
or they aren’t interested in sharing them
or they develop big heads and think they are better than others.
Yet God is calling each of us to use our gifts maturely,
which the scriptures reveal as using them for the benefit of others.
And as Ephesians 4:14 suggests this means being aware of what God is on about.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Being mature means living a life that understands we rely on Christ for the future,
and allow ourselves and others be influenced by Him.

Our Power Surges worship series
in focusing on the seven marks of discipleship
help us realise and take hold of the tools that encourage us to develop a real faith that works in a real life.
These Marks of Discipleship are the tools to help us grow further in faith.
They are not demands any more than a screw demands a screwdriver.
Ever had a loose screw?
Every now and again one of the screws in my glasses becomes loose.
Often I will use my fingernail to tighten it.
Occasionally a nail file.
But what works best is a screwdriver of the right size
when I have a screwdriver I don’t even think about using a finger nail or nail file.
Because the screwdriver is the best tool to use.

Like wise in our personal and congregational lives the seven Marks of Discipleship are the best tools to help us engage and remain in relationship with God,
the one who has bought us away from sin controlling us.
God’s active and forgiving love is the basis for every Mark of discipleship.
These Marks of Discipleship help us explore and put into practice
what it means to be forgiven people who live lives forgiving others.

People who have a close and ongoing relationship with God are able to survive the storms of life.
Someone once commented if you live, you will experience the storms of life.
You will be affected by rejection, failure, loss, abuse, natural disasters, bad decisions, lies and the list goes on.
Each of these storms have the potential to destroy us and lead us away from the great future God has prepared for us.
Yet God through Jesus is offering us what is needed to live through the storms of life.
And the Marks of Discipleship help us remain connected to Jesus
so that we have His strength.
They help us become Spiritually mature.
And in doing so we are able to distinguish the truth that comes from God’s wisdom that is focused on the long term
to the wisdom developed by humans that is often focused on pleasing ones self and short term rewards.

And if we truly live out our lives as one of God’s disciples,
not only will we see storms
we will walk right into them.
This is because God is always sending us out into the world,
to our family, our friends, our workplaces and the wider community
to bring change from Christ into the world.
Change that comes from God forgiving you and you forgiving others.

And when we do so we will encounter storms,
because we are moving into a world of people wanting to primarily please themselves
look good
and not wanting to recognize they are involved in sin.
As disciples we will inevitably need to walk against these winds
Living our lives focused on God and serving others.
Living our lives as God’s forgiven people, who are active in forgiving others.

But remember God is with us,
God is wanting to help us move through these winds and bring strength to others.
Remaining connected to Jesus through the Marks of Discipleship will help you do this.
Be the witness, the disciple God is calling you to be.
Be His forgiven sinner, actively seeking to forgive others.
And over the next seven weeks join us in exploring and discovering the Marks of Discipleship
Of Praying daily
Worshipping Weekly
Reading and studying the Bible frequently
Serving in and outside our congregation
Being in Christian Relationships for your own and others benefit
Giving proportionally, regularly and cheerfully
And Sharing the Great News from God
If you can not be here for one week of the series, please contact the office and we will forward you a copy of the sermon and other information
Let’s pray
Amen

October 4: Beng God's Caretakers

2009-11-02T23:44:00.001+11:00

Bible Reading Psalm 8

Today’s sermon is based on the psalm for today Psalm 8
This is a psalm of praise of our God, who is always present with us
The psalmist declares that God is present with us throughout and in the grand universe He has created.
The psalmist writes: You have set your glory above the heavens…
Listen again to verses 1 to 4
LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?

Have you ever been out in the bush and looked up and seen the canopy of stars in the sky
This is the handiwork of God
Or perhaps you have ventured through a region some months after it has been affected by bush fires
and seen the new growth of plants thriving amongst the blackness
or maybe you have walked through the mountains and bush with the amazing sights, scents and noises surrounding you
If you are like me,
you can feel insignificant and yet immortal as a consequence because God is present
and we are those who know this Creator.

That’s the wonder of this magnificent psalm.

But the very presence of our God is also seen in the seemingly small mutterings of a little child.
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
Have you ever held an infant in your arms and felt its tiny hand curl around your finger?
If so, you might have felt the touch of God.
If you have listened to the laughter of joy or the cries of need that a baby gives out,
you have heard the whispers of God’s eternal gift of life.
Little children witness to the presence of our God of this universe
and we have the privilege of knowing God.

Whether in the wonders of the night sky or the gentle heartwarming mutterings of an infant,
we know that God alone is God.
As human beings we cannot create the stars and planets,
but we, of all the creatures on the earth,
can wonder at them, not worship them but worship their Creator.
As human beings we cannot create life,
but through love and the union of a man and a woman,
God can create another human being through us.
We have the creative power within us
to throw away what has been given to us or to renew and restore it,
celebrate and encourage a stewardship of creation.

The most remarkable part of Psalm 8 is its assertion that
God has chosen us to partner with Him as stewards for Christ’s creation.
In Genesis 1 God creates the world.
Listen to what happened on the sixth day:
“then God said, Let us make humankind in our image,
according to our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the air,
and over the cattle,
and over all the wild animals of the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
God created humankind in His image,
in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth and subdue it;
and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

Formed in the image of God means that we are stewards of creation.
To the Hebrew mind,
the image of God is a reflection of both who God is and what God does.
The “dominion” and “subduing” referred to in this text is to reflect God’s dominion and subduing of all.

How have we come to understand that authority and power from God?
Through Jesus Christ we have come to see how God works in love and care.
Jesus Christ does not hoard the goodness of God, He freely gives it out.
Even God’s judgment is a measure of justice with compassion.
We are the image of God when we appropriately exercise the authority and power of being human in ways that encourage life, that are life-giving.
The definition of the word “dominion” in Genesis 1 is “care-taking.”
Stewards are caretakers of what ultimately belongs to God.
Our role as humans is to care for God’s earth.

We see the best and worst of ourselves when we understand Genesis 1 and its reflection in Psalm 8.
Many of us marvel at the many natures of the earth.
In Tasmania there is wonder from young people at why efforts were not made to stop the Tasamanian tiger from becoming extinct
And there are also examples where people have been active in caring for the environment
Where people have taken seriously the need to change and intervene in caring for the planet
Queenstown in Tasmania had a reputation of being like a moonscape with no trees and very few trees as a result chemical poisoning in the land through mining
but after some years of active caring, life has started to be active again in the area.

What our world desperately needs is for us to reclaim our sacred role as stewards.
Human beings appear to be the only creatures on earth that can both reflect upon the past and make decisions for the future.
That is what stewards do.
It is our sacred calling to care for our world.
We have been created with the unique gifts required to love life
and make the decisions that support and sustain life.

Both Genesis and Psalm 8 make a remarkable point:
Those who worship the true God are best equipped to be stewards.
It is not surprising that where people do not take worship seriously
or do not intentionally make it a priority that there is uncertainity of what it means to be a steward and our efforts of caring for God’s creation is flagging
In the atheistic nations of the former Soviet Union,
creation was dealt a death blow by those who saw all of life as intended to serve them and their own agendas.
Sooner or later, when we bow before our Creator
God in the name of Jesus Christ,
we must accept the reverence for all creation that is our gift from the One who walked on the water and changed water into wine.
In reverence to the Word, Jesus, through whom we believe all life came into being,
we are being called to be a “green” church.

We should recycle and reuse as much as we can.
We should thank those who transform the dirt into gardens and care for the gardens.
We will look beyond our own needs to see that those who are older or younger than us are cared for and protected.
Being stewards of creation not only reveals our concern for nature,
it shows our concern for future generations.

Beloved people of God, as stewards of Christ’s creation,
let us return to God what God has first given us: our great green planet.

Some years ago a lady was noticed by her local newspaper for spending two hours every Saturday walking the main road that entered and left her town picking up rubbish, broken glass and other litter. When interviewed by her local paper, to the journalist’s surprise there was no anger towards those who had carelessly disposed of the mess, nor anger towards the council for not doing its job, she simply commented that she is picking up the stuff for the people who are coming after her, so they can enjoy the town’s beauty.
The reality is her one single act of picking up some litter is making a difference
Many people benefited from her act of picking up litter, including those visiting the town to those who owned businesses which tourists stopped for
Not only this but her efforts touched the lives of others, she helped make life for others easier and more pleasant
and at the same time inspired others to care for the town they lived in.
As God’s caretakers God has given us much to enjoy and care for
This week as we live our lives enjoying God’s creation let us live as Christians
Caring for what God has given us,
And carrying out simple acts of kindness to make more pleasant and easier for others. AMEN

September 20th 2009, Receiving and sharing God's healing Mark 1:29-34

2009-11-02T23:25:00.002+11:00

Bible Reading: Mark 1:29-34

Sermon available at http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=139382&Sermon How God heals by Richard Schwedes

September 13th 1009; Sermon James 3:1-12; Using our tongues for good

2009-09-15T10:42:00.002+10:00

Our focus for theme for this week's worship was Using our tongues for good.

The sermon can be found at: http://sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=139067&Sermon Using your tongue for good by Richard Schwedes

Sermon: Father's Day Sermon

2009-09-07T14:16:00.001+10:00

Theme: Being loved by the Father....and being a loving father

Sermon is available here

Sermon: Mark 4:1-20

2009-09-06T21:53:00.001+10:00

Theme: Various responses to a generous God

Reading: Mark 4:1-20

Sermon available here

Sermon: Ephesians 6:10-20

2009-09-06T21:49:00.002+10:00

Theme: Being equipped to deal with evil

Bible Reading: Ephesians 6:10-20

Sermon available here

Sermon Ephesians 4:1-16 Viewing and using the gifts God gives you

2009-08-04T11:32:00.003+10:00

Sermon for this week can be found here

Bible Readings
Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35

Sermon: Handling complaints in a healthy and Godly manner

2009-07-26T15:44:00.003+10:00

Sermon for this week can be found here

Bible Readings for this week
Psalm 133
Isaiah 49:6
Ephesians 4:29-32
Matthew 18:15-20

Songs for this week
to come

Sermon and Worship: Ephesians 2:11-22 Allowing God's Peace to

2009-07-24T13:59:00.002+10:00

Sermon for this week can be found here

Sermon Ephesians 1:3-14 Discovering our true purposes as planned by God

2009-07-14T08:39:00.002+10:00

This weeks sermon Discovering our true purposes as planned by God is available at: http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=136946&Sermon

Songs and Hymns for this week
Songs for Portland 10.45am
SIS 496 Don’t you know
SIS 398 The song of acceptance
Lord I lift you name on high
AT 258 Jesus put this song
Amazing Love
AT 349 There is a redeemer
At 320 I was there to hear your borning
Your love: Reuben Morgan
Lord’s Prayer (Tscharke)
Awesome God

Hymns for Portland 9am
LHS 158 Jesus, lover of my soul
LHS 170 Chief of sinners though I be
AT 31 Freely Freely
LHS 344 Our God is love and all His saints
LHS 234 Facing a task unfinished

Hymns for Heywood 11am
LHS 158 Jesus lover of my soul
AT 31 Freely Freely
LHS 344 Our God is love and all his saints
AT 81 Make my life to be

Sermon: Allowing God's strength to shine through our weakness 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

2009-07-06T09:12:00.002+10:00

As we move towards a year of evangelism, do you think we are ready?
Probably a better questions to ask is,
are you ready to be part of the year of evangelism?
are you prepared to be involved in the year of evangelism?
All of us are called to be part of the year of evangelism.
All of us are called to be Jesus’ disciples involved in making disciples of all nations.
And so as you think about yourself and where you fit into next years picture of our congregation of being an evangelising congregation,
are you ready for this?

Now if we are to look ourselves alone,
or even our congregation
we can probably highlight a number of areas where we are inadequate.
This is not an unfamiliar story for people involved in God’s work.

Think about some of the significant biblical characters.
Moses initially resisted God’s call, saying he was not good enough.
David was seen as someone not worthy to fight Goliath
And look at the disciples Jesus chose
They included fishermen, tax collectors, who would pick them?
and even as disciples they had problems
John and James tried to secretly gain some extra power
Peter tried to get out of forgiving his brother.

And in today’s reading Paul highlights to the Corinthians and to us
that Yes he does have a weakness.
But rather than allow the weakness to stop him from participating in God’s work
Paul highlights that his weakness shows that God and God’s grace is essential.

You see Paul was addressing a congregation that had begun despising him.
And part of the reason was they were becoming interested in what they believed God could do for them right now.
They were interested in how they felt right now.
They were more interested in how God could bless them financially, materially and with a better life now.
Now it is true that God brings blessings to us today,
however these are not where we should put our focus.
God wants us to have the focus on the eternal life, the life with Him and others.

Unfortunately, the Corinthians had become more interested in following teachings that were not consistent with the God of the bible.
Teaching that encouraged them to highlight how good they were,
that put themselves first
rather than Jesus and his commandments of
“Loving God and loving others.”
And so Paul is now reminding them that although these teachings sound attractive,
they are not of God.
They are actually leading people away from God.

So what does this mean for us?
Well we all have weaknesses
All of us have things in our life that can make us feel inadequate.
We may even feel like God has deserted us at times.
Can you think of some of your weaknesses??

And what about when it comes to being part of evangelising congregation?
A Christian community who is at work bringing God’s grace to people.
What do you think your weaknesses are?
If we are honest, we can probably name a few.

There are two constructive things we can do with our weaknesses

First what if we allowed our weaknesses to become strengths for God.

The first reality as we look around at our congregation is that we are all different.
In some cases there are major differences.
What differences do you see in our congregation?
Now some people are threatened by differences.
They see differences as a weakness.
And unless everyone is the same they see we have a problem, a weakness and not ready for evangelism.
But what if we saw the differences in our congregation as gifts from God.
As different ways God speaks to people and blesses people.
Instead of ranking the differences in our congregation as what is closer to God and what is not
What if we see the differences as different ways people can relate to God and each other.
Now think about how that can impact our evangelising.
You may prefer a certain style of worship or certain style of small group.
But someone you know may not.
Someone God has put you into contact with may not.
With the differences in our congregation, you are able to direct people to the other options that are available.

That is the body of Christ at work.
And not surprisingly the passages regarding the Body of Christ
were also written to the Corinthians.
And as the Body of Christ we are called to complement each other,
And that means God has placed us amongst people with strengths we may not have
These are gift from God
And amongst people who can help us with our weakenesses.
And he has also placed us among people who need the strengths He has given us.
Recently I was watching the nascar racing on tv.
And one of the things that struck me was the appreciation that the driver and commentators had for a team.
When there was a problem it was the responsibility of the team to address the issue.
And when they won there was this recognition by the driver that he was not the team but part of the team.
It was the team that won the race.
Isn’t that what the church is about appreciating each other because each person in our congregation is a gift from God?
And isn’t therefore about helping each other with their weaknesses,
seeing each other as blessing from God.
And through the church, this congregation God is working through his people.

As a pastor I greatly value this.
There is some things I am ok at and some things I am not that good at.
But fortunately the pastor is not the church, the people are the church.
And in some of those areas where I am not so strong we have people who do have gifts.
One example of this is the wide range of people who provide care in our congregation.
Today in you pigeon holes you received a list of these people attached to the new position description for the Congregational Care Co-ordinator.
What a blessing it is to have such a diverse range of people who not only can care for others but are active in caring for others.
Many people have been blessed by people from our congregation who care on God’s behalf.
God has blessed us with a huge range of gifts in this area.

One of the other weaknesses that some people perceive is that we haven’t got it all right.
That we are not ready to evangelise until everything is in place.
Yes it is true we need to do some planning for the year of evangelism.
Yes we do need to do some preparation.
Yes we may need to make some improvements to our facilities, our structures and even our attitudes.
Part of that preparation will occur in Worship.
Part of the preparation will occur in monthly studies prepared by myself.
Part of the preparation may even occur in your small groups.
Think again about your weaknesses when it comes to evangelism?
What are they?
Will you seek God’s help?
Will you speak to me or another member of BCL about it so we can begin looking at ways that God can use the congregation to help you?

However the truth is also we are not God, we can’t see the future completely.
We will never have everything completely right.
One of the things a number of reformers did was highlight
that scripture shows we are all saints and sinners at the same time.
And with this in mind it is not surprising that everything will not be right.
And fortunately the good news is for God to work we don’t need to have everything right,
But we do need to trust Him.
Moses was effective for God because he trusted God.
David was effective for God because he trusted God.
The disciples were effective for God because they trusted God.
And in trusting God we are relying on His strength.
Especially to carry us through those times when we are not so sure, are uncertain.
To overcome what others may say is not possible.

And as disciples of Jesus Christ
God has placed people in our lives he calls us to touch with his love.
Who are the people you know?
Who are the people you see or talk to regularly?
These are the people God is calling you to bring His Good News to.

Now as you think of them,
you maybe wondering but I am not sure if they will respond to His Good News.
I am not sure if they would like our congregation.

Can I encourage you first to pray for them and that God gives you an opportunity to speak his Good News to them?
And constantly look for this opportunity.
Secondly don’t judge how people are going to react.
Listen to them, and speaks God’s truth to them, His truth of grace and forgiveness.
Help them see that God’s congregation is bigger than just one worship experience or some past experiences they have had with a church.
Help them to see that God is the God of grace.
The God who accepts them for who they are
and will help them in their life now but more importantly for their eternal life.

And interestingly the way God helps us can be varied,
In some instances he removes those difficulties from our lives.
And in others he allows them to remain, but gives us a different perspective of them
And how they can be used to show His power.

Some of you may have heard of Nick Vujicic.
Nick was born with no arms and no legs.
And for many people this would be devastating
However Nick doesn’t wallow in self pity or his problems
He allows God to use his life of no limbs to highlight God’s strength
To show people that they don’t have to be humanly perfect to be loved by God,
and to share God’s grace with others.

So today as we pray,
Bring your weakeness to Jesus
Asking him to help us to use our weaknesses to highlight God’s strength
This will prepare us for the year of evangelism
Because as St Paul says to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

Amen

The importance of being generous: 2 Cor. 6

2009-07-02T21:36:00.003+10:00

When it comes to generosity,
who are the first people that come to mind?
Does the church come to mind?
Is the church the first thing you think of when you think of generosity?
In other words, are we generous people?

Well it’s a matter of perspective.
Some of us have been richly blessed by the generosity of people in this congregation.
There have been people who have offered to give up their time.
There are examples of people who have freely donated extra money for God’s mission.
Michelle tells me that she has received donations from people for her upcoming trip to Indonesia.
People have told me that they have come to church here and received anonymous donations in their pigeon hole when they have been going through a rough patch.
And when we read the letters from Australian Lutheran World Service we realize how generous people are in our church, donating money.
Even our donation of a toilet block from the school to the Pella church has been seen as a huge blessing by them.
And through our generosity together we have a designated person to co-ordinate care in this congregation
and we have a person to equip and encourage our small group leaders
People in this congregation bless others from time to time in many different ways, whether it be a meal, babysitting, some words of comfort, or anything else you can think of
If you have experienced these things then you would say
That there are times when this congregation is generous.

But there are also times when the church is not generous.
When we haven’t been generous.
Think about those times when a need has been placed before you
either as an individual or leader in the congregation
and you have avoided it.
Or when you have looked for the easiest and cheapest way to help someone rather than the most appropriate…
And at times we have to reexamine whether we are still being generous.
A few years ago a pastor told me the story of his congregation .
75 years ago this congregation began in a blue collar working class suburb.
They scraped together things.
They even offered coffee and tea after church.
However in recent years the area had changed.
There were now more European cars than Australian cars in the main shopping area.
And one day a young couple moved to the area and attended their church.
But what happened after the church caused them a problem.
You see after church they were served International Roast Coffee….
Not wanting to be seen as complainers they offered to buy a small coffee percolator,
To be told be the person responsible for coffee and teas
Ahh we don’t need that and beggars can’t be choosers if they are getting it for nothing they shouldn’t complain.

Some people think that when it comes to money at church that we are actually doing a good job when we discover new ways on how not to spend money…
They think that is stewardship…
That maybe worldly stewardship….
but biblical stewardship is using the money, the time and the talents God has given so as to share the Gospel with others.

Who here believes that we are called to reveal God to others?
Well being generous reveals God’s grace to others.
And therefore from the bible’s perspective being generous is an essential part to being a Christian.
It reveals who God is.
Being generous is part of being spiritual.
If you think you are a spiritual person,
then you also need to be a generous person.
Listen to this from 2 Corinthians 8 verse 7
7 But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Now for some people this comes naturally.
My father is one of those…
Although he never had a lot of money…
He always was willing to help.
Some people have the gift of naturally being generous..
If you are one of these people I thank God for you.
If you are not
If you are someone who hears about a problem or sees someone in need and thinks do I really have to help.
Or surely the government should be looking after that
or who can I pass this onto
or how can I get out of helping
or I really have to look after myself
then it means you need to be more intentional about being generous.
Being generous is one aspect of Christianity.

Now you maybe thinking
Doesn’t Pastor Richard know the current state of the world financial situation?
The answer to that is yes…
And if you are suffering and life is difficult then come and see us…
But also because of our current financial situation.
Today’s bible reading from 2 Corinthians chapter 8 is even more applicable to us…

To give you the picture…
Paul is writing to the Corinthians church who had made an offer to help the Jerusalem church some months earlier
They had not come through with this offer…
Partly because the economic situation had changed….
You see the Economic situation was not good….
there was a drought
business was down….
This was true…

However the Corinthians had used the worldly situation as an excuse not to give.
They tried to cover up their love of money,
by blaming their lack of giving on the world situation.
And to highlight this Paul draws their attention to the church in Macedonia…
Whilst things were not so good in Corinth….they were terrible in Macedonia
And yet in numerous places in scriptures the Macedonian churches gave above their weight
Listen to verses 1 to 4 of chapter 8
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

Even though the Macedonians were under trial
and had extreme poverty,
They had overflowing joy and were generous.
Have you ever met anyone like that.
That even though life is tough they continue being generous.

One thanksgiving Sunday in Tasmania I was humbled by the Liberian refugees who joined our congregation,
Whilst I brought along two tins of Campbells soup, thinking I was doing something special.
These people with little money but a great deal of thankfulness brought along shopping bags full of groceries,
Plus an additional envelope of money for our church budget that had fallen behind.
They out gave most of the Aussies by far…
And when I talked them, it was because of two main reasons.
One they were so thankful to God for what he had done for them and will do for them,
And secondly they believed in reflecting God’s generosity.

And so there are two things that are required for us to be overflowing with joy and to be generous when times are tough.
First is that Jesus is our only God….
and therefore money, time or your skills are not.
In otherwords we don’t worship money as our god…
but we worship our God with money, time and talents!!

Secondly
We have a different perspective of what we have
We see what we have as not ours but Gods
And God has simply entrusted it to us to use whatever is in our possession to bring his love to others.
To reflect that He is a generous God.

A challenge for you this week.
Look at everything you own and ask yourself,
better still pray about
How does God want me to use:
the house he has given me,
the holidays I have
the money I have
the car I have
the relationships I have
in fact anything I have to share His love
How can I be generous with it so others can benefit and experience His love?
What God has given us is what God calls us to use to share His love.
Listen to verse 12
12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
God doesn’t call us to give beyond what we have but to give what we have

As you pray about this there are three things to keep in mind.
God through St Paul highlights that are three recipients of our generosity:
The Lord, as thanks for what he has done for us
The Church Community,
so that together we receive His love and we share His love
and other people, so that they experience God’s love
In other words be generous to God, to fellow Christians and to other people.
Not one or the other but all three.

Now the basis of all our generosity is God.
In us being generous we reflect who God is
Listen to verse 9
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

We are generous not so God will be generous for us,
but because He is generous to us.
God is constantly giving us…
He is not stingy on how he gives
Heaven is not just a safe place….away from hell
Unfortunately, that is how many people view it.
But listen to what heaven will be like
From Revelation 21 we hear
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea…
16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia a in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits b thick, c by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. d 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
That is what God has prepared for you and me…
Jesus gave up His life so you could have this.

Do you believe God is generous?
The truth is how we use money, our time and skills reflects what we believe
In Matthew 6:21 Jesus says to us where your treasure that is where your heart is also.
If you believe God is generous then we should be generous…
Generous with what we have
Generosity is not just a nice thing to do….
It is in fact the Gospel at work.
Generosity is dropping God into the lives of others.

Remember everyone is valuable in God’s eyes.
People matter to God and therefore people should matter to us.
Generosity is love in action

This week everyone you meet
And I mean everyone
see them as someone valuable to God
And see them as someone God is calling you to be generous to with what He has given you.
We don’t give because someone deserves it
but so the Gospel can be shared….

And generosity that is linked to the Gospel changes lives
A friend of mine who is now a Pastor grew up in a non Christian family.
This family found themselves in a difficult situation.
The father had left home and took some of the furniture.
Their mother out of desperation went to the local church,
Which happened to be Lutheran.
There they were helped not only with some food, but when the pastor brought food to the house he noticed they had no kitchen table.
He happened to mention this to one of the elders who cleaned up a table they had in the shed and gave it to the family.
As a result of this generosity they became more interested in God,
And now not only is he a pastor,
But his sister is a teacher in the Lutheran school system and worships regularly.
And his mother worships regularly

Generosity is the Gospel at work,
It leads others to know the love of Jesus
Amen

Sermon 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Persevering with Grace

2009-06-21T18:12:00.002+10:00

Our focus for this week is 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1 to 13.
Please open your bibles to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1,
or if you don’t have a bible please refer to the sheet in your bulletin.

This reading follows immediately after the reading we explored last week.
Last week we were reminded that walking by faith primarily means relying on and sharing God’s forgiveness and reconciliation throughout our life.
Receiving and sharing God’s forgiveness is the number one priority for our lives.

Connected with God’s forgiveness is the concept that essential to the church is God’s Grace.
Grace has been described as
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense

Grace is also understood at what God is doing for us and through us.

Throughout history graceful actions have changed people.
A few years ago in South Africa.
Whites had significant power over blacks.
One day a young black boy and his mother were walking down a street, approaching them was a tall white man.
Before they could get off the path as required, the white man stepped off the path into the gutter, and tipped his hat and sad afternoon maam.
The young boy asked, “Mum why did that white man do that, aren’t we the ones who are supposed to be in the gutter.”
His mother responded, “He’s an Anglican priest,
He listens to God more than He listens to men.”
That small gesture of grace changed the young boy’s life.
He got more interested in God.
And as a result that young boy became an Anglican priest,
His name is the Desmond Tutu, the black Anglican Bishop.

And when it comes to grace we all love receiving it.
Who here loves benefiting from God’s grace?
As I live my life I am constantly thankful for
how graceful God has been and is to me.
God’s grace is essential to our lives as individuals and as a community of believers.
We should aim for every action, every word and every decision we make as individuals and as the church to be influenced by God’s grace.

Let’s look at verses 1 to 2
As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. ‍
2‍ For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation.

It is always Grace time…time for grace
God’s grace is relevant for every situation.

Think about your life right now.
What is happening in your life?
Think about how God’s influence can affect every situation you are involved in.
In some situations, it may actually change what occurs.

In Acts chapter 9 we see an example of God’s grace at work.
A gentleman called Saul, who had been killing and persecuting the early Christians,
His life is changed when God interacts with Him.
God didn’t disown him for what he had done, but equipped him for a new life.
And becomes one of the best known Christians, St Paul.
Instead of persecuting Christians, he dedicates his life to following God
converting people to Christianity
and encouraging churches.

Also God’s grace can actually change how we view life and ourselves.
Research shows one of the biggest issues people face today is poor self esteem.
That is people not thinking themselves as being worthwhile.
People with poor self esteem either harm themselves or harm others, and often both.
Some years ago I developed a friendship with a young man
when I first met him he was a skinny young boy.
He however became obsessed with body building.
Over a few years his body altered to a muscley character.
Because of his obsession with body building His mother was worried.
He would look at himself in the mirror constantly,
picking out the smallest flaws in his body,
and connecting them to other problems in his life.
Body building had taken over his life.
At times he would miss school and not do chores around the house
because he was so obsessed.
His obsession had even meant he had cut people out of his life.
His girlfriend was fed up with him, and she soon became his ex girlfriend.
For him this was devastating.
Basically he had done what every obsessed person does
He had turned his interest in life into an idol,
It was more important than loving God and loving others.
Is there something in your life you are obsessed about?
Is it an idol?
But there were two things going for him, one he was prepared to talk to someone and secondly he had some respect for God.
That’s how I became friends with him.
As we talked about life I discovered that he didn’t think much of himself and he thought no one else did either.
Everyone including those closest to him had highlighted his problems and failures.
Now think about the picture.
Here I was this overweight character spending time with a teenager sports obsessed body builder.
I was not sure how he was going to relate to me.
As we talked we kept exploring about how God sees us as valuable.
That no matter who we are or what our situation, God considers us valuable.
He doesn’t like some of the things we do but He loves us.
We are so valuable that Jesus died for us and God wants us in heaven
And that he keeps persevering with us despite of flaws and failures.
Now getting to the point where he accepted this took a long time.
We met regularly and chatted a lot about life.
What was very helpful was constantly being reminded about what God is doing for us rather than what we have to do
He now sees himself as someone valuable in God’s eye…
someone God wants in heaven.
As a result he wants to live how God wants him to live.
He keeps reading his bible for this guidance
He is still body building but it is not dominating his life, God’s grace is.
He has a better relationship with his family.

So who are the people in your life that need to hear such grace?
Who needs to hear…life is not about you or them,
it is what God’s doing for you and them!!!

All of us are called not just to receive God’s grace,
but also to share it, and to share it gracefully.

And this is where some of our problems begin
most of us are quite happy to receive God’s grace.
But at times we have trouble sharing it.
Do you like being forgiven?
What about if someone hurts you,
do you think they should receive the same forgiveness?
Most of our troubles with sharing God’s grace occur because we don’t think it works in all situations.
We see people misuse it.

This is something that always worries may…
People abusing God’s grace.
In Jude verses 3 and 4 God actually speaks to us about this matter
‍3‍ Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. ‍4‍ For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Being forgiven by God is not permission for me or you to continue doing the things we are gaining forgiveness for.
That’s abusing God’s grace.
It does mean relying on God to help me with the sin in my life.

However when it comes to deciding
about whether we share God’s grace or not
We should not say because some people abuse God’s grace we should abandon a life of living gracefully.

Also another area where we face problems in sharing God’s grace is when we are going through difficulties.

In 2 Corinthians verses 4 and 5 we hear
‍Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ‍5‍ in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;

The first thing this list reminds me is that being a Christian.
Following Jesus will not always be easy.

Secondly how
How do you see this list?
Are they obstacles in your life?
Are they obstacles to you living gracefully?
Or can they be opportunities for you to live gracefully?

Whenever we have problems in our life they can become excuses for us to avoid living gracefully.
We may be aggressive with the problems, attacking with a sledgehammer.
We may be very passive about the problem, and become very quite even retreat from others and the world.
In both these situations, we are allowing the problems in our life to control us.
But there is another way.
How about we may deal with our problems in a graceful way,
Lets considers how God wants to help us with problems in our lives.

Remember the list of problems in verses 4 and 5 is written by a man, St Paul,
experienced many problems in his life including gaol and beatings.
And he often used his problems as an opportunity to drop the Gospel into other people’s lives.
How would that affect how you deal with problems?
Think about the problems you are experiencing now
The difficulties you are facing
They maybe long term, they maybe short term.
What if we saw the problems in our lives,
including those caused by others, as opportunities to reflect God’s grace,
to reflect how important God’s forgiveness is?

And verses 6 to 7 reveal to us what is helpful in us be graceful,
especially when faced with problems.
in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ‍7‍ in truthful speech and in the power of God;

Look at this list again
Purity refers to us having not having a fault, not just in the sexual area, but all moral areas.
Understanding refers to having an understanding of God and others.
Patience refers to expect some situations to take a long time.
Kindness refers to doing good for others and being useful to others.
In the Holy Spirit refers to allowing God’s Spirit to be your guide
in sincere love being genuine with your love, wanting to love them regardless
in truthful speech, saying it how it really is, being truthful about ourselves and God.
in the power of God…
And it is good that we ended with the power of God,
Because often for us to be graceful during difficulties that is what is required.
Without God’s power it is impossible for us to be graceful.

As you look at the list,
which of these areas do you need God’s help right now in your life?
Let’s stop and pray about it….

The final section of our reading says this,
Reading from 2 Corinthians 6 verse 7b
with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; ‍8‍ through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; ‍9‍ known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; ‍10‍ sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

As I read through these things I am reminded of the following:
First God’s grace is applicable in every situation…in all areas of life. Bad and good report, glory and dishonour, right and left hand, etc
Secondly being Christian is not just about everything going well or everything going badly. God is involved in every situation. His grace is needed for those who succeed and those who fail.
He is with everyone, loves everyone.
Thirdly in many situations we face we will see difficulties and joys.
This week as you live your life,
Allow God’s grace to influence and encourage you in all situations.
Be graceful witnesses.
Amen
Something for you to reflect on
and share with the person/people near you

In your life how have you seen or experienced God’s grace?

Sermon: What does walking with God mean!!! 2 Cor 5:6-20

2009-06-14T17:37:00.003+10:00

What does walking with God mean for you?

Tim and Patricia had been married for 17 years.
They were faithful members of the church.
They went to church regularly, helped out where they could
and were committed in helping their children learn about God.
For most of the years they felt they walked with God.
Sometimes they sensed God was very close,
other times they felt God was a little distant from God.
But generally they walked closely with God.

Despite some difficult times both Tim and Patricia felt God blessed their life.
Tim and Patricia had a good life.
There had been times of struggles.
But during these times they hung onto the promise from God that he was always with them.
They knew the good things in their life were blessings from God.
They tried following what God as much as possible.
Everything looked good.

That was until the day,
their 15 year old daughter Felicity had come home late one night,
not just a few moments but around 6 hours late.
As she walked into the house
Tim asked her, “What had happened? Why were you late?”
And before he could say any more Felicity snapped back,
“None of your business.”
To which Tim raised his voice, “It is so my business. I am your father.
You need to respect me. And whilst you live under this roof you need to live by our rules. It is not right for a girl to be walking the streets late at night”
And before long a shouting match erupted
until Felicity stormed to her room and slammed the door.
When Tim went to talk to Patricia about had happened he was somewhat surprised and disappointed at her response.

To Tim’s surprise he didn’t expect Patricia to say what she did.
Patricia was quite upset with Tim.
And said to Tim, “You always jump to conclusions,
and even though Felicity had done the wrong thing, the way you handled it was not right either, remember two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“But what about the fourth commandment, You should honour your father and your mother.” Tim hollered
Yes but you are just like my father you always forget about the other part of that commandment.”
Grumpy gruff Tim replied, “What other part?”
To which Patricia snapped back, “the part in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4 which says Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.“

By this stage Tim was not only angry but also frustrated and he said, “That’s what I am trying to do…I am trying to bring our children up knowing the Lord and what He wants. So they walk with Him throughout their life.”
“But Tim”, Patricia replied, “your intentions are right, but you are not listening fully to God.”
“What do you mean?” Tim snapped back
“Put it this way if I made your coffee without two sugars, would you say I had made you your coffee.”
“No, I would have said you made a coffee for yourself because that it is how you like it, but for me a coffee is milk and two sugars.” Tim replied.
“Well when it comes to God’s word don’t you think you interpret them how you like them. You often choose to skip over some important things. For instance when I mentioned the reading from Ephesians you were very quick to pick up that your job was to train and instruct children in the right way, as if the only important thing is that they learn what God wants them to do. But you seem to take little notice of the fact that God was saying it is also important that we do not to exasperate or stir up our children. So whilst Felicity did wrong, surely God is also highlighting that you also did wrong. That not only was Felicity straying in her walk with God, but you also were straying walking with God.“

Friends in Christ, does that story sound familiar in any way.

Have there been times in your life,
when someone has sinned against you and you then have responded in ways that are also not pleasing to God?
Walking with God involves not only doing the right things to avoid sin.
But when someone sins against us,
as Christians walking with God involves dealing with sin in the way Jesus calls us to deal with sin.
And Jesus not only informs us what to do, but also show us what to do.

I invite you to hear Jesus’ main focus for coming to earth.
From John 3:16-17
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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jesus was prepared to forgo his life so the sinner could have life.

One of the things that I find striking in scripture is this;
That frequently when God is dealing with sin.
His emphasis is not to highlight sin so that He can get rid of people.
Instead it is to mention sin so that relationships can be restored.
So that the relationship between the sinner and Him can be restored.
And the relationship between you and others.

And the only way this is possible is through forgiveness.
Is through the forgiveness God creates through Jesus death and resurrection.
That is the number one purpose of the Christian Life.
Relying on God’s forgiveness and sharing God’s forgiveness.

If you have a bible I invited you to look at 2nd Corinthians 5:18-19 and you will also find this as a bulletin insert.
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Walking with God involves us receiving God’s forgiveness.
And sharing God’s forgiveness.

So I have three questions for you?

First
What areas in your life are you most aware that God has forgiven you?
This is good to hold onto.
Continually thank God for it.

Secondly
Is there anything you need forgiveness for?
Have you sinned against God in any way?
Have you sinned against someone else in any way?
And importantly Have you allowed God and the other person to deal with that sin in a Godly way?

And this involves forgiveness so that the relationship can be made new again.

So have you allowed God to speak the following words to you, about that sin, Your sins are forgiven!!
Have you accepted that God forgives you.
And if there are other people involved have you given the other person the opportunity to say they forgive you?
As God says to us in Jeremiah 33:8
8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.
Have you allowed God to do that?
Have you allowed another person to do that?
In 2 Corinthians 5:20 we hear
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Walking with God involves having a major priority in our lives accepting God’s forgiveness.

Thirdly
Is there someone you need to forgive or reconcile with?
Maybe at church there is someone who bugs you, gets under your skin or who has even hurt you.
Maybe there is an issue between you and someone in your family.
Maybe at work someone has hurt you, you don’t trust.
Is there anyone in your life that you have problems with?

Listen to what God says to us if we have problems with someone.
From Matthew 5:23-24
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

In other words God is saying to me and you if you have a problem with anyone.
Before you come praising me, be active in reconciling with other people.
Take steps to deal with that issue.

So who do you need to reconcile with?
Who have you not forgiven?
Who do you hold a grudge against?

When we fail to address the issues between us and others we are not living the joyful abundant life God has meant for us.
Instead we are allowing sin to influence our lives and relationships rather than God.

And when this occurs God calls us to be people dealing with sin.
Being active in dealing with our hurts and grudges.

For some this can be difficult.

Quite frequently people say forgiveness doesn’t work.
Well what does our reading say to us today.
From 2 Corinthians 5:16 to 17 says
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Often when we say forgiveness doesn’t work.
It is because when we are involved in Godly forgiveness we are worried about not getting what we want.
But aren’t we involved in something far greater than ourselves,
Isn’t forgiving people being involved in what God wants?

Also there are times when forgiveness does work not just to secure our heavenly relationship but also to help us in our life now.
And when it does work it can be a marvelous thing.

At the start of the 2007 the Geelong Football Club were being canned by the media.
They had under performed.
Their coach Mark Thompson was under pressure there was a move to replace him if he didn’t perform.
Amongst this pressure Steve Johnson, a player with talent was in trouble
And not for the first time, but probably the fifth time.
But unlike other clubs,
Geelong had decided that punishing players was not the solution.
They realised it didn’t help the player and it didn’t help the club.
So whilst the media and many other experts were calling for his sacking.
The club put a plan in place with Steve Johnson to rectify the situation.

He had to deal with the consequences of his actions.
He agreed that he failed to meet team rules.
He agreed not to drink alcohol for the season as this was one of the issues he had as a person.
And he agreed to work at rebuilding trust between himself and the club.
The club also offered to help him in many areas of his life.
And for those of you who follow Geelong Football Club in 2007 something amazing happened.
By round 5 they had won only 2 out of 5 games,
by the end of the season they had won 18 out of 22 games.
Then they went onto win the Grand Final.
And the best player on that day was Steve Johnson.
Something that was only possible for him and the Geelong Football Club,
because both were willing to deal with His problems in a constructive way.
A way that enabled their relationship to develop and grow in a healthy and constructive way.

Likewise for each of us,
When forgiveness and reconciliation is the number one thing in our lives,
we are living as God wants us to live.
We are walking with God and reflecting who He is and what is important to Him.
So live knowing Jesus died for all your sins and live sharing His forgiveness with others
AMEN

Inspired thoughts: Using possessions to develop healthy relationships

2009-06-02T13:08:00.002+10:00

Possessions and money are an important part of many people’s lives. God gives them to us so that we can live, look after each other and develop healthy relationships. Now some people would argue they have worked hard for their possessions, and this maybe true but even the opportunity to work hard is a gift from God. To understand this a bit further take some time reflecting on Luke 12:15-21.

God is concerned about us developing healthy relationships so He gives us the commandment, you shall not steal. This commandment deals directly with how we treat others when it comes to their possessions and money. In short, God says the best way to treat other people’s possessions so that your relationships develop is for you to:

· respect them

·not take or keep them without them knowing or when they don’t want you to have them

·not acquire them dishonestly

·help them improve and protect their possessions and income.

As Psalm 37:21 says the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously and Philippians 2:4 reminds us each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

When we see our possessions and the way we treat other people’s possessions, as tools to develop relationships, the commandment not to steal is also about using our time and our possessions to help others.

Prior to coming to Portland I was part of a congregation where some Liberian refugees joined us. Most of the refugees came to Australia with nothing more than a small suitcase, the Australian government helped them out with some basics, but also a number of people at the congregation helped them with some other goods, clothing and services to make life a little more comfortable. Over time, I noticed something wonderful happening, not only did the refugees have stuff, but as a result of the generosity of the people around them who had concern for them, good friendships developed.

Something to think about and share as a family

Have you got something you need to return?

How can you use the possessions and income you have to improve and develop relationships with others?

Is there someone you could help improve their possessions?

To go a little deeper

Read Luke 10:29-37

The Holy Spirit is gathering everyone

2009-06-02T12:59:00.003+10:00

Whenever I go camping with a group of people

there is one thing that brings us together,

the camp fire.

Everyone seems to gather around the camp fire.

Likewise the Holy Spirit is active in bringing people together.

God’s Spirit has been active since the creation of the world in bringing people together.

And not just a select group of people but all people.

And God has chosen to do this through the Christian Church.

From Acts chapter 2 verses 5 to 12 we heard

⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

That is a question that many people have asked throughout history.

What does this mean?

The scriptures highlight that the God we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Is for everyone!!!

And this is one of the major things that make the Christian Church different from any other gathering of people.

The Christian church is a gathering open to everyone.

God will not force anyone to be part of the Christian Church

But He invites everyone.

Everyone who is willing to acknowledge that Jesus is their only hope for the future, is welcome to be part of God’s family.

In John 14 verse 6 we hear

⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

That is the only criteria God lays down to be part of His church.

That you believe that Jesus Christ is your only hope for the future.

It doesn’t mean there won’t be doubts or difficulties.

In fact the New Testament is extremely clear

that being a Christian on this earth will involve some struggles,

there will be difficulties,

that we won’t always get along together.

But remember when those things happen

God is around to help you and me out.

But unfortunately,

though not everyone feels comfortable or accepted at a particular Christian congregation.

Maybe you have felt on the outer, even at this congregation?

Well this is not God’s Spirit at work.

This is the human spirit at work, being led by a spirit other than God’s Spirit.

At times in the church people say and do things that make others feel unwelcome.

That encourage others to stay away rather than engage with other Christians.

This is not new,

Throughout the bible God reminds us that in gatherings of people who follow God there will be difficulties and differences.

And the solution to this is not that we all be the same.

It is not that we all look the same

Or we all do the same things

Or that we all agree on exactly the same things

The solution is for people

as individuals and as a community.

to allow God’s Spirit to be the driving force of their lives

And one of the main things that happens when the Holy Spirit is active in our lives is that repentance and forgiveness in Jesus name is evident in our lives.

Last week when we looked at Luke 24:46-48 we were reminded that one of the major roles of the Holy Spirit,

Is to help us be active in repentance and forgiveness in Jesus name.

God says one of the important signs that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives is when we are actively involved in repentance and forgiveness in Jesus name.

This is one way the Holy Spirit brings us and keep us together.

And so as the Pastor of this church

if you have felt unwelcome as a result of something we have done I am sorry.

Please forgive us.

If you want to talk about this please make contact with me.

Not only does God want you here, we also want you to be part of God’s family with us.

And if there is something in the way of that occurring please contact me so we can see what can be done.

There are also at times when individuals feel uncomfortable about being at church.

Not because of what anyone at the church has done,

but because of who they are and what they have done.

When this occurs in our lives

this is the human spirit being active deterring us from being in relationship with God and with other Christians.

Sometimes they feel embarrassed.

Sometimes they are worried they may have to give up something.

In other words who they are is more important than who God wants them to be.

Whenever the Holy Spirit interacts with our Spirit

there will often be times of being comfortable

and at times of being uncomfortable.

God’s Spirit will highlight were we are consistent with God

And highlight when we are not.

The first thing to keep in mind is that God’s Spirit is always wants to remind that because of Jesus death on the cross your sins are forgiven and you are welcome if you are prepared to accept God’s forgiveness.

Secondly in Galatians chapter 5 God speaks to us about this very point reading from verse ¹⁹When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

²²But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. ²⁵Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

In other words without God we live in ways that don’t encourage us to be in relationship with others

and in some cases we actively harm that relationship with others.

But with God’s Spirit influencing and active in our lives it is possible to have:

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

And Self Control

These are known as the fruits of the Holy Spirit

When these things are present the Holy Spirit is present in our lives.

And these fruits will encourage and help our relationships with others.

Something for you to think about.

Do you have any difficult relationships?

Are any of the Spirit’s fruits missing in your life?

Then engage with God.

Get around His fire…

Commit to allowing God to influence your life

by reading His word daily

by spending time with other Christians

and by worshipping regularly

Because God invites you and everyone to receive His blessings of eternal life.

Let us pray

Amen

Inspired thoughts: Developing healthy relationships

2009-05-26T22:40:00.001+10:00

Everyday God has placed us in situations where we are mixing with people. People are an essential part of our lives. Often they enrich our lives in obvious ways, other times we only notice them when they are missing. Imagine living your life only interacting with a computer and never meeting another human.

Our relationships are often complex. Fortunately, the bible offers us a lot of wisdom about living and mixing with others. One of the most important relationships that exists is that of family relationships. And as parents, we play an important role in this relationship. Ever noticed how occasionally your children imitate you, and it is not just the good things about you.

Some foundational and important wisdom for families comes from the sixth commandment; you shall not commit adultery. Scriptures reveal that this is not just about inappropriate sex, but about respecting and valuing each other and developing healthy relationships. Through Ephesians chapter 5 God says to us, Honour Christ and put others first. A wife should put her husband first as she does the Lord…A husband should love his wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. (Eph 5: 21, 22, 25). Think about how different your family would be if this always happened. A wife always loving her husband through her words and actions, a husband always prepared to give up stuff even his life so his wife could benefit. And children always respecting each other, putting others first

Such a way of living is tough work, because putting others first, even those who are closest to us, is not natural for us. Some starting points include spending time with each other to discover more about each other, discovering how the other people in your life see the future and other aspects of life. If you would like some help in this area feel free to contact me. Ephesians also offers us some further wisdom in this area, from Ephesians 4 God says to us, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ. (Ephesians 4:32)

Something to think about and share as a family
What are some good things about your family?
What are some ways you put others first in your family?
Does anyone need to hear that you forgive them, or do you need to ask for forgiveness from anyone?

To go a little deeper
Read 1 Thesselonians 5:12-28

Ascension Day Celebration: Looking up to lve today

2009-05-26T22:20:00.002+10:00

Today we celebrate Ascension Day,
the day when Jesus physically left earth and ascended into heaven.
Ascension Day officially is celebrated 40 days after Easter Sunday which was Thursday.
For many Ascension Day ranks up there with Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.
And it is something that is important to our Christian faith.
Many people attend worship services on Thursdays.
It is mentioned in the two most common summaries of faith
the Apostles and the Nicene Creed
In a number of countries throughout the world including Finland, Germany and Indonesia is considered so important that it is a public holiday.
And importantly you can find details about Jesus’ ascension in a number of places in scripture including
Acts chapter 1 verse 9 we heard
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

In going to heaven Jesus has not just left us stranded here and gone on some holiday.
Sometimes I think that is what people believe.
Sometimes I even wonder this, but then God reminds me what He is up to.
In 1 Peter 3 verse 21 we are told that Jesus sits in heaven at the Father’s right hand with everything under His authority.
That is a good thing to keep in mind as we live our lives.
Everything is under Jesus’ authority.
Not just some things but everything.
Now that doesn’t mean everything is good or happening to how God wants it.
But it does mean that God is interested in everything and everyone.
It also means everything and everyone will be judged by Him.

But Jesus is also active for us.
He has gone to heaven before us to prepare our rooms for us
In John chapter 14 verse 2 we hear In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

And he is also concerned about us now, on earth
That we continue to follow him and continue His work on earth
Listen again to a number of verses from Acts 1
4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
For our life now God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Next week we celebrate the church, God’s people receiving this gift.

It is important to remember that Jesus has not deserted us,
But through the Holy Spirit we continue to be in contact with Him.
We continue to receive an insight into our future with God,
But also important we receive instructions from Jesus on what we are to be doing as we live our lives now.

For a start God says to His followers, WAIT.
Wait until you receive the gift from God, before doing the next thing.
Because without the Holy Spirit we will have little effect.
Are you a good wait-er?
Do you have patience?
I am not.
I am a person who gets impatient if I have to wait too long.
I like to be active.
When I go to see a doctor, I know I must take a book.
I get frustrated with God when I think I am ready,
but he seems to be taking so long.
But waiting for God is not about doing nothing.
It involves preparation.
It involves being in situations and places that help you recognise God’s Spirit.
Think about this,
the disciples did not go and do their own thing whilst they waited for the Holy Spirit.
In the next few verses before the Holy Spirit is given to them
They continued to meet together.
They prayed together.
They found a replacement for Judas.
They prepared themselves for what God had promised.

Our congregation has said it is focussed on being an evangelising congregation.
A congregation that reaches out to people.
We believe this is what God is calling us to do.
To grow God’s church through growing our congregations.
The only way this will occur is by us relying on God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.
And each of us need to prepare for this.
We need to stop doing our own thing.
and instead be prepared by God
We need to be both passionate and prepared people
By praying together.
By meeting regularly together not just in worship but also in other things.
By putting the right resources people and things in place for ministry and mission.
Now some of these things are happening.
We have small groups in place.
Are you part of one?
We have people who are praying as a group.
With prayer we are about to start a daily prayer time at the church and give to our small groups prayer points for the fortnight.
And we are aiming to put the right resources in place so we can be effective in evangelism and mission.

But there is one final key to everything.
For us to be effective we need to rely on God’s Spirit.
Without God’s Spirit we will not be effective witnesses.

Our reading from Luke reminds us what it means to have God’s Spirit.
To be authentic witnesses for Jesus.
Listen to this.
From Luke 24:46-48
46 Jesus told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
As we live our lives
As we interact with people
God is asking you and me to be His witness
that He brings about repentance and forgiveness of sins to everyone.

Let me say that again, differently
As people interact with you,
Do they know
God brings about repentance and that He will forgive them their sins?
That is what God wants us to be witnesses of.

This is the key to how our lives should be focussed.
The number one thing your family, your work colleagues, your neighbours, your friends, people you do business with and else one else who bumps into you should know
Is that God is about bringing repentance and about forgiving their sins.
Do they know that?

Or do they think being a Christian is something else.
Some impressions of Christians that have been passed onto me by others.
They are too judgemental
They are too focussed on themselves, too worried about what they have physically and spiritually.
They are weird, usually referring to people who love telling others about their supernatural gifts.
They want to make us all robots.
They are unforgiving.

But being a witness is as simple as
Helping people see that …
that through Jesus we can have repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Or is it?

I often personally have experienced two problems with this simple instruction

One is my vision of repentance.
I automatically see repentance as someone pointing at me yelling
REPENT YOU HAVE SINNED
Some people say we have lost repentance in the church.
Because we don’t do this too often
Now occasionally this may work.
But that it is only one way to bring repentance into the lives of people.
Throughout scripture the term repentance has this focus on being turned to God.
And there are numerous ways people are turned to God.
For many it is about sharing the stories of God with them,
Sharing what God has done, is doing and will do for them.
And also how God is bringing us life for today and for the future.
And encouraging people to be focussed on this life rather than a short term life.
This involves investing time with people.
Can you think of someone you who needs to turn to God?
If so:
Please pray for them
Please make time for them
Please share with them how God gives them life.
And importantly rely on Holy Spirit
Allow God to do they changing of heart and to take time.
And allow God’s word to do the judging, remember it is Jesus and not you sitting at the right hand of God now.

The second problem I have experienced is that at times I have found it personally difficult to forgive people.
Our human nature is that we want our rights.
And we want people to pay for their sins.
For what they have done wrong.
Look at the news.
Look how vicious the media and even how our own conversations are when someone messes up.
Now there are consequences when people sin, when you and I sin.
But if things only stopped at the point of being punished
Then we are all stuffed.
But the truth it doesn’t need to stop at punishment.
God wants everyone to know that there is forgiveness, through Jesus Christ.
And God wants you and me to be a witness that He forgives.
Are there people you know who need to know they are forgiven?
To be a witness that highlights God’s repentance and to bring God’s forgiveness into people’s lives.

Repenting and forgiveness is not about us being perfect,
But constantly allowing God to talk to us and our situation.

We need God.
We need His Spirit.
We need to rely on Him
Prayer
Bible Reading
Associating with other Christians.
Patience

Everyday this week ask yourself
Who do I need to share what God offers, repentance and forgiveness with?

So look up in order to know how to live today.
Amen

Receiving what is needed for life

2009-05-20T13:00:00.001+10:00

One of the greatest miracles God has given each one of us is life. But God doesn’t just start life He keeps on sustaining life. Through the world God has created, He provides us with opportunities to grow through our mind, our bodies, our emotions, our possessions, our places in community and our spirit. God uses each of these areas of life to help us grow and have life now.
When our life is unbalanced, it often means we may have neglected one or more of the opportunities for our life to be fed. Its times like these we feel like a pot plant sitting on a dark veranda that someone has forgotten to water. Droopy, tired and hoping that a little bit of life will accidently fall our way.

But put that plant in the sun, give it some fresh soil and some water and it begins to brighten up. Likewise when we feel like a neglected pot plant we need to tap into the opportunities for life that God has provided. We may need to spend more time feeding the mind, caring for our bodies, dealing appropriately with our emotions, developing and nurturing our relationships, understanding who God has created us to be, caring for and managing the possessions we have and developing our relationship with God and with others who are influenced by God.

The facts are God is interested in helping in both this life and the life in heaven. Jesus informs us of this in John chapter 10, verse 10 where we discover Jesus came to give life to everyone and have it to the fullest. Having life to fullest also means living not just for today, but also for the future, the eternal future. Throughout our life we may need to avoid things that harm or kill off the possibility of eternal life, we may need to let go of some things and pick up others and we need to latch onto things that prepare us and develop us for the future life with the life giving God.

Something to reflect on and share as a family
How has God given you life?
What areas of your life, may you need to spend some more time with so you can have life?
How are you preparing and how can you prepare for the future with God?

To go a little deeper read: John 6:22-59

Sermon: Loving God means loving others

2009-05-20T12:58:00.000+10:00

The Christian life revolves around having two loves.
One is God
And the other is other people…
People in our congregation and people in our wider community

But Loving as God commands is not always easy….
Some people can be very difficult to love

Is there someone you find difficult to love?
Do you struggle with loving some people?
Maybe they have hurt you.
Perhaps they are soo different from you that there is nothing in common.

Our struggle to love someone shows that we are human.
And it shows that we are serious about love.
Anyone can have a theoretical romantic approach to love.
From a distance we can say we care about someone.
We can even pray for them.
But are prayers are often the starting point that maybe pointing us towards some action.
For instance in Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus says to the disciples ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest field.
Then in the very next verse in chapter 10 guess what He says to the disciples.
“You go”

And that is being active in love.
And such love is hard.
Loving a homeless person,
Loving someone who has hurt you,
Loving someone who is different from you
or Loving a problem person are some of the people God wants us to love.
And loving them can be difficult.

Satan and many people in the world give us excuses of why we don’t have to love them.
To treat them with love.
Like they don’t really deserve it.
Or it probably won’t work or they may even take it for granted.
Yet loving others is what God calls each one of us to be actively doing.
And this type of love involves giving more than receiving.
Mother Teresa in a famous speech highlights that the love God calls all Christians to be involved in,
Is the love that is not too focussed on what we receive, what we have or even how it makes us feel.
But rather Christian love is focussed on giving.
Giving away what God has given us.

Consider verses 12 and 13 of today’s reading from John 15
Jesus says 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Friendship for God is not based on what we have done for Him,
But rather what He has done for us.
Listen again to verse 16 of John 15
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

God is calling us to be involved in a love that gives
Many people find giving and laying down their life even for their friends difficult.
Let alone those people we have problems with.
As people affected and infected by this world,
Most of our lives are orientated around what makes us comfortable, what we want, what we can get, what we have.
Giving like Jesus is not a natural thing for us.
At times we will struggle in loving others as God has loved us.

There is only one remedy for this
We need to constantly be connected to the source of love.
When it comes to love we are a lot like a soaker hose.
A soaker hose is nothing more than a dry bit of rubber.
It has no hope of giving life
For it to be effective it needs to be connected to a source of water.
But when it is connected to water
Water flows not only into it but also through it and out of it.
It not only receives water it also passes water onto whatever is around it.
Likewise for us to love like Jesus
We need to be connected to God
And when we do this God and His love not only flows in us,
It also flows through us and onto those around us.
And so our times of worship together
Our times in small groups
Our times in personal and family devotions
Are times where God is not only showing His love to us,
But also preparing us to love others as He has loved us.

Now a starting point of how we are to love others is the ten commandments.
And from 1st John 5 verse 3 says
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
Many people are adverse to rules.
They will look for ways around them.
Some people think God commandments are too hard.
And they are hard, we know they are impossible to completely meet.
But avoiding them because we can’t always meet them is not the answer.
Consider this Jesus says when you obey the commandments you are showing love not only to God but also to others.
And so another way to look at the commandments is that these are our aims in life
That we should continually seek to meet their expectations.
Not so that we look good,
But so God and others are loved.

Which commandments most apply to you regarding the person or people you find most difficult to love?
For me it is often the 8th Commandment
Not bearing false witness against other people.
Especially the part that which is covered in the explanation where we are to speak well of others and explain their actions in the kindest possible way.

And when we fail in love
We are reminded that we need God
That Jesus laid down His life for us to deal with our failures
To pay for our sin and to guide us
God has sent us His Holy Spirit to give us strength to keep on trying to love others

And for some of our situations loving like God may be very difficult and it may take time.
One person I know very well had a major dispute with his sister.
They hadn’t spoken for a number of years.
He said every time he tried calling her she would hang up on him.
And he would feel hurt and angry.
But he desperately wanted to develop a relationship with her.
So we suggested he start from sending birthday and Christmas cards to her.
For two years he heard nothing.
Then on third year she rang him and thanked him.

Now some people have hurt us so much that our friends and society would say we have right to hate them.
A lady I met a few years ago joined a small group that was focussed on forgiveness.
She joined it because she wanted to love as God calls us to love, which includes forgiving others.
You see her adult daughter had been murdered.
She was struggling.
And she said the only way I will ever be able to forgive is through God’s guidance and strength.
Now when I left that small group, she indicated that she had grown she was still not at a point where she could forgive her daughter’s murderer,
But she indicated that she was a lot closer than before she began in that small group.
And she would keep relying on God.

Now back to your situation and the people your are struggling to love.
It may take time to love as God has loved you.
However keep on persevering.
Keep listening to God
Some of these people may take time.

We are called to live a life of love….
Loving God and loving others
They cannot be separated.
God says loving me involves loving others.
Amen

Mother's Day Sermon: Blessed by God through our mums

2009-05-11T04:25:00.003+10:00

Good morning
Could everyone who has or has had a mum please raise their hands?
Good I have prepared the right sermon for Mother’s Day.
We all have a mum.

God has given us many blessings in life.
Jesus is the greatest blessing of all, eternal life.
And not far behind Jesus would have to be mums.
Without them we wouldn’t have life.
God has given us life through them.
And they fulfil God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah
That He will bless them so they can be a blessing to others
God has blessed mums so they can be a blessing to us and others.
And there are many blessings mums are to us.

On a Monday a teacher gave her class a lesson on the magnet and what it does.
Every Friday they have a revision of the weeks lesson.
One of the questions was: “My full name has six letters. The first one is M, and I pick up things. What am I?”
Half the class replied mother.

Mums bless us in many ways.

I invite you to turn to the person next to you and share one way God has blessed you through your mum.

Some people have mixed feelings about their mum.
Not everyone has had a good relationship with them all the time.
And sometimes even mums get things wrong.
Remember Romans 3:23: for everyone sins and falls short of the glory of God

One day, a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of white hair sticking among her black hair. She asked "Why are some of your hairs white, Mum?" Her mother replies, "Well, every time you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white." The little girl thinks about this awhile, then asks, "So how come ALL of Grandma’s hairs are white?"

Despite their superhuman efforts at times mums aren’t perfect,
often they are the first to admit it
But God does forgive them.
And so should we.
Someone once said that one of the blessing about life they learnt from their mum is about forgiveness,
About seeking forgiveness and giving forgiveness.

This highlights something about mums that are worth remembering.
Throughout their lives they often reflect God
especially that God is constantly thinking of his children,
even if their children don’t think so.
Susannah Wesley, mother of John Wesley spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder two of her sons, Charles and John, were used of God to bring blessing to all of England and much of America.
But it is not only the obvious times that they are thinking of their children.
One of the most difficult situations I have so far in ministry is ministering to a lady in her last days.
For over 20 years she had been estranged from her children.
As we were preparing some details the issue of her children came up
At which you could see a tear in her eye
And she requested that I contact them and see how they reacted.
Even though she had not spoken to them for 20 years she had never stopped thinking of them and praying for them.
Unfortunately that night she died.
And she never got to speak to her children.
And they probably never realised that she still thought of them.

Being a mum is difficult
Kate Samperi writes before becoming a mother I had a hundred theories on how to bring up children. Now I have seven children and only one theory: love them, especially when they least deserve to be loved.

And we it comes to the blessing God gives us through our mums
We benefit most from mums when we allow God’s approach to life to influence our relationship
Ephesians 6:1-3 restates that famous commandment it says Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
Honour your mum’s.
Doesn’t mean we worship them as gods.
But it does mean we give them respect.
In this commandment God is encouraging us to always give them some of the time He has given us.
To give them respect.
As I think about it….not everything my mum does I like.
And when I was a teenager I thought she was a bit weird.
But over time you notice when you respect your mum.
More blessings become obvious.
And so I encourage you to respect your mum as God’s gift to you.
Also from Proverbs 1:7-9
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools a despise wisdom and discipline.
Listen, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching

or as the New Living Translation says
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
My child,* listen when your father corrects you.
Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

Our mum’s and dad’s give us true knowledge.
We can gain a lot of information from books and tv.
However some of the most valuable things in life are actually gained from our parents.

Now this doesn’t mean that everything my parents say is right or appropriate for today.
When I was first a parent I rejected a lot of what my mum and dads said as old hat.
But I have noticed that some of the things they say are valuable and helpful.
God has given them wisdom for life, and listening to that wisdom is like accessing an handbook for life

And for many people mums are also are instrumental in us receiving an insight into God.
In the Bible St Paul writes to a young pastor called Timothy.
Listen to what he has to say to him from 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 5.
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
When I first read this passage I thought surely there is not people in the bible called Eunice and Lois.
So I went to the original languages and there they were.
But did you notice something,
the faith that Timothy had in God was the result of the time put in by his mother and grandmother.
And it is true today for over 85% of Christians when it comes to faith the most influential person has been mums.
They are often the ones who are reading devotions at night,
Persevering with faith activities when children don’t want to be that involved.
And the second most influential are dads.
Mums and dads are the main encouragers of people participating in faith activities.
And what a wonderful gift to receive through our mums,
The truth that God is a God of love and has a place for us in heaven.

And the final thing God says to us today about our mums is they need caring for as well.
As Jesus hung on the cross listen to what he did for His mum
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

As Jesus hung on the cross
He is concerned for His mother.
He is making sure his mother is cared for.
And at times our mothers need caring for.
How does your mother need caring for.
Maybe she needs a little of your time?
Perhaps she needs some physical help.
Maybe a little patience.
Perhaps she needs to hear you love her.

Think of your mum and thank God for her.
And mum’s think of your children and thank God for them.

To finish off.
One day there was a four-year-old and a six-year-old who went down the street with their dad to buy mum a mother’s day present.
They bought her a pot plant. On mother’s day the four year old was really excited because they had used their own money to buy. But the six year old was a little upset. Mum said what is wrong. "There was a really big bunch of flower shop that we wanted to give you. And it was real pretty but we didn’t have enough money. It was just for you….It had a ribbon on it that said ‘Rest In Peace,’ and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a some rest and peace.

Whether you are a mum or the child of mum
Remember the blessing God has given you through your mum
And thank God for the blessing they give.

Because ultimately all good things come from God.
Amen

Inspired thoughts: Rest with God and don't miss the good stuff

2009-05-11T04:23:00.001+10:00

Have you ever missed out on something good?

It is very easy to miss some of the good things that God has dropped in our lives. Some years ago, I visited someone in another town. When I returned I happened to mention this visit to a friend and they said, “Did you see the lovely gardens? Did you go on the beautiful walk with the waterfall? You should have stopped at a particular café where they make hot chocolates that taste like a warm chocolate mousse. And did you visit this other person, they have some great stories to tell you about this area?” I had to confess that I was so focussed on what I wanted to do that I’d missed the opportunity to be blessed by the many great things that were on offer.”

The reality is God too constantly wants to bless, encourage, guide, protect and give us much for life now and the future. And one of the important places for this to occur is when we take time to spend with God not just by ourselves but also with other Christians. This is one of the essential reasons God said that we are to have a day of rest from our normal routine. Resting with God is not about us doing our own thing or doing nothing, it is about taking the time to listen to Him and to worship Him.

Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 to 25 reveal to us some of the benefits of taking time to worship God with others. When you take some time to read Hebrews 10:19-25 you will discover that God cleanses us, wants to take guilt from us, is giving us hope and promises us many things, and that He is faithful, giving us love and encouragement and is preparing us for the future.

God’s commandment, Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy, (Leviticus 23:3) is God really saying I want to have a deep relationship with you. It is God saying I want you to know what life is about now and in the future. It is about God wanting to make sure we get to receive many good things. And we get God’s insights and all the good stuff he offers by regularly spending time with Him and with others especially in worship services.

Something to think about and share
What are some good things you have got from God?
What makes spending time with God difficult and what can we do about it?
How is God different from our friends, work places and social scene?

To go a bit deeper, spend time reflecting on Psalm 135

Sermon John 10:11-18 following the Good Shepherd

2009-05-05T10:10:00.001+10:00

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday.
Are you following the Good Shepherd?
Or are you following someone or something else?

Who are you following??
Who influences you in your life?
What or who is behind the decisions you make?

This week as you make decisions
As you respond to how others react
As you live your life ask yourself who or what am I following?

Is it other people?
Other ideas?.
Or other approaches to life?

One of the Early Church Fathers is a gentleman called Augustine.
He has had a significant influence on some aspects of Christianity.
Despite being born to a Christian mum.
His father was an open pagan.
Early in his life he did not follow the faith,
Instead he loved women, debating and many lustful joys of life.
He openly had what we would call mistresses.
He followed some of the popular thoughts of the day
that encouraged people to think of themselves first, second and third.
Even as he turned to God he was still pulled like a strong magnet to other approaches to life.
As he was going through his early life he had a famous prayer, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet"
After some disappointments with what he was following and believed,
realising that this were not going to satisfy him.
He read the story of St Anthony of the Desert,
Resulting in Him turning away from many things in His life.
To God.
Then he picked up Romans 13, from verse 13.
This is what he read:
13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Overtime he became one of the most influential followers of God.

What about you are you following God?

Sometimes we think we are following God…
But are we?
I often I am confident I am following God,
And then I think of Paul when he was called Saul
He followed God as the Jews knew God.
His understanding of God was not just based on what we know as the Old Testament
But also the traditions of His father
And in the way He wanted to follow God..
He was bound a lot by traditional ideas and thoughts.

Even in the church we can think we are following God.
However at times I am amazed what people think is Christian.
Early in the history of the Lutheran Church in Australia
There was a discussion at one congregation about introducing a new worship service
An English worship service…
The children of the German families spoke mainly English but all the services were in German.
But there was opposition.
One lady said if German was good enough for St Paul then it is good enough for me.
Often we too can be bound up with ideas about how things should be.
And whilst these ideas maybe helpful for some people they aren’t for all

Some years ago I was at a congregation when a missionary from Papua New Guinea,
Questioned the pastor why people were so disrespectful and ungrateful to God for His suffering and dieing.
He said you go with your head bowed, and you look so sad.
And you return the same way looking so sad.
He went on to say, “Don’t you understand what God has done for you.”
“Aren’t you happy that God laid down His life for you so you can have life, and has taken all the weight of your sins.”
In Papua New Guinea people come down the aisle dancing and smiling because they are so thankful that God wants them in heaven so much that he would lay down His life for us.
They are grateful of what God has done.
He really got me thinking.
And realised both responses are very valid.
When my head is bowed and I look sorrowful
I am reminded of the fact that even though God loves me
I have sinned and I continue to sin.
That I am ashamed.
And when I come away smiling and being thankful
I am reminded of the fact of what Jesus has done for me.
That He laid down His life for me.
Isn’t that something to be joyful and thankful for.

And we truly need to examine what we think,
how we act and how we see things
Through having a deeper relationship with God.
By spending more time with God
And this means spending time in the scriptures
And allowing God through the scriptures reveal himself to us.

This means we rely on not just what someone has said
Or what you have read in a book
Or what people think makes sense
Or even what is said in official church documents
Now it is not that these ideas are wrong
but we need to understand their context in scripture.

Because following God means following
who God says he is and how God says we are to live?

And this morning we have heard that as Jesus
God is our Good Shepherd
John 10:10
I am the good shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays his life down for the sheep
Now it is important to understand something…
Good and Shepherd is a little like an oxymoron
It is like saying Honest Car Salesmen
It is not that there are no Car Salesmen who are honest
But the word honest is not what first comes to mind when I mention car sales man.

Jesus is a Good Shepherd because of what He has done for us.
He voluntarily laid down His life for you…
You have life because He has died for you.
In yesterdays Age there was a story of why AFL teams win premierships.
It wasn’t because of money or tactics.
It highlighted that the recent AFL grand final winners had players who would significantly put their body on the line for their team mates.
There was example after example of players who are prepared to put their bodies on the line so that their team can get an advantage…
And this is exactly what Jesus has done for you
He has put His body on the line for you.
What a great God to follow!

And what does it mean to follow this God.
Well listen to this from 1 John 3:16-20
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Following God involves laying down our lives for others…

Now Jesus is not asking you to go on the cross
But He is calling each of us to be prepared to serve others.
Not because they deserve it, but because they need it.
One of the most influences in my life is my grandma.
By the time my father was six
Her husband had died
She brought up four children at a time when there was little welfare.
But she was also dedicated to her Lord.
She was involved in a Lutheran Rest Home not in her town by a near by town.
When you visited her home she had mission boxes for not one but a number of missions
Her focus was about helping others experience and gain the love of Jesus
Not because they deserved it but because that’s what they needed to experience God and His love.
Even those who were different to her or saw things differently,
she was generous with.
And this reminded me of something a pastor once said
He got up one Sunday and said to His congregation…
Don’t come to church…
The elders and the treasurer just about had a fit.
Then he said I want you to be the church

When we just come to church
We are more interested in what we get from church
Whether the music was what we liked
Whether some did what we wanted.

But when we see ourselves as being the church
We not only look to receive God’s grace and love
We hear the cries of others
We see the people in need
And we look for ways to serve others so others benefit
We look to be God’s hands and feet.

And often at this church we have some great people who are keen to be the church.
Keen to serve.
We have people who are regularly helping others.
But there are also people and groups crying out for help.
We have parents and children who are crying out for a safe place for their children.
Our Bible song team needs extra helpers and teachers
On Wednesday, we have midweek communion, and we need people to transport others to church.
Being the church means helping others experience the one who has laid down his life for us.
And laying down your life may mean putting aside how you look or even what you believe is important.
As we enter a phase of evangelism there will be people who will come in here who will irritate you and me.
People who are interested in developing a relationship with God but not necessarily in the ways we do
Laying down our life means putting some of our likes aside so these people can experience more of the one who laid down His life for us.

So this week ask yourself
Who are you hearing and seeing who needs help so that they can experience God more?
And how can you lay down your life for them?

Has anyone read the Heavenly Man?
It is the story of Brother Yun, who was called by God to be involved underground house church movement in China.
I need to stress Christianity is not illegal in China.
But it is very rigidly controlled.
Brother Yun was prepared to share the gospel with people through the house church movement even though it meant imprisonment.
But even in prison he got to share the Gospel.
And when he was released from prison,
Do you know what he did?
He continued sharing the Gospel.
He was prepared to lay down his life for others so they could develop a relationship with the God who laid down His life for them

Come on follow the good, the true shepherd who gives you life
And help others follow him…Amen

Inspired thoughts: God is in everything

2009-04-30T22:55:00.000+10:00

As I plan my week’s activities I see that my life is broken up into a number of compartments, with work in one box, school in another, children’s activities in another, home life in another, family in another, community life in another, personal development in another. And in each of these boxes there are some smaller packages, for instance my work consists of various responsibilities and goals.

Breaking up my activities this way, helps me plan my time and gives me some key points to focus on. I am also aware that there are at least two important things to remember;
First, each compartment or box in my life affects each other. When I think about them in isolation problems usually arise. What I do with one affects the others. For instance, when I elect to take on more work it will affect how much time I can spend in the other boxes and it may affect my relationships in the other boxes.
Secondly, God weaves through every compartment or box in our lives. God is not a compartment of our life but He is involved and interested in all compartments of our lives. When we take the time we will notice that God is like a bottle of perfume that has leaked in our luggage, the aroma of God is in everything we are involved in. Our church activities and devotion times are essential compartments in our life, to help us discover how God is blessing us and involved in every part of our life. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 6 reminds us… There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

And not only is God in everything, of all things He is the most important. We should be thinking of Him and His perspective is in everything we are involved in. As 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 31 reminds us… When you eat, drink or do anything else, always do it to honour God.

Something to reflect on and share with others
• What activities of your life is it easy and difficult to see God involved in? and why?
• This week…What are you involved in?….How has God blessed you through these activities? How can you honour God in everything your are involved in?
• How does loving God and loving others affect the activities of your life?

Want to discover more…read Colossians 1:12-20

Sermon: Easter 3 Luke 24:36-49 Seeing Jesus

2009-04-26T23:26:00.002+10:00

In today’s Gospel reading,
the resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples
but they do not recognise Him.
They have trouble believing what they see.

Reading from verse 36 we heard
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement.

If Jesus was to walk through this door today what would you expect Him to look like?
Gleaming white.
Neatly dressed, without a crease or blemish.
Or perhaps looking straight out of 33ad…in his rags and sandals.
We develop images of Jesus and of God.
We expect Him to look and act in a certain way.

And it was the same for the disciples.
Things hadn’t turned out for them as they expected.
Their leader was killed,
they had heard reports of his resurrection but they had not seen Him.
Throughout His ministry Jesus had attempted to reveal to His disciples that He first needed to die
for His mission to be successful.
Yet that didn’t make sense to them.
Listen to what happened as Jesus was being arrested..
From Luke 22:49
49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

And that was not the first time…
On numerous occasions throughout His ministry Jesus attempted to tell His disciples that He must suffer and die and that he will rise again.
In Matthew 16 there is an encounter between Him and Peter,
With Peter telling Him off for even suggesting such a thing.

And now he arrives as the resurrected one
With scars

So what about you?
Does Jesus live up to your expectations?
Does God act and appear how you expect?
Many people have expectations of Jesus…
More comfortable, richer, perfect unity
But is that what Scripture says Jesus is like and will do.

But if we really want to see and understand Jesus we need to first look at scripture
This is what he told the disciples reading from Luke 24 verse 44
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

When he said that everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law, Prophets and Psalms
He is referring to the Jewish Bible, what we know as the Old Testament.
Jesus is emphasising that in order to understand how God operates and His purposes we need to look at scripture.
And that scriptures most important purpose is to emphasise Jesus and what He will do.
In other words scripture acts as a letter to us as to how we can identify Jesus.
And so what does scripture say about Jesus.

First of all He comes in peace.
Peace be with you
This is a typical Jewish Greeting
But also a greeting used frequently by God.
At times God uses when people experiencing God are likely to be afraid
In Judges 6 verse 23 the Lord says to Gideon, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
And in Luke 2 when the angels appeared to Jesus they said so not be afraid, he brings peace to whom His favour rests

One of the identifying marks of Jesus is that He brings peace
This doesn’t mean at times we will feel uncomfortable with Jesus
Remember he also told us he was giving us peace that was different to what this world offers.
When Jesus speaks to us, at times it is not comfortable.
He will confront us where our lives are not consistent with God and His ways.
He will highlight where we are out of alignment with God.
When I drive my car and the steering is a lit rough I know the wheels need realignment.
Likewise when I open scripture and Jesus speaks to me
and I feel uncomfortable I know my life needs some adjustment.
Helping us identify where we are out of alignment with God is the start of Jesus bringing peace into our lives.
And he also does two things for us to rectify the problem.
To give us peace.
One he fixes up the damage being out of aligned with God has caused.
And secondly he gives us guidance and help to change, to remain in alignment with God.

The second identifying mark of Jesus that is highlighted through the scriptures is that through suffering and rising.
Jesus fulfilled the scriptures.
God had revealed this is how the Messiah would achieve victory over Satan even in the Old Testament.
In numerous places in the Old Testament God reveals that the one who will save His people will suffer, take for instance Isaiah 53.
Yet it wasn’t until it occurred that this became clear to others.
People couldn’t comprehend that this is how God works.
How could dieing bring victory?
But that is exactly the plan of God.
Jesus suffering, dieing and rising was God’s plan to defeat Satan and bring salvation to the entire world.

And this identifies the third identifying mark about Jesus.
that His main purpose is to bring repentance and forgiveness.
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
The reason for his suffering, death and resurrection was that repentance and forgiveness was possible for you and me.
We should never lose sight of this.
That for every Christian the number one thing they should be focused on is repentance and forgiveness.
Are you?
Are you eager to expose your life to God’s word
and allow Him to redirect you where you are out of alignment?
And are you willing to accept that you can’t rectify the problems between you and God without Jesus’ forgiveness?
Both repentance and forgiveness are essential.
Repentance is recognizing you are out of alignment with God and being realigned to His ways.
Forgiveness is dealing with the damage this realignment has caused.
Both require God to be active.
They should not be separated.
A life without repentance is simply thumbing your nose at God.
And a life without forgiveness is living in hell.
Jesus died so repentance and forgiveness is possible for you.

And the forth identifying mark of Jesus
Is that we are His witnesses.
He uses us to bring his message of peace, repentance and forgiveness
Reading from verse 48
48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

For some peculiar reason God has chosen you and me to be His witnesses…
To represent Him to your family, workmates and friends.
This is not an option.

Now we can be good or bad witnesses.
A good witness relies on God’s power, that’s what Jesus asked the disciples to do.
And God’s power for us comes through His scriptures and the Holy Spirit.
This is why it is so important to be constantly attending worship services and to be frequently reading the bible.
These are two foundational practices in your life to being in touch with God.
And a good witness reflects who Jesus truly is.
That Jesus is concerned both about repentance and forgiveness.

And this is our challenge…
Of how to be witnesses to both in the various situations we are experiencing.
The starting point needs to be ourselves.
Are you exposing your life to the bible?
If not begin.
Do you recognise which areas of your life are not in alignment with God?
Are you seeking help in these areas?
And do you also recognise that God forgives you!
Do you understand what it means to be forgiven!!

Being a witness does not mean you need to be perfect, with no flaws.
Being a witness means reflecting what Jesus is doing in your life.
Highlighting what he has done, what he is doing and will do.
That Jesus is on about both repentance and forgiveness.

This is how the scriptures portray who Jesus is.
Both these bring change to our lives now and in the future.

My story….recognising that forgiveness is more than sorry!!!

This week
Look for opportunities to reveal to people that Jesus is on about both repentance and forgiveness..Amen

The essentials for life: Loving God and loving others

2009-04-22T19:21:00.001+10:00

Our lives are full of a lot of stuff….school, hobbies, sport, work, church, careers, study, earning money, paying bills, finding work plus a truckload of other things. To check out what fills up your life look at your calendar or diary and bank accounts or credit card statements.

Now because God has made us all different we are involved in different things and have different likes…our lives will be filled with different activities, things and people. For instance at school some find maths exciting, others English, some love sport, some music, some reading and some drama. With all these differences, what an exciting mural God has created of life. What would life be if everyone liked the same things? Image if everyone followed Collingwood Football Club now that would be a strange God…

And our differences extend to how we relate to Jesus. In his book Sacred Pathways Gary Thomas highlights this; for instance some of people are wired to need routine, whilst others need quietness, others need to be very active, others relate better to Jesus when they are able to use their range of senses, others when they are confronting what is wrong and others when they are outside. (If you would like to discover more about the different ways of relating to Jesus, feel free to contact me.)

Now the challenge for us is how to live together with our differences. Fortunately, when people were trying to work out what was important Jesus highlighted that the key to living with others was to realise that everything we are involved in needs to be in harmony with loving God and loving others. There is no exception. These are the Greatest Commandments. Open your bibles to Mark 12:28-34 to discover more. No matter what we are doing, we should consider how we can love God and love others.

Some things to think about and share as a family
· When have you experienced someone loving God and loving others?
· How does loving God and loving others change how you do things and relate to others?
· In what areas of your life do you find it easy to love God and love others?
· And in what areas of your life do you find it a challenge to love God and love others? (ask God for help!!)

Throughout this term we will be exploring living a life of loving God and loving others in chapel, please join us if you can, ask your children and grandchildren what they have discovered

Easter Sunday Sermon: Allow God to deal with the boulders in your life...He loves you!!

2009-04-14T11:37:00.000+10:00

New things in our life changes a lot of things.

Anyone ever had a new baby in their life?
Do you remember the changes that it meant?
What about a new home or a new school?
Or perhaps a new boyfriend or girl friend?
New things bring changes to our lives.

And Christ’s resurrection changes things, it changes our life
It changes the way God relates to us!!!
And it changes how we view God?

Some of you know a song that goes like this:
Be careful little hands what you do.
Be careful little hands what you do….
For the Father up is looking down in love…
Be careful little hands what you do

Unfortunately many people don’t view God this way.
They live and sing the song like this is
Be careful little hands what you do.
Be careful little hands what you do….
For the Father up is looking down in love…
Be careful little hands what you do

But that is not the God who comes to us at Easter…
God came to us to shower us in love.

To understand Easter.
You need to understand Jesus’ mission.
And His is mission,
His entire reason for walking this earth,
For suffering
For hanging from the cross
And for rising again is very clearly spelt out in John 3:16-17.
I invite you to listen to his mission
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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

This message changes our life.
And it changes the life of many people.
Did anyone read the story of Anna Nobilli in the newspaper this weekend.
Anna Nobilli for 18 years was an exotic dancer,
However after visiting a religious place and hearing the message that no matter who she is God loves her,
Her life changed.
She did one more exotic dance then followed Jesus and is now a nun in an order that seeks to bring God’s love to people in many different situations.
She is dancing for the Lord.

Jesus’ resurrection not only demonstrates that he wants to love you.
It confirms that He actually loves you and that as part of Him loving you he is giving you the key to eternity.
His death and resurrection means coming your way is the gift of eternal life.

That is what Easter is all about…
God saying if you trust me, to deal with sin you will have life.
God saying to you there is not one sin that can prevent you from spending eternity with me
God wants to give you that gift
And so the question is will you accept it?

If I was to toss out a bucket full of easter eggs this morning and no one picked them up then no one would benefit from them.
To enjoy their sweetness you would need to grab them.
Likewise to enjoy God’s love we need to grab hold of it.

And there lies the problem for many people….
There is a big boulder between them and God.
They find it difficult to accept God’s gift of forgiveness and new life.

Maybe at times you do to.

Maybe you have done something in the past that you know is wrong and you are not quite sure if God really forgives you.
You don’t feel good enough.
Well that’s not a new problem.
In the Luther movie, the story of Martin Luther experienced this early in his life.
He would even go to the extent of making up sins because he was sure he had committed them
In the end his advice is to stopping dwelling so much on his sins and start dwelling more and more on God’s grace
Can I say to you if that is you?
God forgives you!!
Jesus died and rose for you.

But this is not the only boulder that gets in between us and God.

There are also other things that are boulders
Things that get in the road of us having a relationship with Jesus.

Think about what are the boulders in your life?
What are the boulders that exist between you and God…
Maybe they are past hurts….
Perhaps it is the whole question, why does God allow the supposedly innocent people to suffer.
Perhaps there is something in your life that you think or you know you may have to give up to have integrity in following God.
Maybe it could be as simple as your life at present is making it very difficult to develop a relationship with God…like you’re a mother with kids and you keep coming to church but you feel you spend more time dealing with your children than God, maybe its sport or work, perhaps you have a non believing partner or is there something else that prevents you from regularly being in touch with God.
Perhaps you believe everyone should relate to and worship God in the way you do. If that is the case can I recommend to you a book called Spiritual pathways…by Gary Thomas
It could be you believe God should be acting in a certain way, and He is not…

Throughout our lives all of us will have some sort of boulders in our life that get in the way of us relating to God.
And the truth is we need God’s help for them to be removed and dealt with.
Throughout our lives we constantly need God’s to be in constant contact with Him.
When the boulders are removed we get to experience the gift of life from Jesus.
But for the boulders to be removed it requires greater strength that what we have alone.

Now this doesn’t mean we necessarily sit back and do nothing…

There are three things that you can do so that you are more open to God helping you.

The first is Pray: In Philippians 4:6 God says to us
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Whenever we are faced with a boulder…pray about it.
Bring it before God in prayer and then listen for his answers….

The second thing is regular bible reading and study.
One of the biggest problems is we all have our own opinions on how things should be.
Some of these are not influenced at all by God
And to understand and gain God’s perspective on life,
on how God sees life now and in the future
it is a pretty good idea to listen to him.
And listening to him involves bible reading and study.
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path.
In other words the scriptures reveal what God is on about and where we are going.
Eugene Peterson the editor of the Message Bible once said
Following Jesus doesn't get us where we want to go.
It gets us to where Jesus goes, where we meet him in Resurrection surprise: "My Lord and my God!"As we read and study the scriptures we begin to see how God sees life to be.

If you are not already part of a small group…Join one…
put a note in my pigeon hole that you want to be contacted about bible study…

The third thing we can do to be more open to God helping us is to constantly seek counsel for our situation and the boulders in your path.
Now did you notice not all the boulders that exist between us and God are necessarily sins.
But they can create problems unless they are dealt with.
In Proverbs 15 verse 22 God reminds us
22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
The reality is God works through His church.
He works through other Christians, our staff, leaders and each other.
When you see a boulder in your life between you and God seek help.
Take the initiative to talk to myself, our staff or other Christians.

Leaders there is also something we need to be aware of when it comes to boulders in the lives of people.
We have a special responsibility to help people with their boulders.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke Jesus says
“Let the children come to me…do not hinder them for such belongs the kingdom of God.”
And this was said the to the leaders around Jesus at the time and it is said to us.
If you are a leader in this congregation one of your callings is to allow God to use you to be part of His team in removing the unscriptural obstacles that are getting in people’s roads of having a relationship with God.
You are called to be obstacle removers not obstacle enforcers or encouragers.
Leaders look for opportunities to remove obstacles in the path of people experiencing a relationship with God.

Did you notice something in the Gospel reading this morning
when the women got to the tomb and the boulder was removed
But it wasn’t as they expected.
They were expecting a dead Jesus.
A Jesus they could preserve with their spices.
But He as not there and they were told he had risen.
Now you think they would be excited but they panicked
Listen again to what happened

Reading from Mark 16:4
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

At times we love confining God to our understanding.
We expect God to be exactly where we want him.
to how we understand things…
The truth is there are many mysteries about God.
Some which we will never explain on this earth.
There are many things we can never understand.

The woman thought Jesus was going to be dead .
They wanted to preserve him in beautiful spices.

But instead he did what the prophets had said he would do.
He did what he said he would do.
Before he died Jesus mentioned on numerous occasions that he would die and then rise again three days later…
Listen to what he said in Mark 8 verse 31
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
However the women were not expecting this.
So they panicked.
And there is also a hint in the reading that the disciples had probably given up on Jesus.
In verse 7 it says that Jesus had gone on ahead of them to Galilee.
Now do you know how far Galilee was from the tomb
It wasn’t just the next suburb from where the tomb was.
It was around 109 km away…
Now that is roughly the distance between here and Mt Gambier…
And why was he going to Galilee?
Well that is where around half the disciples were from.
And following Jesus death they had returned home.
In other parts of scripture we know that some of them returned to their previous occupations as fishermen.
They had given up on Jesus.
But Jesus still goes after them
Goes after them to shower them with His love.

And when anyone deserts God.
Jesus will still comes after us.
Not to punish us but to love us…
To put his mission back in our lives….to save us.
That is part of my story…

I was baptised, went to Sunday School, confirmation then slowly drifted from the church.
I didn’t see what God could offer me.
I had given up on him.
But God through his church and family persisted…
Constantly dropping His love into my life.

Now finally the interesting thing about this morning’s reading is that the women didn’t do what they were told.
They were told to tell others that Jesus was risen but they didn’t.
But that didn’t stop Jesus.
It didn’t stop the Good News of Jesus resurrection getting out….
How do you think we know about it?
Because others did.
As we heard in Acts other people shared the message that Jesus died and rose from the dead
and as a result that everyone who believes in him has forgiveness for their sins.

Come on lets be part of His church that continues sharing this message.
Have the courage to talk to bring God’s love into your conversations.
Some of you will be eating today with people who are not too sure of this message,
or even sure what Easter is about.
Why not say today we are celebrating that God forgives us and loves us no matter who we are or what we have done…
Today we are celebrating that God forgives us and loves us no matter who we are or what we have done….

To finish off I would like to share with you a story I came across about a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa.
“Some of his friends asked him,
‘Why have you become a Christian?’
He answered, ‘Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly the road forked in two directions,
and you didn’t know which way to go,
and there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one alive—which one would you ask which way to go?’“

Come follow Jesus the living God…
He is offering you life now and in eternity. AMEN

Sermon: Palm Sunday Mark 11:1-11 Sensing and receiving God's peace

2009-04-07T18:23:00.000+10:00

Could I get an indication of who here desires conflict, fighting, feeling uneasy?

(What no one? I thought there would be one or two)

Most people desire peace.

Having God’s peace in our hearts is something God wants all of us to have.
Listen to Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
In other words peace should dominate our lives.
Peace should dominate the way you live.

And so what is your image of peace?

Close your eyes for a moment.
And think about what is peaceful for you.

Maybe it is a beach with a moderate temperature with the waves gently rolling in.
Sun not too hot and the wind not too cold.
Perhaps it is a quiet bush walk.
Or time alone in front of a log fire with a warm coffee and a good book and calming music.
Or knowing exactly what is going to happen next.
Maybe it is simply no conflict.
What else are you thinking about?

Now these are all great images of peace.
And when we experience them we should thank God for those experiences.
It is God who gives us everything good in our lives.

But when the scriptures talks about peace
When God talks about bringing peace that is not what He is referring to.

In John 14 verse 27 Jesus says very clearly to us
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Today’s readings give us an insight to what God is talking about when he is talking about peace.

Imagine being part of a group of people who are oppressed.
Who are on the outer.
A bit like a Collingwood Football Club supporter.
People who have a foreign ruler,
with strange ideas and understanding of life.
Some of which conflict to your own values.
That is the situation the Jews of Jesus time and many years before were facing.
The Romans are ruling them.
The Roman leaders expect to be seen and treated as gods.
They live and encourage living that is not only in conflict to God’s approach to life, but is even offensive.
They have little respect for the God of the Jews.
So no wonder the Jewish people had been holding out for a leader to put them in power.
They are waiting for a Messiah.
Someone to save them.
Someone to take them from being oppressed to being respected.

Ever felt like that?
Ever felt oppressed or slightly on the outer.
As Christians we should.
In 1 Peter 2 verse 11 we are reminded that we are foreigners and strangers in this world.
Thing will constantly pop up that are not consistent with the Christian life.
And when God’s values conflict with how society believes things to be then we are being oppressed.
When you feel you can’t mention God in certain situations then you are being oppressed.
In some circles this is changing…
Some major surveys show many young people are open to talking about and exploring Jesus and spirituality.
But they also have conditions.
In short this means in our discussions with people under 45, we need to focus on Jesus.
As Christians though we should not be surprised when there is opposition to Christianity.
Because as humans our nature is to exclude God,
to live life without relying on God.

And so not only will we experience opposition with others.
We will also experience that in ourselves.
There will be conflict between what we want
and how we believe things should be
between what God desires and how He sees life.

Ever had the situation when you have had a disagreement with someone
or you have done something that someone else doesn’t agree with
or they have done something you don’t agree with.
And what happens?
They seem to avoid you or you hope you don’t bump into them.
That is exactly how we react on some issues with God.
At times we avoid God speaking to us on some issues instead we try to make excuses of why we don’t have to listen to God.
Fortunately though Christ is in us
and has been influencing us so it is not on every issue.

I want you to look at your life for a moment….
On what issues and values are you consistent with God
What issues and values in your life are consistent with the Ten Commandments,
Where are you consistent with Jesus’ instruction to make disciples
And Jesus’ instruction to love God and love others.
This is where Christ is ruling in your life.
This is where you have peace with God.

But just as importantly what issues and values are you not so consistent with God.
What issues and values in your life clash with the Ten Commandments,
Where are you clashing with Jesus’ instruction to make disciples,
And Jesus’ instruction to love God and love others.
This is not just where the world is ruling your life but also where Satan is ruling your life.
And when this occurs there is no peace with God.
In Romans 12 verse 2 we hear
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Our problem is that at times we are tempted to choose the world’s approach to peace, rather than God’s.
And when we do this the result is we will not have complete peace in our lives.
Our peace will be short lived.

The fact is we need Jesus to create that peace.
Like the Jews we too are waiting for the Messiah.
But unlike the Jews we are not waiting for the Messiah to come the first time.
He has already come and hung on the cross for you and me so that peace with God is possible for you and me.
But we are waiting for his return so we can experience and live a life of total peace.

The sign for the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah
was the peace bringer
was Jesus riding on a donkey that had never been ridden.

Now there were two ways for kings and leaders to ride into town.
One was on a big horse.
Emphasising I am in charge here, if you don’t like it stiff.
The other was on a donkey,
which highlighted that the leader came to bring peace.
And around 500 to 800 years before hand the prophet Zechariah announced that this was the type of leader Jesus would be.
Listen to Zechariah 9:9-10
9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
So no wonder they were enthusiastically shouting,
Hosanna which literally means Save us!!
They could see that the peace provider was in town.

Like wise for us to recognise God’s peace
We need not to rely on just how we feel peace should look like or occur.
But the scriptures.
What God says about peace.
Because as we have already mentioned,
On some matters we are at peace with God.
But on others for true peace to be in our lives there maybe some conflict.

As we open up scripture God confronts us,
about who we are really following.
Ever had those times when you read a passage of scripture and thought bang….God must have been watching over my shoulder and seen what I had been up to…
And God also will confront us as we mingle with each other
He is both welcoming us,
but also confronting us about who we are really following.

And as we read scripture, worship together and have fellowship together we will discover that peace comes in the person of Jesus.

Not only does God confront us with our problems, sin.
He also confronts our problems, our sin
in the person of Jesus.

That is the way he brings peace to our lives.
God doesn’t just say you are sinner in this or that area of your life.
Now fix yourself up.
He helps you identify your problems.
And he also gives you solutions to your problems.
For a number of years I had a phobia of going to the doctor.
I would walk in.
And no matter what I had come for.
The doctor would say I was too fat.
And that is true…but at times that is all he said.
Now that doesn’t help when you have a cold or flu for two weeks straight
and you want some help with that.
But when doctors not only identify our problems but also offer a solution to them then a feeling of easiness comes to our lives because they care.

And God is not only on about highlighting our problems, but also giving us a solution
And this occurs in two ways….
God’s solutions help us deal with specific sins and problems of our lives now.
Now this may take time.
And the end result of this is that when God helps us with specific sins, our relationships others improve.
But more importantly God gives us the solution to deal with the problem that sins create between us and Him.
God takes the initiative to create a solution so we can have peace with Him.
And that solution is Jesus Christ.

Jesus on the back of the donkey into Jerusalem was the beginning of the final leg of the journey for that solution.
Jesus was about to do something radical for a leader.
He was about to give up his life so His followers.
So that you and me could have life.
Listen again to how Paul explains this to the church in Ephesus
This time I am reading from the NLT bible, Ephesians 2:14-16
14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
Now how many leaders do you know who would do that.
Would give up something so others could benefit.
How many leaders do you know would give up their life so others could have peace.
That is what Jesus did for you.
This is the story of Easter.
God creating peace between you and me.
God creating peace between you and Him.

God’s peace is about first of all us being in peace with God.
And this is only possible if Jesus is our leader.
That we rely on Him to remove the power that sin has.
And secondly peace comes to us and through us by us following Jesus and His commandments
of loving God and loving others
and of making disciples.
This is what ultimately brings peace

And when we have this peace we can deal with the other troubles in the world.
There is a marvellous picture of a new born chick in a nest.
Looking very content with its mum.
But as you pan out from the nest you see all around it is chaos and danger.
The branch which the nest sits is limp.
There is lightening.
The branch is part way down a cliff…and at the top of the cliff is howling animals
But the chick is at peace tucked under its mother’s wings.

Likewise we gain peace by relying on Jesus.
And when we do the rest of life is put into perspective and no matter what is occurring around us Jesus is giving us peace.

AMEN

Lenten Sermon Matthew 27:32-44 Loving through suffering

2009-04-01T21:03:00.000+11:00

Have you ever said if I was God I would….

If I was God there would be no weeds in my garden.
If I was God no one bad would get good things.
What would you do if you were God?

What about if you were in the situation that Jesus faced in the reading from Matthew what would you have done?

If you were being insulted…
If you were being beaten…
If you were being mocked
Or unfairly punished…

What would you have done?

Would you seek revenge?
Pray that your attackers who hurt you would be hurt.
Say one day…you wait just one day…you will get your just deserts….

Our natural instinct is to exert the power we have.
To show people we are good and that we have it together.

If I say to my son Zackary, don’t climb on the fence because you may get hurt.
He will climb on the fence and say see I didn’t get hurt.

Interestingly Jesus didn’t exert the power he had
Instead when he was suffering he took it all.

And sometimes I wonder why?
Why did he bother?

Have you ever been in that situation where people ask you why?
Why do you put yourself through this or that difficulty?

There are many personalities who will reveal stories of pain and suffering.
They will boast about the hard yards they have put in.
Their early mornings.
Their long hours.
How their family suffered.
The difficulties they have faced.
So that they can achieve their goals, obtain some greatness…

And that is why they suffer!!!

What about you what are some of the sufferings you are going through now.
Maybe some of them are because you have goals.
Perhaps some of them aren’t.
Do you know why you are enduring them?
Maybe you are even suffering as a Christian…
Some of your family doesn’t take you seriously.
You are scared to be open with some of your friends…
You cry for your children.
You may even feel deprived…
But what happens if we used the suffering we experience as an opportunity…
An opportunity to live as God calls us to live…
To love through suffering…
I invite you to listen to a story as told by Robyn Claydon in one of her books Doors are for walking through…
Last year I met a Christian women from a Middle Eastern country which is entirely closed to Christian witness. Those who are known to be Christian are imprisoned or worse assassinated. She told me that she and her husband had been holding a very small house church in their home for some months. A few friends visited once a week and over a meal believers read the scriptures and encouraged each other.
One day, the authorities came to the door and arrested the woman and her husband putting them in prison. I met her just a few weeks after they had been released. In prison they were the object of great curiosity from the other prisoners. They were asked “Why are you in prison?”
“Because we are Christians.”
“Why are you imprisoned for that?”
“Because we were meeting with a small groups of friends to read the Bible.”
“Tell us about the Bible.” They asked.
The women told me that in prison she and her husband had more opportunities to talk about Jesus than they ever had when they were free. Not only did the prisoners ask questions, but the guards too would stand on the edge of the room and listen.
When their sentence expired and they were told to leave, the guards said,
“We’ve enjoyed having you here in prison. Please come back again!” My friends said to me with a smile, “we probably will be back there soon. We are about to start up our little house church again and we will probably be arrested and imprisoned. But even, if we don’t end up in prison, we have an open invitation to go back and visit!”(Doors are for walking through by Robyn Claydon, page 54 available at http://www.spcka.org.au/PublishingList2007.pdf)

When you are suffering maybe it is worthwhile asking how can I love through this suffering.

For Jesus accepting suffering was not because he felt helpless.
But taking the insults he knew he was one step closer to securing what He was sent to earth for.
Securing your future….

Every time you see the cross.
That is a sign of how Jesus secured your future.

And in securing a future in this way God also knows what we experience.
We can be assure we have a God who knows not only about suffering…but actually knows suffering…
Knows what it is like when we suffer.
John Stott a well respected author and theologian makes the following observations in his book the Cross of the Christ
In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time, after awhile I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wretched, brow bleeding from thorn pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside His immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. ……There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross of Christ...is God's only self-justification in such a world" as ours.

So as we prepare for Easter
As you live your life….

Maybe we don’t’ ask how can we avoid suffering?
But what suffering is needed to help others to know the love of Jesus….
And how can we love through our suffering.

Because it is through suffering that Christ loved us.

Amen

Inspired thoughts: Grandparents a blessing and blessed

2009-04-01T15:42:00.000+11:00

The aromas of freshly baked cakes, jubes, freshly brewed tea, fresh linen, mothballs or velvet soap bring forward memories of the times I spent with my grandparents. Even though they had some strange ideas I enjoyed spending time with them. I received treats and special treatment. However it wasn’t until many years later, when my parents became grandparents that I understood how helpful and valuable they are. They weren’t just old child minders, they were people who treasured us and had much to share with us.

Through their stories of life Grandparents often reveal to us a world we could ever imagine. Imagine life with no telephones, toilet paper, or a time when food was so scarce all you had was what you could grow or catch. These were some things I learnt from my grandparents. And through their stories they often pass on the important truths of life and faith, influencing the lives of the young. When St Paul was writing to a young pastor (see 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 5) he reminded him that his sincere faith in Christ originated from his grandmother. Even today grandparents are consistently in the top 5 most influential people in people’s lives. What a valuable gift.

Grandparents not only give wonderful gifts but they also receive amazing blessings from God. Recently I visited a man who was over the moon, it was like he was in love again, and he was, with the great blessing of a grandchild. Psalm 128 verse 6 reminds us that seeing your children’s children is one of the best blessings you can receive. So if you have a grandparent remember you are one of God’s blessings to them.

On Friday join us for chapel as we celebrate grandparents day, if you know a grandparent whose grandchildren are far away why not bring them along. This is a great way to thank God for these important people in our lives.

Some things to think about or share as a family
What are some of your memories of your grandparents?
What are some important stories and things about God you have heard from your parents and grandparents?
How could we continue blessing our grandparents?

Something to remember
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isa. 46:4)

Sermon: Lent 5 John 12:20-33 Letting go to receive

2009-04-01T15:39:00.000+11:00

The sermon began with the following visual

“I have asked Andy Broom to help me with today’s sermon.”

Like every other journey we go on throughout our journey in life we pick up many packages and things.

We pick up:
The package of WHAT PEOPLE THINK & SAY ABOUT ME!!!
The package of WHAT I WANT!!!
The package of HOW I THINK THINGS SHOULD BE!!!!
A bucket load of HURTS!!!
The baggage of PRIDE!!!
A sack of WHAT makes me comfortable!!!
We pick up WHAT I BELIEVE I DESERVE!!!
A box of WHAT I HAVE DONE!!!
A bag of WHAT I OWN!!!
A box of WHAT I LIKE!!
And a basket of MY IMAGE
(for each of these was a package, box or bag that we loaded Andy up with, )

Not only do we pick these and other packages up we also hold tightly onto them.
Now in themselves most of the things we pick up are neither good nor bad,
Neither right or wrong until they get in the road of us having the life that God wants us to have.
Including getting into the road of us being fed.
At times they can make life uncomfortable and even prevent us from enjoying the life God wants us to have now and in the future.
Now Andy I would love to give you a beautiful brewed coffee.
And this is top coffee.

Maybe I could find a straw and see if we can get it through a hole in these packages, but it wouldn’t be that good
At times we often live life like that holding tightly onto everything and trying to also live the life God wants us to live.
Sometimes we will try to have both what God wants us to have and hold tightly onto the things we have picked up throughout life.

But I have an idea Andy.
How about I take some of these packages from you?
How about you drop the rest.
Really what is better is if we let go of things.
This includes handing things over to Jesus for him to deal with
And it includes dropping those things that hinder the life God so that we can be fed and take part of the life God would dearly love us to have.

Now Andy you can start enjoying your coffee

Now in today’s Gospel reading from John chapter 12 this is what Jesus was on about.
In John 12 verse 25 and 26 and Jesus says
25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

One of the biggest challenges in our lives is letting go of the things that hinder us in our relationship with God and each other.
Sometimes we may feel we have a right to hold onto some of the packages in life,
But in fact what is best is that we let go of them.

For around 10 years I had a deep heart for a couple of people.
I wouldn’t forgive them.
I wanted to sit on them big time.
Regularly I would think of ways of how to get revenge for the hurts they had inflicted on my family.
They had made us suffer.
I felt I deserved to feel this way and seek revenge.
Fortunately someone said to me Richard do you realize that they you holding you holding on to this is hurting you far more than it is hurting them.
They have probably even forgotten about the instance.
But you are holding onto it and it is affecting how you see them and the group of people they are part of
And you are not getting fully on with life.

Each of us have packages we need to drop or let go of so we can take advantage of the life God is giving us.

Now to understand this text a bit better we need to understand the situation Jesus was talking to…
At the start of our reading we hear
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

When Jesus says the man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life he is making this statement in reference to two groups of people.
Two groups of people who needed to let go of
how they believed God should act and be
and allow God to reveal to them how he acts.

One is the Pharisees.
These were people who had respect in the Jewish religious community.
They knew the Jewish Bible well, or at least they thought they did.
They thought they knew what God wants.
And they strongly encouraged people to have a good relationship with God.
However there was a problem.
They believed for anyone to have relationship with God they needed to be doing good things.
To them they were most concerned about keeping God’s laws above everything else.
It was important that they and others looked good.
And they enjoyed receiving praise for how good they were.
They believed they secured their future with God by doing the right things.
And so they were most concerned about telling other people what to do and most concerned that they at least looked like they were doing the right thing, by obeying the Mosiac Law and some other rituals.
They had no time for sinners, people who didn’t do the right thing.
However Jesus was highly critical of them.
Not because they did good, but they did it for the wrong reasons
and didn’t understand that you needed more than just doing good to obtain a place in heaven.
The arrival of Jesus had threatened their power.

Put it this way in a few weeks time we are about to commence confirmation.
If I was to tell the students that doing good is pointless for securing life with God.
I would not be surprised if at least one parent gets a little upset with me.
Why?
Because as parents we work so hard at getting our kids to do the right things
that we think they might believe they don’t have to do good at all.
For some reason some of them will hear they don’t have to do good, but seem to miss the last part for salvation.
This threatens us because most of our lives are centred around doing the right thing to obtain something.

And that is what Jesus was doing to the Pharisees.
To begin, have and secure a long term relationship with God Jesus did not demand that people be perfect and have it all together.
Rather that they trust Him to secure that relationship.
From John 14:6 we hear
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Now it is also important to remember when it came to doing good,
Jesus didn’t discard the idea of doing good
But encouraged people to see doing good wasn’t about earning a relationship with God
but we do good because we have a relationship with God and to share that with others.
And so he threatened the Pharisees understanding of God, their understanding of doing good and their power in the community.

For the Pharisees to grasp who God was they needed to let go of their understanding of God and where doing good fits into the picture and how we obtain a relationship with God
and replace it with who God says he is
that we can only obtain a relationship with God by relying on Jesus
and that doing good is about reflecting God’s love in the world not obtaining God’s love.

Already I have seen numerous examples of people in our congregation of doing good to shine God’s love
Yesterday after men’s breakfast one of today’s sausage cookers said instead of the children having to come outside for sausages, how about I cook some sausages and take them to the children in the hall. That way they are safe and can enjoy things more.

The second group Jesus is addressing is the Greeks.
Now most scholars agree that this is not just a reference to those people from Greece.
But a reference to all non Jews.
They are attracted to Jesus because of the spectacular things he has been doing.
Jesus is the flavour of the month.
By this stage in his ministry already He has done many spectacular things
He has risen Lazarus from the dead.
He has healed people
He brings sight to the blind.
Likewise many people are attracted to Jesus because of what he can give them today, how he makes them feel today.
They were acknowledging Jesus as someone special, the Messiah because he was doing something spectacular, that looked.
What are some of the things that attract you to Jesus?
Is it just limited to what you can receive now, and what makes you feel good?
Maybe its peace, maybe it’s a feeling, perhaps it is a special gift, maybe its healing.
Now these things are good and they can come from God.
They are helpful but remember they are not essential.
Nor will they always occur in the way we expect.

But they are not a guaranteed authentic identifying mark that Jesus is the Messiah,
the one who will give us eternal life.
From Mark 13:22 we hear
22 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones.

In today’s reading Jesus highlights that there is something that is a guaranteed authentic identifying mark that Jesus is truly God and the Messiah
Listen again to verses 31 to 33
31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

For Jesus glory is not about being acknowledged for healing people, for raising people from the dead or doing anything else that appears spectacular.
It is about listening to His Father, and dieing.
Because it is through His death and His resurrection that me and you receive life.
From 1 Peter 3:18 we hear,
18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
This is the most important thing that Jesus did for you…
He died for you so that you may have life.
Instead of doing what He wanted, He did what was needed for me and you to have life.

Occasionally you may hear from time to time the term theology of the cross.
This is what is being referred to.
That through the cross we truly see who God is.
God who is prepared to suffer for you.
A father who was willing to give up his son.
A Son who was willing to give up his life.
Not for His benefit but for your benefit.
So that you can have life with Him.

Maybe that is the package at times me and you need to put down.
That we let go of demanding God doing the stuff we want
that addresses our immediate desires.
Instead we pick up God’s package that He has a long term future planned for us secured by His suffering on the cross.

For centuries this has influenced people.
Resulting in Christians letting go of their own motives
and instead serving God even though it resulted in suffering.
Some of you may have heard of a character called Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
There are many stories about Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
He was a pastor in the church in Germany during World War 2, when Hitler was in power.
He opposed Hitler.
He had escaped to the USA just after the war started.
However God spoke to him and encouraged him to return to Germany.
God used him to continue encouraging people in the true faith of God and opposing Adolf Hitler’s armies attacks on any one who opposed him.
This cost him his life.
Now he could have stayed in USA where he would have been safe.
However he listened to God so others could benefit.

This week I week I encourage you to reflect on:
What packages are you carrying around that you need to drop or hand over to God?
Ask also are you telling God how and what he should be doing or are you listening to God through His bible to discover who He is and how He acts? (If you are not already reading the bible daily you will find a daily reading plan on page 2 of our bulletin.)
Also thing about How does God dieing on the cross for you affect your life now and in the future?

Remember God promises you life…are you going to grab hold of it.

Let us pray.
AMEN

Inspired thoughts: Doing Good

2009-03-25T09:08:00.000+11:00

We all want our children to be good.
We will even boast about how good they have been or the good things they have done.
When they do the right thing it is great to praise them for what they have done.
Our children need to hear praise and thanks from us when they do good, this helps them grow as people.

Yet there are times we may feel they are only doing good things to get something.
Sometimes they may even be blatant about it, they’ll bargain with us for an icy pole, money or something else in order for us to see them do good.
Their motivations for doing good are not because they want to do good, but so they can get something.
Their heart isn’t into doing good.

Our children are not the only ones who act this way, in fact we often fall for the trap that we will only do good, if we can see some benefit or avoid some punishment. And we may even be critical if someone else gets a benefit if they hadn’t worked as hard as us. Some adults have got this down to a fine art. Their only motivation for doing good is to get something.

The bible however reveals that God sees things and operates differently. In fact God loves us and saves us not because we do good things, listen to Titus 3:5 God saves us, not because of the good things we have done, but because of his mercy. (also check out Romans 11:6) No matter how many good things we do they can’t earn the eternal life that God wants to give us, only Jesus can earn this for us. And Jesus willingly gives us this as a gift. How good is that!!!

Yet God still wants us to be and to do good. He encourages us to do good but not so we benefit. Instead our primary reasons for doing good are to thank and praise God for everything He is doing for us and so that others may benefit and be helped. (Read a little bit more about this in Hebrews 13:15-16 and Galatians 6:7-10).

To discover a little more about what Jesus says about doing good, read Matthew 5:16-20.

Something for you to think about or share as a family
What good things have been done for you that you can thank and praise God for?
Is there anything we need to change about ourselves in relation to doing good?
What are some good things you can do so that others may benefit?

Something to remember this week…..And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)

Pastor Richard Schwedes

24 March 2009