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
Monday, July 6, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The importance of being generous: 2 Cor. 6
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
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
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sermon 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Persevering with Grace
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?
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?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sermon: What does walking with God mean!!! 2 Cor 5:6-20
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
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
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Inspired thoughts: Using possessions to develop healthy relationships
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
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
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
5 Now there were staying in
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
6 Jesus 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.
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.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let 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
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
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Inspired thoughts: Developing healthy relationships
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
