Month: January 2017

As you all know that we are doing a series on ‘The Church’. We started the series by discovering our Identity as a Church Community – We learnt that we are a Covenant people, redeemed by the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, holy and blameless in the sight of God because of Christ, a people with a purpose to glorify God in our words, deeds and actions. And the bible says that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from this love of Christ.

Last Sunday we stopped at the Book of Revelation chapter 2 and 3 and started looking at Christ’s letters to the 7 churches which he gave to Apostle John while he was exiled in the island of Patmos.

When we read Jesus’s comments to these churches we realize how messed up their lives were.

Jesus continues to lovingly pursue and convict us of our sins and wrong doings

But the fascinating thing is Jesus still calls them his church and addresses them as his people. It tells us that yes it possible to be a church of Jesus and yet live a completely messed up lives and one that looks hopeless.

The good news is that Jesus still continues to lovingly pursue and convict us of our sins and wrong doings. And that has been the nature of God from the beginning. We learned this about God while we did an expository preaching through the book of Nehemiah. Even though the people of God rebelled against him and abandoned him God still came to their rescue for the sake of his name.

The failure of God’s people is never because God abandons us but because we abandoned God – It is our sinful nature and unrepentant heart that draws us away from Him.

Instead of deepening our relationship with Jesus by allowing the gospel to govern our lives we tend to lean more towards the pleasures and deceitfulness of this world.

These words of Jesus to the seven churches reminds us that he still calls us his own and lovingly pursues us and convicts us of our sins. Therefore when we hear these words of Jesus and humbly submit to them and walk in obedience to his words he promises us …

– To give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God (Rev 2:7)
– To give the crown of life (Rev 2:10) and also promises in verse 11 that he will not be hurt by the second death.
– In Rev 2:17 he promises to give some of the hidden manna
– Rev 2:26 – Authority over nations
– Rev 3:5 – Clothed with white garments and will never take away our name out of the book of life
– Rev 3:12 – Will make us a pillar in the temple of God
– Rev 3:21 – Grant us to sit with him on his throne

At the same time he also warns those who are unrepentant. He says

– Rev 2:5 – I will remove your lampstand from its place
– Rev 2:11 – I will war against you with the sword of my mouth
– Rev 2:22 – I will throw you into great tribulation and give according to your works
– Rev 3:3 – I will come like a thief against you
– Rev 3:16 – I will spit you out of my mouth

Last week we looked at 3 letters to 3 churches.

• To the church in Ephesus he says return to your first love – Love the Lord with all their heart, mind and soul.
• To the church in Smyrna he says be faithful unto death even in your sufferings and tribulations
• To the church of Pergumam he says stay away from idol worship and sexual immorality

Church in Thyatira

Today we will briefly look at the rest of the 4 churches beginning with the church of Thyatira.

[READ 2:18-29]

Jesus begins by complimenting them from their love, faith, service and patient endurance. Everything seems perfect – Everything that was missing in the previous three churches is present here – There is love, they are faithful and have patient endurance.

But they missed one quality that the church of Ephesus exhibited – And that was testing and identifying false apostles among them.

Jesus’s charge against the church of Thyatira was that they were tolerating a woman called Jezebel, who called herself to be a prophetess but was teaching and seducing God’s servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Jesus even gave her time to repent but she refused to repent of her sexual immorality.

Jesus warns them by saying in 2:22-23 “I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”

Basically, the church failed to stand against an ungodly spirit who was leading God’s people astray especially the leaders.

Yes, we are good and loving people by nature. We are even harmless as doves. But in Matthew 10:16 Jesus tells his disciples “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

As a church we shouldn’t lack in the ability to show courage in standing up for what is right and scriptural, we have to stand up and speak up against those who lead the people of God astray and into sin and idolatry.

In most churches there is this unsaid rule that people should keep their mouth shut and not raise fingers even if the people are led astray into sin and deceit.

I believe the Bible encourages us to speak up against false teaching but it needs to be done in an orderly manner. In fact at one occasion Apostle Paul points and corrects the hypocritical attitude of Apostle Peter in public, you can read the account in Galatians 2.

And if you fail to do so then remember Jesus will hold that up against you just as he did with the church of Thyatira.

Church in Sardis

[READ 3:1-6]

Jesus quickly and clearly condemns the lifeless state of the Sardian church: “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:2).

This church may have had a good reputation, but they were spiritually lifeless. In other words, the church was filled with unsaved people going through the motions of religion.

It is one thing to know the truth of the gospel and profess it with our mouth but living it out in our daily lives is something that we should desire and pursue.

After hearing about the church of Sardis the question I want us to ask ourselves today is

As a Christian..

– Are we truly enjoying the fullness of joy that comes from knowing Jesus or is it just a superficial thing that we experience only on a Sunday morning?
– Do we experience the peace of God in our heart when we think about the promise of the glorious gospel even in times of struggles and sufferings?
– Do we hide ourselves behind a happy and cheerful face for the sake of good reputation and not willing to admit that our actual life is dead and lifeless?

If our answer to any of these question is ‘yes’ then Jesus calls us to repent of our sin: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you received and heard; obey it, and repent” (Revelation 3:2-3a).

To “wake up” means to start paying attention to your need of salvation, to stop being careless about your heart’s condition before God.

Church of Philadelphia

[READ 3:7-13]

The church of Philadelphia is the only church against whom Jesus did not have anything negative to say.
Jesus affirms the church’s positive actions: “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (Revelation 3:8).

The church of Philadelphia was weak in some respects, yet they had remained faithful in the face of trial. Because of this, the Lord promises them an “open door” of blessing.

Jesus’ letter then condemns the enemies of the Philadelphian believers: “I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you” (Revelation 3:9).

Those who persecuted the believers (the persecutors were religious hypocrites in this case) would one day realize Christ loves His children. The church of Philadelphia would be victorious over its enemies.

Church of Laodicea

[READ 3:14-22]

In contrast to the other six churches, the Laodicean church has nothing to commend it. Jesus begins the message with condemnation: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:15-17).

They claimed to be rich, blessed and self-sufficient. Perhaps they were rich in material things. But, spiritually, the Laodiceans were in a wretched, pitiful condition, made all the worse in that they could not see their need. This was a church filled with self-deceived hypocrites.

Jesus calls the Laodicean church to repent of its sin: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Revelation 3:18). Their material wealth had no eternal benefit, so Jesus commands them to come to Him for true, spiritual riches (see Isaiah 55:1-2). Only Christ can supply an everlasting inheritance, clothe us in righteousness, and heal our spiritual blindness.

Jesus then notes His concern for His church in Laodicea: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:19-20). His rebuke is not born of animosity but of love. “The Lord disciplines those he loves” (Hebrews 12:6).

The church is nominally Christian, but Christ Himself has been locked out. Rather than turn His back on them, He knocks, seeking someone to acknowledge the church’s need and open the door. If they would repent, Jesus would come in and take His rightful place in the church.

Last week we started a four-week series on ‘The Church’ and we unpacked our true identity as the Church community from the book of Hebrews chapter 8. Like I said everything starts on a right note when we know and understand our true identity as a Church.

We learnt that we are a covenant community knit together as a body of Christ, not on the basis of the old testament laws but because our faith in Christ Jesus.

In Hebrews 8:6 the author points to Christ as the one who obtained a ministry that is as more excellent than the old covenant, enacted on better promise

Christ has obtained everything needed for us to relate back to God and we don’t have to please God in our own efforts.

Under this new identity we recognize that Christ has obtained everything needed for us to relate back to God and that we don’t have to please God in our own efforts. This identity is given to us so that we declare the goodness of Him and live for his glory. And last but not the least we learned to stay humble and remind ourselves daily that we are mercied by God through Christ and we need to allow this gospel truth to govern our lives.

Today morning we will look into a very interesting book in the Bible called the book of Revelation, and particularly chapter 2 & 3. I believe these two chapters have a lot to say to us about Church life. It will unpack for us Christ’s expectations from us as a church community.

The book of Revelation is actually a revelation of Christ to Apostle John while he was in an island called Patmos where he was exiled (banished/punished). The island of Patmos was the most uncomfortable, lonely and horrible place where John happen to see the vision of Jesus and heard him talk.

The purpose of this book was to comfort and encourage believers in the midst of suffering and persecution at the hands of evil ones by assuring them that Jesus Christ, and they themselves, will ultimately and finally triumph.

In Revelation 1:12-20 John writes a beautiful description of his encounter with Jesus.

He writes “I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

In chapter 2 & 3 Jesus goes on to address the seven churches and tells them certain things which I believe can help us understanding God’s heart and His expectation from his people. And I hope you are ready to hear them out, not just for knowledge sake but to allow the spirit of God to enlighten our hearts with his truth and live a life worthy of his calling.

Before we begin looking at these verses let me also remind you that even though we as a group of churches across the globe have the same faith and calling, we still differ with respect to our cultural context, our backgrounds and the challenges we face, and that’s exactly what you will see in these seven churches. Each of them are unique and have their own set of good and bad.

I believe this understanding should help us identity our own cultural challenges and apply the word of God accordingly.

This Sunday we will look at the first three churches followed by the rest four next week.

So, here we go

Church of Ephesus

The first church Jesus addresses is the Church of Ephesus (2:1-7)

Let’s start with the compliments

1. Jesus commends them for their toil and patient endurance – The first impression it gives me is that they obviously seem to be hard working people.
2. They stay away from people who do evil, especially the ones who call themselves apostles but are not.
3. For not growing weary and patiently enduring and bearing up for the sake of his name.

But then in verse 4 Jesus goes on to say “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

This reveals to us God’s first expectation from his church

[bscolumns class=”one_half”]

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul

[/bscolumns]

[bscolumns class=”one_half_last_clear”]

The saints in Ephesus were not being obedient to the central truth of the Scriptures Old and New Testament which is Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. (Matthew 22:37)

[/bscolumns]

The saints in Ephesus were not being obedient to the central truth of the Scriptures Old and New Testament which is Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. (Matthew 22:37)

[bscolumns class=”clear”][/bscolumns]

Their lives were clogged with so many things that Jesus was no longer first in their hearts, in their daily schedules, in their thoughts which clearly signals that Jesus was no longer the King of their lives.

Here Jesus is telling them to press the reset button and go back to their original settings when they started off.
I don’t know how you feel about these words of Jesus but I want to confess that in the past couple of weeks I’ve been far away from loving Jesus more than I should. Even though I can hide from all of you I cannot hide from my wife. She knows how frustrated, angry and disappointed I was the last one week. The reason I believe is clear – My love for Jesus has not been the same.

But I also believe God in his mercy has revealed my heart condition and led me to repent and ask for forgiveness.

Today as we hear these words where do we find yourself? Are we too busy to even take out time and search our hearts?

Jesus paid the highest price by dying on the cross for our sins.
Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus endured the cross with joy, scorning its shame.

He loves us beyond measure because we are his creation
John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

And that’s is exactly what Jesus did for us.

In return he expects that we love him back and be willing to give away everything and anything that we hold dear in our lives. Whether it is our love for money, desire for comfort, our longings for the pleasure of this world.
It is quite a sad thing when everything around our lives revolves around work, making money & pleasing people – when it should be the other way around.

We fail to realize that the satisfaction and fulfillment we are hoping to receive from the things of the world is false idea. Only Jesus can satisfy us and fulfill our deepest longings.

Q: Are we willing to love him more – and love him first?

Romans 12:9 – Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

I want to encourage you this morning if you feel your hearts not in the right place go to God, repent of your sin and make a decision to love him more.

Church of Smyrna

The second church Jesus talks to is the Church of Smyrna (2:8-11)

You see this church in comparison to the church in Ephesus is quite different culturally.

They are a poor church with many tribulations and sufferings.

People have been talking bad about them and putting false accusations

Jesus’s comforting words to them is “Do not fear what you are about to suffer” – “You are been tested”

And Jesus’s instruction to them is “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life”

[bscolumns class=”one_half”]

“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life”

[/bscolumns]

[bscolumns class=”one_half_last_clear”]

Last to last Sunday Pastor Jeff preached a sermon on “The Mission of God through the suffering of his people”. He explained how God uses our present sufferings to advance his gospel.

[/bscolumns][bscolumns class=”clear”][/bscolumns]

Unlike what we’ve heard from the prosperity preachers who talk about pursuing a life of comfort and riches. The bible has a completely different take on it. Jesus himself said in John 15:20 “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also”.

When we encounter suffering and pain in our lives the tendency of many of us is to close the door on Jesus and sulk in our depravity. We stop loving Jesus and stop serving him.

I feel sad to see many Christians in this condition. The devil has taken away their joy and filled their hearts with bitterness and anger.

Jesus’s words to us who suffer is “Do not fear what you are about to suffer” … rather continue to be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Remember, we’re not chasing an earthly reward – we might see and experience his goodness on earth or we might not experience his goodness on earth. Think of the numerous number of people who gave their lives for the sake of the gospel. What do you think they were chasing after? They died a miserable death on this earth for the sake of the kingdom.

Jesus was their greatest reward. They fixed their eyes on the crown of life they will receive from Jesus in heaven.
On the basis on these verses my encouragement to all of us is don’t give in to your present sufferings rather be faithful to God in what God has called you into irrespective of the pain and suffering you are experiencing at this very moment.

Church of Pergamum

The third church Jesus addresses is the church of Pergamum [2:12-17]

According to these verses we understand that the church of Pergamum is located in a very dark and satanic place.
Jesus compliments them by saying “Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith”

The description of this place reminded me of the area in malad where Jane and I have been discipling a catholic family “Joseph & ArokyaMary”. Last monday the family invited another two ladies to join us for prayer and bible study.

After we finished we started talking to one of the ladies and she started pouring heart out saying her husband works in gulf and both her children are married and gone away. She lives in her home all alone and every night a spirit in the form of a young girl visits her and talks to her. After talking for a while she then tries to kill her by chocking her throat and pressing her stomach.

When we heard her story and started talking to her we realized the strong hold of idols in their lives.

Jesus while talking to the church in Pergamum identifies these strong holds and says “But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.”

I won’t go into the details of the teaching of Balaam but it is mainly to do with Idol worship & sexual immorality.
Jesus’s expectation from his church is to refrain from any kind of idolatry and sexual immorality.

Idols not just in the form of mud and clay, but heart idols that cause us to stumble and stop us from worshipping Jesus.

Sexual immorality is another rampant sin in our culture. With our current exposure to information and whatever else we need. Our society has been contaminated, our children’s future is in danger.

[bscolumns class=”one_half”]

And therefore as a true church of Jesus our choices and our obedience to God’s word is the only hope for this dying world around us. Our children’s future depends on the choices we make in favour of God.

[/bscolumns]

[bscolumns class=”one_half_last_clear”]

“Our choices and our obedience to God’s word is the only hope for this dying world around us”

[/bscolumns][bscolumns class=”clear”][/bscolumns]

And therefore as a true church of Jesus our choices and our obedience to God’s word is the only hope for this dying world around us. Our children’s future depends on the choices we make in favour of God.

1 Corinthians 6:18 Paul writes “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”

In the light of what we heard today I want to urge you to come together as one body and re-commit our lives to Jesus once again.

Where do you see yourself falling apart from God’s calling over your lives.
Do you think your love for Jesus has become cold?
Do you see yourself sulking in depravity before of the current sufferings and pain?
Do you see the strong hold of Idols in your lives? Or
Do you see the sin of sexual immorality taking away your joy being a Christ follower.

If any of the above is true, then we need to repent and ask for forgiveness.

I believe our God is a forgiving God, a father who loves us dearly. More than us he wants to see us flourish and rejoice in him and take hold of the crown of life when we reach heaven.

2016 was an exciting and adventurous year for all of us and I believe this year will also bring a lot of surprises. I’m personally hoping and praying to see some more marriages happen this year and the possibility of planting a new church as the Lord leads us.

Coming to today’s sermon as you all know that we love to do expository preaching through the books of the bible which we believe to be most beneficial for the body of Christ. Last year we studied and preached through the book of Nehemiah for 7 months (April to October) followed by a short series on Mission which we did along with our family of churches.

The next book we will look into is 1 Timothy but we will start the series from the first week of February.

Meanwhile for the next couple of Sundays the leaders at The Gathering felt God leading us to do a series on The Church.

As we begin this new year we thought it would be great for us to look and understand what the scripture has to say about the true church of Jesus Christ.

We live in a generation where people have different ideas about church, these ideas are formed because of the influence of society, people, culture, needs, history etc.

Let me give you some examples:

• Some think of church as a building with a cross on it where people go to find peace.
• Some think of it as a place where people gather to sing godly songs to rejuvenate their minds
• Some think of church as a place where their needs are met, whether financial, mental or emotional
• Some think of church as a place to build network, make friends and have fun

But when we read and investigate the scriptures we realize that church is much more than what we have made of it. And in the next couple of Sundays that’s exactly what we will be doing.

We will read and remind ourselves of what the true church of Jesus should look like.

And we will begin our journey today by firstly finding our identity as a church.

Who are we as a Church?
What does the Bible say about our identity as a Church community?

Our passage for today is Hebrews 8. (Please turn with me to the book of Hebrews 8)

In this passage the writer is presenting Jesus as the High Priest of a Better Covenant and therefore addresses us as a people of the new covenant in Christ, which in fact is our identity as a church. We are a covenant community.

But what does the word ‘Covenant’ really mean and why is there an old covenant and a new covenant mentioned in this passage.

It might sound a bit complicated to you in the beginning but I will try my best to simplify and explain it better. So please do hang on with me.

To start with, let us first understand the meaning of the word ‘Covenant’. This word is not very commonly used in our culture. We’ve probably heard the synonyms of this word.

Like for example ‘Agreement’, ‘Commitment’, ‘Deed’, ‘Treaty’ etc but I believe the word ‘Covenant’ has a much deeper meaning and none of these synonyms justify that.

Here’s what I mean by that.

Like for example the word ‘agreement’ is often used to describe an arrangement between two or more people to do or not to do something specific. An agreement can have an expiry date and can be broken anytime with mutual consent.

Wherein the word ‘Covenant’ is always used in context with God to describe a conditional promise/promises made by God to his people. And unlike an agreement a covenant is irrevocable because the conditions are laid down by God and we cannot amend them.

The Old Covenant was a conditional or bilateral agreement that God made with the Israelite’s. The Old Covenant was in effect during the dispensation of the Law that was given to Moses, the ten commandments been the center of all others laws.

The amazing thing about the 10 commandments is no matter what faith and religious background you come from these commands which were given to Israelite’s thousands and thousands of years back will resonate in your mind even today. These are still the norms in many religious beliefs to attain a perfect life pleasing to God.

Listen to them. (Exodus 20:2-17)

1. You shall have no other God before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4. Remember the day of rest and keep it holy.
5. Honour your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house.

In the Old Covenant, the Israelites were required to obey God and keep the Law, and in return God protected and blessed them. The Old Covenant required repeated, daily sacrifices of animals as a reminder of the people’s sin. Under the Old Covenant, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place where God’s presence dwelt—and that only once a year. The Old Covenant was a set of “external regulations”.

This understanding presents God as someone who is really mean and unreachable which is exactly how people perceive him to be even today. Isn’t it?

People think..

– they need to do good things in order to please God
– they need to offer sacrifices and offerings so that God can forgive me
– they need to visit the church/temple/mosque as often as I can so that God can protect and provide for me

The truth is that God’s intention for giving us these laws were not to press us down or make us feel miserable rather as it is written in Hebrews 8:5 these were a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. The laws were meant to point us to the standard of Gods holiness and reminds us of our sinfulness.

These commands were not just meant to be external activities but a heart condition. In Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus says “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Knowingly or unknowingly we all end up doing things and trying to please God with all the external activities. You take any world religion for example including the Christianity, it’s all about rules and regulations, do’s and don’ts, practices and rituals that are just meant to exhaust us and lead us nowhere.

Verse 7 and 8 says

“ For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says ..”

Verse 9 – “For they did not continue in my covenant”

You see the fault is not in the covenant or in the law per SE, the verse suggest that the fault is with us, the sinful human heart.

You see our sinful heart is so sinful that no matter how hard we try we can never please God. Because God’s standard of holiness is way above our reach.

And that is exactly why verse 6 of Hebrews 8 is a good news to all of us.

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.”

Remember, this good news is not just for Christians, but for people from all background, faith and religious belief’s. Christ is the answer to man’s deepest need. The search for peace, fulfillment, satisfaction, salvation ends when you encounter Christ.

God presented these moral laws to reveal our immorality and then provides and answer through the sacrifice of His only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Bible says in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Which means fulfilling the requirements of the old covenant or the laws are no more the norms to please God and win his favor.

Christ fulfilled the law for us by living a perfect life and dying on our behalf for all our sinfulness.

And therefore, believing this truth and putting our faith in Christ is the new norm to please God.

And that is why the writer of Hebrews in verse 8 says “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.”

And this is the new covenant that we are called into.

Does that mean that we no more obey the commandments in the Old testament?

No – We must obey the OT commandments the same way we obey the NT commandments—not in order to win God’s favor. We have already won his favor by putting our trust in his son Jesus.
We obey because we depend on his free grace and trust that his commands will lead to full and lasting joy.

We should delight in God’s law, meditate on it day and night, and sing of its value unto all generations.

Listen – As a Church this is our true Identity and that is exactly why we are a covenant community.

John 1:12 – In Christ we have been given the right to become children of God
Colossians 2:10 – In Christ we have been brought to fullness
Romans 6:6 – The day we put out faith in Christ our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin
1 Corinthians 12:27 – Now we are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it

We as a Church is a covenant community, the bride of Christ, holy, blameless and set apart for His glory. That is our identity.

And, therefore here’s what it means to live out our identity as a Church?

1. Stop trying to please God in your own efforts

We are not a miserable bunch of people who needs to do a certain number of things to win God’s favour.

You are not part of his church because you are a good guy. In fact the bible says in Romans 5:8

“God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hebrews 8:10 says

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

2. Live a life that declares his goodness all the time

To all the people – whether in your neighborhood, or our workplace or your place of study.

Hebrews 8:11 says

And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

3. Stay humble and remind yourself every single day that you are mercied by God

Hebrews8:12

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”

It is important that we constantly remind ourselves this gospel truth

– by thanking him daily in our prayers
– by meditating on this truth everyday
– by living a life centered around the gospel
– by letting the gospel truth influence every decision in your life

I believe everything begins on a right note when we truly understand our true identity. And every outcome of our lives should flow from that identity.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/2017-new-year-message.mp3″]

First day of the year 2017 and this sermon on “The Mission of God through the suffering of his people” has enlightened our hearts to see missions in a new light. We are extremely grateful to the Lord for Pastor Jeff who served us well and unpacked the verse in Colossians 1:24. 

We hope as you listen to his sermon it will give you a new hope for this coming year and strengthen your heart to faithfully pursue God’s mission for your lives.