Month: May 2020

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Daily Devotional

Rejoice Always!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” – Philippians 4:4

When a particular event, person or any specific thing gives us happiness, that emotion passes away in due course of time because that happiness is temporary. Joy is a much stronger emotion not dependent on external circumstances but cultivated internally and more consistently. It is an attitude of the heart. Our joy is found in Christ and rooted in our faith in Him. 

Here we are called to be glad and cheerful in nothing else but our Lord, Jesus Christ. Rejoice is a verb, an action word. As it is written in Colossians 3:2, ” Set your mind on the things above, not earthly things”, it is only our Heavenly Father who can satisfy us with the joy which cannot be depleted.

It is through the sacrifice that Jesus paid on the cross to redeem us that we are saved. Let this truth prevail in our heart at all times and remind us that it is not by anything that we have done through which this redemption is received.

We are the children of the most High Priest who is also our advocate; it is through him that we can do all things. With such a guarantee, what stops us from praising Jesus, and exalting his name? 

Praise is the consummation of enjoyment. 
It is only when we delight in Jesus that we will praise him. When our heart is set on him, we have a guarantee that our life is in control of our true master. 

We should reflect this inner joy to be called God’s children, who loves us infinitely and unconditionally and who himself chose us as His. Let us remember his faithfulness with thanksgiving. He will provide for our every need, not according to the wordly standards or due to our actions but according to his riches. 

He is the God who works out all things for the good of those who love him. As ambassadors of Christ, let us rejoice in him and his promises, always.

Prayer

Father Lord, we pray for your strength to cast our needs on you and trust you with your plan. Lead us by your Spirit and stir up our hearts with joy which is beyond our understanding. Fill us with your hope and let us rejoice in you at all times. Let our hard, unbelieving hearts be supernaturally changed into soft, believing hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Growing Together in the Lord – 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15

Hello church Good morning, I am delighted to connect you, and I am thankful for this opportunity to share the word of God this morning.

As the world is go through horrible pandemic, I pray that this pandemic will not hinder us to grow spiritually in the Lord rather let us fully seek God and fully depend on His divine protection upon ourselves and our family.

Today we shall continue our book study series from 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15.

14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always pursue after that which is good for one another and for all people.

Pray: Lord we thank you for this beautiful opportunity to mediate your word, we invite your Holy Spirit to come and teach us.

Help us to understand the truth. In Jesus precious name. Amen.

Let us remember the condition of Thessalonian believers:

They were Idol worshipper – but as soon as they heard the gospel,

They repent and they turn away from idol to serve the true Living God.

# They have great faith in the Lord. # They are greatly laboring in love.

# They have steadfastness of Hope.

On the Top of these, they became a great example for all people.

Their practical faith has gone viral to many parts of the world.

All people heard about this amazing Thessalonian church.

But when we read chapter 5:14-15, we see the need of the Thessalonian church, the area where they need to grow.

Remember there is no perfect church in this world, we always need to repent our sins and keep sanctifying before God,

we need God’s grace daily to grow in the Lord.

Someone says like this,

“A Church is a hospital for sinners not a club for saints.”

Its true the church is a hospital for sinners,

Church I will like to remind all of us, that God Love us so much that He sent His only son Jesus Christ, He came into this world, He took the punishment in place of us and He purchased us with His blood, As we believed Him as saviour and Lord, He cleansed us from all sins and unrighteousness.

Now as a new creation in Christ, He wants us to serve Him and keep growing in the Lord.

I would like to entitle my sermon as “Growing together in the Lord”

Let us come to the first point.

1. Admonish the unruly. (14a)

          “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly.” (14a)

The word Urge (is a verb) which means begging, beseeching, pleading, requesting. (this is not forcing something rather a humble request) he urged the brethren to admonish the unruly.

Brethren – fellow Christian, member of the same church community.

Admonish: (Nou-thet-ei-te) is a verb and when we see Greek grammar, It is in present imperative. That means to admonish is a command.

Admonish means to warn, counsel, exhort. to put in mind,

To warn or to give notice beforehand especially of danger or evil.

Illustration

Recently, it was on May 8, 16 migrant worker were sleeping in a railway track, unfortunately, train ran over them and all of them died instantly. It is sad to hear that.

I know if you know well ahead that the train is coming toward them, you will warn them to get out of the railway track, to save those workers. Right.

Church We are to warn, counsel, exhort one another, to those friends who are going toward the wrong direction in life.

Unruly: At-ak-tos: when we see original meaning in Greek it means,

Out of order, who are out of line, the undisciplined, the disorderly people, Lazy, idle people.

Illustration: I know one brother, he is a married man, incredibly good in singing and he was highly active in a church. He has 6 children.

But he backslides from his faith, he became lazy, he ran away from his role and responsibility as a father, he was going from one place to another, did not return home for many years. His life was totally mess up and painful.

I remember everyone in a church started praying and admonishing him.

After many years he repent, he came back home and started attending church and started taking care of his children and wife.

There will be many people who are living a dangerous life, many will be living in a habitual sinful life, many will be living a lazy, squander life, many will be living undisciplined life, we need to gently and lovingly remind them the gospel.

As a church we are one family in Christ, and we are accountable to each other.

Galatian 6:1.

Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

Purpose of admonishing:

  1. To restore back fellow believers to fellowship with God.

2. To remind fellow believers of their role and responsibilities in church.

3. To help fellow believers to live fruitful and productive life.

4. To help fellow believers to grow spiritually in the Lord.

Remember Measuring standard for admonishment fellow believers should be the scripture, not our skill or experience but scripture should be the standard.

Remember the unruly (idle, lazy people) need to be warned to get back in among the believers and use their God-given gifts in service for the kingdom.

Application:

Dear church we should admonish one another, counsel one another, warning one another with gentleness and grow together in the Lord.

We should continually remind the gospel to one another and grow stronger and deeper in relationship with our Heavenly Father.

2. Encourage the fainthearted. (14b)

Encourage: (para-mu-theo-mai) it is verb and present imperative, so to encourage is a command.

Meaning: it means to comfort, console, exhort.

Fainthearted: small courage, little-spirited, feeble-minded, those who lack spiritual courage.

We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with fainthearted believers in solidarity and support them. The fainthearted, or “timid”, are fearful people who lack confidence perhaps in themselves or even in their faith

They may be discouraged or worried by the challenges of living a Christian life. These people need loving instruction from their fellow believers to calm their fears and to build their confidence in the Lord.

Illustration: It was 3 years ago, I got a call at 6:00 am morning, from a young woman, she said, I want to meet you right now, I said what happened, she said, I will explain when I met you. So we meet up in the park.

She said, I do not want to live anymore, because my boyfriend leaves me, when I listen to her story, she has attempted suicide once before but fortunately people around her save her and take her to hospital. She was depressed, going through excruciate pain.

We spent around two hours, I counsel her with the word of God, and we prayed together. I keep encouraging her daily. She became strong, started coming to church.

After many months she got a good job and she starts taking great responsibility in her family.

One thing we do as a church was, we keep holding on to that sister and we keep encouraging her and keep praying for her.

At last she overcome and received God’s Grace.

Application:

Church there are so many people within the church and outside the church who are really in need of our encouragement and our love and our care.

Let us make use of every opportunity and serve one another.

Let the beauty of Christ be seen in our daily life.

We should not wait for someone to come and tell us the problem but instead let have a shepherd heart, who knows the need of the sheep.

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

3. Help the weak. (14c).

Help: Antexomai, Verb: present imperative, that means helping is a command.

It means Hold firmly to, cleave to, withstand.

Weak: literally it means – not strong, infirm, sick. Strengthless.

Illustration: Helping hand in the village river.

It was 2014, after we complete our bachelor degree, we form a team and went for preaching tour in our home town, after the tour was over we went to Village river for fishing, we were catching lots of fish and we were having much fun in the river. Suddenly, two girls were about to drown in the deep water, I was not far away from them, I was trying to be the hero that day, I tried to save them but even I was about to drown because I was not able to swim, but I manage to come out of the water, I don’t know-how. So, this helpless hero (me) shout for help, help, help. They came running and we join our hand together and pull them out.

Life lesson from this incident.

Firstly: Learn how to swim if you want to be a real-life hero.

Secondly, we are stronger and better together, together we can do greater things.

Thirdly and most importantly, together the church should stretch out hands to the people who are perishing, who are weak, who are falling from faith and save them. We should Hold them tight, we can’t lose them. Let us be a soul winner, be a life saver.

Proverb 11:31 says He who win soul is wise.

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the LORD Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Helping can be financial help or material help too.

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Application: Are we helping people who are desperately in need of our help.

At this crucial time, you and can be a blessing for many people out there.

I have a beautiful hymn here. I will sing for all of you.

The title of a hymn is call “Be a channel of blessing”

Out in the highways and byways of life,  

many are weary and sad;
Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,

Making the sorrowing glad.
#   Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,  Out of my life, May Jesus shine;
  Make me a blessing, O saviour, I pray,  Make me a blessing to someone today.

To be a blessing for someone everyday should be our daily goal.

4. Be Patient with everyone. (14d)

Patient: Mak-ro-thy-mei-te – Verb, present imperative. That means be patience is a command.

Meaning: Long-suffering, forbearing, perseverance.

Everyone: all, the whole, every kind of.

1 Tim. 1:16

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

2 Peter 3:9 says,

“The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

You know, God patiently waits for all of us to come to repentance, so we need to have patience with one another.

Illustration: O.T there a story of King Saul, the Israelite were about to fight a battle but they have to do sacrifice first, that sacrifice has to be done by prophet Samuel, but King Saul was impatient to wait Samuel, so King Saul did the sacrifice. As a result, the Lord was not pleased with King Saul, God rejects king Saul and did not use him anymore.

If we are impatient it can destroy all our plan and destroy our relationships and it affects people around us.

Sometimes we are impatient in a crowded city like Mumbai, when we stuck in traffic when we stand in queue to buy a train ticket, to buy food, or even in a shopping mall to pay bills, sometimes we are impatient when the sermon is too long.

Sometimes we are impatient with our spouse, with children or friends.

Ephesian 4:1-2

 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Being patience will help us to avoid many life problems, being patience is a sign of spiritual maturity. Being patience will help us to understand each other and will help us to serve each other better and being patient will help us grow daily in the Lord.

Application: Beloved church we should have patience, everyone is not the same in church, some are slow learner, some fast learner, some take time to grow.

We have different gift and different personality, we must be patient like our Lord,

Even though we fall in sin and ran away from Him, and live all kind of sinful, wicked life.

He has   so much patience on us.

Psalm 103:8 says,

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

Church we must have patience toward one another and grow together in the Lord.

  • Always pursue good for each other. (15) (Not Retaliate)

“See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always pursue after that which is good for one another and for all people.”

Always: at all times, ever.

Pursue: verb, present imperative, so it is a command.

Literally means- by implication, to persecute, follow after, press forward.

Good: intrinsically good, good in nature.

Romans 12: 9-21

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 
On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
     if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
 In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Conclusion:

Church we have seen 5 points under the topic “Growing together in the Lord”

(1) Admonish the unruly
(2) Encourage the fainthearted
(3) Helping the weak
(4) Patiently caring to everyone
(5) Always pursue good for each other.

Why we must do all these? it is because Christ has loved us and sacrifice His life for us, and we have received the forgiveness of sins and now we have eternal life in Him.

Church He has done so much for us, Now it is our time to love Him, and serve Him and obey His command.

Therefore we must Lovingly admonish one another, Let us Carefully encourage the fainthearted, let us graciously help the weak, let us patiently care for all people and let us always pursue good for each other and grow together in the Lord. As a church and as an ambassador of Christ we should join our hand together and build up the body of Christ, we should strive to become a stronger and healthier follower of Christ.

God bless all of you amen.

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Daily Devotional

A Selfless Giver

Philippians 2: 4”Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

God’s biggest sacrifice for sinners like us, is summed up in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It is through the grace of His son, Jesus Christ, our savior, that we have been saved. Furthermore, Jesus gave himself selflessly for us.

We, as children of God are blessed because He is our provider. We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and we are set apart from the ways of the world. We are called to be humble. It is not by our own strength but by the grace bestowed upon us by Jesus, that we can show this humility.

God has called us to be united in Him, being like-minded, of one accord and having the same love as we see in verse 3 and 4 of the same chapter. But in our flesh, we tend to be more selfish and sometimes much of what we do is not done out of love but out of selfish desires.

Each one of us are missionaries, serving in the Lord’s kingdom for His glory. And so, we ought to look out for one another’s welfare and happiness.This doesn’t  mean that we interfere in others’ lives but we should strive for their good. It is to value our neighbour more than self. 

When we find it challenging to do so, let’s remember that God’s grace is abundantly available for us and we can always look to Jesus who modeled the loving posture of humility and service. Spend some time in the presence of God today and ask him to show you ways to serve others selflessly.

Prayer~ O Heavenly Father, you have shown us through Jesus Christ, what it means to love and serve unconditionally. We pray that we would acknowledge your grace and and walk in firm faith and not fear. Help and teach us how to serve others relentlessly for the glory of your name. 

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

The role of elders in our journey of faith- 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

https://www.facebook.com/thegatheringcommunity/videos/2360971784200966/

Good morning church! Hope you are doing well. We have completed 6 weeks of our lockdown and the latest reports do tell us that it will be extended at least till the end of May.

I know it is a testing time for all of us with the increase of COVID-19 cases and as the impact inches closer to home. In times like these when fear and uncertainty grip our minds, we need now more than ever an encouragement from God’s Word [the Bible].

Our faith needs to be energized to continue trusting and hoping in God. I’m thankful to God for this series of ‘Abiding faith’ from 1 Thessalonians. It’s like an apt letter for a difficult time like this. And today we are going to look at how “elders play a crucial role in our journey of faith”. Would you turn with me once more to our text for the day – 1 Thess 5:12-13?   

12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 
13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

Thess 5:12-13

I once heard this fictitious story of a discussion between the pastor of a certain church and the worship leader on a minor change for that week’s service. As the discussion grew, it got more heated.

Seeing that this was turning into an argument the pastor said “I think we should go home and pray and ask God to give us peaceful hearts.” After the worship service the coming week, the worship leader warmly greeted and told him “I took your advice and went home and said a prayer”.

The pastor said “Great. So did I. I asked God to grant us both peaceful hearts and a fresh start.” The worship leader replied “Although that’s not what I prayed for. I asked God to help me & give me the strength to put up with you”!!!

While there could be a variety of reasons as to why it’s not always the easiest to respect and highly esteem the pastors among us (we will come to that in a few minutes), I want to start by asking all of us this question

“Is it really necessary for a church to have pastors? Is their role really important?”

I’ll be answering this question with 4 more questions today – “What, Why, How and What next?”

1. What is the labour that pastors engage in?

We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you….to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. (v12-13)

What is the labour or work? Some people think that pastors are necessary for administration. Just to ensure that they have a steady pipeline of events organized well. Some other probably think that pastors exist to entertain the congregation on a Sunday morning with a well-crafted speech, couple of jokes here and there to keep it engaging – something like a Ted talk. Is that what pastors are called to? Or is it something else?

Here’s a simple definition of pastors –

They are God called, God gifted, assessed and publicly recognized individuals to lead God’s people in local churches.

a) God called: They are called by God to protect, provide and care for the souls of God’s people.

Look at what Paul says in Acts 20:28 to the Ephesian elders – Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,[e] which he obtained with his own blood.

Paul doesn’t say “I made you an elder/pastor. He says “the Holy Spirit has made you overseers”. Their appointment letter figuratively is signed by God and not an organization.

Just like the husband in the home is given the unique calling and responsibility to set the tone for provision in the family, to set the tone for physically and spiritually protecting the family, to set the tone by being an example in the family…in the same way pastors in the church are given “delegated authority” to provide, protect and care for God’s church.

It is a delegated authority that is bound by God’s Word and for which they will need to give an account for. The moment the pastor says anything outside of God’s Word, it ceases to be authoritative.

We aren’t obligated to do anything that the pastor tells us to do that is not flowing out of God’s Word.

b) God gifted: The pastor needs to be “able to teach” or as some other versions put it “an apt teacher” [1 Tim 3].

By God gifted I’m not saying that the pastor needs to have a daily podcast or an exceptional orator but someone who is equipped to faithfully preach and teach God’s Word.

As I said earlier, the delegated authority to be able to “rebuke, correct and train in righteousness” [2 Tim 3:16] comes from the Word. If the pastor faithfully explains and applies the passage of Scripture, then to disbelieve or to disobey would be to disbelieve or disobey God! That’s a huge thing.

A pastor is not called to state his opinions on different matters of the Bible. He’s not called to say things like “I think it’s not a wise idea for all of us to sin in this area”.

A pastor is called and gifted by God to preach and teach the very words of God and that has tremendous authority.

c) Assessed: When we look at the qualifications for pastors in 1 Tim 3 and Titus 1, we see that most of the qualifications are character qualities for which the church would need to have spent sufficient time with the candidate to evaluate his life.

Superior leadership qualities or oratory skills or administrative knack don’t count for anything. Maturity in the person’s lifestyle is what is being evaluated.

And that’s important because the pastor is called to “Set the tone for spiritual life in the church”.

 d) Publicly recognized: By public recognition, I don’t mean having a daily podcast, being featured on various church blogs or having a large twitter following.

What I mean by publicly recognized is that the pastors are officially recognized as the pastors in their local congregation. In the NT we see a pattern of laying of hands before the church.

And that’s important because the church needs to know who they need to approach for guidance & instruction. It can’t be left to assumptions.

Brothers and sisters, this is an important role in the church. But despite knowing that pastors are God called, God gifted, assessed and publicly recognized individuals to lead God’s people in local churches,

2) Why is it that we struggle to that respect and esteem pastors?

12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you

Thess 5:12

In v12 when Paul says “we ask you, brothers”, he is actually making an “earnest request”. The Hindi translation of this word is closer to the Greek translation – “Vinnti” – an earnest request is being made to this young Thessalonian church because they were not appreciating and respecting their pastors enough.

Our human experiences today aren’t too different from the Thessalonians. We struggle to do the same if we are honest. Some reasons could be:

a) We equate respect to ability: In our sinfulness, we end up respecting those that manage to “Wow” us with their abilities.

People need to “earn our respect”. In our sin, we think that if the pastor is better than us in his bible knowledge or behaviour or skill level, then we respect the pastor.

The flip-side is if we think we are better than the pastor in our abilities, then he doesn’t deserve our respect. Some years back I was having a conversation with a brother in Christ who had a solid understanding and training in the Word.

He certainly knew a lot more than me. But as we were talking about his church and his pastors, I realized he became quite bitter and said some unkind things about his pastors. And it surprised me because I wondered how could it be that a solid person in the Bible was having a tough time respecting his own pastors?

Later I figured it was his own bible knowledge that made him not respect his pastors. Now it is possible that he knew more than his pastors, but that doesn’t undermine the authority of those God called, God gifted, assessed and publicly recognized pastors to lead his own heart.

b) We fail to submit to authority: We see this displayed in all walks of life. Children struggle to submit to the authority of parents.

Citizens of a country oppose the authority of the government even if it’s a good government. Employees don’t submit to the authority of their employers. Similarly, even in churches, members have a hard time submitting themselves to their pastors.

And the issue is an internal one. It is a heart issue where we don’t like to be corrected. Even though we might not say it out loud, we echo these thoughts everyday “Who does that person think they are to tell me what to do?” “I should be the only one who decides what or what should not happen in my life” “I will submit only to my authority and no one else”.

And this failure to submit to authority goes back right to the Garden of Eden. This doesn’t have a modern origin story. Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they wanted to “be like God”. They wanted to independently decide what is right or wrong for them apart from God.

They wanted autonomy and all of human history has been paying the painful and deadly price for independence apart from God.

c) We have been victims of pastoral abuse: Some of us could find it hard to respect or esteem pastors because of a really painful and hurtful past experience.

It could have been harsh verbal abuse; it could have been manipulation or it could have also been inappropriate behaviour. And these I understand have damaging effects on the way we trust pastors now and also perceive spiritual things.

And honestly brothers and sisters, I have experienced all the three in my past experiences. I have laughed at and disrespected my pastors & I’ve also experienced the pain of pastoral abuse.

This has been a topic that really drove my heart to repenting this week. Which brings us to the question if there is any hope available for us?

3) How can Jesus Christ redeem us from this?

a) How can Jesus redeem us from equating respect to ability? The good news of Jesus tells us that God chose to treat us well in spite of our disabilities.

We had no means and no way of being able to present ourselves as acceptable and pure before God. All our best works were only as good as filthy rags.

Yet through the sacrifice of Jesus, God has given us a place of respect and privilege as His own children. This crushes the worldly thought process of equating respect with ability.

b) How can Jesus redeem us from failing to submit to authority? When we look at the root of every sin that we have ever committed, deep down there is a stubborn defiance to not submit to God’s authority.

It’s super humbling to realize that Jesus Christ hung and died on a cross to pay the full price for our unsubmissive heart and deeds!

Christ Jesus paid the highest cost to rescue us from the deadly snare of independence & bring us back to the safety net of God dependence.

c) How can Jesus redeem us from the hurt of pastoral abuse -> Can we receive healing? Yes, the healing comes from forgiveness.

But how it is it possible to forgive someone who has done so much of damage to my life and spirituality?

When we realize the depths of God’s forgiveness in spite of our spiritual abuse against Him, as painful as it seems it allows us to forgive the people responsible for the pastoral abuse.

Because of the good news of Jesus, we have both the power and the motivation to forgive!

In the light of how Christ has redeemed us –

4) What do we do next?

How do we actually now apply these truths of respecting our pastors and highly esteeming them in love?

Is it by buttering up our pastors and showering them with compliments? Not really.

But we can show our care and value by these things:

1. Pray for your pastors: One of the most caring things you can do for us as your pastors is bringing us before the throne of God frequently and ask God to give us greater intimacy with Jesus, give us wisdom on how to lead you all well especially through a pandemic – none of us in this generation have seen or heard anything of this kind & also pray for provision as we follow God’s call.

2. Obey your pastors: To remind you again – our delegated authority comes from God’s Word. Therefore, if it’s an instruction or correction that’s coming clearly from Scripture, then obedience is how you show your allegiance to God and value for the elders God has placed over you.

Just know guys – our heart is always to point you to glorify God and for your good.

3. Encourage your pastors: We might assume that pastors don’t need encouragement and are self-sufficient but its far from that.

We as your pastors need your encouragement from the Word as much as you do. We need encouragement to continue to pour and toil in ministry and do it with a joyful heart.

Jesus Christ is author and leader of His church! He is the Lead Pastor. All the pastors from all-time report to Him.

It’s so beautiful that He would choose broken individuals like us and use us to lead His people even as He is also repairing us!

God leads us as we follow the leadership of those He has placed over us. Be it in the family being led by the husband or in the family of God (the local church) led by the pastors.

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Daily Devotional

A Guaranteed Hope

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

In Christ, our Heavenly Father has adopted us as his sons & daughters. Will our worldly parents feed us scrap when we ask them for food? How much more will our Heavenly Father provide for his beloved children!

We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. This life is only a teaser of the Big Picture ahead.

In most of our lives, there has been at least one or several instances when we’ve unexpectedly found coins or cash in our trousers, jeans, shirt pockets or bags. Such a blissful moment! When we look back, these coins were always there in those pockets but we never happened to notice them before.

Similarly, God provides his full grace to us though His son Jesus and says my grace is sufficient for you. He expects that we reach out to him, in full surrender and draw from that grace.

He never said that life will be easy, but he promised that he will be right beside us, lifting us through the storms, and quieting the winds. There is a calling on our lives which sometimes may not make sense because of the situations and circumstances, but as time goes by, we will understand the Lord’s will and purpose in it all and believe that He will work everything for our good because our hope is in Christ Jesus.

Unlike the worldly hope which is based on circumstances or luck, Christian hope is based on a surety, a commitment and not a conjecture. Christ has redeemed us and we are no longer condemned. ”All things” means each and every circumstance will indeed work together for good. It may feel like it is not good for us at the moment, however, God can and will use all things for good.

Father, I pray that you help us appreciate all that you produce in us through your son Jesus and remind us that our faith, as small as a mustard seed, can do exceedingly more. God, use us to bring glory to you. Amen

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Staying Confident and Hopeful in Christ: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Good morning family!

I know things are not looking great and we still don’t have any clue about when everything will return to normal. These are tough days and we do understand the struggles you are going through. But in these rough times our hope is that you are taking good care of yourselves especially spiritually.

This morning, I believe, our passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 gives us some really wise and practical life lessons for times like these.

After listening to Paul’s encouraging words to the church in Thessalonica, we know for sure that these bunch of people were genuine followers of Christ. This church was acclaimed for their undying Faith by Paul, Timothy and the reports they received from churches.

That is why, we picked out this letter and named our series “Abiding Faith”, because we want to learn and imitate these Christians whose Faith was strong as a rock.

But what we see in these recent passages is even though their lives were deeply rooted in Christ, they also had their moments of anxieties and fears about the future, about their present difficult circumstances, more so as there were many Christians tortured and put to death. In verse 1 Paul writes

1. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers

In this verse and the verses prior to these, we read how Paul is aware of what’s happening and his response to the church’s apprehension and that is why He opens up a dialogue where he is exhorting and teaching them how to live under these difficult circumstances.

I believe these words of Paul are equally relevant to us today as we encounter various challenges and anxiousness due to this pandemic.  I hope these verse shifts our focus to Christ and realigns our thoughts to Him.

There are 4 lessons we can learn from Paul dialogue with the Thessalian church

1. To Live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming.

The first lesson we learn is to “live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming’. Look at verse 2 with me

2. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

In saying this, Paul is also referring to what he already mentioned in 4:16 “For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout”. You see, brothers & sisters, it’s the promise Christ gave them before he ascended to heaven in Matthew 24:44 when He said: “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may also be.”

These verses and many others clearly tell us that there will be a sudden, personally visible, bodily return of Christ.

Now, there is a lot of speculation among people with respect to the day of Christ’s coming. Some say Jesus will come anytime now. I remember when I was a kid we went to this church where the Pastor was a Muslim convert.

As far as I remember he was a radical preacher. He would always keep saying “Jesus is coming, are you ready?”, in every message he preached, His house was filled with verses and pictures of Jesus’s coming. I remember one particular picture of Jesus descending from heaven and people being lifted up to him.

And then there are others who believe that there is still time for the return of Christ since they claim that there are events mentioned in the scriptures that are yet to happen which are –

  1. Preaching of the Gospel to all nations (Mark 13:10)
  2. The Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:15-22)
  3. False Prophets working signs & wonders (Mark 13:22)
  4. Signs in heaven (Mark 13:24-25)
  5. Appearance of a Man of Lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:1-10)

I giving you references so you can read and study them.

Now, when we look back at history there are certain junctures that would seem like these events have already happened. Now, we won’t go into those details, but in some ways, it seems appropriate to conclude that the predictions of these events may have already been fulfilled. We are free to have our opinions and not quarrel over it. It’s secondary.

But what I want to lead our hearts into is, regardless of our conviction related to either of these views, scriptures clearly suggest that we should stay vigilant and live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming.

In Matthew 24:42-44 Jesus said “42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 3, Paul gives us a picture of how the world is living. He says “While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

Brothers & sisters, as children of God, let us not be oblivious and unprepared. Whether you are a full-time worker, or running a business, or studying, volunteering for any kind of job, working from home or taking care of various needs of your family at home, whatever it may be, day in and day out we ought to be alert, ready and waiting expectantly for our Savior’s return because this will keep us hopeful.

My Dad coming home

In a similar way, regardless of the outcomes of the present crisis, we have hope that we will be with Jesus in heaven. It keeps our hearts and minds focused on the heavenly things, to desire and dream for the things that truly matter. And helps us to stay watchful from the deceptions (Fasav) of this world.

2. To live daily with an assurance that we are truly saved and redeemed.

The second important lesson we learn from this passage us “ To live daily with an assurance that we are truly saved and redeemed”.

We see that in Verse 4-5

4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

In verse 8-9 Paul goes on to remind them the Gospel saying …

8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

Brothers & sisters, what Christ has done for us is so precious. You see, while we were sinners and rebels, doing whatever our sinful hearts desired, the Bible says “Christ died fo us”.

As we process this truth, we need to have a deeper understanding of the gift of this Gospel that offered us freedom from slavery to Sin, a new identity in Christ, a relationship that was sealed by the Holy Spirit that confirms our unity with Christ.

Remember that moment when the scales fell off from our eyes when Jesus came into your heart and transformed our life. When we repented of our sins and turned our hearts to Christ, He showered His unconditional love upon us and welcomed us into his family.

Therefore brothers & sisters, do not let the deceiver deceive you and tell you otherwise. Don’t let any doubt linger in your heart but be confident and assured of your salvation in Christ.

We need to say with the same confidence like Paul said in Romans 8:31-35

If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? – Nothing can separate us from the love of God

A strong conviction and assurance in our Salvation give us courage, boldness and strength when we are weak. So, remind the gospel to your heart daily.

3. To live a Morally and Spiritually engaged lives.

The third lesson we learn from this passage is to live morally and spiritually engaged lives.

Here Paul writes in verse 6 & 7.

6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.

To sleep and to get drunk is to lose all consciousness. The context of the word ‘sleep’ in this passage means to be unengaged & unprepared. Paul says this is how the people of the night, people who live in darkness live their lives.

The world has no moral compass and therefore they live selfish and broken lives, but that is not who we are. We are children of the light, the salt of this world, and therefore our conduct and our behaviour matters to God. And through the same grace that enabled us to put our faith in Christ at the time of our salvation, and the same grace that will one day take us to heaven is also the very grace given to us now so that we can live a victorious life in Christ.

God’s expectation from us is to be Holy as He is Holy, not to live as a lazy and sluggard person and therefore He’s has provided his grace to overcome all kinds of temptations, what is required of us is to put our faith in Him, the same child-like faith that we displayed during our conversion, the same child-like faith that believes we will be taken up in heaven. We don’t need an increased faith to overcome sinful temptations, when Jesus’s disciples went to Jesus and asked Him to increase their faith He said “If you have a faith as small as a mustard seed you can move mountains”. What is this small little temptation we are talking about?

God is accomplishing a great thing in this world and he is accomplishing it through you and me, what God has done to us and what is doing in us is not a small thing, therefore, my brothers, my sisters, will you stay awake & engaged? I mean to desire to live morally and spiritually engaged lives for the Glory of God, with the strength and grace He provides. So that He can use us and save many more like us.

4. To live purposefully by encouraging and building one another

And finally the last lesson we learn from this passage is to live purposefully by encouraging and building one another.

11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

We are a family, and we need encouragement, we need support. We need our brothers and sisters to stand with us in hard times, to mourn with us in our sorrows, to rejoice in our victories. We find joy, encouragement and hope when brothers or sisters reminds us God’s love if my heart becomes weary, and warns us from falling into sins when our hearts draw us astray. We need leaders and elders to enlighten us from God’s word and give us the right perspective towards life and the challenges we go through. We need Godly friends to lighten our burdens when we feel lonely and depressed.

Church, let us be sensitive towards one another, what we need is what even others need. The  joy of giving is better than the joy of receiving. In hard times like these, people need encouragement and comfort just as we need it.

There is so much room & opportunity God has provided for us to be involved in serving others and find happiness in doing so.

I suggest that we make it a goal every day to reach out to atleast one person and encourage them in the Lord, remind the Gospel to each other, pray for each other, and give them the confidence that there is someone they can reach out to when in need.

This will definitely uplift our spirit and keep us alive and active.

Community is a beautiful gift from God and therefore let’s make every effort to benefit from it.

Finally, let me conclude by reminding the four lessons we learned today.

1. To Live in eager anticipation of the Lord’s coming.

2. To live daily with an assurance that we are truly saved and redeemed.

3. To live a Morally and Spiritually engaged lives.

4. To live purposefully by encouraging and building one another

Let me pray for us.

Hope you have have a great week ahead. Love you.

Categories
Daily Devotional

The Cure to Worry

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.“ – Philippians 4:6 

Our Lord, the Creator, knows that we humans are broken. He is aware of our anxieties and our worries. Nothing surprises Him as he knows everything right from the beginning. However, He wants to have a relationship with us.

In this passage, Paul doesn’t stop at ”Do not be anxious.” Rather he writes, ”Do not be anxious about anything…” It talks about the extent to which the Lord wants us to trust him. He has given us a solution to all our worries by further stating that he is right there to hear us. We just have to humble ourselves and earnestly come before him. Remember that God is faithful, he has always been.

If there is anything of significance to worry about, it is worth praying for. God is waiting with open arms to grant us his grace and his peace which is beyond our understanding.

Today, let us spend some time with God thinking about the issues that causes anxiety and submit the same to the Lord, trusting him with his plan.

Lord, you are sovereign and in control. Help us to surrender our worries to you and remember that you are faithful each time.

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Striving Toward Higher and greater Responsibility: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

Good morning beautiful people, I am super delighted to see all of you again.

I hope you guys are safe and taking good care of yourself.

I hope you all are spiritually and physically healthy and fit.

Take good care of your physical health by doing exercise regularly and spiritually keep growing in the Lord.

You know, Its tragedy to see many beloved brothers and sisters died in many part of the world, and many are dying because of corona pandemic.

Church let us keep praying for all brothers and sisters who are going through hard time.

Let us pray that many people will come back to our living God at this chaotic situation.

Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

1 Timothy 2:4 4who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Beloved wherever we are, let us make use of every opportunity and every means and point the perishing soul to Christ.

Shall we look to God in Pray: Dear Lord we thank you for this time as we gonna spent some time together meditating your words, may you come and teach us and bless us in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Paul says, 1 Cor. 13:11. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

          When we were baby we consume only liquid food right, but when we grow up we change our diet, we start eating hard food, we eat by our self, in the same way we can’t act and behave like a child all the time, it’s time for all of us to take higher and greater responsibilities as a follower of Christ.

Paul urge Thessalonians that you guys need to take higher and greater responsibility, you can’t be in the same position always you need to grow in the Lord, you need to work more.

Believers taking up higher and greater responsibility is the overall focus we gonna meditate now.

Would you please open your bible with me to 1 Thess. 4:9-12? Read it.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

9Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

10And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, (go higher and higher, more and more)

11and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you,

12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

I would like to entitle my sermon as “Striving toward higher and greater Responsibility”

  1. 1.    Striving toward loving one another more and more. (9-10).

9Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

10And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more.

There are 4 kinds of love in the bible. In Greek language they are called:

(1) Agape Love- Unconditional love. (Love of God)

(2) Storgi love– Affection (love between Family)

(3) Eros Love– Eroticism (Love between couple)

(4) Philia- love – Friendship (love between friends) or Brotherly

Here in verse 9 and 10, Apostle Paul is using Philia love, friendship love or brotherly love

Thessalonians scoring mark in loving one another is A+, Paul was so proud of their testimony, they were leading church in spreading gospel in all over the places,

they were living exemplary life, but Paul urge them again, you can still do better than A+,

love one another more and more, it means you don’t need to be just good, but you need to be excellent, excel in your conduct toward loving one another.

The Thessalonians did not just feel love for one another—they did love for one another – “And indeed you DO it toward all the brethren…” (4:10) They did not merely profess brotherly love—they expressed brotherly love with their action. This is exactly the teaching of the Scriptures: 1 John 3:18 – Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

John 13:34-35, Jesus said,

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.”

Scripture remind us that if we love one another that will prove that we are Christ disciples.

On the other hand, Scripture says the absence of brotherly love is a prove that someone is not truly born again –

1 John 4: 20,21.

20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

If we are not loving one another you are not born again????, a genuine and true born-again believer will obey Christ command and life according to His will and purpose.

Illustration: Philippians Church collect money for Apostle Paul while he was having hard time in Rome Jail. (This is Philia love brotherly love).

I saw many of our church believers donating gift to the people who going through hard time at this moment. That is brotherly love.

Many people around the world are help each other and encouraging each other, sharing each other burden, praying for another, Caring for one another.

This act of loving one another will prove that we are Christ disciples.

The scripture is urging to do this good works more and more

Application: Friends,

Are we loving one another?

Do you think you can love people around you more and more?

There is great power and happiness and blessings in loving one another.

Loving one another can change the world.

What if 7.8 billion people in this planet love one another? Stop hating each other?

And start caring for one another

The world will be a better place, you and I can bring the change.

You know folks, Apostle Paul knows the power of loving one another, and He is reminding us that we should love one another more and more as Christ has love us.

The world has experienced enough blood shed in history, in 1 world war 19 million people died, and in second world war 56 million people died,

We see humanitarian crisis in middle East, Europe and in many parts of the world, we see unending fight going on in middle east and in various part of the world

Why all these hates, killing and fight, it is because there is no love.

In 2003 an American band called Black Eyed Pies” released a hit song call

“where is the love” the song has 529 million view in YouTube.

 The song starts with the sentence “what’s wrong with the world,”

This song is all about Condemn war, terrorism, killing, using chemical gas, gangster, selfishness, Madness of all evils that is happening around the world,

the chorus goes like this.

People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt and you hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach?
And would you turn the other cheek?

Father, father, father help us
Send us some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love? (Love)

Where is the love? (The love)
Where is the love? (The love)

Beloved, the world is hungry for Christ love, they are searching for an answer, we know  Jesus is the answer for this dying world, we have Christ love in us, let us Spread the Love of Christ and Let us conquer our family, our friends, our society, our nation and the world with Christ love.

  1. Strive toward leading a peaceful life. (11a)

“And to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life”

We are to aim or strive for wuiet and peaceful life.

The word “quiet” here is a Greek verb that means to rest. hold peace, be quiet.

Paul reflects this thinking by saying that the goal of every Christian should be to lead a quiet, peaceful and tranquil life. we should seek a peaceful life without conflict with our community.

This quiet and peaceful life is not from the world this is from God,

John 14:27 Jesus said, peace I leave with you, my peace I gave to you.

Isaiah 9:6. Jesus is the price of peace.

So remember this quiet and peaceful life is fromGod.

I have beautiful hymn here written by Anne S Murphy. (1890).

There is a peace in my heart that the world never gave,
A peace it cannot take away;
Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,
I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!

All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,
When peace sweetly came to my heart;
Troubles all fled away and my night turned today,
Blessed Jesus, how glorious Thou art!


Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;
Constantly abiding, rapture divine;
He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind:
“I will never leave thee,” Jesus is mine.

Why we should strive to live quiet and peaceful life?

Because peaceful living

  1. Peaceful living builds up good relationship with the people around us.

(Year ago we were living in Santacruz, we have very good Hindu neighbor, we share so many things together, but when we were about to leave the neighborhood, I remember the granny came over hug me and Phila and she was literally crying).

Because they don’t want us to leave.

And the other catholic neighbor they are sad too, they call me Father in their own catholic context, they told me to come back again, we had an emotional goodbye).

I learn a lesson that living peaceful life with people around is vital for every believer.

  • Living peaceful life Set a Christlike example for them.
  • Living peaceful life Show the world that we are peace loving and peaceful people.
  • To live peacefully with all people is a command from God. (Romans 12:18)
  • Most importantly, we can share good news to them.

In this hectic world, everyone is searching for quit and peaceful life,

Many people think if they have enough money, achieve their wildest dream,

their life will be peaceful, and

If they become famous and successful, they think they will have peaceful life.

But that’s not true materialistic things and fame and success that we see around is temporary and can’t give us the inner peace.

Perfect peace is found in Christ Jesus alone. 

Matthew 11: 28. Jesus said,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Application:

Remember church, we are here to show the world that we have perfect peace given by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us show the world our peaceful life in Christ, so that they will return to our Living God.

With that lets come to the 3rd points.

  1. Striving toward doing our own business and being productive (11b)

“You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you”, (b)

This verse is telling us to do our own work by Using God-given talents and gifts.

This is a practical advice, considering the church was under persecution from the civil authorities as well as the Jews.  By “laying low” and minding their business, they avoided an increase of persecution.

Illustration: Apostle PAUL.

Paul wrote, “Mind your own business and work with your hands.” Paul was an apostle, but he also had a real job. He was a tentmaker. He worked with his hands to make tents and sell them so he could have money to live on. He didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.

1 Thess.2:9. Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day, we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you.

Beloved Don’t let your life be a burden to someone else, may be your family, wife, husband, church, may be society, may be even nation.

Let us be like Paul and his team working day and night for living,

so that we won’t be burden to anyone but be a blessing to all people around us.

Paul says “Work with your hands” it means Living a productive life.

How can we live a productive life?

Illustration: I have short story of an Ant. (Proverb.6;6-11) Solomon the wise man said,

6.Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,  a little folding of the hands to rest—
11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

I do not mean you guys are lazy and squanderer but what I mean to say is we can learn a great life Lesson from this little ant and be productive.

(1) Work smart (the Ant know when to work and how to work and they know where the food is) that’s smart right.

 (2) work hard (they work day and night and never get tired)

(3) Never give up. (they work until they achieve their dream)

(4) Be persistence. (they keep working and working).

Wise man Solomon remind us to learn these important lessons from an Ant.

I Have a quotation here:

“Wise people plan for 3 generation, fool plan for Saturday night”.

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”

Remember whatever we do, we are doing for God, for His glory and not for ourselves.

Application:

Are we striving toward minding our own business? or living a messy and lazy life?

And, are we living a productive life?

Ephesian 5: 15-17

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,

16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Our life on earth is short, we don’t have time to squander around and waste our life,

Let’s work hard and take good care of the task God has assign us and let us live a productive life.

Finally, we come to our last point:

  1. Striving toward gaining respect and self-support. (12)

“So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (12)

This last point striving toward gaining respect and self-support is the result of obeying point 1, 2, and 3.

If we strive toward loving one another more and more,

If we strive toward leading quiet and peaceful life,

If we strive toward working our own affairs and living productive life.

We will win the respect of outsiders; these outsiders are people outside the church (unbelievers) and

We will not live depending on others but living a sufficient satisfied life.

Remember Believers must always bear in mind the impact of their conduct on those who are without faith. we must give the impression that we are our Lord’s ambassadors,

and our conduct must show the beauty of Christ.

Illustration: Last month we were in Dubai, I heard a beautiful story, of the works done by Christian missionary Doctors, In a year 1964 missionaries open a hospital, This hospital has help the people UAE in an extraordinary way, some of their great leaders Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Sheikh Saif bin Zayed were born there in the hospital.

During their Country hard time Christian missionaries have done an amazing work, As a result, the Christian missionaries won a huge respect from Muslim friends. They have a high respect for each other.

The UAE government even donate a land to build churches. There is religion tolerance and freedom of religion in UAE.

It is Because of few faithful Christian missionaries; the younger generation are greatly blessed.

As a church we should win the respect of unbelievers around us so that we can build up good relationship with them and introduce them to Christ.

We should also take good care of our life, our life should not depend on others for daily needs, but like Paul and his team we should work hard and live a sufficient and satisfied life, our life should be an example to all people around us.

Conclusion:

We have meditated together 4 points under the

topic: “Striving Toward Higher Greater Responsibility”

I want to remind you that you are not a child anymore, you are responsible men and women, you are an ambassador of Christ, we can’t be like baby anymore.

We must “Strive toward Higher and greater Responsibility”.

Remember we are on a mission from the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

Let us fight the good fight, let us be strong and be courageous.

We are generation builders; and we are the world changer.

Let us strive toward loving one another more and more,

Let us strive toward leading quiet and peaceful life,

Let us strive toward working our own affairs and live productive life.

Let us Strive toward gaining respect and self-support.

Remember, the world is desperately in need of Christ love,

Let us love them more and more and more.

We must be a channel of peace for this broken world by introducing our Lord Jesus,

the prince of Peace.

Let us work hard like an ant and live a productive life for Gods glory.

Finally, we must win the respect of people around us by showing the beauty of Christ in our life.

May God bless you and keep you and make His face shine on you.

Let’s Look to God in prayer.

Amen.