Author: Saju Joseph

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James Sermon

Anger Management – James 1:19-21

Greetings!

Back to sermon series on ‘Faith in Action’ – The Epistle of James to the Jews scattered because of persecution.

Context – Going through Suffering – James says to consider it joy when you go through trials – Ask for wisdom from God.

From 19 onwards James is addressing some practical issues – and in our three verses today he is addressing the issue of Anger. Firstly, I wonder why he started with anger and not any other practical issues.

I guess maybe because the people who are now scattered for their faith in Jesus may have started developing the feeling of anger towards God for their current situation and it is now showing up in their relationship with one another.

As I was thinking about their situation I realized that in some ways we all go through these moments in life, especially as Christians. Yes, there is this eternal joy & peace that captures our heart when we repent of our sins and trust in Christ for sustenance and guidance, but in doing so there is also a huge transformation that happens in our mind, our perspective towards this earthly life starts changing, the worldly principles and lifestyle that we once walked on begins to look meaningless and waste.

And we take on a very different journey which is unlike the ways of the world. Kingdom values and kingdom perspective take a strong position in our life.

It’s like all this while we were running with the waves and all of a sudden we now running against the waves, the harder we try, the painful the experience, because the waves become stronger and stronger trying to push us back. And because of the pain & tiredness we experience, instead of finding joy in life’s moments, we tend to become angry, angry with God and angry on people.

And I suppose that is the reason why James felt it important to deal with the issue of Anger before talking about anything else. When we are angry we shut ourselves down, we don’t listen, and even when we listen we don’t pay attention. In anger, Our heart starts beating like a fast running horse, instead of being calm like a Dove.

And trust me, everyone has anger issues in life. They show up in different ways.

Therefore, what we will explore today is What does God’s word teach us about ‘Anger Management’. Unless we have the right perspective about Anger and learn how to deal with it we will never be able to enjoy our Christian life.

Perspective #1 – Human Anger does not produce the righteousness of God.

v20 –  for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Isn’t that an interesting statement to read? I never paid attention to that passage in the bible before until someone pointed it out to me in relation to an incident that came up where this Christian brother expressed sorrow for acting in anger with his parents for some reason.

Human anger does not produce the righteousness of God because it is rooted in Self. And anything that is rooted in self is against God. When God created the world, he created man and women and put them in this beautiful garden, by design everything, every living creature, every aspect of creation was supposed to worship God.

And while every aspect of creation still continues to obey God and follow the orders given by the Almighty, Humans, who were created in God’s likeness and image, when given the authority and power to worship God by choice, we decided to choose Self. We believed the devil when he said we can be like God, and instead of walking in obedience to our creator, we disobeyed him by eating the forbidden fruit and decided to choose our own path. And God couldn’t tolerate that behaviour anymore and threw us out of His presence.

Why do we get angry?

The main reason we get angry is …

Because of unmet Needs resulting in hurt,  unmet Expectations resulting in frustration & because of Insecurities we develop because of an unbalanced and unstable life.

Because our forefathers sinned, we too were born sinful, it’s like a spider web, where we continue to experience the pain and misery because of the consequences and actions of our parents, and their parents … eventually traced back to Adam & Eve where it all began.

Therefore, in the natural, since the time we are born, we are sinful human beings, And in our sinfulness, all that matters to us is whether my Self needs are been met. If you want to more insight on human behaviour especially in children, the best people to talk to right now is Jinson and Angela.

Ask them How often does Baby Hannah before crying and demanding for food checks whether her mother is ready to feed, or check on the Father whether he is busy with work or not. She’s like I don’t care how my mother is feeling or what my Father is doing, I want food, I want attention, and I want love, right now right here.

Brothers & sisters, whether we are small babies or big boys and girls, we all behave in such manners when it is about our needs, and the way we express it is by showing anger.

And BTW, it’s not just the people who scream and yell are angry people, we show our anger in many ways. There are two broad categories of angry people – The Open Aggressive ones and the Passive-aggressive ones.

The Open Aggressive ones are those people who have a tendency to lash out in anger and rage, becoming physically or verbally aggressive and can often time hurt themselves or others.

This comes out in fighting, bullying, blackmailing, accusing, shouting, bickering, sarcasm and criticism. Open aggression comes from a need to be in control. I would identify myself as an Open aggressive person when I get angry.

The Passive-aggressive people are those who may not admit that they are angry because they don’t like confrontation. This comes out in things like becoming silent when you are angry, sulking, procrastinating (putting stuff off you need to do), and pretending “everything is fine”.

Passive aggression too comes from a need to be in control. My wife Jane I believe is mostly a passive-aggressive person, but she has changed a lot. I could never stand her going silent on me.

Brothers & sisters, sin has tainted our desires so badly that from birth itself, our needs have always been the focus of our life. Everything we are taught, day in & day out is pushing us towards seeking our own needs, with our own strength.

Therefore, we expect everyone to meet our needs, we expect our parents to love us, provide for us & bring us up in a certain manner, and when that need is not met we get angry at them.

We expect our family & friends to have behaved in a certain manner, and because that need is not met, instead of been loved and cared for we get angry. Some of us instead of being loved have gone through abuse, trauma, torture, disrespect etc, and we have become angry.

But then, there comes Jesus, the son of God, the creator of the universe, giving us a heavenly perspective, unlike what the world has been teaching us. In Matthew 6:25-33 he says ….

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[a] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In John 15:18 he said

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Brothers & sisters, our sinful action in the Garden of Eden has birthed hatred in all our heart towards God and as long as people reject and hate the true and living God their behaviour & responses to one another will always be hurtful.

Therefore, we need to understand that our true NEEDS will never be met by another sinful person or a thing, we should completely stop having that expectation, instead, we should all turn to God who meets our real needs, the needs of our heart, and we will feel angry no more on our circumstances or other people. 

Jesus said “Come to me and I will give you rest”, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Perspective #2 – Anger is a God given emotion, for a purpose

You see, not all anger is bad. In fact, it is an emotion given by God for a purpose.

Yes, we have to be angry, but we have to angry towards our sin, towards injustice, towards everything that God is angry with. James would suggest in our passage to use our holy anger towards putting away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. (verse 21)

Yes, there is redemption for us, there is a safe place which we can create for ourselves, in a world that is broken and filthy. But that redemption comes only from Christ and His saving grace.

Certainly, God was angry with us when we sinned and rebelled against Him but instead of killing us he found another way, he sent His only beloved son Jesus to take our place. Instead of punishing us, he took out all his wrath and anger on himself on the cross of Calvary. Brothers & sisters, this is the greatest proof that he loves, loves us dearly.

Psalms 145:8-9

The Lord is gracious and merciful,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
    and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Psalms 103:12

as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

We did not deserve His Love and yet He poured it out in abundance and continues to do so even today.

Therefore, we don’t have any right to get angry on God or on others. Instead, as children of this loving God, we ought to be torchbearers of this loving God to this dying world by having the right perspective towards one another and by not reacting in anger when we see and experience brokenness in others, whether it’s our unbelieving family or friends, or whether it’s our believing family or friends who are been sanctified just like us.

But how do we practically deal with Anger?

James gives us three advice which we can apply to our lives.

Advice #1 – Be quick to Hear

When we feel anger, instead of expressing a reactionary response let’s become receptive listeners (again). The angry moments are the best moments to dig deep into our hearts and pull out all the selfish unmet needs, expectations and insecurities and evaluate them against the word of Truth, but to do so we have to train ourselves to be good listeners – listen to God, listen to people.

I can’t explain how better our marriage life has become, just by abiding by this rule. Most of our disagreements and fights have resolved well when we’ve deliberately taken time out to time to search our sinful heart and apply the word of God. And at the end we’ve always found ourselves feeling miserable and end up arguing and saying I’ve been the worst person, please forgive me.

Here’s an advice from the wisest man on earth that will help, Mr Solomon the King.

Proverbs 28:9 – If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination

In John 10:27-28, Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Brothers & sisters, from my own experience, I would say this is really good advice if you want to manage your anger.

Advice #2 – Slow to Speak

Slow to speak doesn’t mean speaking slowing, because some people can speak slow and yet spit venom, the best example is Kaa the Snake in the movie Mowgli. But what James is meaning is to begin speaking slowly, not to be in a hurry to speak, especially when you are angry.

Here’s what Mr Solomon the King has to say

Proverbs 10:19 – When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

Proverbs 13:3

3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;
    he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Proverbs 29:20

20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
    There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The famous president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson said “When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.”

Brothers & sister, even this one is great advice and you consider practising it as often as you can. Personally, this advice has saved me from many troubles.

Advice #3 – Slow to anger

And finally, be slow to anger.

As we discussed earlier, God has been slow to anger towards us all this while, apart from being merciful and gracious. When we are slow to anger towards others we are displaying a godly characteristic that they need to see so that they can see for themselves the transforming power of the Gospel in your life.

Even when the other person has done the worst of things to you, think of your own position before God, we have in fact done the worst of worst against God. Seek to be humble in such moments and allow the Spirit of God to give you the strength to forgive and instead show love.

Finally, remember, in going through all such experiences in our Christian life, allowing God to break you, mould you & make you, he is saving the world through you, the Gospel work he is doing in your heart is for a purpose, for a glories purpose.

Let us pray.

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James Sermon

An eternal perspective on poverty and riches: James 1:9-11

We are doing a series called “Faith in Action” and the topic we will explore today is on having a heavenly perspective of poverty and riches, the passage we are looking at is James 1:9-11.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. – James 1:9-11

First of all, let me once again reminded that James primary audience are believers, men and women who have put their trust in God, and because of their faith in Christ they are now living in a foreign land away from the place of birth, among unknown people groups, and going through trials.

And among those believers, some of them were poor and some of them were rich.

In verse 9 the lowly brother is in reference to the poor, and what James is saying is that the poor brother should be proud of his position, why? Because being a poor man his dependence is on the Lord all the time, he trusts the Lord evermore for his daily needs, he has a humble demeanour & contrite spirit, and therefore James is saying it a good standing to have in the eyes of God.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus mentions about the lowly saying “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God”, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” therefore James is saying, boast in your high position as a born-again believer, called to the true riches in Christ.

On the other hand, to the rich Christians, James is saying that they should boast in their humiliation, being humbled, humbled by the trials that reveal human frailty, their sinful and boastful heart, knowing that true riches are found in the grace of God.

You may ask how can being rich be a humiliation.

Imagine a moment when you have all the money and wealth in the world, and even after having all of that you see how wretched and sinful you are.

And because you have money it is now even more easy for you to indulge in your sinful pleasures, access to everything at your fingertips. Instead of feeling happy, you are only feeling more miserable about yourselves, and In addition to that, there is Pride and a boastful spirit towards God and people.

Can rich people feel humiliated in that position?

Yes of course!

Like Solomon who said “I have seen and done all things under the sun and have found them futile, a chasing after the wind.

I have considered all the works my hands have accomplished and toiled for and found them futile.”

And therefore, while addressing the rich he is also reminding them of the fading nature of worldly riches. Its there today and gone tomorrow, like the flower of the grass that withers away under the scorching heat of the sun.

At one time it may look good, beautiful and pleasing to the eyes and in a moment it can be taken away, right in the middle of our pursuit of riches it can be taken away forever.

And as we are looking at both these statements made about the poor and the rich, James is not suggesting that to be poor is better than being rich.

Because there are passages in the bible that also tells us that poverty could be the result of sin & laziness (Prov 10:4), it can be a result of ignoring God’s ways (Proverbs 13:8, 18), Prov 10:15 also suggests that the poor are brought to ruin by their poverty, poverty can affect relationships (19:4,7), and it can even tempt him to steal (30:7-9)

and that there is profit in hard work (Proverbs 10:4; 14:23). The Bible tells of many wealthy men who followed God: Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, Zaccheus and others.

Brothers & sisters, whether you consider yourself as a poor person or as a rich person, it is important to have a heavenly perspective regarding your current state, and if we do not cultivate a heavenly perspective we are in trouble, whether we are rich or poor.

Why? Because whether we are poor or rich, trails in life are inevitable, both of them go through trials of different nature.

Therefore, the rest of our time, I want to talk about the heavenly perspectives we need to cultivate, whether we are rich or poor.

1. Money, fame or wealth will not save us from the trials of life.

Growing up most of us have been taught and programmed to believe that money, fame, position and wealth is the ultimate goal in life. When we have money we can buy anything we want, go anywhere we like and that will make us happy.

And therefore, we spend our whole lives pursuing these things. Especially when some of us go through trails that are caused due to lack of money and resources, we think only if I had lots of money I wouldn’t have had struggles in life.

But in reality, that isn’t true. If you look around and watch the ones who’ve achieved these things, we will learn that these things never make us happy, rather we end in a trial of different nature, sometimes related to health, sometimes related to our children etc.

You can be found having a deadly sickness which money can’t take away, or your children completely ashtray, away from God which money cant bring back.

A famous Hollywood actor once said, “Everyone should get rich and famous so that they learn that being rich and famous is not the answer”. Yes, there is some truth in that statement.

Recently I saw this documentary of a young Jazz singer girl by the name of Amy Winehouse, at a very early age she started writing songs and quite famous in a short span of time.

From the age of 16 she struggled with depression and hoped that it will get better if she received fame & money, but unfortunately as she was rising up to fame and become popular, she got into unhealthy relationships, struggled with drugs and at age 27 died due to accessive alcohol consumption.

If money and fame was the answer to life’s struggles then Amy would have been alive today, but that is not what is true.

I am reminded of the story of a rich greedy man. One day a genie came to him asked him to wish for anything. The man, because he was greedy for more wealth asked the genie to grant him a power by which whatever he touch would turn into gold, and the genie granted him his wish.

Immediately after that he went to eat food that was on the dining table and as soon as he touched the food it turned into gold, and in the next moment his children came to give him a hug and they too turned into gold. He got the gold but he lost the capability to consume food that would keep him alive, and also lost the affections of his loved ones.

Friends, in God’s Kingdom, worldly wealth holds no value, it’s just a piece of paper in your hand and a number in your bank account. And if you think more money and wealth will save you from all your troubles than you are mistaken.

God is more interested in deep heart transformation than making people prosper for no reason. You can be a poor person and through your dependence and trust in God, by walking in humility before Him, allow Him to change your heart, transform you into the image of His son Jesus and use you for the glory of His name.

And you can be a rich person, who is humble and contrite in heart, trusting him and savouring His grace in your life, …. allowing Him …

Think of all the precious moments you are missing out in your life where God is working in your heart, just because your heart is somewhere in the future, thinking of the day when you will get a promotion, a raise in salary, an inheritance from your parents and a business deal you also wanted.

As a Christian, every day God is doing something beautiful in our heart, it may look quite small to you now but it will bear much fruit if you yield towards it.

And how does he work in our heart?

He works through the transforming power of the Gospel, which brings me to the second perspective we need to cultivate regarding poverty & riches.

2. Besides Jesus there is nothing in this world that will satisfy us, that includes money, wealth & possession.

To feel happy, what we truly need is heart transformation and not more money. And heart transformation only happens when our hearts are inclined to the Gospel.

The bible says, by nature, we are sinful people, as long as we live in the flesh we are sinful. And a sinful flesh only produces corruption and hatred. We know that was not how God created us to be, he created us to live a full life, walking in obedience to Him and worshipping Him. But believed the lie the serpent told us, when he told us that we can be like God, we liked the idea and therefore rebelled and sinned against God.

The brokeness, agony, restlessness, dissatisfaction, the pain we experience, whether we are poor or rich is the result of our sin against God. Therefore, the poor to desire riches is not the answer, because a lot of rich have sold everything to become monks and sadhus and still miserable under the burden of their sin.

What we truly need is a restored relationship with God, and we can’t earn it on our own capabilities and good works. The help is provided by God himself, only through His grace and mercy which he showed us through His son Jesus can restore it back.

Our response to his love and grace is an act of obedience, where we come to Him in repentance and ask his forgiveness, and trust in his on Jesus with all our heart, mind and soul.

Therefore, even in times of trials, the poor, instead of grumbling, complaining about the lack of money should instead boast in their position as a child of God, and for the work, He is doing in our heart through the trials they are going through.

The rich, instead of allowing the humiliation of our riches to press you down and take you to places you shouldn’t go, do things you shouldn’t do should remind themselves of the vanity of wealth and cherish the true riches they have in Christ alone.

Therefore, the questions we need to ask is not whether we need to stay poor and become rich, the question we need to ask is whether we are rich or poor are we enjoying Christ and his redeemer work in our heart.

I hope you hear the Holy Spirit of God speaking to you

I like to end my sermon with a beautiful confession from Paul in 4:10-13

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

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James Sermon

Faith in Action: James 1:1

We just completed our sermon series on a topic called ‘Abiding Faith’, and what the series primarily taught us is to hold on to our Faith in times of sufferings and troubles.

The church of Thessalonica taught us how to remain steadfast in our Faith by continually searching our hearts against sinful patterns and believe in the saving grace of our saviour Jesus & depend on the Holy Spirit.

The next series we are preaching is called “Faith in Action”, I believe this will be a continuation of what we just taught. We will be looking at one of the most powerful letters written by James, the brother of Jesus, to the Christian Jews who left their hometown because of the persecution and are now scattered in unknown territories, among strange people.

The verse is James 1:1 is what we will look at today, where James writes “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in dispersion”

The word ‘dispersion’ means to be in exile, the state of being barred from one’s native country.

What I want to do as we begin with James is to give you a context into this people group and help us see similarities with our context in Mumbai, India, and also answer an important question, which is “Why should our Faith be seen in action?”.

As we read through this letter and look at the issues, James is addressing we learn a couple of things about this group.

The first thing we get to know from James 1:2-4 about these people is that they were going through all kinds of trials in this new land.

Maybe the new culture is not suiting them the way they lived back in their home town. Perhaps the people in this new land is not welcoming enough and therefore facing a lot of resistance and rejection affecting their family life, work-life and social life. Maybe the weather isn’t suitable for their skin and bodies and hence having physical discomforts, or perhaps they are always living under threat and danger to their lives.

When we read James 1:9-11; 2:1-7 & 5:1-6 we see a second problem facing them is wealth & poverty, because of the resistance, looks like some of them are not able to find good jobs, maybe they are restricted from pursuing any business ventures, the rich seem to be controlling the government and the economy, and therefore these brothers and sisters are lacking all the good things in life.

On the other hand some who were already rich among them have other heart issues, where instead of accepting, loving and caring for their fellows brothers & sisters they are now looking down on them because of their poverty-stricken life. In those days, people who were poor where considered as less favoured by God, therefore they were treated indignantly.

Thirdly, because of the above two reasons, they also seem to be struggling with their faith.

In 1:22-23 James writes “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.”

They are failing to live a godly life, not able to walk in obedience, not able to show love and care to the community in the way should show, in doing so James says they were deceiving themselves.

Some of them even seem to have lost their faith, trusting and depending on God for their everyday need looks like a difficult thing to achieve.

Fourthly, their prayer life seems to have gone for a toss, where they needed wisdom the most they were failing to go to God in prayer and ask for help.

James 1:5-8 he writes “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Fifthly, we also see bitterness in their hearts against others. Even among their own brethren where now they have no control over their tongue and instead of using their speech to uplift one another and glorify God, they are using their words to destroy each other’s confidence and faith in Christ.

1:19 he writes “19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”

Sixthly, after knowing & receiving the Lord and His saving grace, they are now slipping into worldliness and seeking the pleasure of the world.

4:4 “You adulterous people![c] Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Instead of seeking the face of Christ and drinking from the living water that only Christ offers, instead of resting in Christ they are now depending on their own self-efforts to make their lives better by indulging in worldly friendships.

And finally, we see how pride has taken over their hearts and humility crushed under the pressure of the circumstances, failures and rejection.

3:3-15 “13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.”

Brothers & sisters, could we take a moment here and think of our circumstances, failures, sufferings, abundance, rejections and loses, and evaluate it against our responses to them?

How do we respond when we face trials of all kinds, when our unbelieving family, friends & community constantly nag us, taunt us, persecute us, reject us, show partiality and stop us from growing in life?

How do we respond to circumstances when we lose our jobs, get salary cuts, when promotion are taken away, when there is not enough money to live in a good house, to buy new clothes, to buy good food?

And on the other hand, when God blesses us with riches what does that do to our heart, do we start looking at ourselves as highly favoured children of God and look down on others?

How do we respond to circumstances when we don’t feel good about our faith, the happy feelings we experienced during the time of our conversion seems diminished and gone forever, when our sinful patterns and habits are showing up again, and this time in a big way, where we are constantly filled with guilt and condemnation all the time stopping us from progressing in life?

How do we respond when our prayer life seems powerless, monotonous & ineffective? Do we go to God in prayer, ask for wisdom when we need it the most?

How do we respond when our heart is continuously bitter towards others because of what they do and said to you?

How do we respond when the world, the worldly pleasures, the worldly ways of doing things looks more promising and desirable?

Brothers & Sisters, let me tell you this, it is in these moments that our faith is tested. The testing of our faith is Gods way of purifying and sanctifying our lives, where he also separates the weeds from the wheat, the unfaithful from the faithful, the children of the kingdom from the children of the world.

But the good news, as written in 1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”

And my prayer for all you today, as you go through difficult times, listening to my words, is may God find each one of you faithful, may God be merciful to you and grant you His grace in abundant measure so that you all stand out victorious with you names written in the book of Life.

To those of my friends listening to these words for the first time, let me tell you that God, the creator of the universe who made us in his image and likeness, through the life, death and resurrection of His son Jesus has offered us an amazing privilege to turn back from our sinful ways and receive an eternal crown that will save us from our wretched heart.

If you feel your heart is responding and desiring to be closer to God, our loving, gracious & merciful Father, to receive this new and abundant life I’m talking about, a life that even through the darkest moments of our life on this earth will shine brightly and fill our hearts with hope. All you have to do is repent of your sinful lives you have lived thus far, openly confess it to Jesus in prayer and put your trust in Him & it will be sealed in heaven forever. And if you wish to talk to someone we are always available for you, to counsel you, comfort you and lead you to this salvation.

Now, coming to our question “Why should our faith be seen in action too?”

Firstly, remember, we don’t produce the action ourselves, it is our faith that produces the action. In James 2:2 James writes “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected”

True Faith automatically produces action, that’s an inbuilt nature of faith. And when the action is unseen it is not because Faith is unable to produce the action but it is the hardness of our heart to believe the truth, to believe that God is able – it is our unbelief that suppresses the effects of faith from producing the action.

Faith is not just a feeling, but it is also this power that pushes us to act in obedience in a way that is seen and experienced by others in our life. If someone says yes, I am a Christian but can’t forgive and love my brother, then I would question that faith, because genuine faith in the saving grace of Christ will open your heart to love and forgive your brothers and sisters just as Christ loved and forgave us.

And so James through this letter is telling us that true faith should be seen in action in three major areas.

It has to be seen in our deeds

It has to be seen in our speech &

It has to be seen in our conduct

And that is what we will explore in our new series called “Faith in Action”.

But, here’s what I want you to take home today.

Let’s go back and evaluate our hearts in the light of the Gospel, where do we stand at this moment as we learned about the context of these Christian Jews? How hard or easy is your life and circumstances in comparison to these Christians? What is the greatest challenge you are facing in your life at this current moment and what has been your response so far? Do you believe that God is speaking to you today, what is He saying, what sinful responses of your heart is he exposing to you? How do you think your responses and actions to your circumstances is affecting the people around you? & Are your deeds, speech & conduct glorifying God and displaying his work in your life?

Brothers & sisters, no matter how good or bad you are at this point in life. If you are a child of God, you are already forgiven and already given an abundant measure of grace to lift yourself from your miserable state. All you have to do is repent, confess and put your faith back in God and He will deliver you.

Will you do that today?

Let’s pray!

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Daily Devotional

A Complaining Prayer

“Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever!” – Psalms 44:23

Psalms 44 is quite an interesting poem. It is an honest, open and straightforward prayer made by the people of Israel.

If it were me, I would never have the guts to talk to God that way, yet, surprisingly, God allowed this Psalm to be included in the Scriptures.

Who are we to even talk to God in that manner and make such a request? And that too to the creator of the universe, against whom we have committed such hideous sins.

But what I learn is this. It seems that God appreciates an honest, open-hearted prayer and not a false facade. He likes heart to heart conversations with Him, even if it is a complaint or an ill-feeling.

The important thing is that we do it with a right attitude towards Him and to have the humility to accept His will and bow down to His purposes for our lives, fully assured that He knows what is best for us.

Brothers & sisters, when was the last time you were honest in your prayer, talking to Jesus as if He was your closest friend?

Let us daily learn to go to God in full honesty and speak with confidence and trust.

Lord, you are not a God who is far from us, but you are closer to us as a dearest friend, willing to listen to all our pain, sorrows and complains, and even celebrate in our victories. Teach us to draw near to you in times of trouble and experience your loving care.

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Hebrews Sermon

To find Rest in God- Hebrews 4:1-11

The topic I have chosen to explore today is called “To find Rest in God”, and the passage we are looking at is Hebrews 4:1-11.

The reason I chose this topic is because I am personally experiencing the rest of God in my heart since last couple of months and thought it would be of great benefit to all of you, especially in a difficult time as this.

What I mean by “rest” in God is not the physical rest we experience in our body but the spiritual rest we experience when we are in the perfect will of God where we are experiencing His joy and peace regardless of the situation we are in.

To not be at rest would mean a lot of things, let me highlight some of it here…

  1. When we are constantly & regularly gripped with fear and anxiety in our hearts when we look at out present situation or when we think about our future, we could say that our hearts are not at rest.
  2. When we are constantly living a guilt driven life because of our sinful acts, which then causes us to become ineffective in our pursuit and purposes of God, we could say that our hearts are not at rest.
  3. When we are constantly having feelings of hopelessness, loneliness and depression, where we end up hiding from God and from others, we could say that our hearts are not at rest.

I believe the passage from Hebrews 4:1-11 give us the wonderful view of this rest, it warns us as well us brings to light the reasons why we fail to enter God’s rest.

Verse 1 begins with the affirmation that “the promise of entering His rest still stands”, which means that as children to enter the rest of God is not a far thing, it is not an impossible state to achieve.

Isn’t it encouraging to know that even after our human heart sinned against God in the garden of Eden, where we disobeyed his commandments and chose to be god over our own life displaying pride and rebellioness, our loving Father still pursued us and through the life, death and ressurection of His son Jesus Christ opens a way for us enter His rest.

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”.

The Rest of God therefore, is a state, or place, where God rules in our heart through his son Jesus, frees from the chaos and disorder brought about by sin and rebellion. Also giving us rest from our own self-efforts of bringing our own life in control, but instead allowing our hearts to totally trust and depend on God for everything.

The possiblity of entering God’s perfect rest, made possible through Jesus is the greatest expression His mercy, His grace and His Love for sinful people like us.

But sadly, even though the door is open for us we still fail to enter the rest of God. In verse 6 Paul speaks of people who have “formerly received the good news but still fail to enter into rest”. Could that be us?

How sad it is when even though knowing that entering God’s rest is a possibility we stay away from that rest because of our hardened hearts.

Hebrews 4:1 the second part Paul says “let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to enter the rest of God”

In verse 11 Pauls writes “let us strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall due to disobedience”

In Hebrews 3:8-11 tells us of how God reacted in the Old Testament when his people hardened theirs hearts.

Thank God that he does not react the way he reacted in the olden times, but because of Jesus His heart towards us is softened and merciful, accepting us with all our failures and mistakes. And therefore, the greatest stumbling block for us today is not that God is angry with us and have shut the door on our face, but rather it is our hardened hearts that is the reason why we fail to enter God’s rest.

Here’s are two reasons how our hardened hearts stop us from entering God’s rest …

1. Through disbelief

In verse 2 & 3 Paul writes “2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,'” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

Friends, the number one reason why we fail to enter God’s rest is disbelief.

Disbelief in God’s provison for all our needs through His son Jesus Christ

Disbelief that our future isn’t safe and secure in the hands of our loving Father who knows the end from the beginning, which is why we allow our hearts to be gripped with fear and anxiety when things dont go our way.

Disbelief that through the life, death and ressurection of Christ we are no more slaves to our sinful passions but rather are slaves to righteousness and that there is a place where we can expereince total freedom from such desires.

Disbelief that God is near us to always comfort, protect, consoul, emphatize when we experience feeling of hopelessness and loneliness on our hearts.

It was disbelief in the hearts of the Isaralite’s, when they spend their time and energy complaining, grumbling and seeking their own pleasures that kept them from entering the promised land, the place of rest in God.

To rest in God is not just a choice we have but it is a command, to be obeyed and perfected every single day of our lives. Sabbath rest is a command from God – to do nothing, no work, no pressure … but a total surrender to God.

How many of us would confidently take such a rest without worrying about tommorrow, without looking at the laptop, without looking at the screen for satisfaction… but only look to God with an unwavering faith in Him.

If you think its impossible for you to take out such a day in a week, then you need to ask a very important question. Are you resting in God or on your self.

2. Through disobedience

Verse 6 Paul writes “Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience”

The second way in which our hardened hearts stop us from entering God’s rest is through disobedience.

Here I’m not talking about the disobedience that happens unknowingly, but the disobedience of the heart where we knowlingly, with our full concience rebel and do exactly the opposite of what God commanded not to do in the scriptures.

The decisions we made with relationship choices.

The decisions we make with the kind of job we chose.

The decisione we make to keep company with the kind of friends.

The decisions we make to spend out time during the day.

The decisions we make in moving places.

The decisions we make to stay away from having Godly fellowsip.

The decisions we make in chosing what to listen.

Our disobedince in not paying attention to God when he is speaking to us through scrpitures, through sermons like these, through family & friends.

Our disobedeince in not repenting our sins when the Holy Spirt convicts out heart.

Our disobedeince in pursuing the world and its pleasure instead of pursuing God.

Our disobedeince of filling our minds with ungodly content when instead we should be filling our minds with godly things.

Brothers & sisters, disobedeince will always keep us from entering the rest of God. Therefore, let us watch our lives in light of the scriptures.

To rest in God should be our ultimate goal because it is in the resting place that we will experience the breakthrough’s in life we’ve always desired, it is in the resting place we will be fully satisfied will all good things from heaven, it is in the resting place we will experience complete freedom from all our past sinful tendencies and habits, it is in the resting place we will feel no more lonely or deprived of any good thing.

Therefore, let us strive to enter that rest and not allow out hardened hearts to disbelief or disobey God who is gracious, merciful and loving towards us.

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Daily Devotional

Humility Restored

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:8

God created us to be partakers of His perfection and blessedness, to show forth the glory of His love, wisdom & power.

And as humans, we are only partakers not possessors of such glory. Therefore, the relationship we have with Him is of one with unceasing and absolute dependence where we present ourselves to Him as empty vessels.

In the garden of Eden, the fallen angel, through the serpent breathed the poison of his pride and the desire to be like God, the possessor of all things.

Sadly, our first parents fell into the trap and came rolling down from the high position into all wretchedness in which man is now sinking.

And so, pride, or the loss of this humility, is the root of every sin and evil.

Even today in some manner we exhibit the same attitude of pride when we try to be god over our own lives as if we posses it, trying to fix our lives with our self-efforts and dependence on our experience, knowledge and skills. When in fact, what God wants from us is to humble ourselves and lean on him, the author and finisher of our lives.

But Jesus came to bring humility back to earth, to make us partakers of it, and by it save us. The humility that we couldn’t produce, Jesus, the prince of heaven, stooped down from his highest position and achieved it for us.

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:8

His humility is our Salvation;
His Salvation is our humility.

Brothers & sisters, let us yearn and desire to seek humility restored in us, which is only produced by the Gospel. That’s where we belong.

And unlike what the serpent made us believe, to live a humble, surrendered and dependent life under the authority of our heavenly Father is the highest privilege & honor we can ever have.

Lord, help us acknowledge that we are nothing without you, help us to draw near you every single day of our life.

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Daily Devotional

Not without the Holy Spirit

“Be filled with the Spirit” – Ephesians 5:18

Since the last couple of weeks as we’ve been studying through 1 Thessalonians on the subject of ‘Abiding Faith’, I’m learning to become more aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.

After reading through various scriptures, and reading Ephesians 5:18, it is evident that without the presence of the Holy Spirit, we cannot live our Christian Life the way we are supposed to live.

If we want to have a healthy Christian life, we need the filling of the Spirit.

We need the Spirit not only for our emotional satisfaction, but we need Him in every aspect of our life, whether in studies, at work, in business, in ministry. He is our heavenly helper who helps us with everything in life.

And unlike what people popularly believe that the Spirit only comes with a mighty stirring of the emotions, a sort of heavenly glory that comes over us, I believe He also comes as a gently filling of the whole being with the presence and the power of God.

Brothers & sisters, let us desire more of the Holy Spirit. The first step is to desire of Him, and the second is to ask the Father, who gives generously.

In Luke 11:11-13 Jesus said “What Father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus, through this life, death and resurrection made it possible for us to desire fully and receive fully of the Spirit of God in us.

Lord, we desire the filling of your Holy Spirit, and we ask you for an abundant outpouring, not few trickles.

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

The Gift of Prophecy- 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21

As a church, we prefer preaching expository – going through the books of the bible, and hence since last couple of months we’ve been doing a series called ‘Abiding Faith’ and we are preaching through 1 Thessalonians.

We prefer Expository preaching because it helps us to faithfully preach through every text in the bible and address every aspect of our Christian faith that is necessary for our hearts, it also prevents us from skipping portions that we may sometimes not feel comfortable preaching, but instead gives the scriptures the authority to speak into our lives.

With that in mind, the passage that we are looking at today is 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21.

Paul is ending his letter to the Thessalonian church and in his ending remarks, he quickly seems to give some very important instructions in just one or two lines. And in our text today he is telling the church

“Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good”

We are going to talk about prophecies today. We will look at 

  • What is prophecy?
  • The purpose of prophecy.
  • And the right way to test prophecy in our current context.

A simple definition of prophecy would be “a message from God to his people” spoken by a person, typically called a Prophet.

2 Peter 1:21 gives us a little more insight on prophecy, it says

“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”

A prophecy therefore is a gift given by the Holy Spirt for the edification of the church, and the purpose is often to reveal the heart of God and draw us closer to Him. As a word of caution, remember, the gift of prophecy or to become a prophet is not the end goal. The end goal is Love, Love for God and love for people.

In 1 Corinthians 13:8 Paul writes

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”

In the Old Testament, prophecies were considered very seriously, God in fact even used this gift to give indications of the coming saviour, His son Jesus to save the wretched world from sin and death.

In our passage today, when we hear Paul’s tone of voice and the choice of words regarding prophecy we get a feeling that somehow the church wasn’t taking this gift seriously, because of which Paul had to insist

“Do not despise prophecies”.

To be honest, even at Gathering we haven’t really given too much emphasis on this gift of the Spirit, maybe because we wanted to be careful on how the gifts are used within the church context in a way it glorifies God and not man, and also to protect us from been exploited by some who use these gifts without the right awareness.

But I believe, today, maybe through this text God is speaking to us and drawing our hearts consider the benefits of this gift given by the Spirit for the edification of the Church.

Therefore, since the scripture is insisting that we do not despise the gift of prophecy and that we test them and keep what is good. In this sermon, I want to share three ways we can test prophecies.

I want to position these points addressing both parties, to those who receive prophecy and also to those who think have this gift and want to use it in a way it glories God.

1.       Test prophecies against the Word of God

The first thing that prophetic utterances should be tested by is the revealed Word of God. Is the prophecy in harmony with Scripture? A prophecy you receive from the Holy Spirit for another person or a prophecy you receive from another person will never contradict the written word of God.

At the heart of all the scripture, from Genesis to Revelation is the Gospel, the story of Jesus. The story begins in the garden of Eden where God created us in his image and likeness so that he can commune with us and share the wonderful love and friendship He had with son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

And even when our sinful heart messed up that relationship by rebelling against God, God pursued us and still pursues us through His son Jesus’s death on the cross, he justifies us, and then he sanctifies us and one day he will glorify us and take us with him in heaven.

Even though this story sounds so simple, there is so much of depth and theology that one lifetime won’t be enough to fully understand it.

But what we have to be careful is, any remarks or comments or teachings and even prophesies that violate the essence of the Gospel message should be discarded from among us.

In Galatians 1:6-8 Paul writes

6 I am astonished that you are lso quickly deserting mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to na different gospel— 7 onot that there is another one, but pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, rlet him be accursed.

In the same effect, in 1 John 4:1 John tells us to test the prophets

Beloved, do not believe every Spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

Brothers & sisters, the gift of prophecy is a wonderful gift, but if our heart is ignorant and unaware of the truths in the scripture, the devil can easily use it to misguide us and set us on a different path.

Therefore, if any of us desire to prophecy let him or her be rooted in the knowledge of the scriptures first.
At many occasions I’ve also observed that prophecies come with confirmations from the scriptures.

When I was a young Christian, I remember there were many prophecies people made over me, but the one’s that I really cherish, the one’s that stood the test are the one’s that came with a confirmation through a scripture verse.

But imagine a scenario where we don’t know the scriptures well, where our theological framework is distorted or incorrect, where we have not understood the Gospel in its entirety and one day a person comes to us and tells us ‘thus says the Lord’, on what basis will your heart confirm whether it is from the right spirit or the wrong one.

If we wish to operate in the gift of prophecy or we wish to hear God speak to us through a prophecy I suggest that we first devote ourselves in working on the right theological framework, and once that is established well, we will be able to test prophecies the way Paul is instructing the church in Thessalonica.

Some of the ways as a church we provide help is, through the preaching of the word of God, but we also have a program called Roots class where we study theology together.

Brothers & Sisters, I encourage you to invest and use these means given by the Spirit to help build a proper Gospel framework that even protect us in the area of prophecies.

2.       Test whether the prophecy points your heart to Jesus

Since the ultimate goal of every Christian is to know Christ, Christ is the ultimate reward we are aiming for.

It is wise to test whether the prophecy we receive from the Holy Spirit for another person and the prophecy you receive from another person through the Holy Spirit is ultimately pointing our heart to Jesus and His saving grace.

In John 17:3 Jesus reminds us the ultimate goal.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Paul’s ministry focus was very clear as we read in 1 Cor 2:1-2

When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you . . . . I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

Understand the battle between our Self and the Spirit, one will try to push you to pursue the world and its pleasures and the other will push you pursue Christ.

The question we should ask when we want to bring a prophecy or when we receive one is whether what’s been said is pushing you towards Self or towards the Spirit, to glorify Jesus in us or whether glorify our self.

If tomorrow someone comes and tells you that God told them to tell you to pursue such and such relationship, or pursue such and such career, or go to such and such place.

The question we need to ask is whether the long-awaited relationship we’ve been asked to pursue draws us to Christ or away from Him, whether the promising career that is waiting for will enable us to grow in Christ and whether the place we are excited to go is putting Christ first in my life.

Is Jesus at the center of that prophecy, will Jesus remain the hero of our story or are we replacing Him with either ourselves or with another person.

If we fail to ask this important question then we will be easily trapped by a twisted use a gift that is actually not from the right Spirit.

I remember a prophecy that someone made over me when I was young, he told me that God has revealed that He has a great plan for my Life. And he said that if I want to see God doing great things for me, I need to follow Him and do what He asks me to do because He said the Spirit of God is revealing things about me.

The question I had to ask myself was, is Jesus at the center of it or somebody else. I thank God for giving me to courage to say no. But I know of so many people who have fallen into such trap, where they have shipwrecked their Faith and fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Brother & sisters, test the prophecies that come your way and ensure that it is ultimately leading you to fall in love with Jesus. And we are in that position only when we are saturated in the Gospel and when we are walking in the Spirit.

3.       Test prophecies against a consistent moral conduct

The last and the final point I want to make is to….

In 1 John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every Spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

There is also a moral test that the prophet must pass. Is the person giving the prophecy exhibiting moral character consistent with his office? Jesus warned of these false prophets

Beware of false prophets, who come in to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15,16).

The fruit that people exhibit is the fruit of their doctrine and the fruit of their lives. Both of these must be in harmony with Gods Word. Does the prophet live a life glorifying to God? Is he in submission to the authority to Gods Word? Is he committed to a local body of Christ? Those who do not conform to Gods standards should not be regarded as prophets.

If, however, someone meets all these criteria, are we to assume that their message is supernaturally given? Not necessarily. Apart from false prophecy, there are other types of messages that may seem worthy, but are not sent directly from God. Someone can meet all these criteria and give a message believing that it was from God, yet the source can be that professed prophets own personality.

I believe the body of Christ, the church is given to us so that we can receive help in such matters.

God provides Elders, Pastors and Deacons to help guard ours hearts against wrong doctrines and against false prophets. Therefore, i believe it is always safe to filter prophecies through godly leaders God has placed over us.

As I conclude, I wish our church grows in all the gifts God has given us but let us do it in an orderly way without grieving the Lord.

With that, I hope I have given you enough insight on where the church stands with respect to the gift of prophecy and in case you have any questions pls feel free to reach out to us and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Lets pray

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Heavenly Helper: 1 Thessalonians 5:19

Good morning!

This morning it is my privilege to bring God’s word to you.

While watching the movie Aladdin, have you ever wished or dreamt having the lamp and the genie?

I have and I’m assuming most of us had. Well, I’m here to tell you that we have access to someone, who is even greater than a genie, one who is all-powerful and all-knowing helper from heaven, the Holy Spirit.

In real life, genie doesn’t exist but the Holy Spirit does exist, unlike the genie, the Holy Spirit doesn’t grant us any wish our sinful & selfish heart desires to have, but instead carefully grants only those that bring real joy, the ones that are in accordance to God’s will for our lives, and also He is not limited to just three wishes.

Our passage today is from 1 Thessalonians 5:19 where Paul writes to the Church saying,

19 Do not quench the Spirit.

In my sermon today my goal is to point our hearts to the third person in the trinity, the Holy Spirit, and the mistakes we make when we quench or ignore Him in our spiritual walk as a Christian.

The God we worship is a triune God. There are no three God’s, there is only one God but in three forms, God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit. I won’t go into depth to explain this concept, we can do that some other day. But remember this, throughout the Bible, we see the mention of God in all three forms and with equal emphasis.

Jesus said in John 10:30
“I and the Father are one”

In John 14:9 he said
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”

2 Corinthians 3:17 Paul writes
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”

These verses and many others give us evidence of this triune God.

The thing to remember here is that the Holy Spirit is not a feeling but He is a person.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon God’s people only to accomplish some particular task, but in the new covenant, after Christ redeemed us from Sin and death, cleansed us from all our iniquities, and declared us righteous through the breaking of his body and shedding of His blood, a new experience has been given to you.

Before Jesus was taken into heaven he told his disciples in John 15:26“I will send you the Helper from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father.

And on the day of Pentecost a great transaction took place, the Spirit of God came down to dwell among us, in us, forever. And since then, everyone who receives Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord, the Spirit immediately makes our heart his dwelling place.

In Galatians 4:6 Paul writes
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

The above passage suggests that the indwelling of the Spirit in us is the evidence that we are His.

There is also no separate baptism of the Holy Spirit. What happened on the day of Pentecost was a one-time transaction from how people experienced the Holy Spirit in the Old covenant and how we will experience Him in the New covenant. If there was a separate baptism of the Holy Spirit the scripture would have taught us.

The reality is, the day we gave our lives to Jesus the Spirit of God made his dwelling in us. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul reminds the church saying
16 Do you not know that you[a] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? Holy Spirit is the Heavenly Helper we receive as a gift from God on the day of our Salvation.

In our passage today, Paul is telling the church “Do not quench the Spirit”

And what we understand from this passage is that even though the Spirit lives within us there is a possibility of us quench its fire from helping us progress and grow in our Christian walk, in fact we are making a greatest blunder when we are not taking the help of our Heavenly Helper who is all-powerful and all-knowing.

In this sermon I want to point out three most important outworking of the Holy Spirit in our live that which we shouldn’t ignore or quench. Quenching the Spirit in these three areas means to STOP progressing in our Christian walk.

1. PRESENCE

One of the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit is to help us experience the Presence of God, and also take us deeper in it, enabling us to have a deep and intimate relationship with the Father. We should never quench the Holy Spirit from doing that.

In the first place, we have to remember that it was the Spirit of God that opened our eyes to the Gospel and led us to repentance from our sins and faith in Jesus.

In John 16:8-9 Jesus revealed it to us

8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

After our salvation, to continually experience the presence of God, to grow deeper in relationship with the Father, to constantly been convicted (Ehsas) of our sin, reminded of God’s Holy judgement and sacrifice of Son Jesus on the cross for our redemption. Unlike what most of us think that it is our decision and choice, the reality is that it is Spirit of God in us that does that work.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 Paul writes

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Brothers & sisters, to live and experience the presence of God is the greatest blessing a believer can have in our spiritual walk. To experience Him as our comforter when we are in trouble, to know Him as our provider when we are in need, to know Him as our healer when we are sick, is the most fulfilling experiences to have in our Christian journey.

And all this is only made possible because of the Spirit’s work in our heart. When we isolate ourselves and close the door on God and from others, when we stop hearing from God through scripture and through His preached word, when we ignore a faithful friend who brings rebuke and correction in our lives, we are shutting the door to all the means through which the Spirit of God is bringing conviction into our hearts and drawing near to God. We shut the door to living in the PRESENCE of God, which in fact is the essence of our Christian life.

Psalms 16:11

You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Brothers & sisters, let us not quench the Holy Spirit from living and experiencing the presence of God.

2. PURPOSE

Another primary ministry of the Holy Spirit is to help us fulfil the God given purposes in our lives.

The ultimate goal of every child of God is to Glorify God by participating in His Kingdom work of redeeming His chosen people on earth who are living in darkness and to bring them into the light.

Ephesians 1:11

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

1 Peter 2:9

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And though our purpose is one, which is to glorify God but the journey we all take are unique ones. Some are called to glorify God by becoming missionaries and pastors and evangelists, some are called to glorify God by becoming doctors, engineers, architects, film makes etc. 

And to take these unique journeys we need unique giftings, skills and talents, so that ultimately we glorify God and participate in the extension of Kingdom by proclaiming the Gospel and lifting up Jesus.

The Holy Spirit grants with a variety of gifts, from natural abilities to Spiritual ones. Most people misunderstand the Spiritual gifts, they make them their goals instead of looking at them as means to fulfil the greater goal. God gives particular gifts to particular people and we don’t control that. Just because another person has a particular gift doesn’t mean you should also have it. Yes, we do ask God for gifts but ultimately we trust in His provision for each individual, we celebrate the unique gifts he has given to us.

Brothers & sisters, it is the Spirit of God who reveals and equips us to fulfil the purposes of God in our lives.

And when we fail to give heed to the nudgings of the Spirit when He asks us to choose a certain career, move to a certain a place, not move to a certain place, give yourself up for a certain task that may sound and look foolish and unreasonable at times, we are quenching the Spirit of God from helping us fulfil God’s purposes for our lives.

Brothers & sisters, let us know quench the Spirit when He is leading us into a certain direction in our lives to fulfil God’s purposes. And how do we know whether it is the right direction to go, we will know because the road will ultimately lead to us into glorifying God and participate in His Kingdom work.

3. POWER

Yes, of course the task set ahead of us is a tough one, in our human capacities, we will never be able to complete this gigantic task. We need courage, we need self-control, we need wisdom, we need Power. The good news is that God provides us the Power we need to accomplish great things for Him.

Firstly, the Gospel comes with Power. 1 Thessalonians 1:5

5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

The definition of Power is to have the capability to influence behaviour and events. And I believe the greatest need for Power in our life is to influence our self-destructive nature, our Self is the greatest enemy that stands between God and us. The Power we need is primarily to overcome our Self.

God wants us to seek for the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of power in our heart and life, to conquer Self and cast out sin, and to work the blessed and beautiful image of Jesus into us.

Brothers & sisters, when we fail to fully surrender every aspect of our lives into the hands of our Saviour Jesus we are quenching the Spirit of God from empowering us with His strength and His abilities. As long as we are holding on to things and controlling it the way we desire we are blocking the Spirit to take full control of the situation and allow to experience the joy of the Lord.

Let us not quench the Spirit from experiencing God’s in our Lives.

Finally, as I end, I want to bring to your attention the biggest mistake we make that eventually leads us to quenching the Spirit’s work on our lives. The mistake is our failure to Wait on Him.

We read a wonderful passage that brings immediate joy but fail to reflect on it deeply and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us because we have other things to do. We hear a great sermon but we fail to allow the spoken word to take deep roots by spending time in introspection by communing with Holy Spirit.

Friends, we have not learned enough to wait upon Him, and so we should make a solemn declaration before God; Oh God, we want to wait more for You to show us Your will.

You may ask, is it really possible to experience life with the Holy Spirit and clearly hear Him speak and guide me in my day-to-day life. The answer is “Yes, it is possible to those who are in right fellowship with Heaven, and who understands the art of waiting upon God in prayer”

Psalms 27:14 David encourages to wait on the Lord saying

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Lamentations 3:25

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.

Isaiah 40:31

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Brothers & sisters, what would it means for you to wait on the HolySpirit every day of your life.

What would it mean to wait on the Lord once every week, maybe in fasting in prayer so you can align your years to the great comforter and helper.

What would it mean to take a break, in a month from work and ministry, maybe for a couple of days to separate yourself to fully focus your heart on God and allow the Spirit of God to experience the presence of God, guide you in the purposes of God and equip you the Power of God, so you can fully live for the Glory of God.

I’m leaving this to you to answer, and hope you will take out time and think deeply about these things.

Let’s pray.

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Breaking the barriers to Prayer & Thanksgiving- 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

The subject we are looking at is Prayer & Thanksgiving; the passage we’re referring to is 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.

“.. pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Brothers & sisters, If we are honest, we will all admit that prayer & thanksgiving are the most challenges Christian discipline. It is often not what and how I need to pray and thank God for, the most challenging part I believe, is to make up our mind to pray.

Public prayer isn’t that hard, but it’s our private prayer life that looks dry and lifeless at times.

In this sermon, I don’t want to teach you how to pray and thank God for, but I want to address the issue of what stops us from making up our mind to go before God and pray unceasingly every day. Therefore, I’ve name sermon title as “Breaking the barriers to Prayer & Thanksgiving”

I want to bring to your attention two reasons why we fail to practice a regular prayer life and offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

1. A wrong perspective of God.

As humans, we often learn and make assumptions about our surroundings, about the people in our lives and even God based on our human instincts and experiences. Sadly, we also form opinions about God based on our human understanding. 

When we think of going to Him in prayer, we think ….

  • He is angry at me because of my repeated sin patterns and habits
  • He gets irritated when I bothered Him by approaching him with my life.

All the above responses and thoughts flow out of a guilty heart.

As long as we have such perceptions about God, we will never be able to see a breakthrough in our prayer life, and we never be able to offer thanksgiving in all circumstances.

Why are the observations we make about God wrong? Well, it because God’s nature is not the nature of human beings; neither does his emotions fluctuate as the emotions of human beings. His yes is yes and no is no. What comes out of His mouth is sealed forever, and He never goes back on it.

To encourage your hearts to often go to God in prayer, here’s two perceptions we need to cultivate about God.

a. As a child of God, there is an open invitation for us to enter into his presence with our prayer & supplications anytime and anywhere.

And here’s what God says in Isaiah 55:1-3

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

    come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

    come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

    without money and without price.

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

    and delight yourselves in rich food.

3 Incline your ear, and come to me;

    hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

    my steadfast, sure love for David.

This invitation is for all us who’ve repented of our sins and have trust in son Jesus.

Yes, it is true that once upon a time, God was angry with us. He was out to destroy us by throwing us into the fire of hell because of our sinful rebellion against Him. We lived lives as though God did not exist, we disobey Him, disrespected Him, hated Him. But the Bible says God in return chose to love us, that while we were sinners, He sent His only son Jesus to die for us and redeem us back to himself.

Epesians 1:7 says 7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace”

God offers a free invitation into his presence for anything in life is because Jesus made way for us.

Hebrews 10:19, 22 says 19 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”

Because of Jesus, God has already declared us righteous; his heart towards us is of a loving and pampering Father.

And therefore, whenever we want to approach Him in prayer and thanksgiving, we should never hesitate to do so with full confidence in His steadfast Love expressed through his son Jesus. 

The second perception we need to form about God in our heart which will encourage us to approach him in prayer is …

b. He is a God who pays attention to our every request, prayer and always accepts our sacrifice of thanksgiving.

Pslams 69:33
“For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.”

Proverbs 15:29 
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”

God also appreciates when we go to him again and again in prayer, even when we go with the same prayer requests multiple times.

Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells us a story

“2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterwards he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Brother & sisters, our God hears our prayer, the only condition he has is that when we pray, we pray with faith and without doubt in our hearts. If our prayer is a prayer of faith, then he will hear us and answer us according to His sovereign will. 

2. A false dependence on our Self

Another big obstacle in our way to go to God in prayer and offer thanksgiving is “A false dependence on our Self”.

Listen to one of the parable of Jesus in Luke 12:16-21

16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”‘ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Friends, knowingly or unknowingly, often we think to ourselves that life is in our control, why because we look at our education and think to ourselves that I am well qualified to get any job whenever and wherever I want. We can look at the money and possession we own and think to ourselves, I am well supplied and therefore I can take care our myself and my family. We can look at our youthfulness and think to ourselves, I am strong enough to take challenges and achieve whatever I want in life.

But brothers & sisters, we often forget that life is more than these things we possess, what we think is in our control is just a fraction of things that help us survive in this world. There are spiritual realities in life that we are totally blinded to.

Our life ultimately is in God’s hand, and it is his mercy and grace that sustains us every single day of our lives. Therefore, let us throw away the confidence we have on ourselves and lean on God who is in control of all things.

Prayer is the means through which we express our dependence on him and his saving grace, giving thanks to God in all circumstances shows that our delight is in his son Jesus and on nothing else in this world.

And that is why Paul is writing to the church “.. pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Therefore, brothers & sisters, let us develop a lifestyle of prayer and thanksgiving to God, knowing he is a loving, gracious & pampering Father who loves me and accepts me the way I am, even though he knows my past, present and future sins, he loving embraces us in his arms. Not only that but just like a sweet and loving Father, he even gives us a listening ear.

Let us also throw away our attitude of self-dependence, and approach God with even the silliest requests in our heart just how a child would do. It is not what we ask that matter to God, but how we pray that matters. God may not give you everything you ask for, but he will grant the desires of your heart that will help us nearer to him.

Let us pray.