“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” – Hebrews 11:1
When life looks uncertain – whether its a risk of losing a job, risk of losing a loved one, risk of suffering for the sake of the Gospel, risk of contracting a deadly disease, what we really need is a sense of strong connection with God, an anchor to hold on, and without it, we can easily crumble under pressure, fear, anxiety and depression.
Beloved, it is our strong faith in God that enables us to have this strong connection with heaven. Firstly, our Faith in Christ, him calling us out of sin and justifying us, him sanctifying us daily from our indwelling sins, his promise that he will take us with him to heaven. Secondly, in his providence and protection over us while we are on this earth, preserving our lives for the Glory of His name until he decides to take us away.
Faith is the hope and strong assurance that even though when we can’t experience the blessing we always wanted, the healing we always longed for, the kind of job we dreamt about, the life partner we always yearned for with our naked eyes, we still live and breathe knowing that God will surely bring it to pass at the right time accordingly to His will, and if by any chance it is delayed or cancelled, having faith that He has something better planned for us. – It is this kind of Faith that honours Him and helps establish a strong relationship with Heaven.
Therefore, let us also have faith that soon everything will change, the threat of Coronavirus will be subdued and eliminated from this earth and we will live and breathe freely.
Lord, help us to activate our faith and never lose hope in difficult times.
When Mary and Martha lost their brother Lazurus “Jesus wept”.
Death is inevitable, our life on earth is for a moment and before we understand it fully it can be taken away.
Recently, the death of a friend’s wife made me realise the futility of this life on earth. We plan and gather putting an endless amount of energy to achieve things and make life more comfortable; finding the best job with high pay, get married, have children, buy a house etc, to realise all efforts are vain and meaningless at the end of the day. In this broken world, sorrow is our constant companion.
Jesus came to this earth and lived as a human to identify with our sorrow. He understood the futility of our everyday labour by working as a carpenter, investing His time and efforts in making items of furniture that never lasted. Eventually, He laid down His life for the redemption of God’s chosen people on the command of His Heavenly Father. He experienced more pain than any of us, His Sorrow was greater than our sorrows, yet He endured it for our sake to earn for us a better life on the other side.
He knows what it means to be in sorrow and pain. In difficult times as these, He is our comfort, He is our anchor to which we hold on – through storms, in death, in sufferings, He is our Hope, the one who said “I will never leave you, nor forsake you” – take heart.
Lord, help us lean on you and find comfort in your loving arms.
“For our citizenship is in heaven” – Philippians 3:20a
The day we repented of our sins and put our faith in Christ, our citizenship changed. We were once citizens of this dying world, the world that has nothing to offer except pain, suffering and sorrow. All its offerings – fame, fortune and fantasy will eventually hurt our soul and drag us into depravity, and those who have such possessions never experience true joy.
Only those who have the Citizenship of the Kingdom of God have the privilege of experiencing abounding joy and peace in their hearts.
Therefore, brothers & sisters, don’t let the sorrows and pains of this nothing & decaying world bother you anymore, don’t grow weary when you experience the fragility of this already broken world. Many are on the path to destruction but we who have this new citizenship have great hope, the hope of eternal life and extreme satisfaction of being with our saviour Jesus in heaven.
Lord, help us cherish our new birth, our new citizenship.
“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place – the Most High, who is my Refuge” – Psalms 91:9
To make God our dwelling place means to fully engage with Him day and night, engage with His son Jesus who gave His life as a ransom for our sins and purchased us our freedom from sin and bondage setting us free from the wrath of God and giving us a new birth and a right to be called His sons and daughters, engage with His Holy Scriptures – reading, meditating and finding guidance to walk in the path of righteousness, engage with Him in Prayer – a constant, consistent, unceasing talking to Him and hearing from Him, laying our burdens at His feet, submitting our heartfelt requests at His throne and resting in His sovereignty.
The more we engage with Him in this manner and continue to dwell in His loving kindness and mercies towards us, our hearts will grow in awareness of His mighty presence in our lives, experiencing His hand of protection over us at all times. And whether it’s a deadly virus, or a threat, or suffering, or sickness, we will always find Refuge (state of being safe or sheltered) in the shadow of the Almighty God – the Most High One.
Lord, help us make you our dwelling place at all times.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10
Even though the world seems to look out of control, God is still in control. He is a sovereign God and nothing surprises Him, he knows the end from the beginning and knows how it all started and how it will all end.
But to His children, bought by the precious blood of His son Jesus, adopted into His heavenly Kingdom and future heirs he says “do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”
Let’s acknowledge that God is in control and walk without fear or anxiety. Let this hope fill our hearts and let joy and peace be our portion for today and forevermore, and let us bear witness of His goodness and speak of his mercies and kindness to the people around us.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. – Psalms 91:7
I know what’s happening out there with the virus epidemic is real, infectious, threatening and deadly, but I’m comforted when I read the above passage, this is the word of the Lord. Yes, we should take precautionary measures and do all necessary test but not out of fear but with hope in our hearts and trust in our Saviour. Even fear of death shouldn’t trouble us because death itself comes with a hope that we will be with Jesus in eternity and not in hell.
In times like these, let’s watch out for our reactions, responses, words, actions, behaviour and attitude. Let it speak hope to the world that’s panicking with fear.
We are on the last & final topic of the
series called ‘The Church’.
The title of today’s sermon is ‘The Ministry
of the Church’ and the passage we are looking at is Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus, after spending 33 years on earth as a
human being, walking through this broken world with us, through all the
vulnerabilities we humans go through so He can identify with our struggles,
tempted in every possible way just as we are tempted but still lived a perfect
and holy life pleasing to God the Father.
And after spending the last 3 years in ministry,
preaching the Kingdom of God, making disciples out of uneducated, sinful men,
teaching and enlightening them about the Kingdom of God, offering Himself to
die on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sin and
rebellion, he exchanged His righteousness with us & finally rose up from
the dead and sealed this new covenant with us of restoring us back to Father.
And now Jesus is at the end of His ministry and He is giving out his last
commandment to his disciples.
These disciples after hearing these commands
from Jesus, on His instruction they wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit,
just like Jesus waited when he started His ministry, and then scattered all
around the world preaching the good news of the Gospel, making disciples and
teaching them to obey.
Today we are the recipients of God grace because
of these men who took Jesus’s command seriously against all the odds,
challenges, threats, pain, suffering, even death and made Jesus and truth of
the Gospel famous all around the world. A special thanks to Thomas who when led
by the Holy Spirit travelled to our nation India in the year AD 52 and
faithfully preached the Gospel, later was killed in AD 72 in Chennai for
spreading the Gospel.
Brothers & sisters, we all are called &
commanded to do the same. This is the ultimate purpose of our lives and the
ultimate purpose of the Church as we saw a couple of Sundays back. It is to
lift up Jesus to this dying world and communicate this message of hope.
And the funny thing is that this almighty,
all-powerful God doesn’t need us to accomplish this task, he can do it on His
own, but he invites us to have this amazing privilege to participate in His
work as partners – For which He rewards us, on earth and in heaven.
Therefore, lets pay careful attention and
understand this Great commission in depth and how it applies in our current
context of life.
I want to share four things from this passage
that are important for us to know and learn.
1. It’s a command and not an instruction,
from the highest authority.
We all work in corporate companies, imagine the
Founder & Managing Director of your company invites you to his cabin and
personally assigns you a task to do and also promises to reward you for doing
it. How would you respond?
Will you say ‘I’ll do it whenever I get free
time?”, or “I’ll see whether I want to do it”.
No, we will never say that, instead we will be
so excited that we will keep aside every other work to complete the task, in
fact some of us will even work extra hours to get the job done, just to please
your boss and get his compliments.
Brothers & sisters, the one who is speaking
to us is Jesus, to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given. If an
assignment from an earthly boss can move us and shake us from our comfort zone.
Consider, the one who is speaking to us is almighty God.
And when the most powerful person on heaven and
earth speaks to us, it’s not just an instruction that we can chose whether we
want to do it or not.
There is no other option then to take Him
seriously and get on with the task.
2. Go & tell, not come and see
The instruction is quite clear. It is to ‘go
& tell’ and not ‘come and see’. – “Go therefore …”
In the Old Testament, or in the old covenant the
presence of God resided in the “Tabernacle of God”, in the temple, where people
would come with their sacrifices to receive pardon from their sins. But if we
study the structure and ordinances of the temple we will learn that they were
mere symbols pointing us to Jesus and the ultimate display of His work on the
cross.
Instead of we bringing the sacrifice for the atonement
of our sins, he came and gave himself as a sacrifice once for all. The Bible
tells us that now we are the temple where God resides.
Today the church is not a building or a
structure, church is the people of God – temple of God where God resides (1 Cor
6:19).
When Jesus is asking us to ‘go therefore’, he is
telling us to take His presence with us into this dying world. Which means,
when we invite and have a coffee conversation with a friend or a college we are
allowing them to have close proximity with the presence of God residing in us.
When we are talking to them and expressing our hearts, inviting them into our
lives we are expressing God’s heart to them and inviting them to God’s Kingdom.
Here’s some practical ways in which we invite
them to give us a listening ear. Remember, these are only effective when we are
thoroughly soaked in the Gospel and are experiencing the transforming work of
Christ in us.
Through Our vocabulary –
Speaking the Kingdom language:
When we speak Words of Hope that help people see life beyond
their present pain and suffering
When we speak Words of Life that put King Jesus on the
pedestal for others to see and admire
When we speak Words of acknowledgment & gratefulness to
God for others to learn and follow.
Through Our responses –
Our faithful responses to the brokeness of this world:
Our response when we go through financial crises in trusting His
provision.
Our responses when we fall sick in relying on His Sovereignty.
Our response when we are tempted to sin in saying ‘No’ at all costs.
Our response when we see delay in Gods answering our prayers in
knowing that He makes everything beautiful in His time.
Our response when our bosses sit on out head in trusting in the ultimate
authority.
Our responses to such situations testify the
fact that nothing in this world bothers us because we rest in Jesus and his
finished work on the cross.
Through Our values –
Walking the talk:
Doing the right thing at all times regardless of what the
consequences are.
Walking according to principles and commandment prescribed in the
scripture. – Not out of compulsion but with joy.
Through Our service –
Having a Servantheart:
Going the extra mile to bring the hope of Christ to a person in need,
physical or emotional.
Serving the poor, caring for the orphans, providing for the widows.
Sacrificing our time, energy and resources to comfort others in
need.
Remember, these are means through which we can
invite others to hear us out, but the ultimate goal is Gospel proclamation.
Sharing the True Gospel in a clear, meaningful, & effective manner is most
important, not the Gospel that promises health, wealth & prosperity but the
Gospel that promises eternal life in heaven whether in riches or poverty; pain,
suffering or good health, not a work-based Gospel that says to get this you
have do this, but a Gospel of grace, that says its a free gift we receive
without doing anything in return – All we do is believe in the Son of God &
trust Him.
3. We are called to make disciples, not mere
friends and colleagues
Don’t settle and be satisfied that you have made
some unbelieving friends and that you hang out with them often. Our job is not
complete unless we make a disciple out of them.
And it just doesn’t happen like that, there is
an investment of time, money and resources we need to consider if we have to
walk and disciple people. If time, money, comfort matters to us more than
saving our loved ones from pain, sorrow & misery then we have to consider
offering them as a sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom.
Jesus left His glory and came for us,
sacrificing everything, the disciples of Jesus left the comfort of their homes
and sacrificed their lives so that we could find hope.
What is it that the Holy Spirit asking us to do?
Are we making disciples or just friends with whom we like to hangout and chill,
mostly so that we can feel good and relieved from the daily stress.
We ought to be making disciples, not just hang
out with them as friends.
4. Teach them to obey, not just attend church
and sing Christian songs
Let us not be like those parents who are happy
that their children go to church, by-heart bible verses and sing Christian
songs. Unless we’ve understood and experienced Gospel transformation and are
walking in obedience to God word, no Christian activity will save our lives.
We are not inviting our friends to do Christian
activities with us but we are inviting them to walk in obedience and to fulfil
the God given purposes in their lives.
It is not the good feeling of being part of a
church, or a good feeling of being part of an exuberant worship that brings
life transformation. What brings life transformation is the truth of God
revealed in our heart that leads us to walking in total surrender to Him.
Therefore, we need to consistently and
faithfully encourage one other to walk in obedience to God’s word. Jesus said
“If you love me you will obey me”. There is no loving without obedience. If you
come to me and say you love Jesus, I will only be able to validate your love
for Jesus if I also see unconditional obedience. – That’s how even Jesus will
measure our love when we meet Him.
Teach them to obey, not just attend church and
sing Christian songs.
In all of this, brothers & sisters, be encouraged
– Jesus is with us and walking alongside us. He promised never to leave, never
to forsake, his hand of protection, his comfort, his strength, his wisdom, his
power is always with us.
This is the ministry of the church, the ministry
of every single person sitting in this room. I hope I’ve given you compelling
reasons to find your joy in serving in the Kingdom of God and tools to start
acting on it. I believe you will be like the faithful servants who used their
talents for God’s glory and when you meet your saviour and master in heaven you
will hear him say “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of
your master”.
The passage we are looking at is Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
The bible passage we just read is a piece of instruction given to the people of God, but before we get there let’s understand the context so we can make sense of these passages.
Background:
Israelites escape slavery from Egypt
They meet at Mount of Sinai and make a covenant with God to obey all his commandments
After which they walk and wander in the desert for 40 years towards the promised land
They are now standing right next to the Jordan river preparing to enter the promised land
And Moses gets up and gives them a speech – which is the book of Deuteronomy.
Even though Moses is the one giving the speech, these are not His words. In chapter 6:1 he says “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you”
Today since its Elnathan dedication day, we are looking at a certain portion of the speech that is specifically addressed to parents, the way God wants us to bring up our children.
Elnathan is born to Abiah & Elijah, and they hold the primary responsibility to bring him up. But he is also born into the larger family of God, the church. And therefore, just as these instructions are important to the parents, it is also given to the larger family of God. As Abiah & Elijah is dedicating Elnathan and committing to follow these instructions in the presence of all the witnesses, in some way we are also committing to help, support and participate in it as brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers. Therefore, these instructions are important to us as well.
As we saw earlier, this instruction is from God and not from man.
And here’s why this instruction is important. We need to heed to them so that everything goes well with us and that we enjoy God choicest blessing for our life as written in v3. “Hear, therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.”
The instruction is to diligently teach our children something. The word diligently means to do it with care and with a sense of duty.
And what is he asking us to teach our children?
V4-5. 4 “The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
The instruction is to teach them to love God more than anything else.
We love God in response to His Love for us – In the Old Testament, the people of God experienced Gods love through his care and hand of protection over their lives.
But for us, the privileged ones in the new covenant, we experience God’s love through His son Jesus who came to this world to die for our sins and repair our broken relationship through his sacrifice on the cross, so that we don’t suffer in our Sin but rather live victorious lives knowing that Christ is our permanent Shepherd & Caretaker.
What we are asked to teach our children is to point their hearts to Christ, and as their hearts are transformed by the Gospel they inevitably reciprocate in loving God. This is the primary and most important command that God has given us to bring up our children.
To accomplish this goal, I want to put across two words for us to take home and meditate on.
The first word is TALK … communicate … have conversations.
Research says one of the primary reason children grow up having behavioural issues & other disorders are because of the lack of communication between parents and children.
Parents should be the primary voice talking to the child – obviously, to talk more you need to spend more time – and more than talking about studies, career & marriage, what we need to talk most is about God’s love, about His son Jesus, the Gospel, and the Gospel stories that change and transforms us.
We do that by daily evaluating our day with our child and pondering on the conversations we have. Worldly vs Gospel-centered.
The natural tendencies are to talk about the problems and grievances of this broken world, family problems, school problems, college problems, social problems and sadly even church problems.
What our children need to often hear are not problems of this broken world but the hope we are offered through the Gospel, stories of redemption experienced amid this broken world. Not the story and events that make them frustrated and angry towards each other, but stories that make them fall in love with Jesus and His redeeming qualities.
And I say that because unfortunately, that is not what is spoken and communicated in our Christian homes today. It is the outside world talking to them through TV or other mediums, the negative & hurting hearts of parents & people influencing them negatively.
Abiah & Elijah, you are called to be the primary communicator in Nathan’s life, communicating the Gospel, leading his heart to love God with all his heart, mind and soul.
verse 7-9 says “talk of them when you sit in your house (eating food, playing games, doing house chores), and when you walk by the way (going to school, going to the market, taking a jog, driving the car), and when you lie down, and when you rise. (telling bedtime stories, the day that went by, the day that will start tomorrow) 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. (sticking bible verses around the house, on the fridge, in their bedroom) 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (every place visible to the child where he is reminded of God’s love)
Talk. Talk. …….
The second word is ‘Walk’… to model
Our talking will only be effective and deliver desired results when you also Model it for them as we communicate. Let’s get this right, We can’t be parents, friends, brothers & sisters that say “Do what I say but don’t do as I do”… that won’t work, that doesn’t yield results. That is called Hypocrisy, as the child grows he will imitate the same attitude.
If we want our children to love God with all their heart, mind and soul.. we have to first love God with all our heart, mind and soul.
I know of Christian parents who encourage their children to attend Sunday schools so that their hearts are moulded in godly ways but they won’t attend church meeting and community gathering. That doesn’t work my brothers & sisters. We have be an example first.
Yes, our children will hear what we say, but you know what? They will do what we do. Just talking is not enough.
To model godliness to one another is a spiritual principle as Paul says in 1 Cor 11:1 “Follow me as I follow the example of Christ”
But what do we model?
We don’t model a superficial perfection to our children when we are imperfect in nature because of the indwelling sin in our flesh. Rather, out of all the aspects of life, we model to our children the one that should stand out is our lifestyle of continual repentance and faith in God.
It’s ok to expose our imperfect nature to them, that’s the truth. But let them also see our repentant heart in prayer and our trust in Him to help change us through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Let them see and experience the long term transforming power of the Gospel in our life. Let them learn that we all need His grace to sustain and be fruitful in this sinful and broken world. Let them grow learning that Jesus should be the ultimate goal of all our lives.
As I conclude, don’t forget the two words. TALK & WALK. That’s the only way to do this right.
We are currently doing a series on the topic
called ‘The Church’.
Last Sunday, we learnt ‘WHAT is church’.
We learnt that church is not a building or a
structure but a family of people redeemed by the blood of Christ – Joined together in Him, Citizens of a
heavenly Kingdom and a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
This Sunday our goal is to discover the WHY and
the passage we will be looking at is Ephesians 3:8-10.
For a Christian it is important to know the WHY
of the Church because it unlocks the WHY of our own personal lives. In a
fast-paced, ambition-driven, need-based society we are often distracted and
blinded from discovering the God given purposes of our lives. We often define
the purpose of our lives based on our upbringing, cultural influences and
selfish desires of our hearts.
I believe as we discover the WHY of the Church
it will allow us to see how our own lives are woven in this beautiful relationship with God
and with one another. We will learn that for a Christian, outside of this
relationship, life doesn’t exist.
Instead of realising this truth on our death bed
when everything we strive for in life seem to fade away, its better to realise
it now so we can live a happy and satisfied life in God, also leaving back a
legacy for our next generation to follow and aspire.
If you are someone who really desires this life
then follow with me… in Ephesians 3:8-10 where Apostle Paul writes…
To me, though I am the very
least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the
Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for
everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who
created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of
God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly
places.
I’m going to focus on five ‘key-phrases’ from
this passage and use them interchangeably to explain what it reveals about the
Purpose of the church.
The five phrases are:
“The very least of us”
“Preach to the gentiles”
“Unsearchable riches of Christ”
“Mystery hidden for ages in God, who created
all things”
“Through the Church”
The first key phrase I want to begin with is ‘through
the church’.
Brothers & sisters, since the time we fell
into Sin and made a mess of our lives, God’s been doing such amazing things to
restore us back to Him, through generations old and new. And in the new
covenant of Christ the important thing we all need to learn is that everything
God has done in history post Jesus, what God is doing in the present and what
God is about to do in the future is through the church.
Not through any single man or even a party,
standing isolated from the world, shouting and yelling at the top of their
voice – whether political or religious. It’s only through the church – the
redeemed people of God – including you and me sitting right now in this small
little dance rehearsal hall.
And here’s what is He is doing?
His is revealing “His manifold wisdom” to
the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
The very forces that are against the coming
Kingdom of God, making every effort to destroy precious lives through deception
and manipulations, in the name of tradition, culture, political freedom,
health, wealth and prosperity. Non of which is bad by itself, bad only when its
used to distract us from the truth – the ‘manifold wisdom of God’
This manifold wisdom of God is the “mystery
hidden for ages in God, who created all things”
Let’s take a step back and consider who we are
talking about here.
We are not talking about a new movement started
by a political or a business leader who wants to change the world – and we
chose whether we want to go with Him or not. We are talking about God who
created all things for His pleasure and none of us have a choice not to follow
Him. Our choice will determine whether we will live eternity in heaven or in
hell.
The mystery that was hidden for ages is ‘Christ’.
Colossians 1:27 “God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the
riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”
When God made this world, he made us in his
image, he wanted us to walk humbly and obediently in his presence, honouring
him, glorifying him, worshipping him – but instead we chose to disobey and
rebel because of which we had to be thrown out of this beautiful relationship
and also away from his joy-giving, peace-filled promises – promise of a good
life which we were meant to live when he created us – to live in a peaceful
world.
The mystery is that now through Christ’s life,
death and resurrection, as we repent and believe in him, we can be restored
back into that relationship, which also unlocking the ‘the unsearchable
riches of Christ’ in us – the privilege of been adopted in His family, to
be co-heir with Christ in heaven. – bestowed with the power to do greater
things than He who sent us, to be change makers, mountain movers, pace setters,
leaders of this world.
He chooses “the very least of us” as Paul
points out about his own election. Not the healthy, wealthy, prosperous and
wise people of this world but the sick, the poor, the needy and foolish people
like us – and then joining us together, calling us church and sending us out
into the world …
To do what?
“To preach to the gentiles the good news of
this mystery which is Christ”, the hope of glory to each and every person
who believes in Him.
In all this God is seeking His glory and the
purpose of the church is to Glorify Him as we preach the gospel and see hearts
been transformed.
The purpose of the church is not just
gathering people every Sunday morning, singing songs and having a great
fellowship. The purpose of the church, of every individual sitting here is to
take this good news that which we sing about and cherish every Sunday morning,
go out into the world and preach it to the dying world – in our neighbourhood,
in our workplace, in our society, in our city, in our nation and the ends of
the world.
How?
Through our lifestyle, our attitude, our
behaviour, our love for one another, our service – but most importantly
through our WORDS.
The word ‘preach’ means public proclamation,
advocating the truth of the Gospel in every way possible. A lot of people quote
St Francis of Assisi who said “Preach the Gospel at all times and when
necessary use words”… That’s not what the scripture tells us – It tells us to
go out and preach it.
In the world where humans (the image bearers of
the God) are fighting against war, global warming, corruption, injustice,
slavery, rape, abuse of power, religious oppression, CAA & NRC on the basis
of ethics, values & human rights. God wants his church, the redeemed people
of God to rise up and become channels through which he revels his manifold wisdom,
the mystery hidden in Christ, the hope for all the problems – through public
proclamation.
This is the ultimate purpose of the Church. And
this is the ultimate purpose of every believer.
Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in
the wilderness for the people to see and be saved. We, the church are called to
lift up Son Jesus to this world and call them out to repent of their sins and
put their faith in Him so that their souls may be saved and restored.
There is nothing to be ashamed of while preaching
the Gospel because we are not selling an insurance policy, we are proclaiming
the truth, the only truth that can save them. Ultimately, its their choice
whether to take it or not.
And before I point finger at you and ask you
whether you are doing so, I want to confess my own failure to do so, because of
my fears and insecurities. I think I sometimes fool myself by thinking that I
am preaching the Gospel every Sunday, to every like minded brother and sister
who comes to me for counselling. But I believe there is a difference between
preaching the Gospel in a safe environment like this and preaching to the
gentiles as Paul writes where my life can be in danger, where I am susceptible
to rejection, mockery, hatred etc.
Church, lets rise up – to our calling, to our
purposes, to our destiny.
This
is mandate given to the church, to every person sitting in this room.
This
doesn’t mean that we throw off our jobs, abandon our responsibilities. But it
means to recognise the context in which God has placed us, whether at work, in
family, in society. And as we are participating in our daily earthly chores and
fulfilling our God given responsibilities we are aware that our primary goal is
to Glorify God by lifting up the name of His son Jesus, by preaching the good
news to the gentiles, making disciples and teaching them to obey God.
In
concluding my talk, I want to pray and plead with God for my heart this
morning, to make bold and courageous, to become intentional in sharing the
Gospel to my lost friends, neighbors, colleagues, and if that is what you feel
convicted of this morning, I want to you to join me in praying and pleading
with God.
Today is the first Sunday of the year, and I was
meditating & praying, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to ponder upon God’s
heart, vision, goals and dreams for our lives.
which is…
1. To grow in Intimacy with His son Jesus Christ & 2. To grow in the awareness of the indwelling life of his son Jesus in us
No matter how big our personal dreams are, no matter how strong our individual desires are.. if our dreams, desires and pursuits in life are not helping us to move towards God’s goal for our lives then life will be a total waste where are chasing after worthless things that will only bring grief and sorrow at the end.
It may give momentary satisfaction to us externally but it will never bring internal transformation.
Similarly, as a church we can have a large vision and aspirations. But if the plans and vision we have for the church does not move us in the direction of God’s goals for our lives, then we will end up making church an idol.
And therefore, my desire as I preach this morning is to encourage and help us cultivate intimacy with Jesus and to walk in the awareness of His indwelling life in us that enables us to live victorious lives.
How do we grow in intimacy with Christ?
Very often when a sermon like this is preached, our immediate response is that from tomorrow onwards I will pray more, read the bible more, worship more… and that will put things in order.
But what happens? How many in this room made a
decision like that and has been followed it through for the last one year. I’ve
tried that many times in my Christian journey and have failed at it again and
again.
And even if we are successful in doing that
regularly, down the line we loose the excitement and it becomes dry and
lifeless, a routine, a joyless activity.
So, if its not about doing all these spiritual
activities then you may ask what does it really mean to walk and grow in
intimacy with Christ?
For that I want you to read with me, Psalms
63:1-8 and read the heartbeat of a man who knew what it meant to have an
intimate relationship with God.
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land
where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding
your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips
will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will
lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my
mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and
meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in
the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right
hand upholds me.
I’m not going to expound on this passage but what we understand about Intimacy in this heart touching Psalm that is that Intimacy means living a life of complete surrender to God.
Where we grow up realizing that there is nothing better than Jesus, where our soul thirsts for him, our flesh faints for him, where we see His steadfast love better than life, where our soul finds satisfaction in Him alone, where our mouth is constantly filled with His praises, where we think about Him upon our bed in the night, where we wake up in the morning with songs on our lips.
Let me give you a visual picture of what that means. Here’s our heart
Filled in are all the bubbles of various aspects
of our lives; a bubble for marriage, a bubble for career, a bubble for
relationships, a bubble for friends, etc .. and along with all the bubbles, is a bubble for Jesus. We call this
compartmentalization.
When we lived in sin our hearts, our minds, our
will, our emotions were subject to the devil, we were slaves to sin; sin ruled
over us.
But the day God mercifully opened our blinded eyes and convicted us, He brought us to a realization that there is more to life than what it seems to be. He revealed to us the depravity of our heart, the emptiness of life, the sorrow of this broken world.
And we then learn that all this is happening because of our broken relationship with our creator God, our Father. And the only way we can get back into that relationship with God is to accept His provision which he offered to us by the life, death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.
When we repent of our sins and put our faith in
Jesus he becomes alive in our heart, and God accepts us back into his loving
relationship – This we call Justification.
Once we are in this beautiful relationship, we
are now called to grow and enjoy that relationship, which is what we mean by
growing in intimacy with Christ – This we call as Sanctification.
And the process by which we grow in intimacy with Christ is by surrendering every aspect of our lives to him and to make Him the ultimate goal and the ultimate purpose of life.
Where Jesus is not just an isolated bubble in the corner of our heart, but he becomes the larger bubble within which all other bubble fit.
At the end of it all what God is accomplishing in our heart as we surrender our lives to him is to take complete reign.
As human beings, still living in our flesh we
will always resist this path of giving full control to Jesus, because we are
prone to sin and it gives us momentary pleasure. Therefore, we have to
constantly remind ourselves that seeking momentary pleasures will always hinder
us from living a full life in Christ.
Practically, it means to give up that which we
think is important for me or bothering me into the hands of a loving Saviour
one by one, who knows what’s best for our life. It includes our career, our
relationship, our marriage, our studies, our ministry, our dreams, our
business, our job etc.
For example, when we get up in the morning, do
our daily devotions and as we are on our way to work we think of all the task on
our desk, the meetings we have to attend, the boss we have to face and all of a
sudden we become anxious, anxious about our future, anxious about our growth in
the company, anxious about our career.
And if growing in intimacy with Jesus means surrendering all to him, then what we need to do is take a step back, find a quite place, it could be in the washroom, spell out your frustration to Jesus and ask him to take control, saying Jesus, I am not going to worry about my career because you are better, and you know what’s best for me, I will let you have your way in me.
Even if I don’t get a raise in my salary, even if I lose my job, even if things don’t seem to be going in the direction I wanted. I will trust in you, and I will continue to love you.
To come to a place where we are able to say like
Paul in Philippians 3:8 “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing
worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of
all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”
And once we’ve don’t surrendering that area of
our life, wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to our heart, give us direction to
what we need to do, how we need to behave… and if its a big step he is asking
you to take, ask him to confirm through other sources. Once confirmed, trust in
Him and go for it.
The same could be applied to a relationship, a
marriage situation, dealing with a new born baby, teaching our children at home
etc.
But remember we don’t try to accomplish this
with our efforts, because our efforts will turn out to be futile and will
ultimately fail us.
And therefore what we need is to grow in the
awareness of the indwelling life of Jesus in us.
Let me show you some scriptures that talk about
our dependence on Jesus.
“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of
sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.”—Romans 8:10
“Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is
the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels
that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.”—2
Corinthians 4:6-7
“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but
it is Christ who lives in me.”—Galatians 2:20
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”—Colossians 1:27
Brothers & sisters, I hope you are able to
see what I can see in these verses.
What I understand from these passages is that,
for me to grow in intimacy with Christ where he takes center stage of my life,
it doesn’t happen because of our efforts but because of Christ himself who is
in me, the hope of Glory who is accomplishing for himself the task of drawing
us closer to himself. See how much God loves us and wants us, the length and
breath of his steadfast love.
Therefor, my responsibility then is only to
surrender myself to his Lordship over my life.
Praying everyday, reading His Word daily is the
outcome of a surrendered life. It is not the means to grow closer to God. We
can ‘do’ all those things and yet fail to live in intimacy with Christ since
Christ is is still another bubble in our hearts who gets attention in the
mornings and on Sundays.
True intimacy is when He gets our attention 24 x
7, 7 days a week & 365 days of the year.
This is God’s desire for us, which He is
accomplishing in our hearts as we give ourselves in total surrender to Him.
