Category: Sermon

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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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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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1 Samuel Sermon

Facing the Giants- 1 Samuel 17

Good morning church, it is a joy and delight to connect all of you;

I hope you are safe and taking good care of yourself. and I believe you all have been blessed with the sermon series on “Abiding Faith” from 1 Thessalonians.

Today I will like to take all of you to a very interesting story. It is One of my favourite story in the bible, that is the story of  “David and Goliath.” From 1 Samuel 17.

I want to entitle my sermon as “Facing the Giant. 1 Samuel 17 is a long passage so I will like to summarize the story.

One of the favourite Bible stories for children is the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17. Children love this story since the hero is a young boy.

But the story of David and Goliath is not just for children. It is a fascinating story that never gets old to read. The chapter opens as Israel and the Philistines are facing off in battle. David’s older brothers were with the army of Israel.

While David was at home tending the sheep. David’s father, Jesse, sent him to the war zone to deliver some food to his brothers and find out news about the war. David quickly arranged for others to take care of the sheep while he took off for the battlefront.

David arrived at the battlefield to find his brothers and the rest of the Israeli army cowering in fear from the mocking of Goliath of Gath. Goliath was the champion of the Philistine army.

Though he was about 9 feet tall, he spoke words that angered David. Goliath was claiming the God of the Israelites was not able to help them in battle. Goliath had blasphemed David’s God and David aimed to stand up for what was right.


Ignoring the potential danger, David trusted in God to help him fight Goliath. David said that he would fight the giant. He was immediately taken before King Saul.

Though he was a young man, he had experienced enough danger in his life to know God was in control and would protect him through the battle. David told Saul as much and Saul offered David the royal armor.

David felt unworthy using Saul’s armor, he refused to accept the kind and generous offer.

More than likely David simply trusted in God he knew than in the armor he did not know.

 After leaving Saul, David ran towards Goliath prepared to fight. He gathered 5 smooth stones from the river and pocketed 4 of them. The 5th one went into the sling prepared for Goliath. They ran towards one another. Goliath mocked David and said that he was not afraid of a little boy.

David said that the Philistine came with a sword, shield and spear, but David came with confidence in the God of Israel.

David boldly replied that he had no fear of Goliath and that the birds would be picking the flesh off his giant body by the end of the day.

David let fly the stone in his sling. The stone hit the giant between the eyes and the stone sunk into his forehead.

Goliath fell forward while both armies watched. David then pulled the giant sword and chopped off the head of the Philistine champion.

This is the short summary of David and Goliath. Church we shall see three very important life lesson from the story of David and Goliath.

Under a topic: Facing the Giants.

We all are facing various giants in our life, we don’t want the giants to defeat us, no one want to be like Goliath but everyone wants to be like David, Let us see how David defeated the giants in his life.

If there is anything, we can learn today,

Let us learn it so that we all will be giant’s slayer like David.

If you want to be a giant slayer, you have to remember this 3 important principle David used to defeat 9 feet Goliath.

1. Remember whom you belong

As you face the giant in life, remember whom you belong,

1 Samuel 17:26.

“For who is this uncircumcised philistine, that he should taunt (mock) the armies of the living God.”

The sad things is Israelite forgot who God is. They forgot the power of God, they forgot how God has protected them in Egyptian, and they forgot the God who parted the Red sea.

“The most terrible tragedy of mankind is not remembering  the Creator.”

When Goliath challenge the Israelite, they run away with fear from the giant. But David remember whom he belong to, and said,

who is this uncircumcised giant that is mocking the armies of the living God.

David remembered that they were God’s Army and God is with them. However, Israelite forgot who they are. In our life, we will face great giants in many ways, in many forms but two things you need to remember.

Remember who you are in Christ and remember who God is.

Who you are?

1 Peter 2:9 says.

You are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

You are God’s beloved child; you are redeemed (God has purchased you from slavery of sin) and justified (God has declare you righteous.

You are new creation in Christ, You belong to God, and He is with you always. Always remember you are the son and daughter of the most High God. (David Knows who he is).

and

Remember who God is

#He is the God who protect His children from all harm and diseases.(He protected children of Israel in Egypt from all harm and disease)

#He is the God who make a way where there seems to be no way.

It remind me the children of Israel story, they were on their way to promise land but in one incident, they were stuck in Red sea. they have nowhere go, their hope their dream and their life was in danger and moreover the Egyptian were chasing behind they to kill and to destroy them but God parted the red sea and let children of Israel cross the red sea in dry land. He make a way where there seems to be no way. That’s our God.

#He is the God who supply all our needs according to His richest in glory.

#He is the God who feed 5000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves.

#He is the God who raise Lazarus from the dead.

#He is the God who do things, which are impossible in the sight of men.

#He is the God who save us from eternal condemnation and give us eternal life.

He is our loving heavenly Father; He is the only true and living God, The almighty God, the alpha and the omega,

We are His children and we belong to Him.

As we know the condition of world, including all of us are going through hard times because of covid-19 pandemic, because of losing job, because of pay cut, because of economic crisis, because of all horrible news around, because of natural calamities.

This is the time to pray harder, this is the time to turn to our living God; this is the time to remember whom we belong to.

David remember whom he belong to, and God gave him the victory.

In case if we did not remember who God is, we will be the most misery people in this planet, we will live a defeated, shameful life.

You know why children of Israel were in a slavery for many years in foreign Land; it is because they did not remember who God is and they did not remember whom they belong.

Church if you remember whom you belong to,

You will know the power of God in your life, moreover

God will take care of your life; He will be your shield,

He will be your protector, and He will be your provider,

He will be your joy and blessing all the days of your life.

Always remember whom you belong.

With that lets come to the second principle.

2. Depending on God’s deliverance. (1 Samuel 17:32-37)

32 And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.

David remember how God has deliver him from the hand of Lion and bear,

And share all his life testimony,

But even king Saul didn’t trust David, he say, you can’t beat him you are just a boy and he is a well-trained WARRIOR.

There will be time your own boss or your leader or your close family will not believe you. When you are about to do something for the Lord, something that might seem impossible to man,

don’t let anyone stop you. Oh yes, they will laugh at you, but don’t let them stop you. Oh yes, they will talk about you, but don’t let them stop you. David might have thought, yes you are my big brother, but there is a giant to face. He might have thought that there is a battle to be won, and he will not allow anything to stand in the way. When the Lord is on your side, you don’t have to be afraid, and you will be able to face the giant, and destroy the giant.

let us be like David, He didn’t depend on man wrong counsel, He didn’t depend in the sword and shield of army,

His only confidence and dependence is in living God. Israelite saw how big goliath was but David saw how Big God was. A giant slayer remember that with God all things are possible.

Many a time we tend to depend on ourselves, to our abilities and our knowledge, but God wants us to depend on Him,

He knows how fragile we are in this broken world, He knows we need him in every ways of our life, He knows we will mess up our life if we don’t depend on Him. He love us, He care for us, He want to protect us.

Proverb 3:5-6 says.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

When you depend on yourself, you are preparing yourself for destruction and defeat. When you build up your life, your career, business, your family, your future without depending on God,

Bible says you are like a foolish man who build his house on the sand; the house will not stand in the storm because the house is built in the wrong foundation.

Let our total dependence be God alone and let’s build up our life in the solid rock, which is Christ Jesus our Lord. Our part is surrendering our life totally in the hand of almighty God and totally depending on Hiss deliverance.

And God’s part is to protect us and fight the battle for us and give us victory for His glory.

Always remember

“The safest place for your life is in the hands of the living God, He knows you, he understand you, he will guard you and he will keep you.”

 Isaiah 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Finally lets come to the last principle.

3. Facing the giant in the name of God. (45)

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

          46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike           you down   and cut off your head. This very day I will give the       carcasses of the Philistine     army to the birds and the wild   animals, and the whole world will know that       there is a God in       Israel. 

          47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear          that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give       all of you into our hands.” 

          48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly        toward the battle line to meet him. 

          49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and    struck the   Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his           forehead, and he fell     facedown on the ground. 

          50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone;          without a     sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and       killed him. 

          51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off         his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their   hero was dead, they turned and ran. 

The Giants we are facing today can be just as intimidating to us, as Goliath was to the Israelites.

You see we face all kinds of giants.

Some of you may be facing emotional giants like worry, doubt, fear, or anxiety,

Some of you are facing mental giants like, stress, insecurity, or even depression.

Some of you may be facing physical giants like disease, pain, or even disability.

For some of your Goliath may be a bad habit, or an addiction.

For some of you it’s a problem at work, or a financial problem that not only won’t go away, but just keeps getting bigger.

We can defeat all these giants when face in the name of the Lord.

Goliath rely on himself, his skill, his experience, his shield and his sword.

But David come against Goliath in the name of Living God.

He could defeat Goliath because God was with Him, God was fighting the battle for David.

Church let us not worry of the giants we are facing today, when we face any life problems and challenges in the name of the Lord, we can easily defeat the giants because the Lord is on our side.

Remember battle belong to our God.

You know God was with David, God fight the battle for David so He could defeat the giant Goliath.

God will fight the battle for us,

Romans 8:31 says. If God be for us who can be against us.

Matthew 19:26. And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

          This same David who told king Saul not to worry, is the same           David who writes in Psalm 27 verses 1 and 2, “The Lord is my     light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the           strength     of my life; of whom shall I be afraid. When the           wicked even mine enemies and my foes, came upon      me to      eat up my flesh, they   stumbled and fell.       

Do you have the faith that it takes to stand up against a Giant?

Are you willing to Trust God instead of your own abilities?

Are you willing to walk by faith and not by sight?

Are you willing to fight every giants in the name of the Lord?

Always remember to face the giants in the name of the Lord.

Conclusion

We have meditate together 3 points under the topic “Facing the giants.”

Never ever forget whom you belong to, you are God’s special possession, you are son and daughter of the most high, living God. He will make a way where there seems to be no way.

Secondly, always depend on God’s Deliverance.

Remember, God is our refuge and strength, present help in days of trouble, He is our shield, He our protector, He is the good shepherd, when we totally depend on His deliverance, He will fight the battle for us and give us the victory.

Thirdly, always face the giants in the name of the Lord.

Remember there is power in the name of the Lord,

He is the God, who do the impossible,

Church we need to face every problems and every challenges in our life in the name of the Lord.

Let us live by faith and not by sight, let us not worry but let us take up courage like David and defeat every giants in our life in the name of the Lord and live victorious life.

May God bless you and keep you. May God face shine of you and give you peace.

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

When sanctification seems impossible | 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28

When sanctification seems difficult/impossible!

Good morning, church. How are you all doing this morning? How I long for some response from you guys like a normal Sunday we used to have – seems like long time ago now.

We hope and pray that God would open doors and do a miracle in getting us all started once again – like days of old.

As a church, we have been going through the first letter written by Paul to the Thessalonians and today we end the series on “Abiding faith” as we meditate on the final words of Paul in this letter from 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28.

22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Savior and applied for membership in a local church. “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your Life?” inquired an old deacon.

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Well, are you still a sinner?” “To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever.” “Then what real change have you experienced?” “I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved.

I’m a sinner running from sin!” she was received into the fellowship of the church, and she proved by her consistent life that she was truly converted. Beloved, I want you to think about this statement today morning – “I am a sinner running from sin”.

This is the calling with which God has called us – that we may be holy and be like His Son Jesus Christ – even though we have the sin nature active in our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 says it clearly – “For this is the will of God – your sanctification”. But we live and walk among broken glasses. Our own sin and the sins of people around us make us feel that sanctification is too difficult and slow and too demanding and sometimes, our recurring sins and sins which so easily ensnare us keep following us like a leach – sometimes making us think that sanctification is impossible.

Even though God calls us to a life of holiness and demands a life of purity – we still continue to fall in sin – and struggle with a slow and difficult process of sanctification.

Doesn’t our thoughts, our words and actions yesterday or even today morning show us that we are so far from being like Jesus? When our so-easily ensnaring sin refuses to let go and when sanctification seems tough and impossible, what do we do as a Christian?

Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you this morning to look unto God – our sanctifier – as we meditate on our passage for today.

I want to title my sermon – “When sanctification seems difficult…” and I pray that you would remember these 3 points when you feel like giving up on God’s process of sanctification.

1. Do not give up your fight against sin!
2. Remember someone is praying for you!
3. Remember God is faithful to complete what He has promised!


1. Do not give up your fight against sin!


Before Paul goes on to talk about God – our sanctifier and perfecter from verse 23 – Paul commands the Thessalonian believers in verse 22 – “Abstain from every form of evil”. What kind of word is that?

Paul is just about to bring about an amazing truth of Christianity – that it is God who is faithful to sanctify you and keep you blameless until Jesus comes again. But, before you and I think that “Because God sanctifies me, I have no part or responsibility in being holy”, before we think that, Paul says that “Abstain from every form of evil”.

Brothers and sisters, if our view of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness lead us into a lifestyle of sin and laziness and sloth – we haven’t understood God’s ways of sanctification yet.

So many of us lose hope too soon in our battle against sin and many of us let go of our arms and ammunitions thinking there is no point of fighting against my sin. And few of the reasons that some of us give are –

“It is God who sanctifies, let Him do it – I could very well go ahead and spend some time netflixing.” Or another reason that we give is – “Brother, I have tried and struggled and done everything possible to fight my sin but I am still not able to overcome it.

I think I cannot fight anymore. I think I am born with this infirmity. I am going to make peace with it and accept it as my weakness. Main jaisa hun, main vaisa hi hun – main badal nahi sakta.”

Beloved, this school of thought has led many to think that holiness is simply impossible to have and if I strive for holiness, then I can possibly never get an assurance of my salvation – because I will always see my failures and my sins and doubt my assurance.

And today – more and more, we see churches and Christians and even ourselves – somehow narrowing down this call to holiness and watering it and diluting it to a great extent.

Why? They simply can’t believe that complete sanctification is possible. It is true – Beloved – that we do not attain practical perfection in this life – but then sometimes – Christians think that no degree of obedience or holiness or purity or goodness or love or repentance or transformation is required for entering heaven.

They decide to make peace with their sin. They then begin to look for ways and means to justify their sinful lifestyle. For eg, I am justified in Christ – I am accepted in Him – so no matter what I do, I am forgiven and I am a child of God. Or another similar justification given is God’s Grace – “We are living in an age of Grace, brother?

If God really wanted us to be holy, then why would He give us Grace and Mercy?” Beloved, so many times, we use the same doctrines that were meant to help us for our sanctification as justifications for our sin. The hidden sin that we fight with and we struggle against are not there to make peace with.

God’s Grace is what we tap into not just for our forgiveness but also for our sanctification – for overcoming that one sin which you are battling against since months. Even the justification with which God has justified us in Christ Jesus is the solid ground and foundation for the life of sanctification and holiness that God has called us to.

And that is why, Paul says, “Abstain from every form of evil”. Do not put down your arms and ammunitions. Do not be bogged down by your constant failures and think that there is no point of us fighting this fight against sin. At the end of His life, Paul says – “I have fought a good fight.” Paul says to Philippians – “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 – “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

Does that sound like resting and chilling out? Beloved – do not forget this – GOD SANCTIFIES US THROUGH OUR OWN STRIVINGS AGAINST SIN! God works in our hearts both to will and to do and we work out what God works in. If our theory of sanctification has no element of us striving to holiness – we are not in sync with the sanctification of the Bible.

Hebrews 12:14 says – “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” So, what am I trying to say? Beloved, no matter how much you feel like a failure and no matter how difficult sanctification looks like – Do not give up your fight against sin? My son is learning to stand on his own.

It is so beautiful to watch him do that. He strives to stand up – catching hold of our legs, hands, ears, nose – he stands up – he leaves his hands and then balances himself on his feet – you should see him struggling to balance with fear but with such a joy and smile on his face on his accomplishment that he can stand without holding on to anybody.

And then after a few seconds, now he stands upto 1 minute – but after that, he falls down. What does he do? You think he will stop? Naa. He stands back again and then falls again. And again he stands and again he falls. I would not be exaggerating to say that he has done this a 1000 times already but he doesn’t lose hope.

He will stand again and again and again and again until he stands without falling. Oh my dear brothers and sisters – sanctification is like that – do not let go off your hope because you failed – because you fell down – because you sinned – no – no – no – one day you and I will be perfect like Jesus Christ.

Do not let go off your guard – do not lose hope in this battle – sanctification is slow, painful and difficult – but a day will come when there will be no more sin to fight against – no more wars to battle.

What a day that will be! 1 John 3: 2-3 says

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Are you a child of God? Are you struggling with your sin?

Hold on to your fight, Beloved! Because God sanctifies us through our own strivings against sin!

But let me go on to my next point –

2. Remember someone is praying for you

Some years ago – this thought gripped my heart and I was excited – someone is praying for me!

Look at verse 23 – Paul is praying that God would sanctify the Thessalonian Believers. And in verse 25 – he asks them to pray for Paul as well. “Brothers, pray for us”.

When the way of sanctification gets tough, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember – someone is praying for you! Maybe it is your spouse, your parents, your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ, your elders or someone you do not even know of.

There is someone battling on his/her knees for your sanctification – and if you do not know of anyone who is battling for you – I want to turn your eyes to someone who is definitely interceding for you at the right hand of God the Father – and who is that – the man Jesus Christ!

The same God who became flesh and battled against temptation, sin and the like – as a man – He has compassion on you and me! He prays for you! He prays for me!

Let me give you a few examples of his prayers when He was on earth. In John 17:19, when Jesus prays to the Father – He prays – “For their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they may also be sanctified through the truth” and in verse 11 – He prays – “Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one”.

And he asks the Father in verse 15 to keep them from the evil one. The Lord Jesus in his incarnation as a man on this earth sanctified Himself (lived in perfect holiness) in order to sanctify His people who would believe in His name.

And he kept praying that God would keep them and preserve and make them one just as God the Father and Jesus Christ were one. Perfect unity is possible only among sanctified disciples.

Jesus prays for us that we may be sanctified and united so that we would then in turn pray for one another and bear each other up. The best thing that you can pray for someone is that God would sanctify them and make them holy.

Let us look at another instance when Jesus prayed for his disciples. In Luke 22:32 – When satan asked Jesus permission to sift Peter as wheat – Jesus said to Peter – “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

He prays for us! He prays that our faith may not fail! He prays that we may be sanctified and holy. He prays that we may be one! He prays that we may love each other as He loved us.

If you and I have anything to boast about regarding our holiness – it is just that God sanctified you through the prayers of His Son and through the prayers of the saints whom you are surrounded by!

When you struggle in your walk in holiness – remember this dear child of God – Someone is praying for you! But let me go on to my last point which is my most important point to hold on to when sanctification seems tough – because if that didn’t exist, points 1 and 2 were useless! And that is –

3. Remember God is faithful to complete what He has promised!

In verse 24 – He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Beloved, sanctification is not a process (prakriya) that you have begun but it is God! It is God who decided to take a man – who was full of sin and evil – and cleansed him and washed him and made him clean and whole and justified in Jesus Christ and made him a child of God!

It is God who decided to do it! It is God who started the good work! And then He decided to place this man back into the same broken world – with sin and evil and darkness – and decided to keep him and preserve him in Jesus Christ and make him more and more like Jesus.

Well, it was God who started it. And it is not becoming of Him to leave it half undone. He has never done that! He will never do that! He has counted the cost – and He paid the price – and that was His only Son – Jesus Christ! Paul binds our sanctification to His faithfulness! Brothers and sisters, I want you all to find the roots of your sanctification.

Where does sanctification spring from? We have a small hint in verse 24 – “He who CALLS you”.

Beloved, much before our sanctification – there was a calling with which He called you. It was not an ordinary calling.

It was not a general calling. It was a particular – effectual – and personal calling – when He commanded very strongly into our hearts – ‘Follow me’ – and we left our all and followed Him.

Much before our sanctification – came God’s call to our hearts personally. But this is much clearer if we will read Romans 8:29-30 – “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”. Glorification is when we become completely and perfectly like Jesus and that is the holy calling that we have, Beloved – being conformed to the image of His Son! But it all began with God’s foreknowledge – He loving us even before the foundations of the earth.

He then predestinated us to become like Jesus! Those whom He predestined – them He also called and those whom He called – them He also justified and those He justified – them He also glorified. I don’t know if you are able to imagine this picture with me – those whom God loved before the foundation of the world – them He predestined – not even one left out.

Those whom He predestined – them He also called – not even one left out. Those whom He called – them He also justified – not even one left out again! And those whom He justified – them He also glorified – not even one left out till the end! There is cycle from foreknowledge till glorification and there is not even one lost out in the process!

There is not even one separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus in this process! Ah! That is what Paul is talking about in 1 Thessalonians when He binds our sanctification to His faithfulness! Let me repeat that once again – The certainty of our sanctification rests on God’s faithfulness! He hasn’t lost even one during this process of sanctification.

Jesus says in John 6: 39 –

“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

Even when we fail, even when it is dark, even when we feel nothing is working out – we can rest on the faithfulness of God – who promises to complete what He has begun. And this is the assurance that we get from the Word – “HE WILL SURELY DO IT”.

I thank God for the “wills” and “shalls” of the Word of God. If He says, that He WILL – you can rest assured that He WILL do it. Our assurance of salvation doesn’t come by minimizing the need for holiness or sanctification or by focusing on the measure of our holiness – our assurance comes by placing our trust on the measure of God’s faithfulness to do the sanctifying work that he promised to do.

Let me end my sermon here by showing you how committed God is to complete the work of sanctification in our lives and that commitment is much more than mine or yours. The aim of God in the death of His Son was your holiness. Jesus died that you may be holy.

I want to read to you Ephesians 5:26 and it says,

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her”

—make her holy. Your becoming holy is as sure as God’s invincible purpose in the death of his Son.

In electing you, His purpose was that you may be holy. In calling you, His purpose was your holiness. He who chose you is faithful. He who called you is faithful. He who justified you is faithful.

He who sent His Son to die for you is faithful. He who sanctifies you is faithful – He will surely do it! He will surely do it! He will surely do it! If He doesn’t do it, God will become a liar and that is just not possible!

So, my beloved brothers and sisters, when sanctification gets tough, when holiness seems difficult, when practical Christ-like living seems impossible, remember the faithfulness of God bound to your sanctification – bound to your holiness!

2 Thessalonians 2:13 says,
“God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification”

—not apart from sanctification. Salvation comes through sanctification, and no other way.

We have a great and glorious ground of assurance not because holiness is not needed, but because God is faithful to preserve us and make us holy and blameless like His Son Jesus Christ. He will surely do it!!!

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Grace driven purity – 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28

Good morning church! I just want to thank God for the opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning.

If you’ve been tracking with us, over the last few months we’ve been trying to understand this theme “Abiding Faith” from 1 Thessalonians. What we’ve learnt through all those weeks is that it’s ultimately God who sustains our faith. Today we arrive at the last passage of this letter that talks about “Sanctification” which means “being purified & set apart for God”.

Would you join me as we pray and ask God to help us understand and respond to today’s passage?

During my schooling days, there was this condition called “Out of syllabusitis”!

I’m sure many of us might be familiar with this term. We would spend quite a few of the last few nights cramming and preparing for an exam & when we receive the question paper, we are shocked to see questions that we’ve never seen before. Out of syllabus!!

It’s also true that these could have been questions that were in our portion which we didn’t prepare for but we would still refer to them as “out of syllabus” because these questions leave us stumped.

I think similarly when it comes to our Christian faith, there’s a lot of emphasis and encouragement on how to become a believer in Christ through repentance & faith but the common Christian experience after that is often “out of syllabus” for many.

We are left stumped and clueless. Often, we are handed over many commands to follow but as we go through our days as believers be it in our private moments when we are alone or when we are in public interacting with other people, we soon we realize that we simply don’t have the power or the ability to “purify ourselves daily and set apart ourselves for God”.

So brother or sister, if you’re at that place today where you’re confused on how to live the Christian life in purity or if you’re tired of your failing moral performance, just know you’re not alone. What help is available?

1. God’s gracious promise (v22-24)

God’s promise is the only thing that we can rely on to sanctify our lives. What I find interesting is that v22 “Abstain from every form of evil” is a command & imperative for God’s people.

But in the very next verse we are given a promise which will help us obey this command. It’s God’s gracious promise that empowers our ability to obey. But how do I know if God will honour and keep this promise? Let’s look at 3 aspects of God’s gracious promise:

  • God’s promise is based on the Work of God – Now may the God of peace (v23) – That term God of peace refers to God reconciling us back to Himself through the work of Jesus. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God has signed & sealed a peace treaty with us who have trusted in Jesus. As part of God’s peace treaty, He has promised no more wrath, no more condemnation on us who used to be enemies of God because the payment was paid in full by Jesus Christ.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)

And I think this is a powerful truth for us because it tells us of how God views us if we’ve placed our full trust in Jesus. God’s not waiting for an opportunity for us to mess up so that we can be relegated back to being enemies.

Neither is God requiring our performance (achievements, self-will, our efforts) to maintain this peace treaty. It’s based on the permanent work of God.

But you may say it’s one thing to have a peace treaty through the work of God, but it’s another thing to sanctify a sinner like me. That requires enormous ability. That’s why the second aspect of the promise is important:

  • God’s promise is fulfilled by the Power of God – May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (v24) – I hope we are able to see the astonishing promise made here in terms of our holiness. Complete sanctification – meaning complete pure and set apart for God! When the Lord Jesus comes again, believers in Jesus would be made “blameless” in their spirit, soul and body. In other words, there won’t be an iota or a remnant of sin left in us!!

What?

And this promise is made to sinners!!! Can God do this? Scripture is filled with testimonies of God doing things that are absolutely impossible for humans. I think this culminated in the Resurrection of Jesus. I mean we think about all that humans boast about and all the medical advances that have been made over the centuries, but yet no human has been able to provide an answer to the reality of Death.

With the sad news of hundreds of thousands that have passed away due to the current pandemic despite all types of efforts to contain the virus, we realize how helpless we are and yet Jesus Christ rendered death powerless!  It’s astonishing.

I love the way Ps. David Jeremiah puts it:

“God, by His exerted power, reversed the process of death, overturned the process of decay, caused a silent heart to beat again. He was resurrected with an eternal body which according to Philippians 3 serves as a prototype for our own resurrected bodies”.  

Ps. David Jeremiah

If God’s able to overturn and destroy something as fatal and deadly as death, then God can do anything. He can certainly sanctify us completely and make us blameless when Christ comes again.

I think this is an important truth for us especially when we respond to habitual patterns of sin which often leaves us despondent and in despair. God is able to purify you!

  • God’s promise is sustained by the Character of God – Now you might say I understand the work of God & the power of God – God is able to sanctify and purify us, but 2000 years have passed, what if God changed His mind?

We have had a consistent history of messing up a zillion times and not being faithful to God, what if God alters His promise?

And that’s why v24 is important:  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

God’s character (His faithfulness) is being highlighted here. Brothers and sisters, I realize that this aspect of the character of God is especially important because we trust a person on the basis of his/her character.

Is the person faithful or not? That determines our level of trust. God’s not like us “sinful humans” to make and break promises as it seems convenient. He puts His character on the line to back up this promise and assure us that He will do what He promised to do.

This committed promise of God is what empowers pure and holy living.

Just to illustrate:

In marriage, it consists of a promise and loving responsibilities. Which among both is important? Both. The promise are the vows made by the couple to each other on the wedding day & the loving responsibilities are the outworking of the promise.

Without the promise, there’s no security for the couple when they mess up in their responsibilities. Without the loving responsibility, there won’t be an opportunity for the couple to care and serve each other.

But remember the promise precedes the loving responsibility. The promise binds and holds the loving responsibility. Similarly, it’s God’s promise to sanctify us is a security that empowers us to live in purity.

But not only do we have God’s gracious promise, but we also have

2. God’s Gracious Provision (v25-27)

God’s gracious Provision is through spiritual disciplines! That might be a strange idea for some of us because we’ve never thought about it in that way. Many times we view spiritual disciplines like a labourer instead of a son or a daughter.

What I mean by this is that a labourer works to get a salary from His master (spiritual disciplines are a means to grace). On the other hand, a son or a daughter don’t have a transactional relationship with their Father because they are loved and accepted.

All the gifts they enjoy are not a salary payment made to them but means by which they can enjoy and grow in their relationship with the Father (spiritual disciplines as means of grace) V25-27 mentions 3 spiritual disciplines as a provision for us to help us in our sanctification:

  • Prayers of believers:  Brothers, pray for us. (v25) I find it interesting that after sharing so much of biblical truth in this whole letter, Paul closes the letter by asking them to pray for him and his companions.

Despite the fact that Paul was an amazing church planter & preacher, Paul recognizes how much of divine help (grace) is required to help him grow in purity, continue to trust Jesus with his entire life & pursue the mission that God called him to.

And that’s a humbling thought to realize that despite all our so-called accomplishments, despite how many years we may have been as believers, despite how active we may have been in ministry, we are still little children dependent on the grace of God for everything including purity.

Praying is an acknowledgement that we are desperate and helpless & only God is the only one who is able to help us.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
(John 15:5)

It is a humbling thing when we ask our brother or sister to pray for our purity and holiness.

At the same time, it reaches out to God’s enormous power source to come to our aid whenever we are in need. 

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16)

  • Fellowship: Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. (v26) In biblical times, this kind of “kiss of peace” was a greeting that people would use when they would meet people. However, the NT church, the symbol was much more than just a greeting.

    It was to symbolize unity among the members in the church. It didn’t matter what a person’s background is, now that He is in Jesus Christ – He is united to me and I am united to Him as a spiritual sibling.

    And especially with this topic on “purity”, it’s significant because it means that we no longer look at our brother or sister as spiritually superior or spiritually inferior but it levels the playing field so that we can be open, honest and repentant to our spiritual siblings about our lives and struggles. 

    6 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
    (James 5:16)

    God has graciously given us “fellowship” to help us in our spiritual growth.
  • Word: I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. (v27) You know as we read this letter in 1 Thessalonians, it is certainly a heartfelt letter to Paul’s spiritual children expressing his deep concern.

    However, it was much more than just a heartfelt letter – it is the very words of God to not just provide them with instruction on how to lead a life of purity but these words were in itself the means by which people would be made pure.

    In John 17, Jesus prays this for his disciples – 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)God’s Word is truth that purifies our hearts.

    Another favourite verse of mine is from Romans 10:17 – 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. God’s Word has the power to produce faith in our unbelieving hearts! The Spirit uses God’s Word to perform a spiritual surgery fixing and purifying our broken hearts.

    And that’s really important for us to know because it tells us that even if we are going through seasons when we are struggling spiritually, what we need to hear the most is actually the “word of God” which the Spirit will use to produce faith and call us to repentance.

If we are absolutely honest, we would probably confess that our tendency is to view sanctification as our own performance rather than trusting on God’s promise and God’s provision.

And that’s one of the root sin issues that we need to repent of. And this isn’t a modern sin issue. It finds its origin in the Garden of Eden with our ancestors Adam and Eve. God created them for purity to reflect His purity through their lives.

But they needed to trust His promise and His provision. They trusted in their own performance & broke their relationship with God. From that moment onwards all of humanity has been held captive by that lifestyle of performance.

Even our solution to the sin in our lives is:

“I’ll do better, I’ll fix what I’ve broken, I will cancel my wrongs with the good that I do, I will pray more, I will read God’s Word more, I will spend more time in the church”.

But God in His grace sent His Son Jesus to the earth, born of a Virgin & the only one in the history of humankind to live a life of perfect performance.

And then died on the cross for our sins & failed performance to fix ourselves. He rose on the third Day to freely handover his own perfect performance to those who would come and surrender their lives to Him!

And this handover of Christ performance is what purifies/sanctifies our lives. And one day this handover of Christ’s perfect performance will be complete when He returns.

This great goal is sealed by God’s gracious promise and God’s gracious provision.

So today I invite us to not just repent for the behavioural patterns of sin that we struggle with. But I would ask us to repent of our attitude of performance toward God.

Repent of the times when repentance was just our own performance resolution. Shed aside our weak and failing performance and come to the foot of the cross where our performance ends and trust in Christ’s promise and Christ’s provision today.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

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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

Do Not Quench the Spirit – 1 Thessalonian 5:19

Good morning Beloved church, it is truly a joy and privilege to see all of you. Thank you so much for taking out your time, I pray that God will truly bless all us as we spent time together worshipping God and listening to His words.


Today we shall continue our book study from Thessalonians, our text for today is 1 Thessalonian 5:19.


“Do not quench the Spirit” this is our text for this morning.


The root word for “quench” which means “to extinguish,” “to put out” or “to go out.” It also refer to putting out fires, sparks, or the putting out a lamp.


Church the day we repent our sins and received Christ as our Lord and saviour; The bible says Holy Spirit sealed us and He permanently dwells in us and He is working in our heart like a burning fire.


Knowing the works of Holy Spirit Apostle Paul Urge Thessalonian church that they should not Quench the Holy Spirit. This text is reminding all of us too that we should not quench the Holy Spirit.

To understand the text, “Do not quench the Spirit”, we shall ask four important questions.

  1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
  2. What are the works of the Holy Spirit?
  3. How believers may quench the Holy Spirit?
  4. What are the consequences of Quenching the Holy Spirit?
  5. Who is the Holy Spirit?

There are many misconceptions about the identity of the Holy Spirit. Some view the Holy Spirit as a mystical force or power.

Others understand the Holy Spirit as the impersonal power that God makes available to followers of Christ. These are wrong.

The truth is The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son and is of the same essence. Yet He is also distinct from them.

1. Who is the Holy Spirit?

  1. Holy Spirit is a person (He is the third person of Trinity).

Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, a being with a mind, emotions, and a will.

Holy Spirit thinks and knows (1 Cor.2:10).
Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesian 4:30)
Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27).
He makes decisions according to His will (1Cor 12:7-11).

2. Holy Spirit is God.

The Bible declares that the Holy Spirit is God. we know that the Holy Spirit is God because He possesses the characteristics of God.

For example, His omnipresence is seen in Psalm 139:7-8

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

Isaiah 11:2, the prophet describes the Holy Spirit this way. He says,

“He is the Spirit of the Lord, He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

2. What are the works of Holy Spirit?

a. Holy Spirit draws the unsaved sinner to Jesus.

Holy Spirit plays a primary role in transforming a person’s heart and bringing salvation to the individual.

It is the Spirit who brings conviction to the unbeliever and causes him to see the truth of the gospel in a clear light.

Those who respond to this conviction and place their faith in Jesus Christ receive eternal life and a new nature.

Holy Spirit unites the believer with Christ and places him in the body of Christ, the church.

He also unites the believer with Christ in His death, enabling him to live victoriously over sin.

Application:

As a church, our Primary role is to keep praying for the lost soul for their salvation and keep spreading the good news of Christ to all people around us.

b. Holy Spirit regenerates our human Spirits.

Regeneration which means The radical spiritual change in which God brings an individual from a condition of spiritual defeat and death to a renewed condition of holiness and life.


Titus 3: 5 says.
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit moves an unbeliever and regenerate their heart to repentance and leads them into eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

c. Holy Spirit Convict both unbelievers and believers.

John14:8.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment


An unbeliever cannot get saved unless they are first convicted by the Holy Spirit. It is through the work of Holy Spirit our sins were convict and we repent and turn our heart to the Lord.

For born-again believers, we all need the conviction of the Holy Spirit. so we can be shown the errors of our ways.

d.Holy Spirit sanctifies us in the Lord.

2 Thess.2:13.
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

Once you get saved and born again in the Lord, God starts to sanctify you and me, what He will do is consecrate and set us apart unto Himself. From there, He will want to transform us by the renewing of our mind, He will want to transform us into the image of His Son Jesus.

e. Holy Spirit helps us with our prayer life.

Romans 8:26.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Another major powerful ministry that the Holy Spirit has with each born-again believer is to help us with our prayer life with the Lord.

f. Holy Spirit guides us into all truth.

John 16:13.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.


He is our guide


g. Holy Spirit teaches us all things.


John14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

He is our Teacher.

The Holy Spirit is doing an incredible by Illuminating the scriptures to all of us; bringing you and me into intimacy with God; showing all of us the glory of Jesus Christ, guiding you and me into God’s will; strengthening you and me for spiritual ministry, and service.

Holy Spirit purifies us, sanctifies us, cleanses us from all the pollution of sins toward the image of Jesus Christ.

3. How believers may quench the Holy Spirit?

By Neglecting the gift of Holy Spirit.

If we neglect the gift of Spirit, we will quench the Holy Spirit.


1 Timothy 4:14

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

Illustration:
In Old testament there a prophet call Jonah, God told Jonah to go and warn and preach to the people of Nineveh for their wicked life.

But Jonah was afraid of Nineveh people and he ran away from his duty, God caught him in the middle of the sea, he was trying to escape to Tarsus, his sin was found, he was thrown in the ocean and the whale swallow him.

He was in a whale belly for 3 days God allowed him to live again. Remember church if we try to neglect our duty and responsibility and try to run away like Jonah, we will quench Holy Spirit. We should not stop the work of Holy Spirit in our life.


Application:
Let us not be like Jonah. (let us not run away from the task and the purpose God has given us in our life).


1 Cor.15:59 says,
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

By Disobedience to the word of God and living an unrepented life. How do we Disobey to the word of God?


by not reading the word of God,
by not applying the word of God, by living prayerless life,
by living an unfruitful life. By being worry and anxiety,
by not growing spiritually. by depending on our self and not God.
By being proud and not humble.

After living a sinful life, and when we do not repent our sins to God, our unrepented heart will quench the Holy Spirit.


Application:
Are you quenching the Holy Spirit by living a disobedient and unrepented life. If we are displeasing God lets repent our sinful behavior to God.


1 John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

  1. By being worldliness and living a life devoted to self and selfish hopes.
    Bible directly confront us in 1 John 2:15-16.
    1 John 2:15-16
    Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world.

    If your,
    1.vision in life,
    2. your wildest dream in life,
    3. your career and
    4. the things you are running after in life,

    if all these things are alien to God’s will. You are going toward the wrong direction in life, your selfish ambition and your hope and your self-desire will Quench the Holy Spirit.

Application:
How are you maintaining life?

Loving God, serving God, worshipping God is controlling your life or
Worldliness, living a life devoted to self-desires and self-hope is controlling your life.

You know exactly where your heart is.

Scriptures is warning you and me in Romans 12:1-2 saying,

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

4. What are the consequences of quenching the Holy Spirit?

First Consequence…
1.God will not use us anymore.
We have great lesson from the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-5. They Backslide from living God and God is warning them. Verse 2.

2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.


God will never use us if we are habitually living in sin, a warning to Ephesian church is a great warning for all of us, they are working hard for God, they have perseverance, they didn’t tolerate wicked people, they know the false teachers, they endure hardship and working so hard for God.

But they have forsaken the first love. Means Jesus is not no.1 in their life, some other things have replaced their priority in life.


God is warning them to come back, if not He will remove lampstand which the spiritual gift in their life.


If God take away His spiritual gift, we will not be useful for God’s Kingdom. Our life will be useless and inactive.

Your life will be like a nice smartphone. Looks cool outside but did not work. What you will do with that kind of phone.


2.We shall sin both against God and our own souls.

When we quench the Holy Spirit, we sin against God and we sin to our own soul.

3.We will not bear the fruit of Holy Spirit.


God want us to bear the fruit of Spirit in our life.

Galatian 5:22-23.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

4.We will make the Holy Spirit grieve.


Ephesians 4:30:

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Conclusion:


Church we have mediatated together four questions under the topic
“Do not quench the Holy Spirit”

  1. Who is the Holy Spirit? (remember Holy Spirit is a person and Holy Spirit is God).
  2. What are the Works of the Holy Spirit?
  3. How believers may Quench the Holy Spirit?
  4. What are the consequences of quenching the Holy Spirit?

Beloved church we should never quench the holy Spirit, this is a command from the scripture. Rather


1.We should lovingly allow the Holy Spirit to totally control our heart.
2.We should willingly allow the Holy Spirit to fill our heart.
3.We should bear fruits of Holy Spirit in our everyday life.
4.We should always walk in the Spirit.


May the Sweet Holy Spirit Guide you and teach you in every area of your life.


May the power of Holy Spirit be with you to fight and defeat all the power of Darkness.


May He empower you, equip you and use you to be a channel of blessing for all people.

May the fruit of Spirit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control flow out of your life and bring glory to our heavenly Father.

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Can we misunderstand prayer? – 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18

Good morning church! My name is Jinson Thomas and I’m thankful to God for this opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning.


I hope our time today would be an encouragement in your faith. If someone would’ve told me at the start of this year concerning all the events that I was going to witness in 2020, I wouldn’t have believed it!



A pandemic that would ravage the entire globe causing 6.4 million people to be infected & 3.8 Lac deaths!!! Our state alone has recorded the highest number of cases (80,000 approx.) in the country and we have been in lockdown for 11 weeks now affecting people’s livelihoods & causing tremendous hardships for those who relied on daily wages.

People who are on salaried jobs are forced to take pay cuts or unfortunately even being laid off. It is a painful and difficult time. On top of that our country has witnessed 2 cyclones & even an attack from the locusts on our fields in the past month!

In terms of national security – there is trouble brewing on the border with China. I say this not to harp on discouraging news but rather to acknowledge that we stand here today at the backdrop of unimaginable fear and anxiety.

And we can sense this all around us – be it at our workplaces or in our schools or on the news, or on social media or in our neighbourhoods or even in the innermost places of our hearts. And what I believe today’s passage is telling us is that God has given us a wonderful & powerful tool called “prayer” but yet it’s something that is so easily misunderstood.  We misunderstand the purpose of “prayer” when we make it out to be something that it was never designed to be. 

What is the true purpose of prayer then? I’d ask you to look with me at our main text –

1 Thess 5:17-18:

17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

4 observations on prayer & thanksgiving:-

1. Prayer is not about performance but about trust (v17)

17 pray without ceasing

In other words, “Uninterrupted, incessant, continuous prayers”. When we hear this instruction “pray without ceasing”, what naturally goes through our mind? If I’m not wrong, many of us automatically think about it in terms of “performance”.

We think Paul is talking about “unceasing prayer” so that would mean “uninterrupted prayer 24/7 or praying during every waking moment” and then we try to measure ourselves against that standard on the basis of the time we’ve spent in prayer.

When we think on this performance mentality, we pat ourselves on the back and “feel more accepted and loved” by God on days when we’ve spent more time in prayer. On the other hand, on days when we’ve spent little time or neglected prayer, we feel “unloved and unaccepted” by God. And the man-made solution we come up with is “I need to pray more to be loved and accepted by God”.

I love the way Jerry Bridges puts it – he says “Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace”.

In other words, it’s not our “prayer performance” that makes God love and accept us, it’s God’s grace (God’s unmerited gift) that He has poured on us through His Son Jesus Christ. Okay, you may ask – so if we don’t pray to perform before God (to gain some brownie points), then why do we pray?

We pray because we exhibit our trust in God through prayer. We basically echo that God is strong and powerful and I’m not. I am in desperate need of God’s help. It’s not about performance but about trust.

I think this principle is illustrated beautifully in one of my favorite parables from the Bible – the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Both of them go to the temple to pray.

The Pharisee (super religious Jew) sees prayer as a means of performing before God. During his prayer, he keeps bragging about him not being as bad as the robbers, the evildoers, adulterers and even the tax collector who is standing behind him. Not just that he then adds that he fasts twice a week and gives a tenth of all that he gets.

At the same time, the tax collector (in those days were known as dishonest and wicked people) stood at a distance and wouldn’t even look up to heaven. Out of his sorrow due to this sin, he beats his chest and says “God have mercy on me a sinner”. He has nothing to brag about. All he is holding on is the “mercy of God”.

It’s interesting that Jesus ends the parable by the saying that the tax collected went home justified. God answered his prayer because it exhibited trust in Him. The Pharisee’s prayer since it relied on his own performance had no trust in God.

Therefore, I want us to realize that when Scripture tells us to “pray without ceasing”, its objective is not to push us to performance but rather to trust God in prayer with all the areas of our lives.

Just like the tax collector’s posture, we come to God humbly in prayer desperately asking God for help in our relationship with Him (we don’t want to be cold or lukewarm but growing in our love for Him), ask God for help to be pure for Him (we need His help to fight sin), ask God to help us with our work (the tasks, meetings and responsibilities for the day), ask Him to help us in our marriages, if we are single where we ask Him to prepare us for marriage & help us be faithful in this stage of waiting, in this time of uncertainty where we desperately ask God for wisdom, provision and protection.

God is glorified when His creatures trust Him. He didn’t create us to be self-sufficient. He created us to be dependent on Him & therefore prayer a wonderfully powerful tool that God has given us to trust Him.

2. Prayer means that we have unlimited access to God (v17)

The other thing we realize about “praying without ceasing” is that it means that there is no limit to the number of times I can communicate with God. Many of us who have had some experience of working or being part of a hierarchical organization know that the larger the organization is, the harder it is to get connected with the CEO or super boss of the organization if you are a regular employee.

In order to approach the CEO or have an interaction with him, you would probably need to go through multiple managers and heads & then get their approval to get a few minutes with him. And even if there is a rare opportunity to meet with the CEO, it’s quite likely that the next interaction will take a while.

Unlike this case where the CEO is distant and disconnected from regular employees, the amazing truth of the gospel is that every believer has unlimited access to God who is the Creator of the entire universe!

There’s no restriction on the access. There’s no red tape. There’s no certain set of formalities or approval required. That is actually a humbling yet exciting truth!

The other assumption for “unceasing prayer” is that we as believers can be confident to go back to God again and again because God will respond and answer our prayers.

Although God’s answer might not always be what we desire or expect because we think temporarily but God thinks eternally of how we can be shaped into Jesus fully, but yet God always answers!

Another favorite parable of mine is the parable of “the persistent widow”. There was a town in which there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. No moral standards & no compassion and care towards fellow humans – not a great candidate to be a judge.

And there was a widow (oppressed and poor probably) who kept coming to him asking him to grant her justice. Now he kept putting her off but after a while he yielded to giving her justice because he didn’t want to be bothered anymore.

And Jesus uses this lesser to great argument. “If this unjust judge was able to grant justice to the widow, do you think God neglect the chosen ones who cry out to him night and day? I tell you, he will see that they get justice quickly.”

How awesome this is? To know that we have God who never denies us access to Himself & also to know that He earnestly desires & delights in answering our prayers.

3.  Prayer and Thanksgiving is not based on our circumstances

18a give thanks in all circumstances

Thanksgiving means expressing gratefulness. What we see in v18 is that thanksgiving was never meant to be a seasonal activity. It was never intended to be the case where we only thank God when things go well and cease from thanking God during times of pain and difficulty.

Well, you might say – it was easier for the Thessalonian church because they weren’t facing the same troubles or stress that I’m going through right now!

However, when we look at this young Thessalonian church probably a few months old at this stage, we see them as a church not birthed in prosperity but in persecution. They were extremely unpopular and falsely accused of revolting against Caesar by following “another king Jesus”.

Paul who was with their spiritual father & strong support wasn’t present with them because he was driven out of the city by these same persecutors. Think about it – each day remained to be a risk for them ever since they followed Jesus.

With the unpopularity they faced, they too faced a very uncertain future. And in the midst of all that was happening to them, Paul tells them to give thanks in all circumstances! Why does Paul tell them that?

Because what the Thessalonian church and what we need to hear the most in our toughest of times is not optimistic advice but we need to grasp a picture of “Who God is & what He has done for us”!

We need to know how big, strong, compassionate, wise, loving, patient, faithful to His promises, in full control of destiny He is. And that happens through “thanksgiving and remembering”. 

As a church in our daily readings we have been going through Deuteronomy and in that I’ve been encouraged to see the numerous times God reminds the Israelites of the time when they were slaves in Egypt and how God brought them out with an outstretched arm.

And these reminders were not to guilt the Israelites or manipulate them. These reminders were given so that they could thank God for what He has done for them and also remind them that He is more than able to fulfill all the remaining promises He made to them.

It could be a gospel song, it could be your own testimony that you remind your own heart about (how God totally transformed your life) or it could be by placing visual reminders of God’s promises in front of you or maybe journaling God’s faithfulness.

There are a variety of things you can do to bring to remembrance and lead your heart to thanksgiving.

4.  Thanksgiving and prayer is a command and an invitation from God

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (v18b)

Do you want to know the will of God? God’s will for us is that we pray unceasingly and thank God in all circumstances! When we look at the word “will” in the Greek – it means a decree or command that’s being made by the highest authority.

But the word “will” also means “pleasure & intention” – which also tells us that God doesn’t want us to perform “prayers and thanksgiving” out of mere obligation but rather He intends that we do it in the context of a relationship with Him!   

I love that phrase “in Christ Jesus for you” because it reminds us that the basis of our relationship with God is because of Jesus Christ. In the beginning, God created us for a relationship with Him – to know Him, love Him and live for Him. But we willingly chose to go our own way running away from our Father toward our own pleasures & desires.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way (Isa 53:6) Like lost son or daughter, we found ourselves stuck in our own deep & dark pit of sin. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). We tried several attempts to fix the problem and get us out of the pit of sin but each time we fell back in again.

We thought our good works, righteous deeds & number of prayers would be sufficient to save us but none of that could fix our broken lives. When we were dying in that pit, our Father came looking for us and seeing us dying there He came to rescue us. His rescue mission involved giving up His one and only pure Son on the cross to pay for our rebellion and our sins.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8) But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus Christ was buried and on the third Day He rose victoriously from the grave so that by trusting in Him we can not only be rescued from the deadly pit of sin but have a restored relationship with the Father forever.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

That’s so amazing that through Christ we are no longer enemies and slaves but are now children of God! Now through Jesus Christ, in our prayers we relate to the Father as “Abba Father” & as our “Papa”.

One verse that always stood out to me was Matt 6:7:  7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Why would the Father want us to pray even though He knows what we need even before I ask him?

It’s because our prayers and thanksgiving are not to be viewed like a vending machine or as a burdensome command to obey. The primary purpose for prayer is not merely to get what we want but to know God intimately. It’s as though God is telling us – Son / Daughter, prayer is an invitation for you to grow in your relationship with me.

Undoubtedly this season in life could be one of most difficult times for us. But God has given us a powerful tool to call for divine help through prayer! But that means that we would need to set aside our misunderstandings & baggage regarding prayer. What I’d ask us all to do now is to spend a few moments repenting to God regarding the misunderstandings and what we have made prayer out to be.

1. Repenting to God for making prayer about a performance rather than trusting Him will the areas of our life

2. Repenting for unbelief – Repenting for not believing that God is a good God who will answer our prayers

3. Repenting for forgetting Who God is and What He is able to do. Ask God to give us a heart of thankfulness that is not dependent on our circumstances

4. Repenting for making prayer out to be a burden by not seeing it as an invitation to grow in a relationship

And in faith trust in God’s forgiveness in Christ and ask God for grace to revive our prayer lives and make it what God intended prayer to be.

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.